.. meta:: :description: Guide to building Krita from source. .. metadata-placeholder :authors: - Boudewijn Rempt - Wolthera van Hövell tot Westerflier - images and latter parts by David Revoy :license: GNU free documentation license 1.3 or later. .. _building_krita: ========================== Building Krita from Source ========================== If you want to help developing Krita, or if you want to run the latest version of Krita on macOS, you need to know how to build Krita yourself. If you merely want to run the latest version of Krita on Windows or Linux, to test a bug or play with, you can use the `nightly build for Windows `_ or the `nightly build for Linux `_ .. contents:: You can build Krita on Linux, Windows and OSX. The libraries Krita needs (for instance to load and save various image types) are called dependencies. Linux is the easiest operating system to build Krita on because all the libraries that Krita needs are available on most recent Linux distributions. For an easy guide to building Krita see `Building Krita on Linux for Cats `_ On OSX you can use tools like homebrew to get the dependencies, or build the dependencies manually. Building the dependencies manually is recommended because we have a number of changes to the source for libraries to make them function better with Krita. On Windows you will have to build the dependencies yourself. The build instructions for OSX/macOS and Windows are maintained as part of `Krita's source code repository `__. You will need to VERY carefully follow these instructions. Building on Linux ----------------- This page only deals with building Krita on Linux. However, some remarks are the same for all operating systems, especially when it comes to running cmake and dealing with errors. You need to be familiar with using a terminal. There are two options: you can either build Krita in your home directory, or use `Docker `_, which makes setting up a development environment easier. Preparing your development environment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_001-init-dir_001_by-deevad.jpg The most convenient layout is as follows: * $HOME/kritadev/krita -- the source code * $HOME/kritadev/build -- the location where you compile krita * $HOME/kritadev/install -- the location where you install krita to and run krita from we will call the "kritadev" folder your build root. Note: type in what's shown after '>' in the following commands .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~>mkdir kritadev you@yourcomputer:~/>cd kritadev you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev> mkdir build you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev> mkdir install Getting the Source Code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_002-git-clone_001_by-deevad.jpg Open a terminal and enter the build root. Clone Krita from kde's git infrastructure (not github): .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev> git clone git://anongit.kde.org/krita.git Configuring the Build ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_004-configure_001_by-deevad.jpg .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev> cd build Krita uses cmake (https://cmake.org) to define how Krita is built on various platforms. You first need to run cmake to generate the build system, in the :file:`kritadevs/build` directory, then run make to make Krita, then run make install to install krita. .. code:: you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build>cmake ../krita \ -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/kritadev/install \ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \ -DKRITA_DEVS=ON .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_003-get-libs_001_by-deevad.jpg Unless you have installed all the dependencies Krita needs, on first running cmake, cmake will complain about missing dependencies. For instance: .. code:: -- The following RECOMMENDED packages have not been found: * GSL, Required by Krita's Transform tool. This is not an error, and you can fix this by installing the missing package using your distribution's package manager. Do not download these packages manually from the source website and build them manually. Do use your distribution's package manager to find the right packages. For example, for Ubuntu, you can start with: .. code:: you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build>apt-get build-dep krita Which will install all the dependencies of the version of Krita in the repositories. However, the development version might use different dependencies, to find these, you can use ``apt-cache search``: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build>apt-cache search quazip libquazip-dev - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (development files, Qt4 build) libquazip-doc - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (documentation) libquazip-headers - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (development header files) libquazip1 - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (Qt4 build) libquazip5-1 - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (Qt5 build) libquazip5-dev - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (development files, Qt5 build) libquazip5-headers - C++ wrapper for ZIP/UNZIP (development header files, Qt5 build) You will want to get the 'dev' library here, because you're doing dev, and then Krita is using Qt5, so select that one. If this doesn't help, check the `Ubuntu packages search `_. If all dependencies have been installed, cmake will output something like this: .. code:: console -- Configuring done -- Generating done -- Build files have been written to: /home/boud/dev/b-krita **Until that is shown, cmake has not succeeded and you cannot build Krita.** When this is shown, you can build Krita: .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_005-build_001_by-deevad.jpg .