Compiling for Windows

Author: Kang Lin kl222@126.com
Translator: Allan Nordhøy epost@anotheragency.no

Environment

Operating system

Windows 10, version 20H2 (19042.985)

QtCreator

Version: v11.0.0 .
It is recommended to use version v5.0.2 or later.
Prior versions don't have CMake support.

Tools

• Compiler

  • Visual Studio
    • Home
      • https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/
      • http://msdn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/vstudio
      • https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/zh-hans/downloads/
    • Version：
      • Visual Studio 2013
      • Visual Studio 2015
      • Visual Studio 2017
      • Visual Studio 2019
      • Visual Studio 2022
    • Visual Studio Key：https://github.com/KangLin/Documents/blob/master/c/VisualStudioKey.md
    • Current version：VS 2017

• Windows SDK: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/sdk-archive
  Install the SDK that corresponds to your operating system. (CDB must be installed, and Qt debugging is required.)

• [OPTIONAL] Windows Driver Kit: https://docs.microsoft.com/zh-cn/windows-hardware/drivers/download-the-wdk

• Qt

  • Qt (official release): https://download.qt.io/official_releases/qt/
    Current version: Qt 6.7.0
  • IDE: Qt Creator. It is recommended to use version v5.0.2 or later.
    Current version: 12.0.2 Prior versions don't have CMake support.

• Git: https://www.git-scm.com/

• CMake: https://www.cmake.org/ Version: 3.27.0

• Doxygen: http://www.doxygen.nl/

• Nsis: https://nsis.sourceforge.io/Download

Compilation

See: Compile integration

Library dependencies

• [MUST] RabbitCommon: https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitCommon
• [OPTIONAL] RFB
  • [Optional] RabbitVNC: https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitVNC
  • [OPTIONAL] LibVNCServer: https://github.com/LibVNC/libvncserver
  • [OPTIONAL] TigerVNC: https://github.com/KangLin/tigervnc
• [OPTIONAL] FreeRDP: https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP
• [OPTIONAL] SSH
  • libssh: https://www.libssh.org
  • libssh2:
    • https://www.libssh2.org/
    • https://github.com/libssh2/libssh2
• [OPTIONAL] QTermWidget: https://github.com/lxqt/qtermwidget
• [OPTIONAL] libtelnet: https://github.com/seanmiddleditch/libtelnet
• [OPTIONAL] libdatachannel: https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel
• [OPTIONAL] QXmpp: https://github.com/qxmpp-project/qxmpp
• [OPTIONAL] QtService: https://github.com/KangLin/qt-solutions/

RabbitCommon

This library is placed in the same directory level as the project by default. If not, you must specify the CMake parameters: -DRabbitCommon_DIR=[RabbitCommon installation path]

git clone https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitCommon.git

FreeRDP

• Use vcpkg

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/

    git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
    cd vcpkg
    bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
    vcpkg install freerdp

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

  • With vcpk, the FreeRDP service is not a default feature, so you need to specify it manually.

• Compile from source code

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP

  • Compilation instructions: https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/wiki/Compilation

      git clone https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP.git
      cd FreeRDP
      mkdir build
      cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DWITH_SERVER=ON
      cmake --build . --config Release --target install

  • Specify the CMake parameters:

    • -DBUILD_FREERDP=ON
    • -DFreeRDP-Client_DIR=[freerdp installation path]/lib/cmake/FreeRDP-Client2
    • -DFreeRDP_DIR=[freerdp installation path]/lib/cmake/FreeRDP2
    • -DWinPR_DIR=[freerdp installation path]/lib/cmake/WinPR2

LibVNCServer

• Compile from source code

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/LibVNC/libvncserver
    It is recommended to use the patches from: https://github.com/KangLin/libvncserver

    cd vcpkg
    vcpkg install zlib openssl libjpeg-turbo
    git clone https://github.com/KangLin/libvncserver.git
    cd libvncserver
    mkdir build
    cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
    cmake --build . --config Release --target install

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DLibVNCServer_DIR=[LibVNCServer installation path]/lib/cmake/LibVNCServer

RabbitVNC

• Compile from source code Source-code location: https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitVNC

  cd vcpkg
  vcpkg install zlib openssl libjpeg-turbo pixman
  git clone https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitVNC.git
  cd RabbitVNC
  mkdir build
  cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg 安装目录]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
  cmake --build . --config Release --target install

• Specify the CMake parameters: -DRabbitVNC_DIR=[RabbitVNC installation path]/lib/cmake/tigervnc

TigerVNC

• Compile from source code

The official program does not support libraries.
See: https://github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc/issues/1123
The Kanglin fork has support.
Source-code location: https://github.com/KangLin/tigervnc

cd vcpkg
vcpkg install zlib openssl pixman libjpeg-turbo
git clone https://github.com/KangLin/tigervnc.git
cd tigervnc
mkdir build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
cmake --build . --config Release --target install

• Specify the CMake parameters: -Dtigervnc_DIR=[TigerVNC installation path]/lib/cmake/tigervnc

libdatachannel

• Use vcpkg

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/

    cd vcpkg
    vcpkg install libdatachannel

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

• Compile from source code

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel

  • Compilation instructions: https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel/blob/master/BUILDING.md

    git clone https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel.git
    cd libdatachannel
    git submodule update --init --recursive
    mkdir build
    cd build
    cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install
    cmake --build . --config Release --target install

