View source for Win32Compile

This page will help you to compile {{VLC}} for [[Windows]].

== Building Methods ==

If you want to build VLC from source, you have several choices: 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method 
! Documentation 
! Notes
|-
| '''MinGW on Linux''' 
| [[Win32Compile#Obtaining_the_toolchain|Obtaining the toolchain]]
| '''Preferred''' method involving cross-compilation from Linux. On computers running Microsoft Windows, a virtual machine is necessary to run Linux.
|-
| '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MinGW]''' on Windows
| [[Win32CompileMSYS|Compile with MSys]] 
| '''Native''' compilation method. MSYS is a minimal build environment to compile Unix-style projects directly on Microsoft Windows. This is '''not officially supported''' by VideoLAN. Best of luck.
|-
| '''Cygwin''' on Windows
| [[Win32CompileCygwinNew|Compile with Cygwin]] 
| Cygwin method. Cygwin emulates a POSIX environment to compile on Microsoft Windows. This is '''error'''-prone and '''slow''' and therefore not recommended.
|}

== Obtaining the cross-compilation toolchain  ==

=== Compiler and binary toolchain ===

==== Mingw-w64 ====
To compile VLC for Windows (32-bits or 64-bits), the Mingw-w64 toolchain is required:

* '''Debian/Ubuntu''': run <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw-w64-i686 g++-mingw-w64-i686 mingw-w64-tools</code>
For the 64-bit version, this becomes <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw-w64-x86-64 g++-mingw-w64-x86-64 mingw-w64-tools</code>

(on Debian you must be on wheezy or above to find this package)

You might want to use the following script to enforce static compilation.
Run as root, and use at your own risk.

 #!/bin/sh
 
 # This script enforces statically linking of libgcc, libstdc++-6, and libpthread,
 # without needing to rebuild gcc and mingw-w64 from scratch.
 # -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ flags can not be used in a libtool build system,
 # as libtool removes flags that it doesn't understand.
 
 move() {
     [ -f $1 ] || return 1
     mkdir -p old/
     mv -v $* old/
     return 0
 }
 
 for x in i686 x86_64
 do
     library_path_list=`$x-w64-mingw32-gcc -v /dev/null 2>&1 | grep ^LIBRARY_PATH|cut -d= -f2|sort|uniq`
     IFS=':'
     for i in $library_path_list
     do
         cd $i
         move libstdc++-6.dll libstdc++.dll.a libgcc_s.a libgcc_s_sjlj-1.dll && ln -s libgcc_eh.a libgcc_s.a
         move libpthread.dll.a libwinpthread.dll.a
         move libwinpthread-1.dll
         [ -d ../bin ] && cd ../bin && move libwinpthread-1.dll
     done
 done
 
 exit 0

==== Mingw32 ====
Up to versions 2.0.x, VLC was compiled with the older mingw32 toolchain, which only supports 32-bits Windows. If you have problems with mingw-w64, you can try mingw32 instead:

* '''Debian/Ubuntu''': run <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw32 mingw32-binutils</code>. Note that at least version 3.17 of Mingw32 is required, which Debian does not provide. You may obtain mingw32-runtime-3.17 [http://people.videolan.org/~jb/debian/mingw32-runtime_3.17.0-0videolan_all.deb here].
* '''Gentoo''' users can <code>emerge crossdev &amp;&amp; crossdev mingw32</code>
* '''ArchLinux''' users can <code>pacman -S mingw32-gcc</code>
* '''Fedora''' users should read [[Win32Compile Under Fedora]]
* Other '''Linux''' systems may attempt http://www.mingw.org/wiki/LinuxCrossMinGW

=== Development tools ===
You will also need:
* lua (5.1 or 5.2)
* all autotools: libtool, automake, autoconf, autopoint, make, gettext
* pkg-config
* qt4-dev-tools, qt5-default
* git
* subversion
* cmake, cvs if you want to rebuild contribs
* wine-dev for creating Win32 packages
* zip [for creating .zip package], p7zip [for .7z package], nsis [for .exe auto-installer], bzip2 [for 'make prebuild]

=== Host triplet ===
A number of example commands below include the identifier of the toolchain. This value is '''essential''': it instructs the build system to use the correct toolchain and compile the program for Windows. Without the value, the build system will perform a native compilation for Linux (or whatever your computer runs). With an incorrect value, the build will fail.

