# Building Stellarium Hello, and thank you for your interest to Stellarium! If you want to test a prebuilt beta version, take a look at https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium-data/releases/tag/weekly-snapshot ## Why build from source? Each time Stellarium is released, the source code is released in Github's packaging system. Building source code that is released in this way should give you a working copy of Stellarium which is functionally identical to the binaries for that release. It is also possible to get the source code "in development" using Git. This may contain new features or bugfixes which have been implemented since the last release of Stellarium, so it's often more fun. **Warning:** Git versions of the Stellarium source code are work in progress, and as such may produce an unstable program, may not work at all, or may (rarely) not even compile. ## Integrated Development Environment (IDE) If you plan to develop Stellarium, it is highly recommended to utilize an IDE. You can use any IDE of your choice, but QtCreator is recommended as best suited for Qt development. Inside QtCreator, you open the `CMakeLists.txt` inside Stellarium's source directory. Default settings create a debug build with all useful plugins. In the Projects tab (button in vertical left bar), you should at least configure Debug and Release builds. Do not forget to load the [Code Style File](https://stellarium.org/files/ide/stellarium-ide.xml) ([TAR.GZ](https://stellarium.org/files/ide/stellarium-ide.xml.tgz)) in Extras/Settings/C++/Coding style (Import... button). ## Prerequisite Packages To build and develop Stellarium, several packages may be required from your distribution. Here's a list. ### Required dependencies - A C++ compiler able to compile C++17 code ([GCC](https://gcc.gnu.org/) 7 or later, Clang 6 or later, MSVC 2017 (15.7) or later; MSVC2019 required for Qt6) - [CMake](https://www.cmake.org/) 3.16.0 or later - buildsystem used by many open source projects - [Qt Framework](https://www.qt.io/) 5.12.0/6.2.0 or later. We recommend 5.15.2 or 6.5.1 - [OpenGL](https://www.opengl.org/) - graphics library - [Zlib](https://www.zlib.net) - compression library ### Dependencies ### Optional dependencies - [Git](https://git-scm.com) - required for obtaining latest changes in source code - [gettext](https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/) - required for developers for extract of lines for translation - [Doxygen](http://doxygen.org/) - if you want to build the API documentation you will need this - [Graphviz](http://www.graphviz.org/) - required to build the API documentation and include fancy class diagrams - [libgps](https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/index.html) - if you want to build Stellarium with GPS support (Linux/macOS only) ### Optionally bundled dependencies If these are not found on the system, they are downloaded automatically. See [MAINTAINER BUSINESS](MAINTAINER_BUSINESS.md) for details. - [INDI](https://indilib.org) - [QXlsx](https://github.com/QtExcel/QXlsx) - [ShowMySky](https://10110111.github.io/CalcMySky/), can be disabled with `-DENABLE_SHOWMYSKY=OFF` CMake parameter. If enabled (the default), it also requires `libglm-dev libeigen3-dev`. ### Installing these packages To install all of these, use the following commands: #### Debian / Ubuntu ##### Qt5 ``` sudo apt install build-essential cmake zlib1g-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libdrm-dev gcc g++ \ graphviz doxygen gettext git libgps-dev \ gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio \ gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-vaapi qtbase5-dev \ qtbase5-private-dev qtscript5-dev libqt5svg5-dev qttools5-dev-tools \ qttools5-dev libqt5opengl5-dev qtmultimedia5-dev libqt5multimedia5-plugins \ libqt5serialport5 libqt5serialport5-dev qtpositioning5-dev libqt5positioning5 \ libqt5positioning5-plugins qtwebengine5-dev libqt5charts5-dev \ libexiv2-dev libnlopt-cxx-dev ``` ##### Qt6 Ubuntu 22.04 comes with Qt5.15 and Qt6.2. To build with Qt6: ``` sudo apt install build-essential cmake zlib1g-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libdrm-dev libglx-dev \ gcc g++ graphviz doxygen gettext git libxkbcommon-x11-dev libgps-dev \ gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio \ gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-vaapi \ qt6-base-private-dev qt6-multimedia-dev qt6-positioning-dev qt6-tools-dev \ qt6-tools-dev-tools qt6-base-dev-tools qt6-qpa-plugins qt6-image-formats-plugins \ qt6-l10n-tools qt6-webengine-dev qt6-webengine-dev-tools libqt6charts6-dev \ libqt6charts6 libqt6opengl6-dev libqt6positioning6-plugins libqt6serialport6-dev \ qt6-base-dev libqt6webenginecore6-bin libqt6webengine6-data \ libexiv2-dev libnlopt-cxx-dev ``` #### Fedora / CentOS Note: This should work on RHEL/CentOS 8 or later and