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build> make You can speed this up by enabling multithreading. To do so, you first figure out how many threads your processor can handle: .. code:: console cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor | wc -l Then, add the resulting number with -j (for 'Jobs') at the end, so for example: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build> make -j4 Installing ~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_006-installing_by-deevad.jpg When the build has fully succeeded, you can install: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build> make install And when that is complete, you can run Krita: .. code:: you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build>../install/bin/krita Environment Variables ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now, to get Krita to work by just typing ``krita`` into the terminal, we'll need to set up some environment variables. This will allow your system to know where Krita is located. .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_007-making-path_by-deevad.jpg Let's show to your system the right path, inside a terminal, copy line by line : .. code:: console export KDEDIRS=$HOME/kritadev/install:$KDEDIRS export PATH=$HOME/kritadev/install/bin:$PATH You will now be able to run Krita by typing ``krita`` into the terminal. .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_008-running-success_by-deevad.jpg Environment variables are never permanent. So we need to configure the system to set them each time you login. To set them at any login, write them with your favorite text editor at the end of your :file:`~/.profile` file (on certain distributions, the profile is named xprofile, check the hidden files in your :file:`home/{your-user-name}` folder). Updating ~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_009-want-update_by-deevad.jpg Now, Krita is in constant development, so you will want to update your build from time to time. Maybe a cool feature got in, or a bug was fixed, or you just want the latest source. .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_010-git-update_by-deevad.jpg First, we get the new source from the git repository: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~> cd ~/kritadev/krita/ you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git pull If you want to get the code from a specific branch, you will need to ``checkout`` that branch first: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git checkout you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git pull .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_011-git-update-success_by-deevad.jpg Then, we build again: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> cd ~/kritadev/build/ you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build> make install If you update daily, you might want to automate these command by making your own minimal bash script. Trouble Shooting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_012-git-update-fail_by-deevad.jpg The recent development version might break, or sometime be just unusable. Experimental changes are made daily. This will affect your productivity if you don't know how to 'go back in time' (for example, your favorite brush doesn't work anymore). But if you know how to do it, *no issue can really affect you*, because you know how to come back to a previous state. .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_013_by-deevad.jpg To travel the source in time we need to read the timeline history. The terminal tool for it is ``git log``. .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~> cd ~/kritadev/krita/ you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git log With git log, you can consult all the last changes to the code, the 'commit'. What we're interested in is the long identification number, the 'git hash' (such as ``cca5819b19e0da3434192c5b352285b987a48796``). You can scroll the ``git log``, copy the ID number then quit(letter :kbd:`Q` on keyboard). Then time-travel in your source directory: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git checkout cca5819b19e0da3434192c5b352285b987a48796 you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git pull And, we build again: .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> cd ~/kritadev/build/ you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/build> make install .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_intro_by-deevad.jpg To update again to the actual and 'fresh from a minute ago' source-code named ``master``, simply ask git to come back to it with ``git checkout`` then ``pull`` to update : .. code:: console you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git checkout master you@yourcomputer:~/kritadev/krita> git pull Common problems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: /images/untranslatable/cat_guide/Krita-building_for-cats_012-git-update-fail_by-deevad.jpg Outside of the source being unstable, there's the following common problems: * The most common problem is a missing dependency. Install it. A missing dependency is not an "error" that you need to report to the other Krita developers. * A dependency can also be too old. CMake will report when the version of a dependency is too old. That is also not an "error". You might need to update your Linux installation to a newer version. * You can also have a successful build, then update your linux installation, and then find that Krita no longer builds. A library got updated, and you need to remove the ``CMakeCache.txt`` file in your build dir and run cmake again. * Sometimes, changes in Krita's source code from git revision to git revision make it necessary to make your installation and/or build dir empty and build from scratch. One example is where a plugin is removed from Krita; the plugin will be in your install dir, and won't get updated when Krita's internals change.