This is known as the ''host triplet'', although it's more of a pair than a triplet in the case of Mingw. The exact value depends on your installation of the toolchain. Notably on Debian/Ubuntu, these values must be used:

* ''i686-w64-mingw32'' for Windows 32-bits, using the Mingw-w64 toolchain
* ''x86_64-w64-mingw32'' for Windows 64-bits, using the Mingw-w64 toolchain
* ''i586-mingw32msvc'' for Windows 32-bits, using the Mingw32 toolchain

Again, you '''MUST''' substitute the value in the following command snippets.

== Get the source code ==
 $ git clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc.git vlc

See [[Git]] for more information.

== Go into the VLC directory ==
 $ cd vlc

== Prepare [[Contrib Status|3rd party libraries]]  ==

Before compiling VLC, you need lots of other libraries. Here is how to get them: 

  $ mkdir -p contrib/win32
  $ cd contrib/win32
  $ ../bootstrap --host=i686-w64-mingw32
  $ make prebuilt

or, if you want to compile the contribs yourself and are feeling adventurous and have lots of time to burn,
  # apt-get install subversion yasm cvs cmake

  $ mkdir -p contrib/win32
  $ cd contrib/win32
  $ ../bootstrap --host=i686-w64-mingw32
  $ make fetch
  $ make

=== Linux 64-bit ===

If you are on Linux '''64-bit''', you '''SHOULD''' remove some files, or install the lib32 packages (ia32-libs, multilibs, etc...)

  $ rm -f ../i686-w64-mingw32/bin/moc ../i686-w64-mingw32/bin/uic ../i686-w64-mingw32/bin/rcc

=== Fix your contrib path ===

If your host triplet is not '''i686-w64-mingw32''' (you are ''not'' compiling for Debian or Ubuntu), create a symlink to contribs:
 $ ln -sf '''''insert_your_host_triplet_here''''' ../i686-w64-mingw32
So, for example:
 $ ln -sf x86_64-w64-mingw32 ../i686-w64-mingw32
Notice that there is no <code>../</code> before the host triplet. This is intentional, and if done properly, you should see a functioning symbolic link created in the parent directory (try <code>ls -l ..</code> and you should see <code>i686-w64-mingw32 -> x86_64-w64-mingw32/</code>).

=== Go Back  ===

Go back to the VLC source directory: 

  $ cd -

== Configuring the build  ==

=== Bootstrap ===
First, prepare the tree:
  $ ./bootstrap

=== Configure ===
Then you can to configure the build with the <code>./configure</code> script. 

Create a subfolder:
  $ mkdir win32 && cd win32

Set your PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
  $ export PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=$HOME/vlc/contrib/i686-w64-mingw32/lib/pkgconfig

Use the standard configuration: 
 $ ../extras/package/win32/configure.sh --host=i686-w64-mingw32
'''NB''': use '''YOUR''' cross-compiling prefix here, like ''i486-mingw32''

Also, if you have a problem here (such as an error about Library dvdread), see the [[Talk:Win32Compile|Talk]] page.

Alternatively, you can run configure manually:
 $ ../configure --host=i686-w64-mingw32
See <code>'../configure --help'</code> for more information.

== Building VLC  ==

Once configured, to build VLC, just run:
  $ make

== Packaging VLC ==
Once the compilation is done, you can build self-contained VLC packages with the following <code>make</code> rules: 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Command 
! Description
|-
| <code>make package-win-common</code>
| Creates a subdirectory named <code>vlc-x.x.x</code> with all the binaries. You can run VLC directly from this directory.
|-
| <code>make package-win-strip</code>
| Same as above but will create 'stripped' binaries (that is, smallest size, unusable with a debugger).
|-
| <code>make package-win32-7zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a 7z file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32-zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a zip file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32</code>
| Same as above but will also create an auto-installer package. You must have NSIS installed in its default location for this to work.
|}

'''''Well done—you're ready to use VLC!''''' 

[[Category:Building]]