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How to Build Erlang/OTP on Windows
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==================================
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This file describes how to build the Erlang emulator and the OTP
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libraries on Windows. The instructions apply to versions of Windows
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supporting the Cygwin emulated gnuish environment for Windows. We've
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built on the following platforms: Windows 2000 Professional, Windows
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2003 server, Windows XP Home/Professional, and Windows Vista. Any
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Windows95'ish platform will surely get you into trouble, what I'm not
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sure of, but it certainly will...
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The procedure described uses Cygwin as a build environment, you run
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the bash shell in Cygwin and uses gnu make/configure/autoconf etc to
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do the build. The emulator C-source code is, however, mostly compiled
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with Microsoft Visual C++™, producing a native Windows binary. This
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is the same procedure as we use to build the pre-built binaries. The
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fact that we use VC++ and not gcc is explained further in the FAQ
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I describe the build procedure to make it possible for open source
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customers to build the emulator, given that they have the needed
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tools. The binary Windows releases is still a preferred alternative if
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one does not have Microsoft's development tools and/or don't want to
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To use Cygwin, one needs basic experience from a Unix environment, if
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one does not know how to set environment variables, run programs etc
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in a Unix environment, one will be quite lost in the Cygwin
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ditto. I can unfortunately not teach all the world how to use
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Cygwin and bash, neither how to install Cygwin nor perform basic tasks
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on a computer. Please refer to other documentation on the net for
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help, or use the binary release instead if you have problems using the
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However, if you feel comfortable with the environment and build
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system, and have all the necessary tools, you have a great opportunity
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to make the Erlang/OTP distribution for Windows better. Please submit
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any suggestions and patches to the appropriate [mailing lists] [1] to let
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them find their way into the next version of Erlang. If making changes
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to the build system (like makefiles etc) please bear in mind that the
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same makefiles are used on Unix/VxWorks/OSEDelta, so that your changes
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don't break other platforms. That of course goes for C-code too, system
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specific code resides in the `$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/sys/win32` and
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`$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32` directories mostly. The
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`$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/beam directory` is for common code.
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Before the R9C release of Erlang/OTP, the Windows release was built
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partly on a Unix (Solaris) box and partly on a Windows box, using Perl
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hacks to communicate and sync between the two machines. R9C was the
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first release ever built solely on Windows, where no Unix machine is
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needed at all. Now we've used this build procedure for a couple of
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releases, and it has worked fine for us. Still, there might be all
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sorts of troubles on different machines and with different
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setups. I'll try to give hints wherever I've encountered difficulties,
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but please share your experiences by using the [erlang-questions] [1]
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mailing list. I cannot of course help everyone with all
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their problems, please try to solve the problems and submit
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solutions/workarounds. Remember, it's all about sharing, not about
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Lets go then, I'll start with a little FAQ, based on in house questions
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and misunderstandings.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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--------------------------
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* Q: So, now I can build Erlang using GCC on Windows?
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A: No, unfortunately not. You'll need Microsoft's Visual C++ still, a
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Bourne-shell script (cc.sh) wraps the Visual C++ compiler and runs it
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from within the Cygwin environment. All other tools needed to build
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Erlang are free-ware/open source, but not the C compiler.
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* Q: Why haven't you got rid of VC++ then, you \*\*\*\*\*\*?
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A: Well, partly because it's a good compiler - really! Actually it's
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been possible in late R11-releases to build using mingw instead of
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visual C++ (you might see the remnants of that in some scripts and
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directories). Unfortunately the development of the SMP version for
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Windows broke the mingw build and we chose to focus on the VC++ build
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as the performance has been much better in the VC++ versions. The
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mingw build will be back, but as long as VC++ gives better
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performance, the commercial build will be a VC++ one.
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* Q: OK, VC++ you need, but now you've started to demand a very recent
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(and expensive) version of Visual studio, not the old and stable VC++
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6.0 that was used in earlier versions. Why?
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A: The SMP version of Erlang needs features in the Visual Studio 2005.
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Can't live without them. Besides the new compiler gives the Erlang
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emulator a ~40% performance boost(!). Alternatively you can build Erlang
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successfully using the free (proprietary) Visual Studio 2008 Express
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* Q: Can/will I build a Cygwin binary with the procedure you describe?