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -Dlibdatachannel_DIR=[libdatachannel installation path]/lib/cmake/LibDataChannel

QXmpp

• Compile from source code

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/qxmpp-project/qxmpp

    git clone https://github.com/qxmpp-project/qxmpp.git
    cd qxmpp
    mkdir build
    cd build
    cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DQt5_DIR=[Qt install path]/lib/cmake/Qt5
    cmake --build . --config Release --target install

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DQXmpp_DIR=[QXmpp installation path]/lib/cmake/qxmpp

QTermWidget (Not currently supported on Windows)

• Compile from source code
  • Source-code location: https://github.com/lxqt/qtermwidget
  • Specify the CMake parameters: -Dqtermwidget5_DIR=[qtermwidget installation path]/lib/cmake/qtermwidget5

libssh

• Use vcpkg

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/

    cd vcpkg
    vcpkg install libssh

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

• Compile from source code
  • Source code location: https://www.libssh.org
  • Specify the CMake parameters: -Dlibssh_DIR=[libssh installation path]/lib/cmake/libssh

QtService

• Compile from source code

  • Source-code location: https://github.com/KangLin/qt-solutions/

    ~$ git clone https://github.com/KangLin/qt-solutions.git
    ~$ cd qt-solutions
    ~/qt-solutions$ mkdir build
    ~/qt-solutions$ cd build
    ~/qt-solutions/build$ cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install
    ~/qt-solutions/build$ cmake --build . --config Release --target install

  • Specify the CMake parameters: -DQtService_DIR=[QtService installation path]/lib/cmake/QtService

Compile this project

• Project location: https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitRemoteControl

• Download the source code:

  git clone https://github.com/KangLin/RabbitRemoteControl.git

• The CMake parameters:

  • RabbitCommon_DIR: RabbitCommon source-code location
  • BUILD_CLIENT: Compile client. the default is ON
  • BUILD_SERVICE: Compile service. the default dependency is whether there is a QtService
  • BUILD_PLUGINS: Compile plugins. the default is ON
  • BUILD_APP: Compile applaction. the default is ON
  • BUILD_DOCS: Build docmenets. the default is OFF
  • BUILD_SHARED_LIBS: Compile shared libraries. the default is ON
  • BUILD_FREERDP：If compile FreeRDP. the default is OFF
  • WinPR_DIR: [FreeRDP installation path]/lib/cmake/WinPR2
  • FreeRDP_DIR: [FreeRDP installation path]/lib/cmake/FreeRDP2
  • FreeRDP-Client_DIR: [FreeFRP installation path]/lib/cmake/FreeRDP-Client2
  • BUILD_RABBITVNC: Compile RabbitVNC. the default is ON
  • RabbitVNC_DIR: [RabbitVNC installation path]/lib/cmake/RabbitVNC
  • BUILD_TigerVNC: Compile TigerVNC. the default is ON
  • TigerVNC_DIR: [TigerVNC installation path]/lib/cmake/tigervnc
  • BUILD_LibVNCServer: Compile LibVNCServer. the default is ON
  • LibVNCServer_DIR: [libvncserver installation path]/lib/cmake/LibVNCServer
  • libdatachannel_DIR: [libdatachannel installation path]/lib/cmake/LibDataChannel
  • QXmpp_DIR=[QXmpp installation path]/lib/cmake/qxmpp
  • QTermWidget5_DIR: [QTermWidget installation path]/lib/cmake/qtermwidget5
  • libssh_DIR: [libssh installation path]/lib/cmake/libssh
  • QtService_DIR: [QtService installation path]/lib/cmake/QtService

• If using vcpkg, please set the CMake parameters:

  • CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE: [vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
  • X_VCPKG_APPLOCAL_DEPS_INSTALL: ON #When installing, copy the dependent libraries to the installation directory

• Compile

  • Compile from the command-line

      cd RabbitRemoteControl
      mkdir build
      cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%CD%/install -DBUILD_FREERDP=ON [options libraries] -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DX_VCPKG_APPLOCAL_DEPS_INSTALL=ON
      cmake --build . --config Release --target install
    
      ; Package
      cmake --install . --config Release --component Runtime --strip
      cmake --install . --config Release --component Application --strip
      cmake --install . --config Release --component Plugin --strip
      cmake --install . --config Release --component DependLibraries --strip
      makensis Install.nsi

  • Using an IDE (Qt Creator)

    • Set vcpkg: Menu→Edit→Preferences→Kits→Cmake Configuration:
      • Add CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg installation path]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
      • Set X_VCPKG_APPLOCAL_DEPS_INSTALL=ON
    • Open project: Menu→File→Open File or project, Select the CMakeLists.txt of the project
    • Configure: Click Project→"Build & Run" in the toolbar on the left to configure CMake parameters
      • If need install: select install in target
    • Compile and run: Click "Start Debugging of startup project" in the left toolbar, or press the shortcut key (F5)

Note: If the plugin does not load. It may be that the plugin's dependencies are not installed on the system. You can copy the dependent library into the application's bin directory.

See: Compile integration