recent versions of Fedora. To build on CentOS 7 or older, see [Linux with outdated Qt](#linux-with-outdated-qt). ``` sudo dnf install cmake gcc graphviz doxygen gettext git \ qt5-qtbase-devel qt5-qtbase-private-devel qt5-qttools-devel qt5-qtscript-devel qt5-qtsvg-devel qt5-qtmultimedia-devel \ qt5-qtserialport-devel qt5-qtlocation-devel qt5-qtcharts-devel qt5-qtwebengine-devel ``` #### Linux with outdated Qt Stellarium tracks the recent Qt releases fairly closely and as such many Linux distribution repositories do not contain an up-to-date enough version for building Stellarium. In the case of Ubuntu, the ''backports'' repository is often good enough, but there may be a need to install it "outside" your package manager. Here's how. The Qt development team provides binary installers. If you want to build Qt yourself from source, this is fine but it will take a ''long'' time. We recommend the following procedure for manually installing the latest Qt (required: 5.12 or above at the moment): - Download the Linux/X11 package from [Qt Company](http://www.qt.io/download-open-source/). Choose 32/64 bit as appropriate. - Install it to `/opt/Qt5` - When you want to build Stellarium, execute these commands to set up the environment so that the new Qt is used (for 64-bit package): ``` export QTDIR=/opt/Qt5/5.12.12/gcc_64 export PATH=$QTDIR/bin:$PATH export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$QTDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH ``` - After installation, you should write a script which sets `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` and then calls Stellarium: ``` #!/bin/sh export QTDIR=/opt/Qt5/5.12.12/gcc_64 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$QTDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH ./stellarium ``` #### Linux without QtWebEngine On some distributions (known for ARM systems, like Raspberry OS (Raspbian)) there is no QtWebEngine. The CMake script will check installed `qtwebengine5` package and if it is not found emits a warning, but Stellarium will be built without QtWebEngine support. The result is shown in the system web browser. #### MacOS - Install the latest version of [Apple's Developer Tools](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/). - Install [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/). - Install required packages: ``` brew install cmake git gettext brew link gettext --force ``` On MacOS 11 and above, if ``` brew link gettext --force ``` failed due to : ``` Linking /usr/local/Cellar/gettext/0.21... Error: Could not symlink include/autosprintf.h /usr/local/include is not writable. ``` Try the following: ``` sudo mkdir /usr/local/include sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(brew --prefix)/* ``` - Install latest Qt 5: ``` brew install qt@5 ``` - Add Qt to your PATH environment variable Intel Mac: add the following line to `~/.bash_profile` (Bash) or `~/.zprofile` (Zsh): ``` export PATH=/usr/local/opt/qt@5/bin:$PATH ``` ARM-based (Apple Silicon) Mac: add the following line to `~/.bash_profile` (Bash) or `~/.zprofile` (Zsh): ``` export PATH=/opt/homebrew/opt/qt@5/bin:$PATH ``` You may using the distribution from the Qt Company to install the [latest stable version](https://www.qt.io/download-qt-installer) of Qt. In this case adding Qt to your PATH environment variable will to adding to your `~/.bash_profile` (Bash) or `~/.zprofile` (Zsh) file the following line (for example we installed Qt 5.12.12): ``` export PATH=~/Qt/5.12/clang_64/bin:$PATH ``` #### MacOS without QtWebEngine On ARM-based (Apple Silicon) Macs, there is no support for QtWebEngine or it buggy (QtWebEngine in Qt 5.15.2). The CMake script will check installed `QtWebEngine` libraries and if then is not in system then Stellarium will build without QtWebEngine support. The result is shown in the system web browser. #### Windows - Install the [Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2019 or 2022](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/) (or "better" - e.g. Professional) from Microsoft Website. Qt 5.15 requires MSVC2019. - To get the source code of Stellarium you need to install some git environment. [Git for Windows](https://git-scm.com/download/win) seems ok, or the Git Bash and Git GUI, whatever seems suitable for you. But it is not necessary. - Get the [latest version of Qt from Qt Company](http://www.qt.io/download-open-source/). We recommend to use Qt 5.15.2 or, better, Qt6. For Qt5 you must select Qt Script and msvc2019 among so many checkboxes. After installing all required libraries and tools you should configure the build environment. Add `C:\Qt\Qt5.15.2` to your `PATH` variable - you should add string `C:\Qt\Qt5.15.2\msvc2019;C:\Qt\Qt5.15.2\msvc2019\bin` for 32-bit or `C:\Qt\Qt5.15.2\msvc2019_64;C:\Qt\Qt5.15.2\msvc2019_64\bin` for 64-bit to `PATH` variable. (Replace the