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A: No, the result will be a pure Windows binary, and as far as I know,
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it's not possible to make a Cygwin binary yet. That is of course
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something desirable, but there are still some problems with the
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dynamic linking (dynamic Erlang driver loading) as well as the TCP/IP
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emulation in Cygwin, which, I'm sure of, will improve, but still has
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some problems. Fixing those problems might be easy or might be hard.
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I suggest you try yourself and share your experience. No one would be
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happier if a simple `./configure && make` would produce a fully fledged
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Cygwin binary. Ericsson does however not pay me to do a Cygwin port, so
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such a port would have to happen in spare time, which is a limited
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* Q: Hah, I saw you, you used GCC even though you said you didn't!
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A: OK, I admit, one of the files is compiled using Cygwin's GCC and
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the resulting object code is then converted to MS VC++ compatible coff
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using a small C hack. It's because that particular file, `beam_emu.c`
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benefits immensely from being able to use the GCC labels-as-values
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extension, which boosts emulator performance by up to 50%. That does
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unfortunately not (yet) mean that all of OTP could be compiled using
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GCC, that particular source code does not do anything system specific
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and actually is adopted to the fact that GCC is used to compile it on
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* Q: So now there's a MS VC++ project file somewhere and I can build OTP
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using the nifty VC++ GUI?
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A: No, never. The hassle of keeping the project files up to date and
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do all the steps that constitute an OTP build from within the VC++ GUI
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is simply not worth it, maybe even impossible. A VC++ project
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file for Erlang/OTP will never happen, at least I will never make
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one. Clicking around in super-multi-tab'd dialogs to add a file or
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compiler option when it's so much easier in a makefile is simply not
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* Q: So how does it all work then?
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A: Cygwin is the environment, which closely resembles the environments
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found on any Unix machine. It's almost like you had a virtual Unix
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machine inside Windows. Configure, given certain parameters, then
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creates makefiles that are used by the Cygwin gnu-make to built the
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system. Most of the actual compilers etc are not, however, Cygwin
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tools, so I've written a couple of wrappers (Bourne-shell scripts),
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which reside in `$ERL_TOP/etc/win32/cygwin_tools` and they all do
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conversion of parameters and switches common in the Unix environment
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to fit the native Windows tools. Most notable is of course the paths,
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which in Cygwin are Unix-like paths with "forward slashes" (/) and no
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drive letters, the Cygwin specific command `cygpath` is used for most
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of the path conversions. Luckily most compilers accept forward slashes
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instead of backslashes as path separators, one still have to get the
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drive letters etc right, though. The wrapper scripts are not general
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in the sense that, for example, cc.sh would understand and translates
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every possible gcc option and passes correct options to cl.exe. The
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principle is that the scripts are powerful enough to allow building of
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Erlang/OTP, no more, no less. They might need extensions to cope with
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changes during the development of Erlang, that's one of the reasons I
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made them into shell-scripts and not Perl-scripts, I believe they are
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easier to understand and change that way. I might be wrong though,
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cause another reason I didn't write them in Perl is because I've never
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liked Perl and my Perl code is no pleasant reading...
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In `$ERL_TOP`, there is a script called `otp_build`, that script handles
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the hassle of giving all the right parameters to `configure`/`make` and
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also helps you set up the correct environment variables to work with
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the Erlang source under Cygwin.
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* Q: You use and need Cygwin, but then you haven't taken the time to
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port Erlang to the Cygwin environment but instead focus on your
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commercial release, is that really ethical?
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A: No, not really, but see this as a step in the right direction. I'm
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aiming at GCC compiled emulators and a Cygwin version, but I really
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need to do other things as well... In time, but don't hold your
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* Q: Can I build something that looks exactly as the commercial release?
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A: Yes, we use the exactly same build procedure.
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* Q: Which version of Cygwin and other tools do you use then?
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A: For Cygwin we try to use the latest releases available when
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building. What versions you use shouldn't really matter, I try to
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include workarounds for the bugs I've found in different Cygwin
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releases, please help me to add workarounds for new Cygwin-related
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bugs as soon as you encounter them. Also please do submit bug reports
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to the appropriate Cygwin developers. The Cygwin GCC we used for %OTP-REL%
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was version 3.4.4. We used VC++ 8.0 (i.e. Visual studio 2005 SP1),
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Sun's JDK 1.5.0\_17, NSIS 2.37, and Win32 OpenSSL 0.9.8e. Please read
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the next section for details on what you need.
