Build the Viewer on Linux: Difference between revisions

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The following are instructions for building the Second Life viewer on linux. This process has been used on [http://www.debian.org/ debian] and debian based systems like [http://www.ubuntu.com/ ubuntu], and also on [http://www.fedoraproject.org/ Fedora]. For other platforms, see [[Get source and compile]].
==Step 0. Review BUILD.LINUX.md==
There is a [https://github.com/secondlife/viewer/blob/develop-linux/doc/BUILD.LINUX.md BUILD.LINUX.md] markdown file in the active '''develop-linux''' branch (see '''Step 2''') which will eventually become the primary documentation for building the SL viewer on Linux. In the meantime the instructions below may also be helpful.


== Required tools ==
==Step 1. Install Requirements==
There are a number of tools that need to be installed first.


* <b>python 2.4</b> [package: python]
* Python 3.7+
** python 2.3 or before doesn't work in SL development.
* [https://git-scm.com/downloads Git]
** python 2.5 or later works, but it is not recommended, since it generates a lot of warning messages when running develop.py.
* [https://cmake.org/download/ CMake] 3.20+ (need to be able to handle <code>--config</code> option)
* <b>GCC 4.1</b> or later C++ compiler.
* Native packages and tools (this list may be incomplete, please update as new dependencies are discovered):
** In a past, <b>GCC 3.4</b> C/C++ compiler [debian/ubuntu: g++-3.4] [fedora: compat-gcc-34-c++] was recommended for SL development, but recent SL viewer requires gcc 4 series.  
  libfontconfig-dev libglib2.0-dev libglvnd-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libosmesa6-dev libvlc-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev ninja-build python3-venv
*** '''libboost-program-options-dev''' is needed on Ubuntu 8.04 to use cmake
* [[Autobuild]] (probably best installed in a [https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html virtual environment])
* <b>yacc</b> or compatible tool [suggest packages: bison]
* <b>lex</b> or compatible tool [suggest packages: flex]


The build process may use the following optional tool:
===Intermediate Check===


* <b>distcc</b> distributed compiler (useful if you have multiple PCs.)
Confirm things are installed properly so far by typing the following in a terminal:
cmake --version
python3 --version
git --version
autobuild --version


== Unpack the source tree ==
If everything reported sensible values and not "Command not found" errors, then you are in good shape!


You can get the source either from the source archives available at [[Source downloads]], or you can get it from [[Subversion]].
==Step 2. Checkout Code==


Using a source archive is the easier option for getting started, and is strongly recommended especially for the first-time builders.  However, some says that if you plan to do active development and want to make your own modifications, while merging Linden Lab's changes, Subversion will probably be much more convenient on the long term.
===Viewer===


=== Getting the source from the source archives ===
Open a terminal and checkout the viewer source code:
Get the source from [[Source downloads]]. You will need all 3 archives: source, artwork and libraries.
git clone https://github.com/secondlife/viewer.git


Choose a location and unpack the source tree and the art work. They will be extracted into a
Until it is merged into the '''develop''' branch you need to checkout '''develop-linux''':
directory called <b>linden</b>.
  cd viewer
git checkout develop-linux


<code>
===Build Variables===
% tar -xzf slviewer-src-<version>.tar.gz
% tar -xzf slviewer-linux-libs-<version>.tar.gz
% unzip slviewer-artwork-<version>.zip
</code>


=== Getting the source from Subversion ===
See [[Building the Viewer with Autobuild#Select Build Variables]]
Select a source [[Source branches|branch]] to check out.


Check it out with:
==Step 3. Configure==
<code>
% svn co http://svn.secondlife.com/svn/linden/<branch> [directory]
</code>
If you don't specify the directory, it'll use the name of the branch as the default.


Now you will have a directory with the source code. This only includes the source code itself, without the libraries or artwork. You will have to get them from the [[Source downloads]] and unpack them into the tree.
Be sure you have the following environment variables set before continuing:


If the directory SVN created is called 'linden' then you can directly unzip and untar the archives on top of it. If it's called something else, create a symlink:
AUTOBUILD_ADDRSIZE=64
<code>
  AUTOBUILD_VARIABLES_FILE=<path to autobuild viewer variables>
  % ln -sf <branch> linden
</code>


Now unpack the libraries and artwork:
Configuring and building with '''autobuild''' works the same on all platformsFull instructions may be found at [[Build_Viewer_With_Autobuild]].
<code>
% tar -xzf slviewer-<os>-libs-<version>.tar.gz
  % unzip slviewer-artwork-<version>.zip
</code>


