There are three ways to obtain the QGroundControl source code from our GitHub repository. You can either download a snapshot of the code in a ZIP file, clone the repository, or fork the repository if you plan to contribute to development. If you prefer one of the last two options you will need Git installed on your system; goto GitHub Help and see Set Up Git.
This option assumes that you have Git already. To clone (checkout) the QGC repository, run the following command in the directory that you want the qgroundcontrol folder to be created:
If you plan to contribute to the development of QGC, you will want this option, which also requires that you have Git set up. To fork the QGC repository, do the following:
QGroundControl builds are supported for OSX, Linux and Windows. See the individual sections below for instruction on how to build on each OS. Also make sure to look at the "Additional Build Notes" section below.
2. Run `~/Qt/5.4/clang_64/bin/qmake qgroundcontrol.pro -r -spec macx-clang`. If you installed a different version of Qt, or installed to a different location you may need to change the first portion of the path.
* If you get a 404 error from "apt-get update" below, open System Settings:Software & Updates:Other Software and edit the entry for opt-qt541-trusty to reference Distribution: trusty.
* Next, set the environment variables by executing in the terminal: `source /opt/qt54/bin/qt54-env.sh` or copy and paste the contents to your `~/.profile` file to set them on login.
* Verify that the variables have been set: `echo $PATH && echo $QTDIR`. The output should read `/opt/qt54/bin:...` and `/opt/qt54`.
If you get this error when running qgroundcontrol: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version 'GLIBCXX_3.4.20' not found. You need to either update to the latest gcc, or install the latest libstdc++.6 using: sudo apt-get install libstdc++6.
Only compilation using Visual Studio 2013 is supported. Download and install Visual Studio Express Edition (free) from here: <http://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs#d-express-windows-desktop>. Make sure you install the Windows Desktop version.
3. Run `qmake -tp vc qgroundcontrol.pro`. This will create a 'qgroundcontrol.vcxproj' project file which is capable of building both debug and release configurations.
4. Now open the generated 'qgroundcontrol.vcxproj' file in Visual Studio.
#### Alternate (Qt Creator IDE) Build Type (Any OS)
All steps below assume you already have a running software development enviroment (i.e. gcc/g++ on Ubuntu, Xcode on Mac OSX along with the command line tools, Visual Studio on Windows, etc.) along with the various external dependencies described elsewhere in this document.
* Download the Qt Online Installer executable from <http://www.qt.io/download-open-source/>
* On Ubuntu, you have to set the file to executable:`chmod +x ~/Downloads/qt-opensource-linux-x64-1.6.0-8-online.run\`
* Run the installer and follow the installation steps.
* Select the directory you want to install Qt, which is handy if you don't want to install system wide or don't have root access.
* Select the components you want to install. *Tools* will be selected by default. You also want to install the Qt 5.4 module along with the targets you are interested in (i.e. 32-Bit for Windows, etc.). On Ubuntu, *Android armv7* will be selected by default as well. You may or may not want to install that, depending on your desire to target that platform. Same idea for OS X. It will have *iOS* Kits selected as well.
* Accept the license and the installer will download all the necessary modules and install where you told it to install.
* Go to the Qt Creator directory:
*`~/local/Qt/Tools/QtCreator/bin` for Ubuntu (if that's where you installed it)
*`~/local/Qt/Qt Creator.app` for OS X (if that's where you installed it)
*`C:/local/Qt/Tools/QtCreator/bin` for Windows (if that's where you installed it)
* Launch Qt Creator and open the `qgroundcontrol.pro` project.
When you open a project in Qt Creator for the first time, it will ask what targets (*Kits*) you want to target. The options will depend on what modules you downloaded above. For instance, on Mac OS X you would select *Desktop Qt 5.4.1 clang 64bit*.
It's also a good idea to go into *Projects/Build Steps* (side tool bar) and select Make's *Details*. For *Make Arguments*, add `-jx` (`/J x` on Windows) where `x` is at least the numbers of cores you have. That is, if you are running on a Mac Pro with 24 cores, you would use `-j24`. That will run 24 concurrent compiler instances at a time and run the build a whole lot faster. Your mileage may vary depending on your disk IO throughput.
Qt Creator is a full-blown development IDE. You can even debug right from within it and it provides the full Qt API documentation. Just place the mouse cursor over a Qt class/element and hit the F1 key.
* Warnings as Errors: Specifying `CONFIG+=WarningsAsErrorsOn` will turn all warnings into errors which break the build. If you are working on a pull request you plan to submit to github for consideration, you should always run with this settings turned on, since it is required for all pull requests. NOTE: Putting this line into a file called "user_config.pri" in the top-level directory will set this flag on all builds without interfering with the GIT history.