version numbers of Qt and the version of Visual Studio (2017/2019) with the version that you have installed) If you also want to run the ShowMySky sky model, add another directory to the PATH variable. This depends on your build environment. If builds are made into `D:\StelDev\GIT\build-stellarium-Desktop_Qt_6_5_1_MSVC2019_64bit-Release\`, this would be `D:\StelDev\GIT\build-stellarium-Desktop_Qt_6_5_1_MSVC2019_64bit-Release\_deps\showmysky-qt6-build\ShowMySky` **ANGLE issues:** - The ANGLE library for Qt5-based builds should be taken from Qt 5.6 (all later versions don't work) and can be downloaded - for [x64](https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium-data/releases/download/qt-5.6/libGLES-x64.zip) - and [x32](https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium-data/releases/download/qt-5.6/libGLES-Win32.zip). - (Don't ask us why. Find a solution!) **WSL: libQt5Core.so.5 not found** Fresh installations of WSL may have issues not finding libQt5Core.so.5. Run ``` sudo strip --remove-section=.note.ABI-tag /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQt5Core.so.5 ``` (https://superuser.com/questions/1347723/arch-on-wsl-libqt5core-so-5-not-found-despite-being-installed) **Known limitations with Qt 5.15.x:** - Qt 5.15.0 and 5.15.1 have a buggy `lconvert` and should not be used. Also `lconvert` on Qt 5.15.2 still allocates GBs of memory for translation of a few MBs of strings, if it can get it. **Note:** After changes to the `PATH` variable you should reboot the computer to apply those changes. #### Windows (static) You can build a static version using MSVC-static kit (for example we installed Qt 5.15.12 with MSVC2019): To prepare a static kit, prepare src package of Qt 5.15.12, and configure compilation tool (Python, Ruby, Perl and Visual Studio 2019). Enter src folder: ``` configure.bat -static -prefix "D:\Qt\msvc2019_static" -confirm-license -opensource -debug-and-release -platform win32-msvc -nomake examples -nomake tests -plugin-sql-sqlite -plugin-sql-odbc -qt-zlib -qt-libpng -qt-libjpeg -opengl desktop -mp nmake nmake install ``` When finishing compilation, configure kit in Qt Creator. Clone Kit "Desktop Qt 5.15.12 MSVC" to "Desktop Qt 5.15.12 MSVC (static)". Then configure CMake Generator with NMake Makefiles JOM + Extra generator: CodeBlocks. Finally, just open CMakeLists.txt in Qt Creator and build it with MSVC-static kit. ## Getting the source code We recommend using a copy of our git repository to build your own installation as it contains some dependencies required for building. ### Extract the tarball or ZIP containing the source code You can find the source code from ``` https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium/releases ``` Do this command in a terminal (if you prefer, you might use arK or some other graphical archive tool): ``` $ tar zxf stellarium-23.4.tar.gz ``` You should now have a directory `stellarium-23.4` with the source code in it. ### Clone project from GitHub To create the copy install git from your OS distribution repository or from https://git-scm.com/. The git repository has become quite large (about 2GB). You do not need the complete history to build or continue development, but can try a *blobless clone* (https://github.blog/2020-12-21-get-up-to-speed-with-partial-clone-and-shallow-clone/) ``` $ git clone --filter=blob:none https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium.git $ cd stellarium ``` Else, to get the full repository, execute the following commands: ``` $ git clone https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium.git $ cd stellarium ``` If you ever want to contribute from a Windows environment, you *must* configure git to use Unix-style line endings. (The --global applies to all projects.) (https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/getting-started-with-git/configuring-git-to-handle-line-endings) ``` $ git config [--global] core.autocrlf true ``` ### Download source code from GitHub You can [download](https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium/archive/master.zip) fresh source code from GitHub by web. #### Windows specifics On Windows save the file (`master.zip` or `stellarium-23.4.tar.gz`) to the `C:/Devel` directory as example. You will need a decompression program installed in Windows, for example [7-Zip](http://www.7-zip.org/). The root of the source tree will be `C:/Devel/stellarium` for simplicity. ## Building Assuming you have collected all the necessary libraries, here's what you need to do to build and run Stellarium: ### On Linux ``` $ mkdir -p build/unix $ cd build/unix $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/stellarium ../.. $ make -jN ``` ### On macOS ``` $ mkdir -p build/macosx $ cd build/macosx $ cmake ../.. $ make -jN ``` ### On Windows ``` $ md build $ cd build $ md msvc $ cd msvc $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=c:\stellarium-bin -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" ../.. $ cmake --build . -- /maxcpucount:N /nologo ``` For Visual Studio 2017: ``` $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=c:\stellarium-bin -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" ../.. ``` Instead of `N` in `-j` (`N` in `/maxcpucount`) pass a number of CPU cores you want to use during a build. If you have Qt5 installed using official Qt installer, then pass parameter `CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH` to cmake call used to configure Stellarium, e.g. ``` $ cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/Qt5 ../.. ``` When you are using QtCreator IDE, build directories are created by the IDE. It appears that on Windows, a directory name is proposed, but you have to create it manually. You can keep your copy up-to-date by typing `git pull --rebase` in ~/stellarium. Feel free to send patches to our mailing list stellarium@googlegroups.com ### Supported CMake parameters List of supported parameters (passed as `-DPARAMETER=VALUE`): Parameter | TYPE | Default | Description -------------------------------------| -------|---------|----------------------------------------------------- | CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX | path | * | Prefix where to install Stellarium | CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH | path | | Additional path to look for libraries | CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE | string | Release | Build type of Stellarium | CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES | string | arm64;x86_64 | macOS architecture** | CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET | string | 11.0 | Minimum macOS deployment version** | OPENGL_DEBUG_LOGGING | bool | OFF | Enable to log OpenGL information using the GL_KHR_debug extension/QOpenGLLogger | ENABLE_QT6 | bool | ON | Enable building Qt6-based Stellarium | ENABLE_NLS | bool | ON | Enable interface translation | ENABLE_SHOWMYSKY | bool | ON | Enable support for ShowMySky module that implements a realistic atmosphere model | ENABLE_GPS | bool | ON | Enable GPS support | ENABLE_LIBGPS | bool | ON | Enable GPS support with libGPS library (N/A on Windows) | ENABLE_MEDIA | bool | ON | Enable sound and video support | ENABLE_XLSX | bool | ON | Enable support for XLSX (Excel) files | ENABLE_SCRIPTING | bool | ON | Enable the scripting feature | ENABLE_RELEASE_BUILD | bool | OFF | This option flags the build as an official release | ENABLE_TESTING | bool | OFF | Enable unit tests | ENABLE_QTWEBENGINE | bool | ON | Enable QtWebEngine module support if it installed | USE_PLUGIN_ANGLEMEASURE | bool | ON | Enable building the Angle Measure plugin | USE_PLUGIN_ARCHAEOLINES | bool | ON | Enable building the ArchaeoLines plugin | USE_PLUGIN_CALENDARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Calendars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_EQUATIONOFTIME | bool | ON | Enable building the Equation Of Time plugin | USE_PLUGIN_EXOPLANETS | bool | ON | Enable building the Exoplanets plugin | USE_PLUGIN_HELLOSTELMODULE | bool | OFF | Enable building the HelloStelModule plugin (example of simple plugin) | USE_PLUGIN_LENSDISTORTIONESTIMATOR | bool | ON | Enable building the Lens Distortion Estimator plugin | USE_PLUGIN_METEORSHOWERS | bool | ON | Enable building the Meteor Showers plugin | USE_PLUGIN_MISSINGSTARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Missing Stars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_NAVSTARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Navigational Stars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_NOVAE | bool | ON | Enable building the Bright Novae plugin | USE_PLUGIN_OBSERVABILITY | bool | ON | Enable building the Observability Analysis plugin | USE_PLUGIN_OCULARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Oculars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_OCULUS | bool | OFF | Enable building the Oculus plugin (support for Oculus Rift - outdated) | USE_PLUGIN_ONLINEQUERIES | bool | ON | Enable building the Online Queries plugin | USE_PLUGIN_POINTERCOORDINATES | bool | ON | Enable building the Pointer Coordinates plugin | USE_PLUGIN_PULSARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Pulsars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_QUASARS | bool | ON | Enable building the Quasars plugin | USE_PLUGIN_REMOTECONTROL | bool | ON | Enable building the Remote Control plugin | USE_PLUGIN_REMOTESYNC | bool | ON | Enable building the Remote Sync plugin | USE_PLUGIN_SATELLITES | bool | ON | Enable building the Satellites plugin | USE_PLUGIN_SCENERY3D | bool | ON | Enable building the 3D Scenery plugin | USE_PLUGIN_SIMPLEDRAWLINE | bool | OFF | Enable building the SimpleDrawLine plugin (example of simple graphics