<br />
autobuild configure -c RelWithDebInfoOS


== Installing the required libraries (that Linden Lab can not or does not provide)==
==Step 4. Build==


=== Libraries and header files that usually come with a Linux distribution ===
autobuild build
Make sure the libraries and header files for the following packages are installed on your system:
; GL : [ubuntu: mesa-common-dev, fedora: mesa-libGL-devel]
; GLU : [ubuntu: libglu1-mesa-dev, fedora: mesa-libGLU-devel]
; glibc : [ubuntu: libc6-dev, fedora: glibc-devel]
; stdc++ library : [ubuntu: libstdc++6, fedora: libstdc++-devel]
; X11 : [ubuntu: libx11-dev, fedora: libX11-devel]
; zlib : [ubuntu: zlib1g-dev, fedora: zlib-devel]
; openssl : [ubuntu: libssl-dev, redhat: openssl-devel]


=== FMOD (audio) ===
===Running your newly built viewer===
FMOD is an audio output library.  FMOD is required to make SL viewer to generates sounds.


* Fetch and unpack <b>FMOD 3.75</b> <http://www.fmod.org/>
==Step 5. Run==


wget http://www.fmod.org/index.php/release/version/fmodapi375linux.tar.gz
To launch the '''viewer''' you built, from your source tree root directory, run:
tar -xzvf fmodapi375linux.tar.gz
mkdir -p linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release_client/
mkdir -p linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_debug/
mkdir -p linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release/
cd fmodapi375linux/
cp api/inc/* ../linden/libraries/i686-linux/include/
cp api/libfmod-3.75.so ../linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release_client/
cp api/libfmod-3.75.so ../linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release/
cp api/libfmod-3.75.so ../linden/libraries/i686-linux/lib_debug/


* FMOD is available free of charge, but it is not itself an open-source.  We understand that some Linux users dislike to use software whose source is not open, and FMOD falls into this category.  <b>If</b> you wish to avoid FMOD, thus disabling audio, you may make these changes:
  build-linux-x86_64/newview/packaged/secondlife
** Comment-out the libfmod line in indra/newview/viewer_manifest.py


== Installing the required dependencies (prepackaged by Linden Lab)==
==Step 6. Optional==


The Second Life Viewer has a number of compile/link dependencies on external libraries which
===Running Unit Tests===
are needed - to help you, the source download page contains a link to a <i>slviewer-linux-libs</i> package which you unpack over the source tree to fill most of the dependencies (and thus avoid most of the fiddly work described on this page).


If you download the libs to the top folder, where the <i>linden</i> folder is after getting and extracting the viewer source code tarball, the following command should unpack everything to the right spot.  
TODO: provide instructions for running unit tests.
<code>
tar xvfz slviewer-linux-libs-<version>.tar.gz
</code>


'''Note''': as of 1.21, very little of what once was included in the libraries tarball are still there, so this is a very small tarball.  The other libraries will be downloaded as part of the build process.
===Optional: Installing Proprietary Libraries===


If you don't wish to use the precompiled libraries, see [[Building the viewer libraries (Linux)]].
Some builds of the the Viewer depends on proprietary libraries (alternative open source libraries are also provided for developers who prefer or are not licensed to use the proprietary libraries).  Lindens do not distribute these libraries, so you will need to fetch and install these even if you download the libraries packages.  (This is due to licensing restrictions.  Don't ask, Lindens already did, and can't get permission.  So you do have to get them yourself.)


== Compiling ==
TODO: provide instructions for building proprietary libraries.


For viewers 1.21 and beyond, see [[Building the viewer with CMake]]
==Handling Problems==


For older viewers (1.20 and earlier) see [[Compiling the viewer with SCons (Linux)]]
If you encounter errors or run into problems following the instructions above, please first check whether someone else already had the same issue. A solution might be known already.


== Testing and packaging the client ==
You may find the solution in any of these resources:
* [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|This talk page]] (Report useful experiences there)
* [[#Common_Issues.2FBugs.2FGlitches_And_Solutions|Issue list below]] (If new issues, please add it to talk page above instead of there)
* [[Talk:Microsoft_Windows_Builds|Old talk page]]
* [[Common compilation problems]] (Rather old)
* [[Issue tracker]]


=== Testing the result from inside the tree ===
* Fix it: [[Modifying CMake Files‎]] and please, submit a patch!


