This guide has been tested with Windows 10 Pro x64, version 1709, build 16299.334. Please read it in full before you proceed to familiarize yourself with the build procedure.
- Document conventions
- Prerequisites
- Get the source code
- Set up the build environment
- Build Kodi automagically
- Build Kodi manually
This guide assumes you are using Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017
, also known as terminal
, console
, command-line
or simply cli
. Commands need to be run at the terminal, one at a time and in the provided order.
This is a comment that provides context:
this is a command
this is another command
and yet another one
Example: Clone Kodi's current master branch:
git clone https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc kodi
Commands that contain strings enclosed in angle brackets denote something you need to change to suit your needs.
git clone -b <branch-name> https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc kodi
Example: Clone Kodi's current Krypton branch:
git clone -b Krypton https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc kodi
Several different strategies are used to draw your attention to certain pieces of information. In order of how critical the information is, these items are marked as a note, tip, or warning. For example:
NOTE: Linux is user friendly... It's just very particular about who its friends are.
TIP: Algorithm is what developers call code they do not want to explain.
WARNING: Developers don't change light bulbs. It's a hardware problem.
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To build Kodi:
- CMake
- Git for Windows
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
- Nullsoft scriptable install system (NSIS) (Only needed if you want to generate an installer file)
- Visual Studio 2017 (Community Edition is fine)
To run Kodi you need a relatively recent CPU with integrated GPU or discrete GPU with up-to-date graphics device-drivers installed from the manufacturer's website.
All install screens should remain at their default values with the exception of the following.
- Under Install options change default to
Add CMake to system PATH for all users
orAdd CMake to system PATH for current user
(whichever you prefer).
All install screens should remain at their default values with the exception of the following two.
- Under Choosing the default editor used by Git change default to
Use Notepad++ as Git's default editor
or your favorite editor. - Under Adjust your PATH environment change default to
Use Git and optional Unix tools from the Windows Command Prompt
.
Default options are fine.
After install finishes, add java's executable file path to your PATH
environment variable. Should be similar to C:\Program Files\Java\jre-10\bin
.
Default options are fine.
Start the VS2017 installer and click Individual components
.
- Under Compilers, build tools and runtimes select
Msbuild
VC++ 2017 v141 toolset (x86,x64)
Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable Update
Visual C++ compilers and libraries for ARM
Visual C++ compilers and libraries for ARM64
Visual C++ runtime for UWP
Windows Universal CRT SDK
- Under Development activities select
Visual Studio C++ core features
- Under SDKs, libraries, and frameworks select
Windows 10 SDK (10.0.16299.0) for Desktop C++ [x86 and x64]
Windows 10 SDK (10.0.16299.0) for UWP: C++
Hit Install
. Yes, it will download and install almost 7GB of stuff.
This is all you need to do a normal Kodi build for 32 or 64bit. Building for UWP (Universal Windows Platform) requires the above listed and quite a lot more.
Under Workloads
select
Universal Windows Platform development
Desktop development with C++
Hit Install
. It will download and install an extra 12GB of whatever for a grand total of almost 20GB. Yes, seriously!
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Change to your home
directory:
cd %userprofile%
Clone Kodi's current master branch:
git clone https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc kodi
To set up the build environment, several scripts must be called.
WARNING: The scripts may fail if you have a space in the path to the bat files.
Kodi can be built as either a normal 32bit or 64bit program, UWP 32bit and 64bit and UWP ARM 32bit. Unless there is a reason to prefer 32bit builds, we advise you to build Kodi for 64bit.
TIP: Look for comments starting with Or ...
and only execute the command(s) you need.
Change to the 64bit build directory (recommended):
cd %userprofile%\kodi\tools\buildsteps\windows\x64
Or change to the 32bit build directory:
cd %userprofile%\kodi\tools\buildsteps\windows\win32
Or change to the UWP 64bit build directory:
cd %userprofile%\kodi\tools\buildsteps\windows\x64-uwp
Or change to the UWP 32bit build directory:
cd %userprofile%\kodi\tools\buildsteps\windows\win32-uwp
Or change to the UWP ARM 32bit build directory:
cd %userprofile%\kodi\tools\buildsteps\windows\arm-uwp
Download dependencies:
download-dependencies.bat
TIP: Look for the All formed packages ready!
success message. If you see the message ERROR: Not all formed packages are ready!
, execute the command again until you see the success message.
Download and setup the build environment for libraries:
download-msys2.bat
Build FFmpeg:
make-mingwlibs.bat
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If all you want is to build a Kodi package ready to install, execute the command below and you're done. If you want to find out more about building, ignore this step and continue reading. Or execute the command below, grab some coffee and keep reading. Building takes a while anyway.
Build a package ready to install:
BuildSetup.bat
Normal 32bit and 64bit builds generate an exe
file ready to run, located at %userprofile%\kodi\kodi-build\Debug
or %userprofile%\kodi\kodi-build\Release
, depending on the build config. An installer exe
file, located at %userprofile%\kodi\project\Win32BuildSetup
, is also generated.
UWP builds generate appx
, appxsym
and cer
files, located at %userprofile%\kodi\
. You can install them following this guide.
Change to your home
directory:
cd %userprofile%
Create an out-of-source build directory:
mkdir kodi-build
Change to build directory:
cd kodi-build
Configure build for 64bit (recommended):
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 Win64" -T host=x64 %userprofile%\kodi
Or configure build for 32bit:
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15" -T host=x64 %userprofile%\kodi
Or configure build for UWP 64bit:
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 Win64" -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=WindowsStore -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 -T host=x64 %userprofile%\kodi
Or configure build for UWP 32bit:
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15" -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=WindowsStore -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 -T host=x64 %userprofile%\kodi
Or configure build for UWP ARM 32bit:
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 ARM" -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=WindowsStore -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 -T host=x64 %userprofile%\kodi
WARNING: -T host=x64
requires CMake version >= 3.8. If your version is older, drop -T host=x64
from the command.
Build Kodi:
Build a Debug
binary:
cmake --build . --config "Debug"
Or build a Release
binary:
cmake --build . --config "Release"
Normal 32bit and 64bit builds generate an exe
file ready to run, located at %userprofile%\kodi-build\Debug
or %userprofile%\kodi-build\Release
, depending on the build config.
UWP builds generate appx
, appxsym
and cer
files, located inside directories at %userprofile%\kodi-build\AppPackages\kodi\
. You can install them following this guide.