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* Q: Can you help me setup X in Cygwin?
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A: No, unfortunately I haven't got time to help with Cygwin related
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user problems, please read Cygwin related web sites, newsgroups and
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* Q: Why is the instruction so long? Is it really that complicated?
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A: Partly it's long because I babble too much, partly because I've
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described as much as I could about the installation of the needed
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tools. Once the tools are installed, building is quite easy. I also
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have tried to make this instruction understandable for people with
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limited Unix experience. Cygwin is a whole new environment to some
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Windows users, why careful explanation of environment variables etc
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seemed to be in place. The short story, for the experienced and
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* Get and install complete Cygwin (latest)
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* (Buy and) Install Microsoft Visual studio 2005 and SP1 (or higher)
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* Alternatively install the free MS Visual Studio 2008 Express [msvc++]
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and the Windows SDK [32bit-SDK] or [64bit-SDK] depending on the Windows
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platform you are running.
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* Get and install Sun's JDK 1.4.2
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* Get and install NSIS 2.01 or higher (up to 2.46 tried and working)
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* Get and install OpenSSL 0.9.7c or higher (up to 1.0.0a tried & working)
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* Get the Erlang source distribution (from
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<http://www.erlang.org/download.html>) and unpack with Cygwin's `tar`.
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* Set `ERL_TOP` to where you unpacked the source distribution
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* Get (from <http://www.erlang.org/download/tcltk85_win32_bin.tar.gz>)
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and unpack the prebuilt TCL/TK binaries for windows with cygwin tar,
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standing in `$ERL_TOP`
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* Modify PATH and other environment variables so that all these tools
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are runnable from a bash shell. Still standing in `$ERL_TOP`, issue
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the following commands:
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$ eval `./otp_build env_win32`
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$ ./otp_build autoconf
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$ ./otp_build configure
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$ ./otp_build boot -a
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$ ./otp_build release -a
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$ ./otp_build installer_win32
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$ release/win32/otp_win32_%OTP-REL% /S
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Voila! `Start->Programs->Erlang OTP %OTP-REL%->Erlang` starts the Erlang
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Tools you Need and Their Environment
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------------------------------------
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You need some tools to be able to build Erlang/OTP on Windows. Most
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notably you'll need Cygwin and Microsoft VC++, but you also might want
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a Java compiler, the NSIS install system and OpenSSL. Only VC++ costs
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money, but then again it costs a lot of money, I know...
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Well' here's the list:
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* Cygwin, the very latest is usually best. Get all the development
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tools and of course all the basic ditto. In fact getting the complete
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package might be a good idea, as you'll start to love Cygwin after a
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while if you're accustomed to Unix. Make sure to get jar and also make
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sure *not* to install a Cygwin'ish Java... The Cygwin jar command is
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used but Sun's Java compiler and virtual machine...
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URL: <http://www.cygwin.com>
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Get the installer from the web site and use that to install
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Cygwin. Be sure to have fair privileges. If you're on a NT domain you
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should consider running `mkpasswd -d` and `mkgroup -d` after the
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installation to get the user databases correct. See their respective
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When you start you first bash shell, you will get an awful prompt. You
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might also have a `PATH` environment variable that contains backslashes
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and such. Edit `$HOME/.profile` and `$HOME/.bashrc` to set fair prompts
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and set a correct PATH. Also do a `export SHELL` in `.profile`. For some
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non-obvious reason the environment variable `$SHELL` is not exported in
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bash. Also note that `.profile` is run at login time and `.bashrc` when
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sub shells are created. You'll need to explicitly source `.bashrc` from
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`.profile` if you want the commands there to be run at login time (like
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setting up aliases, shell functions and the like). I personally
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usually do like this at the end of `.profile`:
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You might also, if you're a hard core type of person at least, want to
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setup X-windows (XFree86), that might be as easy as running startx
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from the command prompt and it might be much harder. Use Google to
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If you don't use X-windows, you might want to setup the Windows
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console window by selecting properties in the console system menu
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(upper left corner of the window, the Cygwin icon in the title
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bar). Especially setting a larger screen buffer size (lines) is useful
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as it gets you a scrollbar so you can see whatever error messages
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If you want to use (t)csh instead of bash you're on your own, I
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haven't tried and know of no one that has. I expect
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that you use bash in all shell examples.
