# Build Instructions Source releases may be obtained from [the releases page](https://github.com/lcm-proj/lcm/releases). You may also build the latest development version by cloning the [git repository](https://github.com/lcm-proj/lcm.git). The following instructions assume that you have obtained a copy of the source, either by unpacking a release archive or cloning the git repository, and that your initial working directory contains the source code. (For release archives, this includes descending into the top level `lcm-X.Y.Z` subdirectory.) Please note that these instructions refer to the latest release of LCM. As the build procedure may vary from release to release, if you are building an old release or the latest `master`, we recommend referring to the copy of this document (`docs/content/build-instructions.md`) found in your source distribution. ## Installing the Python module on Unix-based systems To build the Python module from source and install it, run: ``` pip3 install -v . ``` ## CMake and Meson overview for Unix-based systems When building with CMake, CMake 3.12 or later is required. Sufficiently recent Linux distributions may provide a new enough CMake via their package managers but if they don't it is often possible to use pip to get a more recent version. These instructions assume that you will build in a directory named `build` as a direct subdirectory of the source directory, and that you will use the default generator. CMake and Meson support multiple generators and permit the build directory to be almost anywhere (although in-source builds are strongly discouraged for both and are prohibited in Meson). To users familiar with CMake, we recommend using [Ninja](https://ninja-build.org/). A detailed description of how to use CMake or Meson is not specific to LCM and is beyond the scope of these instructions. By default CMake and Meson are configured to produce a release build. To build with debug symbols instead, use: ```shell cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ``` for CMake, and use: ```shell meson setup build -Dbuildtype=debug ``` for Meson when configuring a build directory in the following sections. ## Ubuntu and Debian Required packages: - build-essential - cmake # note: if using CMake - meson # note: if using Meson - libglib2.0-dev Optional packages (e.g., for language-specific support or building documentation): - default-jdk - libjchart2d-java # note: if not installed, jchart2d will be built from source in CMake - doxygen - liblua5.3-dev - lua5.3 - python3-dev Python packages needed for building documentation: - Sphinx - myst-parser - sphinx-rtd-theme Ex: `pip install Sphinx myst-parser sphinx-rtd-theme` From a terminal, run the following commands for CMake: ```shell mkdir build cd build cmake .. make sudo make install ``` or run the following commands for Meson: ```shell meson setup build cd build meson compile sudo meson install ``` ## OS X There are several ways to build LCM on OS X, none of which are necessarily better than the others. ### Homebrew Install Homebrew packages (swap `cmake` for `meson` if building with Meson) ```shell brew install glib pkg-config cmake ``` Install Java. Type `javac` in a terminal, then follow the instructions. Download and build LCM. For CMake, run: ```shell mkdir build cd build cmake .. make make install ``` For Meson, run: ```shell meson setup build cd build meson compile meson install ``` ## Other Unix-based systems On other POSIX.1-2001 systems (e.g., other GNU/Linux distributions, FreeBSD, Solaris, etc.) the only major requirement is to install the GLib 2.x development files and CMake. If possible, a Java development kit and Python should also be installed. Then follow the same instructions as for [Ubuntu / Debian](#ubuntu-and-debian). ## Post Install on Linux In the following, replace `$LCM_INSTALL_PREFIX` with the prefix to which LCM was installed (by default, `/usr/local`), and replace `$LCM_LIBRARY_DIR` with the location of the LCM library, `lcm.so` (e.g. `/usr/local/lib`). Some Linux distributions, such as Arch, do not contain the default install location (`/usr/local/lib/`) in the `ld.so.conf` search path. In this case, or if you installed LCM to a different, non-standard prefix, you may wish to create a `ld.so.conf` file for lcm: ```shell echo $LCM_LIBRARY_DIR | sudo tee -a /etc/ld.so.conf.d/lcm.conf ``` Python users may need to add the lcm install location to Python's site packages search path using a .pth file: ```shell PYTHON_VERSION=$(python -c "import sys; print(\"%s.%s\" % sys.version_info[:2])") PYTHON_USER_SITE=$(python -m site --user-site) echo "$LCM_LIBRARY_DIR/python$PYTHON_VERSION/site-packages" > $PYTHON_USER_SITE/lcm.pth ``` Lua users may need to add to `LUA_CPATH`: ```shell LUA_VERSION=$(lua -e "print(string.sub(_VERSION, 5))") export LUA_CPATH=$LUA_CPATH:$LCM_LIBRARY_DIR/lua/$LUA_VERSION/?.so ``` If you install LCM to a non-standard location (i.e. other than the default `/usr/local`, other CMake projects using LCM may need help finding it. Although you can always point to the directory where `lcmConfig.cmake` is installed by manually setting `lcm_DIR`, it may be convenient to add the location to the default search paths: ```shell export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:$LCM_INSTALL_PREFIX ``` In addition, `pkgconfig` can be configured to find lcm.pc: ```shell export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$PKG_CONFIG_PATH:$LCM_LIBRARY_DIR/pkgconfig ``` ## Bazel LCM also supports [Bazel](https://bazel.build/) for a subset of languages (C, C++, Java, Python). The Bazel build only provides libraries and command line tools; it doesn't support building wheels or documentation. If you are already a Bazel user this is a good option, but if not you will perhaps be happier sticking with the CMake or Meson build, explained above. The Bazel build uses very few system packages, so most of the text above about required packages does not apply. The only required tool is a C/C++ compiler, e.g., `apt install build-essential` on Ubuntu and Debian. If Java will be