You may find it simpler and less error-prone to follow the instructions in the [[Compiling_the_viewer_%28Linux%29#Packaging_the_client|Packaging the client]] section below to run the client under the same conditions as an end-user would.
===Getting Help===


* 2008-05-29 (Ochi Wolfe): Compiling the 1.20.7 r88152 viewer, it seems like even when compiling as "release" the viewer is built ready-to-go inside the newview/packaged/ directory including the message_template.msg and message.xml in the right place. Try to cd to the newview/packaged/ directory and run SL from there with the ./secondlife command as you would normally do.
Even when no description of your problem has been written down yet, someone might know about it, so get in touch with the community to get help.


Otherwise:
* Subscribe to [[OpenSource-Dev|OpenSource-Dev Mailing List]] ([https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/opensource-dev subscribe]) and post your question there.
 
* Preparing to run 'in-tree'
** <i>ensure that you have indra/newview/app_settings/static_*.db2</i> - if not, you'll find it in the 'slviewer-artwork' download (a zip file).
** now, from the indra directory:
<code>
$ cp ../scripts/messages/message_template.msg newview/app_settings/
$ cp ../etc/message.xml newview/app_settings/
</code>
 
'''Important:''' Starting from version 1.18.0, copying message.xml is also required. Missing it will cause group IMs to fail to work, although the viewer will run fine otherwise.
 
* Running it: The LD_LIBRARY_PATH stuff ensures that the binary looks for its libraries in the right places.  From the indra directory:
<code>
$ ( cd newview && LD_LIBRARY_PATH="`pwd`"/../../libraries/i686-linux/lib_release_client:"`pwd`"/app_settings/mozilla-runtime-linux-i686:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:/usr/local/lib  ./secondlife-i686-bin )
</code>
 
<br />
==== The client seems kinda slow. ====
 
By default, the open-source Second Life Viewer uses the open-source OpenJPEG library to decode the (many) JPEG-2000 texture images it receives from the servers.  This isn't quite of comparable speed to the proprietary third-party library which the Linden Lab viewer builds have traditionally used, for which we are not permitted to redistribute the source.
 
However, the <i>slviewer-linux-libs</i> package includes two pre-built libraries which facilitate the use of this slightly faster image decoding method: <b>libkdu_v42R.so</b> and <b>libllkdu.so</b>.  These are provided for your testing; again, we are not permitted to grant you the right to re-distribute these libraries to downstream users, but the viewer will still work (albeit slightly slower) without them.
 
To <b>use these faster image-decoding libraries</b>, they simply need to be put into the right places relative to the viewer runtime directory - nothing needs to be reconfigured or recompiled.  If you're running the client from the source tree, the following will make the KDU libraries available:
<code>
cp "$SLSRC/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release_client/libllkdu.so" "$SLSRC/indra/newview/libllkdu.so"
mkdir "$SLSRC/indra/lib"
cp "$SLSRC/libraries/i686-linux/lib_release_client/libkdu_v42R.so" "$SLSRC/indra/lib/libkdu_v42R.so"
</code>
 
The file <b>indra/newview/viewer_manifest.py</b> contains some commented-out entries describing where these libraries belong; if you uncomment the two lines corresponding to libllkdu and libkdu then they will be automatically copied into the right place in the runtime directory when you follow the 'Packaging the client' instructions below.
 
==== File Dialogs Don't Work on 64 bit system ====
 
If you run a 64 bit system, and your file dialogs don't work, or they worked before and stopped after you installed an update, it may be due to a mismatch between the headers used to compile the viewer and the library it's using. The log will contain something like this:
<code>
2007-06-21T01:28:35Z INFO: ll_try_gtk_init: Starting GTK Initialization.
2007-06-21T01:28:36Z INFO: ll_try_gtk_init: GTK Initialized.
2007-06-21T01:28:36Z INFO: ll_try_gtk_init: - Compiled against GTK version 2.10.11
2007-06-21T01:28:36Z INFO: ll_try_gtk_init: - Running against GTK version 2.10.6
2007-06-21T01:28:36Z WARNING: ll_try_gtk_init: - GTK COMPATIBILITY WARNING: Gtk+ version too old (micro mismatch)
</code>
 
What happens here is that your distribution includes 32 bit GTK libraries, but the package only includes the libraries themselves and not the headers. When building, the SL client will build against the headers included with the main 64 bit GTK package. This will work if the 64 bit version of the library is the same or older than the 32 bit one. However, if your 32 bit library is older, then the viewer will detect the mismatch (built with headers for a newer version of GTK than it's using) and turn GTK off.
 