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* Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 SP1. Please don't skip the service
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pack! The installer might update your environment so that you can run
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the `cl` command from the bash prompt, then again it might
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not... There is always a BAT file in VC\Bin under the installation
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directory (default `C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8`) called
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`VCVARS32.BAT`. Either add the environment settings in that file to the
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global environment settings in Windows or add the corresponding BASH
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environment settings to your `.profile`/`.bashrc`. For example, in my case
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I could add the following to `.profile`
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#Visual C++ Root directory as Cygwin style pathname
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VCROOT=/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/Microsoft\ Visual\ Studio 8
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# Visual C++ Root directory as Windows style pathname
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WIN_VCROOT="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio 8"
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# The PATH variable should be Cygwin'ish
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PATH=$VCROOT/Common7/IDE:$VCROOT/VC/BIN:$VCROOT/Common7/Tools:\
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$VCROOT/Common7/Tools/bin:$VCROOT/VC/PlatformSDK/bin:$VCROOT/SDK/v2.0/bin:\
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$VCROOT/VC/VCPackages:$PATH
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# Lib and INCLUDE should be Windows'ish
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# Note that semicolon (;) is used to separate Windows style paths but
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# colon (:) to separate Cygwin ditto!
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LIBPATH=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\LIB
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LIB=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\LIB\;$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\LIB\;\
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$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\PlatformSDK\\lib\;$WIN_VCROOT\\SDK\\v2.0\\lib
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INCLUDE=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\INCLUDE\;$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\INCLUDE\;\
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$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\PlatformSDK\\include
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export PATH LIB INCLUDE
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Make a simple hello world and try to compile it with the `cl` command
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from within bash. If that does not work, your environment needs
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fixing. Also remember to fix up the PATH environment, especially old
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Erlang installations might have inserted quoted paths that Cygwin does
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not understand. Remove or correct such paths. There should be no
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backslashes in your path environment variable in Cygwin bash, but LIB
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and INCLUDE should contain Windows style paths with semicolon,
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drive letters and backslashes.
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If you wish to use Visual Studio 2008, a couple things need to be tweaked,
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namely the fact that some of the SDK stuff is installed in (by default)
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`C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A` . Just ensure that that
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`C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A\Lib` is in `LIB` and
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`C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A\Include` is in `INCLUDE`. A symptom
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of not doing this is errors about finding kernel32.lib and windows.h.
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Additionally, if you encounter errors about mc.exe not being found, you must
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install the entire Windows SDK (the partial SDK included in visual studio
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apparently does not include it). After installing it you'll want to add
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something like: `/c/cygdrive/Program\ Files/Microsoft\ SDKs/v7.0/bin` to
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your `PATH` to allow the environment to find mc.exe. The next Visual Studio
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(2010) is expected to include this tool.
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Alternatively install the free MS Visual Studio 2008 Express [msvc++] and
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the Windows SDK [32bit-SDK] or [64bit-SDK] depending on the Windows
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platform you are running, which includes the missing mc.exe message
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[msvc++]: http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/8/E/E8EEB394-7F42-4963-A2D8-29559B738298/VS2008ExpressWithSP1ENUX1504728.iso
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[32bit-SDK]: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/E/9/2E911956-F90F-4BFB-8231-E292A7B6F287/GRMSDK_EN_DVD.iso
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[64bit-SDK]: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/E/9/2E911956-F90F-4BFB-8231-E292A7B6F287/GRMSDKX_EN_DVD.iso
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* Sun's Java JDK 1.5.0 or higher. Our Java code (jinterface, ic) is
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written for JDK 1.5.0. Get it for Windows and install it, the JRE is
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not enough. If you don't care about Java, you can skip this step, the
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result will be that jinterface is not built.
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URL: <http://java.sun.com>
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Add javac *LAST* to your path environment in bash, in my case this means:
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PATH="$PATH:/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Java/jdk1.5.0_17/bin"
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No `CLASSPATH` or anything is needed. Type `javac` at the bash prompt
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and you should get a list of available Java options. Make sure by
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typing `which java` that you use the Java you installed. Note however that
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Cygwin's `jar.exe` is used, that's why the JDK bin-directory should be
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added last in the `PATH`.