used, a local JDK is also recommended, e.g., `apt install default-jdk`. See the [example](https://github.com/lcm-proj/lcm/tree/master/examples/bazel) for details. The Bazel build is not currently tested on Windows and is probably incomplete. We welcome contributions of build fixes (for Windows or any other problems). To try out the Bazel build, first install [bazelisk](https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk) to provide `bazel` on your PATH and then run, e.g., `bazel run //lcm-java:lcm-spy`. See also the sample projct at `examples/bazel` for how to use LCM as a Bazel dependency. ## Windows We currently support building on windows using an MSYS2 environment as well as MSVC. Please see the appropriate section below for more information on each approach. ### Windows Dev Drive (Optional) Using a [Windows Dev Drive](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/) is not required to build LCM, but for some systems it is ***strongly*** recommended. When building on a normal filesystem, Windows Defender or other antivirus will *severely* slow down the build in some configurations. A key feature of Dev Drives are relaxed AV policies. See the [Understanding security risks and trust in relation to Dev Drive](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/#understanding-security-risks-and-trust-in-relation-to-dev-drive) section for more on the implications of using a Dev Drive. Using a VHD or disk partition is a personal choice. Even a VHD on a USB SSD is a viable option. The [Storing package cache on Dev Drive](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/#storing-package-cache-on-dev-drive) section enumerates environment variables to consider setting. Set `VCPKG_DEFAULT_BINARY_CACHE` and consider `PIP_CACHE_DIR`. ### Java (Optional) Building the Java tools (like `lcm-spy` or `lcm-logplayer-gui`) requires an installed JDK. Ninite can be a hassle free way to install AdoptOpenJDK. Alternatively, if you just want to use Java-dependent components of LCM provided by a pre-built binary (like you get from `pip install lcm`) then only a JRE is required. ### Using MSVC with vcpkg Windows MSVC/vcpkg builds are initially much slower than builds on other platforms with package managers which serve prebuilt binaries, since vcpkg builds `glib` and transitive dependencies from source. #### Prerequisites **Warning**: If the path to the LCM directory contains spaces, you may experience issues with `vcpkg`. It is highly recommended to work out of a directory whose path does not contain spaces. ##### Visual Studio Before starting, ensure you have installed Microsoft Visual Studio. The CLI only "Build Tools for Visual Studio" is sufficient to build LCM. The full IDE is not required. The download for the CLI tools is currently below the fold on the main [Visual Studio download page](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/). Scroll down and expand the `Tools for Visual Studio` section and look for `Build Tools for Visual Studio`. For whichever distribution of Visual Studio you have selected, in the installer select the `Desktop development with C++` Workload to install. All commands in this section are intended to be run from a shell set up for using MSVC (e.g. `Developer PowerShell for VS 2022`). ##### VCPKG If you haven't already installed VCPKG in the previous step, see [installing vcpkg](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcpkg/get_started/get-started?pivots=shell-powershell#1---set-up-vcpkg). Follow the linked instructions until after you have set the environment variable `VCPKG_ROOT` and added `vcpkg` to `PATH`. **Warning: Ensure you are in a shell that has the above modified environment variables before proceeding!** In many cases, it is necessary to configure a newly-installed `vcpkg` with: ```shell vcpkg x-update-baseline --add-initial-baseline ``` before proceeding. #### Building LCM Use the Cmake preset for vcpkg to configure a build directory: ```shell cmake --preset=vcpkg-vs ``` Then, it is possible to build using ```shell cmake --build build --config Release ``` Last, you can run the tests via ```shell ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir build -C Release ``` #### Building and installing the Python module It is also possible to install the Python module using ```shell pip install -v . --config-settings=cmake.args=--preset=vcpkg-vs ``` #### MSVC with vcpkg Errata In some cases it can be helpful to configure a build directory using a direct cmake call, then have pip run using that build directory. If you run into any errors with the above `pip install` command, you could try: ```shell Remove-Item -Path build/ -Recurse -Force cmake --preset=vcpkg-vs pip install -v . --config-settings=cmake.args=--preset=vcpkg-vs -Cbuild-dir=build ``` Another thing to watch out for is if you have installed vcpkg on your own but Visual Studio also installed an instance of vcpkg. In this case, if you're using `Developer Powershell for VS 2022` then it will overwrite certain changes you made to your environment variables (like `VCPKG_ROOT` or adding your instance of vcpkg to `PATH`). If you want to use the version of vcpkg you installed you'll need to set those environment variables again to refer to the instance you want. ### Using MSYS2 We currently support and test on an [MSYS2](https://www.msys2.org/) MINGW64 environment. To install the necessary dependencies, you can run: ```shell pacman -S pactoys git make pacboy -S make toolchain cmake glib2 gtest python-pip ``` #### MSYS2 Errata There are a few things to watch out for: 1. When installing LCM, CMake defaults to the usual Windows directories rather than the MSYS2 environment. You can use CMake's `--prefix` option when installing to override this. 2. If there is an installation of Python on the system in addition to the MSYS2 version, cmake may pick it up instead. If that is the case, it may be necessary to set `-DPython_FIND_REGISTRY=NEVER` or [one of the other hints](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FindPython.html#hints) when configuring a build directory.