Possible solutions:
* Download the source for the version of the 32 bit GTK libraries your distribution comes with, and build your viewer against those headers.
* Upgrade your 32 bit GTK package so that it's the same or newer as the 64 bit one.
* Downgrade your 64 bit package (may not be a good idea).
 
=== Packaging the client ===
 
If you substitute 'BUILD=release' with '<b>BUILD=releasefordownload</b>' in the 'Compiling' section above, then packaging the resulting code, libraries, data and documentation into a tarball for the end-user will be done automatically as the final stage of the build process; the pristine end-user client distribution has been assembled into the directory <b>indra/newview/SecondLife_i686_1_X_Y_Z/</b> and has also been tarred into <b>indra/newview/SecondLife_i686_1_X_Y_Z.tar.bz2</b>
 
The file which controls what (and where) files go into the end-user runtime viewer directory is <b>indra/newview/viewer_manifest.py</b>
 
 
== Resident contributed instructions ==
 
=== Automated libraries and headers adjustments, compilation and packaging ===
 
Here are two scripts (one for v1.20 and older, and one for v1.21 and newer viewers) that basically do all what is described above, and more, and entitle you to compile a SL client very easily:
 
*  [[User:Henri Beauchamp/Automated Linux Build Script (1.20 and earlier)]]
*  [[User:Henri Beauchamp/Building the viewer with CMake/cmake-SL script]]
 
=== FreeBSD ===
 
A list of patches is given for [[Compiling the viewer (FreeBSD)]].
 
= Submitting Patches =
This is probably far down the road, but if you make changes to the source and want to submit them, see the page about [[Submitting patches|submitting patches]].


----
[[Category:Compiling viewer]]
[[Category:Compiling viewer]]

Latest revision as of 09:37, 5 January 2026

Step 0. Review BUILD.LINUX.md

There is a BUILD.LINUX.md markdown file in the active develop-linux branch (see Step 2) which will eventually become the primary documentation for building the SL viewer on Linux. In the meantime the instructions below may also be helpful.

Step 1. Install Requirements

  • Python 3.7+
  • Git
  • CMake 3.20+ (need to be able to handle --config option)
  • Native packages and tools (this list may be incomplete, please update as new dependencies are discovered):
 libfontconfig-dev libglib2.0-dev libglvnd-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libosmesa6-dev libvlc-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev ninja-build python3-venv

Intermediate Check

Confirm things are installed properly so far by typing the following in a terminal:

cmake --version
python3 --version
git --version
autobuild --version

If everything reported sensible values and not "Command not found" errors, then you are in good shape!

Step 2. Checkout Code

Viewer

Open a terminal and checkout the viewer source code:

git clone https://github.com/secondlife/viewer.git

Until it is merged into the develop branch you need to checkout develop-linux:

cd viewer
git checkout develop-linux

Build Variables

See Building the Viewer with Autobuild#Select Build Variables

Step 3. Configure

Be sure you have the following environment variables set before continuing:

AUTOBUILD_ADDRSIZE=64
AUTOBUILD_VARIABLES_FILE=<path to autobuild viewer variables>

Configuring and building with autobuild works the same on all platforms. Full instructions may be found at Build_Viewer_With_Autobuild.

autobuild configure -c RelWithDebInfoOS

Step 4. Build

autobuild build

Running your newly built viewer

Step 5. Run

To launch the viewer you built, from your source tree root directory, run:

 build-linux-x86_64/newview/packaged/secondlife

Step 6. Optional

Running Unit Tests

TODO: provide instructions for running unit tests.

Optional: Installing Proprietary Libraries

Some builds of the the Viewer depends on proprietary libraries (alternative open source libraries are also provided for developers who prefer or are not licensed to use the proprietary libraries). Lindens do not distribute these libraries, so you will need to fetch and install these even if you download the libraries packages. (This is due to licensing restrictions. Don't ask, Lindens already did, and can't get permission. So you do have to get them yourself.)

TODO: provide instructions for building proprietary libraries.

Handling Problems

If you encounter errors or run into problems following the instructions above, please first check whether someone else already had the same issue. A solution might be known already.

You may find the solution in any of these resources:

Getting Help

Even when no description of your problem has been written down yet, someone might know about it, so get in touch with the community to get help.