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* Nullsoft NSIS installer system. You need this to build the self
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installing package. It's a free open source installer that's much
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nicer to use than the commercial Wise and Install shield
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installers. This is the installer we use for commercial releases as
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URL: <http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis>
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Install the lot, especially the modern user interface components, as
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it's definitely needed. Put `makensis` in your path, in my case:
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PATH=/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/NSIS:$PATH
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type makensis at the bash prompt and you should get a list of options
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* OpenSSL for Windows. This is if you want the SSL and crypto
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applications to compile (and run). Go to <http://www.openssl.org>, click
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on the `Related` link and then on the `Binaries` link (upper right
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corner of the page last time I looked), you can then reach the
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"Shining Lights Productions" Web site for Windows binaries
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distributions. Get the latest 32-bit installer, or use 0.9.7c if you get
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trouble with the latest, and install to C:\OpenSSL which is where the
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Makefiles are expecting to find it. It's a nifty installer. The rest should
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be handled by `configure`, you needn't put anything in the path or anything.
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If you want to build openssl for windows yourself (which might be
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possible, as you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't a
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compile-it-yourself person), you either have to put the resulting
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DLL's in your path or in the windows system directory and either
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specify where you put the includes etc with the configure-parameter
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`--with-ssl=<cygwin path to the root>` or put your installation directly
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under `c:\OpenSSL`. The directory structure under the installation root
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for OpenSSL is expected to be one with subdirectories named `include`,
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`bin` and `lib`, possibly with a `VC` subdirectory of `lib` containing
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the actual `.lib` files. Note that the cygwin distributed OpenSSL cannot be
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used, it results in cygwin depending binaries and it has unix style
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archives (`.a`, not `.lib`).
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* Building with wxWidgets. Download wxWidgets-2.8.9 or higher patch
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release (2.9.\* is a developer release which currently does not work
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Install or unpack it to `DRIVE:/PATH/cygwin/opt/local/pgm`.
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Open from explorer (i.e. by double clicking the file)
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`C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.11\build\msw\wx.dsw`
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In Microsoft Visual Studio, click File/Open/File, locate and
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open: `C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.11\include\wx\msw\setup.h`
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enable `wxUSE_GLCANVAS`, `wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT` and `wxUSE_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT`
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Build it by clicking Build/Batch Build and select all unicode release
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(and unicode debug) packages.
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Open `C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.11\contrib/build/stc/stc.dsw`
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and batch build all unicode packages.
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If you are using Visual C++ 9.0 or higher (Visual Studio 2008 onwards) you
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will also need to convert and re-create the project dependencies in the new
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.sln "Solution" format.
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* Open VSC++ & the project `wxMSW-2.8.11\build\msw\wx.dsw`, accepting the
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automatic conversion to the newer VC++ format and save as
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`\wxMSW-2.8.11\build\msw\wx.sln`
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* right-click on the project, and set up the project dependencies for
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`wx.dsw` to achieve the below build order
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jpeg, png, tiff, zlib, regex, expat, base, net, odbc, core,
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gl, html, media, qa, adv, dbgrid, xrc, aui, richtext, xml
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Build all unicode release (and unicode debug) packages either from the
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GUI or alternatively launch a new prompt from somewhere like Start ->
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Programs -> Microsoft Visual C++ -> Visual Studio Tools -> VS2008 Cmd Prompt
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and cd to where you unpacked wxMSW
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pushd c:\wxMSW*\build\msw
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vcbuild /useenv /platform:Win32 /M4 wx.sln "Unicode Release|Win32"
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vcbuild /useenv /platform:Win32 /M4 wx.sln "Unicode Debug|Win32"
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Open VSC++ & convert `C:\wxMSW-2.8.11\contrib\build\stc\stc.dsw` to
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`C:\wxMSW-2.8.11\contrib\build\stc\stc.sln`
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* build the unicode release (and unicode debug) packages from the GUI or
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alternatively open a VS2008 Cmd Prompt and cd to where you unpacked wxMSW
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pushd c:\wxMSW*\contrib\build\stc
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vcbuild /useenv /platform:Win32 /M4 stc.sln "Unicode Release|Win32"
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vcbuild /useenv /platform:Win32 /M4 stc.sln "Unicode Debug|Win32"
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* The Erlang source distribution (from <http://www.erlang.org/download.html>).