plugin) | USE_PLUGIN_SOLARSYSTEMEDITOR | bool | ON | Enable building the Solar System Editor plugin | USE_PLUGIN_SUPERNOVAE | bool | ON | Enable building the Historical Supernovae plugin | USE_PLUGIN_TELESCOPECONTROL | bool | ON | Enable building the Telescope Control plugin | USE_PLUGIN_TEXTUSERINTERFACE | bool | ON | Enable building the Text User Interface plugin | USE_PLUGIN_VTS | bool | OFF | Enable building the Vts plugin (allow to use Stellarium as a plugin in CNES VTS) Notes: \* `/usr/local` on Unix-like systems, `C:\Program Files` or `C:\Program Files (x86)` on Windows depending on OS type (32 or 64 bit) and build configuration. \** Default values for Qt6 environment on macOS ## Test-run compiled program without installing After compilation, you may run the program when you are in the right directory. ### Linux Assuming the stellarium sources are in DEV/stellarium and build in DEV/stellarium/build/unix ``` cd DEV/stellarium ./build/unix/src/stellarium ``` ### Windows Most users will work with QtCreator which sets its own paths for debug and release builds. Running with the designated buttons (green arrow) from inside QtCreator should work. You can also create a link for the executable in the src subdirectory of the build directory. Move this link to the source directory and edit its properties to run inside the source directory. Then you can double-click this link, or even place it in your task bar. ## Code testing There are several test programs in the repository. To build them, define `-DENABLE_TESTING=ON` (or `-DENABLE_TESTING=1`), or configure cmake in QtCreator's Projects tab. Then configure a Debug build and select a test... application to be executed. Please try to test your changes before committing to master. Our automated [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium/actions/workflows/ci.yml) and [AppVeyor](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/alex-w/stellarium) builds will signal failure when tests don't complete. To execute all unit tests in terminal please run: ``` $ make test ``` or ``` $ ctest --output-on-failure ``` ## Packaging OK, you have built the program from source code and now you may want to install the executable file into your operating system or create a package for distribution. To install the executable file (with necessary libraries and data files) into the directory defined in parameter `CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`, run: ``` $ sudo make install ``` ### Linux specifics To create a source packages on linux you need run: ``` $ make package_source ``` To create a binary package (TGZ) on linux you need run: ``` $ make package ``` After building of TGZ binary package you may create a DEB or RPM package also: ``` $ cpack -G DEB ``` or ``` $ cpack -G RPM ``` ### macOS specifics **IMPORTANT**: you should delete or move aside the old `Stellarium.app` before each new build: ``` $ rm -r Stellarium.app ``` Then build the macOS application: ``` $ make install ``` You'll find now an application `Stellarium.app` with the correct icon in the build directory. On ARM-based (Apple Silicon) Macs, ARM application need to be code signed. To sign the application with an ad-hoc signature: ``` codesign --force --deep -s - Stellarium.app ``` To create the DMG file (Apple Disk Image) run: ``` $ mkdir Stellarium $ cp -r Stellarium.app Stellarium $ hdiutil create -format UDZO -srcfolder Stellarium Stellarium.dmg ``` ### Windows specifics To create a Windows installer you need to have installed [Inno Setup](http://www.jrsoftware.org/). If you have followed all the above procedures the current build will generate the necessary `stellarium.iss` file in `C:\Devel\stellarium\builds\msvc`. Double click on it, then from the menu bar "build-compile". It will build the stellarium installer package and place it in a folder of the stellarium source tree root folder `installers`. So you can find it in `C:\Devel\stellarium\stellarium\installers` Or you can use cmake command for create an installer: ``` $ cmake --build c:\devel\stellarium\build\msvc --target stellarium-installer ``` ### Supported make targets Make groups various tasks as "targets". Starting make without any arguments causes make to build the default target - in our case, building Stellarium, its tests, the localization files, etc. Target | Description -----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | install | Installation of all binaries and related files to the directory determined by `CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX` | test | Launch the suite of test executables | apidoc | Generate an API documentation | package_source | Create a source package for distributions | package | Create a binary packages for distributions on linux/UNIX | installer | Create a binary packages for distributions on Windows Thanks! \- *The Stellarium development team*