VTK/Configure and Build

Introduction

This page is applicable for VTK 6.0 and above. For earlier versions, refer to a deprecated version of this document.

This page describes how to configure and build VTK, with several popular options turned on.

Prerequisites

• The VTK build process requires CMake version 2.8.8 or higher and a working compiler. On Unix-like operating systems, it also requires Make, while on Windows it requires Visual Studio (8 or later).

• Building VTK with Qt is a common use case for the creation of nice user interfaces. Using Qt 4.8.* is recommended, but earlier versions and Qt 5.* are in various stages of support. Visit the Qt download page to get a copy of the source code or installer. Either the LGPL or commercial versions of Qt may be used.

Download And Install CMake

CMake is a tool that makes cross-platform building simple. If CMake does not exist on the system, and there are no pre-compiled binaries, use the instructions below on how to build it. Use the most recent source or binary version of CMake from the CMake web site.

Using Binaries

There are several precompiled binaries available at the CMake download page.

On Unix-like operating systems Let's say on Linux, download the appropriate version and follow these instructions: Download: http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.8-Linux-i386.tar.gz cd $HOME wget http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.12.2-Linux-i386.tar.gz mkdir software cd software tar xvfz ../cmake-2.8.12.2-Linux-i386.tar.gz Now you have the directory $HOME/software/cmake-2.8.8-Linux-i386/bin, and inside there are executables cmake and ccmake. You can also install CMake in the /usr/local or /opt by untaring and copying sub-directories. The rest of the instructions will assume the executables are in your $PATH.

On Windows Download the installer: http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.8-win32-x86.exe Follow the installation instructions On Windows, if you are not administrator Download: http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.8-win32-x86.zip Uncompress into some directory Optional: create a shortcut on the desktop.

Build Your Own CMake

On Unix-like operating systems Download the source code: http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.12.2.tar.gz cd $HOME wget http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.8/cmake-2.8.12.2.tar.gz tar xzf cmake-2.8.12.2.tar.gz cd cmake-2.8.12.2 ./configure --prefix=$HOME/software make make install Again, you can install it in /usr/local or /opt by changing the prefix.

On Windows To build CMake on windows, a previous version of CMake is required. This can be downloaded from the Cmake download page: [1].

Download VTK Source code

Download a Release

Download a VTK release from the VTK Downloads page.

Checkout the VTK Repository with Git

Note that you may need to download and install a git client, here: [2]

On Unix-like operating systems Prepare directory for download # mkdir $HOME/projects # cd $HOME/projects To download the source code # git clone git://vtk.org/VTK.git # cd VTK To update the code # git fetch origin # git rebase origin/master

On Windows We recommend msysgit. msysgit provides an msys shell that has the appropriate environment set up for using git and its tools.