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The same as for Unix platforms. Preferably use tar from within Cygwin to
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unpack the source tar.gz (`tar zxf otp_src_%OTP-REL%.tar.gz`).
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set the environment `ERL_TOP` to point to the root directory of the
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source distribution. Let's say I stood in `$HOME/src` and unpacked
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`otp_src_%OTP-REL%.tar.gz`, I then add the following to `.profile`:
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ERL_TOP=$HOME/src/otp_src_%OTP-REL%
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* The TCL/TK binaries. You could compile Tcl/Tk for windows yourself,
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but you can get a stripped down version from our website which is
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suitable to include in the final binary package. If you want to supply
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tcl/tk yourself, read the instructions about how the tcl/tk tar file
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used in the build is constructed under `$ERL_TOP/lib/gs/tcl`. The easy
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way is to download <http://www.erlang.org/download/tcltk85_win32_bin.tar.gz>
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and unpack it standing in the `$ERL_TOP` directory. This will create the
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file `win32.tar.gz` in `$ERL_TOP/lib/gs/tcl/binaries`.
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One last alternative is to create a file named `SKIP` in the
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`$ERL_TOP/lib/gs/` after configure is run, but that will give you an
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erlang system without gs (which might be okay as you probably will use
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The Shell Environment
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---------------------
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So, if you have followed the instructions above, when you start a bash
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shell, you should have an INCLUDE environment with a Windows style
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path, a LIB environment variable also in Windows style, and finally a
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PATH that let's you reach cl, makensis, javac etc from the
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command prompt (use `which cl` etc to verify from bash).
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You should also have an `ERL_TOP` environment variable that is *Cygwin
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style*, and points to a directory containing, among other files, the
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A final massage of the environment is needed, and that is done by
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the script `$ERL_TOP/otp_build`. Start bash and do the following, note
517
the "back-ticks" (\`), can be quite hard to get on some keyboards, but
518
pressing the back-tick key followed by the space bar might do it...
521
$ eval `./otp_build env_win32`
523
If you're unable to produce back-ticks on your keyboard, you can use
527
$ eval $(./otp_build env_win32)
529
This should do the final touch to the environment and building should
530
be easy after this. You could run `./otp_build env_win32` without
531
`eval` just to see what it does, and to see that the environment it
532
sets seems OK. The path is cleaned of spaces if possible (using DOS
533
style short names instead), the variables `OVERRIDE_TARGET`, `CC`, `CXX`,
534
`AR` and `RANLIB` are set to their respective wrappers and the directories
535
`$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc` and
536
`$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tool` are added first in the PATH.
538
Try now a `which erlc`. That should result in the erlc wrapper script
539
(which does not have the .sh extension, for reasons best kept
540
untold...). It should reside in `$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools`.
541
You could also try `which cc.sh`, which `ar.sh` etc.
543
Now you're ready to build...
546
Building and Installing
547
-----------------------
549
Now it's assumed that you have executed `` eval `./otp_build env_win32` ``
550
for this particular shell...
552
Building is easiest using the `otp_build` script. That script takes care
553
of running configure, bootstrapping etc on Windows in a simple
554
way. The `otp_build` script is the utility we use ourselves to build on
555
different platforms and it therefore contains code for all sorts of
556
platforms. The principle is, however, that for non-Unix platforms, one
557
uses `./otp_build env_<target>` to set up environment and then the
558
script knows how to build on the platform "by itself". You've already
559
run `./otp_build env_win32` in the step above, so now it's mostly like
560
we build on any platform. OK, here are then steps; Assuming you will
561
want to build a full installation executable with NSIS, you can omit
562
`<installation directory>` and the release will be copied to
563
`$ERL_TOP/release/win32`: and there is where the packed self installing
564
executable will reside too.
566
$ ./otp_build autoconf # Ignore the warning blob about versions of autoconf
567
$ ./otp_build configure <optional configure options>
568
$ ./otp_build boot -a
569
$ ./otp_build release -a <installation directory>
570
$ ./otp_build installer_win32 <installation directory> # optional
572
Now you will have a file called `otp_win32_R12B.exe` in the
573
`<installation directory>`, i.e. `$ERL_TOP/release/win32`.
