5 Before you can start compiling tinc from a fresh git clone, you have
6 to install the very latest versions of the following packages:
8 - `meson` or `muon` (read below)
10 - `pkgconf` or `pkg-config`
11 - `GCC` or `Clang` (any version with C11 support, although older versions might work)
12 - `OpenSSL`\* (1.1.0+) or `LibreSSL` or `libgcrypt` (not needed if legacy protocol is disabled)
16 If you're on a constrained system that doesn't have (or cannot run) Python, you can try building tinc with [muon][muon],
17 which is a pure C reimplementation of the same idea.
18 Please note that `meson` is considered to be the main way of building tinc, and `muon` is supported on a best-effort basis.
20 [muon]: https://git.sr.ht/~lattis/muon
24 Plus a few optional dependencies. Support for them will be enabled if they're present:
26 - `ncurses` or `PDCurses`
32 If packages marked by `*` are not available, tinc will fall back to its own vendored copies.
33 This behavior can be disabled by setting the appropriate meson option to `disabled`.
35 To build `info` documentation you'll also need these packages:
37 - `texinfo` or `makeinfo`
39 You might also need some additional command-line utilities to be able to run the integration test suite:
46 Please consult your operating system's documentation for more details.
50 You can build tinc using either the native [Windows SDK][sdk-ms] (which comes with Visual Studio),
51 or with the Unix-like [msys2 environment][sdk-msys2]. Install either one of them, plus
52 the latest version of [meson][meson-release].
54 If you prefer the native SDK, you might want to work on tinc (or build it) under Visual Studio.
55 To do so, follow [these instructions][meson-vs].
57 By default, tinc produces a static Windows build, so you don't need to install anything
58 in order to _run_ the compiled binaries.
60 [sdk-ms]: https://visualstudio.com/
61 [sdk-msys2]: https://msys2.org/
62 [meson-release]: https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases
63 [meson-vs]: https://mesonbuild.com/Using-with-Visual-Studio.html
65 # Building from source
71 Tinc's functionality can vary greatly depending on how you configure it.
72 Have a look at the available options in [`meson_options.txt`](meson_options.txt), or run:
76 First you need to create a build directory. If you want the default experience, run:
78 $ meson setup builddir
80 or with configuration options (your shell can probably autocomplete them on `Tab`, try it):
82 $ meson setup builddir -Dprefix=/usr/local -Dbuildtype=release
84 (For autotools users: this is a rough equivalent of `autoreconf -fsi && ./configure --prefix=/usr/local --with-foobar`).
86 This creates a build directory (named `builddir`) with build type set to `release`
87 (which enables compiler optimizations) and path prefix set to `/usr/local`.
89 Pass any additional options in the same way. Typically, this is not needed: tinc will
90 autodetect available libraries and adjust its functionality accordingly.
92 If you'd like to reconfigure the project after running `setup`, you can either remove
93 the build directory and start anew, or use:
95 $ meson configure builddir -Dlzo=disabled -Dlz4=enabled
99 You then need to build the project:
101 $ meson compile -C builddir
103 (For autotools users: this is an equivalent of `make -j$(nproc)`).
107 You might want to run the test suite to ensure tinc is working correctly:
109 $ meson test -C builddir
111 (For autotools users: this is an equivalent of `make -j$(nproc) test`).
115 To install tinc to your system, run:
117 $ meson install -C builddir
119 (For autotools users: this is an equivalent of `make install`).
121 Please be aware that this is not the best method of installing software
122 because it will not be tracked by your operating system's package manager. You
123 should use packages provided by your operating system, or build your own
124 (this is a large and complicated topic which is out of the scope of this document).
128 To uninstall tinc, run:
130 # ninja -C builddir uninstall
132 (For autotools users: this is an equivalent of `make uninstall`).
138 Cross-compilation is easy to do on Debian or its derivatives.
139 Set `$HOST` to your target architecture and install the cross-compilation toolchain and `-dev` versions of all libraries you'd like to link:
142 $ dpkg --add-architecture $HOST
144 $ apt install -y crossbuild-essential-$HOST zlib1g-dev:$HOST …
146 If you'd like to run tests on emulated hardware, install `qemu-user`:
148 $ apt install -y qemu-user
149 $ update-binfmts --enable
151 Set two environment variables: the C compiler, and pkg-config, and then proceed as usual:
153 $ export CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc
154 $ export PKG_CONFIG=arm-linux-gnueabihf-pkg-config
155 $ meson setup build --cross-file /dev/null
157 or put the names into a [cross file][cross] and pass it to meson:
159 $ cat >cross-armhf <<EOF
161 c = 'arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc'
162 pkgconfig = 'arm-linux-gnueabihf-pkg-config'
165 $ meson setup build --cross-file cross-armhf
167 [cross]: https://mesonbuild.com/Cross-compilation.html
171 Install cross-compilation toolchain:
173 $ apt install -y mingw-w64 mingw-w64-tools
175 tinc will use its own vendored libraries, so you don't need to install or build anything manually.
177 Prepare the [cross file][cross] to let meson know you're building binaries for a different operating system.
178 Take a look at the [file](.ci/cross/windows/amd64) used by CI for an example, or refer to examples provided
179 by the meson project: [x86][mingw32], [x86_64][mingw64].
181 Then build as usual. Because Windows binaries are built with static linkage by default,
182 you might want to enable link-time optimization. It is much slower than building without LTO,
183 but produces binaries that are 80%+ smaller:
185 $ meson setup build -Dbuildtype=release -Db_lto=true --cross-file cross-windows
188 [mingw64]: https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/blob/master/cross/linux-mingw-w64-64bit.txt
189 [mingw32]: https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/blob/master/cross/linux-mingw-w64-32bit.txt
193 First you need to install [Android NDK][ndk].
195 [ndk]: https://developer.android.com/studio/projects/install-ndk
197 Prepare a [cross file][cross]. Here's a working example for reference:
207 c = 'aarch64-linux-android24-clang'
212 $ export ANDROID_NDK_ROOT=/tmp/ndk/android-ndk-r24
213 $ export PATH=$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
214 $ meson setup android-aarch64 -Dcrypto=nolegacy --cross-file android
215 $ ninja -C android-aarch64
219 The same instructions should work for iOS.
220 Refer to this [cross file][ios] for an example.
222 [ios]: https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/blob/master/cross/iphone.txt