* Parallel builds: For Linux and OSX you can use the '-j#' option to run parellel builds. On Windows parallel builds are on by default.
* Location of built files: Individual build file results can be found in the `build_debug` or `build_release` directories. The built executable can be found in the `debug` or `release` directory.
* Incremental builds: Incremental builds may not be 100% reliable. If you find something strange happening that seems like a bad build. Delete your `build_debug` and `build_release` directories and run qmake again.
* Single release congfiguration on Windows: If you want to build a vs project that does not create both debug and release builds. Include `CONFIG-=debug_and_release` on the qmake command line plus either `CONFIG+=debug` or
`CONFIG+=release` depending on the build type you want.
* Build using QtCreator: It is possible to build and debug using QtCreator as well. The above instructions should provide you with enough information to setup QtCreator on OSX and Linux. QtCreator on Windows is supposedly possible but we don't have any instructions available for that.
* QGroundControl is using the Qt QLoggingCategory class for logging (<http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/qloggingcategory.html>). Since logging is on by default, an example qtlogging.ini file is included at the root of the repository which disables logging. Follow the instructions from Qt as to why and where to put this file. You can then edit the file to get a logging level that suits your needs.
QGroundcontrol has functionality that is dependent on the operating system and libraries installed by the user. The following sections describe these features, their dependencies, and how to disable/alter them during the build process. These features can be forcibly enabled/disabled by specifying additional values for variables either at the command line when calling `qmake` or in the `user_config.pri`. When calling `qmake` additional variables can be set using the syntax `VARIABLE="SPACE_SEPARATED_VALUES"`, which can be repeated for multiple variables. For example: `qmake DEFINES="DISABLE_QUPGRADE DISABLE_SPEECH" MAVLINK_CONF="sensesoar"` disables the QUpgrade widget, speech functionality, and sets the MAVLink dialect to sensesoar. These values can be more permanently specified by setting them in the `user_config.pri` file in the root directly. Create this file as a plain text file and ensure it ends in .pri (not .pri.txt!).
**NOTE:** Any variables specified at the command line call to `qmake` will override those set in `user_config.pri`.
### QUpgrade
QUpgrade is a submodule (a Git feature like a sub-repository) that contains extra functionality. It is compiled in by default if it has initialized and updated. It can be disabled by specifying `DISABLE_QUPGRADE` in the `DEFINES` variable.
To include QUpgrade functionality run the following (only needs to be done once after cloning the qggroundcontrol git repository):
*`git submodule init`
*`git submodule update`
The QUpgrade module relies on `libudev` on Linux platforms, so be sure to install the development version of that package.
### Specifying MAVLink dialects
The MAVLink dialect compiled by default by QGC is for the pixhawk. Setting the `MAVLINK_CONF` variable sets the dialects.
### Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulator
Integration with Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulator can be enabled on Windows by installing RT-LAB 7.2.4. This allows vehicles to be simulated in RT-LAB and communicate directly with QGC on the same computer as if the UAS was actually deployed. This support is enabled by default once the requisite RT-LAB software is installed. Disabling this can be done by adding `DISABLE_RTLAB` to the `DEFINES` variable.
### Speech syntehsis
QGroundcontrol can notify the controller of information via speech synthesis. This requires the `espeak` library on Linux. On Mac and Windows support is built in to the OS as of OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and Windows Vista. This support is enabled by default on all platforms if the dependencies are met. Disabling this functionality can be done by adding `DISABLE_SPEECH` to the `DEFINES` variable.
### 3D view
The OpenSceneGraph libraries provide 3D rendering to the map overlays that QGC can provide.
OpenSceneGraph support is built-in to Mac OS X. On Linux it is commonly available through the libopenscenegraph and libopenscenegraph-qt developer packages. Windows support does not currently exist. This functionality with be automatically built if the proper libraries are installed. Disabling this feature can be done by adding `DISABLE_OPEN_SCENE_GRAPH` to the `DEFINES` variable.
### 3D mouse support
Connexion's 3D mice are supported through the 3DxWARE driver available on Linux and Windows. Download and install the driver from 3DConnexion to enable support. This support is enabled by default with driver installation. To disable add `DISABLE_3DMOUSE` to the `DEFINES` variable.
### XBee support
QGroundControl can talk to XBee wireless devices using their proprietary protocol directly on Windows and Linux platforms. This support is not necessary if you're not using XBee devices or aren't using their proprietary protocol. On Windows, the necessary dependencies are included in this repository and no additional steps are required. For Linux, change to the `libs/thirdParty/libxbee` folder and run `make;sudo make install` to install libxbee on your system (uninstalling can be done with a `sudo make uninstall`). `qmake` will automatically detect the library on Linux, so no other work is necessary.
To disable XBee support you may add `DISABLE_XBEE` to the DEFINES argument.