575
Lets get into more detail:
577
1. `$ ./otp_build autoconf` - This step rebuilds the configure scripts
578
to work correctly in the cygwin environment. In an ideal world, this
579
would not be needed, but alas, we have encountered several
580
incompatibilities between our distributed configure scripts (generated
581
on a Linux platform) and the cygwin environment over the
582
years. Running autoconf on cygwin ensures that the configure scripts
583
are generated in a cygwin-compatible way and that they will work well
586
2. `$ ./otp_build configure` - This runs the newly generated configure
587
scripts with options making configure behave nicely. The target machine
588
type is plainly `win32`, so a lot of the configure-scripts recognize
589
this awkward target name and behave accordingly. The CC variable also
590
makes the compiler be `cc.sh`, which wraps MSVC++, so all configure
591
tests regarding the C compiler gets to run the right compiler. A lot of
592
the tests are not needed on Windows, but I thought it best to run the
593
whole configure anyway. The only configure option you might want to
594
supply is `--with-ssl`, which might be needed if you have built your
595
own OpenSSL distribution. The Shining Lights distribution should be
596
found automatically by `configure`, if that fails, add a
597
`--with-ssl=<dir>` that specifies the root directory of your OpenSSL
600
3. `$ ./otp_build boot -a` - This uses the bootstrap directory (shipped
601
with the source, `$ERL_TOP/bootstrap`) to build a complete OTP
602
system. It first builds an emulator and sets up a minimal OTP system
603
under `$ERL_TOP/bootstrap`, then starts to compile the different OTP
604
compilers to make the `$ERL_TOP/bootstrap` system potent enough to be
605
able to compile all Erlang code in OTP. Then, all Erlang and C code
606
under `$ERL_TOP/lib` is built using the bootstrap system, giving a
607
complete OTP system (although not installed). When this is done, one
608
can run Erlang from within the source tree, just type `$ERL_TOP/bin/erl`
609
and you should have a prompt. If you omit the -a flag, you'll get a
610
smaller system, that might be useful during development. Now
611
exit from Erlang and start making a release of the thing:
613
4. `$ ./otp_build release -a` - Builds a commercial release tree from the
614
source tree, default is to put it in `$ERL_TOP/release/win32`, you can
615
give any directory as parameter (Cygwin style), but it doesn't really
616
matter if you're going to build a self extracting installer too. You
617
could of course build release to the final directory and then run
618
`./Install.exe` standing in the directory where the release was put,
619
that will create a fully functional OTP installation. But let's make
622
5. `$ ./otp_build installer_win32` - Create the self extracting installer
623
executable. The executable `otp_win32_%OTP-REL%.exe` will be placed
624
in the top directory of the release created in the previous step. If
625
no release directory is specified, the release is expected to have
626
been built to `$ERL_TOP/release/win32`, which also will be the place
627
where the installer executable will be placed. If you specified some
628
other directory for the release (i.e. `./otp_build release -a
629
/tmp/erl_release`), you're expected to give the same parameter here,
630
(i.e. `./otp_build installer_win32 /tmp/erl_release`). You need to have
631
a full NSIS installation and `makensis.exe` in your path for this to
632
work of course. Once you have created the installer, you can run it to
633
install Erlang/OTP in the regular way, just run the executable and
634
follow the steps in the installation wizard. To get all default settings
635
in the installation without any questions asked, you run the executable
636
with the parameter `/S` (capital S) like in:
639
$ release/win32/otp_win32_%OTP-REL% /S
642
and after a while Erlang/OTP-%OTP-REL% will have been installed in
643
`C:\Program Files\erl%ERTS-VSN%\`, with shortcuts in the menu etc.
645
The necessary setup of an Erlang installation is actually done by the
646
program `Install.exe`, which resides in the release top. That program
647
creates `.ini`-files and copies the correct boot scripts. If one has
648
the correct directory tree (like after a `./otp_build release -a`), only
649
the running of `Install.exe` is necessary to get a fully functional
650
OTP. What the self extracting installer adds is (of course) the
651
possibility to distribute the binary easily, together with adding
652
shortcuts to the Windows start menu. There is also some adding of
653
entries in the registry, to associate `.erl` and `.beam` files with
654
Erlang and get nifty icons, but that's not something you'll really need
655
to run Erlang. The registry is also used to store uninstall information,
656
but if one has not used the self extracting installer, one cannot
657
(need not) do any uninstall, one just scratches the release directory
658
and everything is gone. Erlang/OTP does not *need* to put anything
659
in the Windows registry at all, and does not if you don't use the self
660
extracting installer. In other words the installer is pure cosmetics.
