Get source and compile

Even if you don't plan to develop, just the act of downloading and compiling can uncover problems. If the version you download doesn't build on your platform, file a bug.

Getting the source

The Second Life source code can be downloaded from our Subversion repository at

https://www.lindenlab.dreamhosters.com/svn/linden/release/

You can download the files using your web browser, but it is recommended that you use a Subversion Client You can download a command line client for most operating systems at the Subversion web site. If you are more comfortable with Graphical interfaces, you can also use TortoiseSVN, or RapidSVN

Get a Subversion account from Rob Linden and check out using the following command

svn co https://www.lindenlab.dreamhosters.com/svn/linden/release/

To understand what you are looking at after you check out the code, see viewer source.

Setting up the development environment w/libraries

Windows

Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional
- Microsoft Platform SDK
- DirectX 9.0 SDK Update (Summer 2003)
- Set up the project globals:
  - Start Visual C++
  - Go to Tools/Options/Projects/VC++ Directories
  - Make sure that the includes and libraries paths have the DirectX SDK paths first, then the Platform SDK paths, and then the Visual C++ paths.

Libraries

In the folder you checked the source out to, create a folder called "libraries", in that folder, create another called "include" - this is where we will install the third party libraries that Second Life uses.

Boost

Download Boost.
In the extracted directory, there is a folder called "boost", copy it with it's contents into the "include" folder.

Expat

Create a "expat" folder inside of the "include" folder.
Download Expat Win32 Binary
Run Setup, and install to a convenient location (I installed to my desktop)
Open the installed directory, and in "Source\lib\" copy the "expat.h" and "expat_external.h" files to the "include\expat\" folder.

ZLib

Create a "zlib" folder inside of the "include" folder.
Download Zlib
Extract the archive to a convenient location.
Open the extracted firectory, and copy the "zlib.h" and "zconf.h" files to the "include\zlib" folder.

Platform notes

Linux

Ubuntu build notes

Ubuntu 5.10 and higher uses a newer version of libc6 with a bug fix that breaks our codebase. If you see errors of the form:

   obj_dat.c:(.text+0x857): undefined reference to `__ctype_b'

...when you try to build our codebase then you need to enable the CTYPE_WORKAROUND. If you use 'make' or 'dmake', add the following lines to your ~/.bashrc file:

   export SIMULATOR_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"
   export RPCSERVER_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"
   export DATASERVER_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"
   export USERSERVER_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"
   export TEST_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"

If you use 'scons', add the follow line to your ~/.bashrc file:

   export SERVER_CPPFLAGS="-DCTYPE_WORKAROUND"

Source your ~/.bashrc, or open a new terminal, and build again.