openFrameworks | Documentation table of contents

msys2

Installing msys2

First, install MSYS2 using the one-click installer or directly unzipping the archive from their repository

If you have an old install of MSYS2 (before 2018), it's recommended to do a fresh install.

If you are going to use QtCreator you should install msys2 in the default install folder, c:\msys64

Now, let's update the MSYS2 installation. From an MSYS2 shell (it can be MSYS or MINGW64), run :

pacman -Syu --noconfirm --needed

If some system files are updated, you may be requested to close the shell. If that happens, close the shell as instructed and open a new one to update the remaining packages using the same command :

pacman -Syu --noconfirm --needed

You are now ready to install openFrameworks.

Installing openFrameworks

IMPORTANT MSYS2 comes in 3 flavors : MSYS (msys2.exe), MINGW32 (mingw32.exe), MINGW64 (mingw64.exe). This really important to remember as lots of problem with running OF with MSYS2 come from using the wrong flavor.

As of 0.11.2+, MINGW64 is the recommended flavor to use.

For the following instructions, it assumed that MSYS2 is installed in C:\msys64 and you are using the 64bit OF release. If it has been installed elsewhere, adapt the instructions to reflect your MSYS2 installation path.

Download and unzip the qt creator / msys2 version of oF. DO NOT INSTALL oF in a folder having space or other

Open an MINGW64 shell (C:\msys64\mingw64.exe ) and install OF dependencies:

cd your_oF_directory/scripts/msys2
./install_dependencies.sh --noconfirm

next, compile oF libraries:

cd your_oF_directory/libs/openFrameworksCompiled/project
make

You can speed-up compilation using parallel build make -j4 or the number of cores you want it to use

Setting the PATH variable

Setting the PATH variable is an optional step but is also the cause of many trouble.

Why would you need to set the PATH variable ?

To be able to run my oF application by double clicking on it.

To run, the application needs to have the dll it was compiled with. If the required dll is not found at the location of your application, Windows will traverse the folders in your PATH to find it. If C:\msys64\mingw64\bin is included in your PATH, it will hopefully find the right dll. However, it may find a dll with a matching name in a different folder that is not compatible...
It may also happen that, after an MSYS2 update, it finds a newer version in C:\msys64\mingw64\bin that is also incompatible...

The solution is to copy all the needed dlls in the application folder. This can be easily done with the command : 

make copy_dlls

This will also ease the installation of the application on a different computer....

To compile oF in IDE (Qt Creator or VS Code )

These softwares will try to detect compiler programs (gcc, make) by scanning the PATH variable. So it's an easy way to setup up your IDE. There may also be some settings in the IDE to configure where to find the programs. That gives you better control. As in the previous point, relying on the PATH variable to find the programs may result in unexpected behaviours (for example, using Windows C:\Windows\System32\find.exe instead of MSYS C:\msys64\usr\bin\find.exe)

It may be interesting to write a wrapper batch file to lauch your IDE where you set the PATH to use. This way you do not pollute your PATH system-wide.

I've decided to use the PATH variable. How do I set it ?

You can find how to set the PATH in windows here: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm

You'll need to add c:\msys64\mingw64\bin and c:\msys64\usr\bin to your PATH in that order. There are two ways:

  1. Either add them via 'Environment Variables' from the Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings.
  2. Or you can also set the PATH from the command line: open a Windows cmd prompt and set you user PATH.
setx PATH "c:\msys64\mingw64\bin;c:\msys64\usr\bin;%PATH%"

Don't forget to logoff/logon as PATH is updated at logon.

That's all, now go to the your_oF_directory/examples folder, where you will find the examples, and have fun!

Running examples

Compile the example (for example the 3DPrimitivesExample)

cd your_oF_directory/examples/3d/3DPrimitivesExample
make

At this point, make run to launch.

To be able to double-click on the exe file to run it, run make copy_dlls (if you haven't set the PATH!)

Makefile

Every example has a Makefile you can configure using the files config.make and addons.make.

config.make: This file has options to add search paths, libraries, etc., the syntax is the usual syntax in makefiles, there's help comments inside the file.

addons.make: if you want to use an addon which is inside the addons folder, just add its name in a new line in this file.

QtCreator

With msys2 you can also use QtCreator as an IDE, you can find more information in the corresponding setup guide:

FAQ / Common problems

  • "I have a TLSv1_1_client_method missing error" when I double-click the exe ?"

The executable looks for ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll and it first finds a version that doesn't support TLS v1.1. Often it happens with Intel iCls software. The solution is to move the your_msys2_directory\mingw64\bin path before the conflicting path. If the conflicting path is in the system PATH and you do not have administrative privileges, copy/link ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll from your_msys2_directory\mingw64\bin to the executable folder.

  • "I'm on a corporate network with a proxy. I cannot download packages with pacman."

You may need to set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables.

From a DOS/CMD prompt :
set http_proxy=http://your_proxy:your_port
set http_proxy=http://username:password@your_proxy:your_port
set https_proxy=https://your_proxy:your_port
set https_proxy=https://username:password@your_proxy:your_port

Don't forget to escape special characters in your password...

many thanks!! OFteam