662
> *NOTE*: Beginning with R9C, the Windows installer does *not* add Erlang
663
> to the system wide path. If one wants to have Erlang in the path, one
664
> has to add it by hand.
669
Once the system is built, you might want to change it. Having a test
670
release in some nice directory might be useful, but you also can run
671
Erlang from within the source tree. The target `local_setup`, makes
672
the program `$ERL_TOP/bin/erl.exe` usable and it also uses all the OTP
673
libraries in the source tree.
675
If you hack the emulator, you can then build the emulator executable
676
by standing in `$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator` and do a simple
680
Note that you need to have run ``(cd $ERL_TOP && eval `./otp_build env_win32`)``
681
in the particular shell before building anything on Windows. After
682
doing a make opt you can test your result by running `$ERL_TOP/bin/erl`.
683
If you want to copy the result to a release directory (say
684
`/tmp/erl_release`), you do this (still in `$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator`)
686
$ make TESTROOT=/tmp/erl_release release
688
That will copy the emulator executables.
690
To make a debug build of the emulator, you need to recompile both
691
`beam.dll` (the actual runtime system) and `erlexec.dll`. Do like this
694
$ rm bin/win32/erlexec.dll
705
So now when you run `$ERL_TOP/erl.exe`, you should have a debug compiled
706
emulator, which you will see if you do a:
708
1> erlang:system_info(system_version).
710
in the erlang shell. If the returned string contains `[debug]`, you
711
got a debug compiled emulator.
713
To hack the erlang libraries, you simply do a `make opt` in the
714
specific "applications" directory, like:
716
$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib
719
or even in the source directory...
721
$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib/src
724
Note that you're expected o have a fresh Erlang in your path when
725
doing this, preferably the plain %OTP-REL% you have built in the previous
726
steps. You could also add `$ERL_TOP/bootstrap/bin` to your `PATH` before
727
rebuilding specific libraries, that would give you a good enough
728
Erlang system to compile any OTP erlang code. Setting up the path
729
correctly is a little bit tricky, you still need to have
730
`$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc` and
731
`$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools` *before* the actual emulator
732
in the path. A typical setting of the path for using the bootstrap
735
$ export PATH=$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc\
736
:$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools:$ERL_TOP/bootstrap/bin:$PATH
738
That should make it possible to rebuild any library without hassle...
740
If you want to copy a library (an application) newly built, to a
741
release area, you do like with the emulator:
743
$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib
744
$ make TESTROOT=/tmp/erlang_release release
748
* Windows specific C-code goes in the `$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/sys/win32`,
749
`$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/drivers/win32` or `$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32`.
751
* Windows specific erlang code should be used conditionally and the
752
host OS tested in *runtime*, the exactly same beam files should be
753
distributed for every platform! So write code like:
757
do_windows_specific();
759
do_fallback_or_exit()
762
That's basically all you need to get going.
766
My hope is that the possibility to build the whole system on Windows
767
will open up for free development on this platform too. There are many
768
things one might want to do better in the Windows version, like the
769
window-style command prompt as well as pure Cygwin porting. Although i
770
realize it's a much larger step to start building on Windows (with all
771
the software you need) than for instance on Linux, I sincerely hope
772
that some of you will make the effort and start submitting Windows
775
The first build system for Erlang using Cygwin on Windows was created
776
by Per Bergkvist. I haven't used his build system, but it's rumored to
777
be good. The idea to do this came from his work, so credit is well
780
Of course this would have been completely impossible without the
781
excellent Cygwin package. The guys at Cygnus solutions and Redhat
782
deserves a huge THANKS! as well as all the other people in the free
783
software community who have helped in creating the magnificent
784
software that constitutes Cygwin.
786
Good luck and Happy Hacking,
789
Copyright and License
790
---------------------
794
Copyright Ericsson AB 2003-2010. All Rights Reserved.
796
The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
797
Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
798
compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
799
Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
800
retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
802
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
803
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
804
the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
809
Modifying This Document
810
-----------------------
812
Before modifying this document you need to have a look at the
813
`$ERL_TOP/README.md.txt` document.
817
[1]: http://www.erlang.org/faq.html "mailing lists"
added
removed
INSTALL-WIN32.md
