Getting Started/Build

Warning

This page is yet to be reviewed for changes required by the migration to Git. Information and commands on this page may no longer be valid and should be used with care. Please see the KDE Git hub page for more details.

Getting Started/Build

Here you will find instructions for compiling and installing KDE from source and suggestions for when compilation doesn't go so smoothly.

Introduction

Extra Information

The build process described in these pages is kept as simple and generic as possible, but it is generally assumed you are building KDE4 on Linux. Extra information about building KDE under specific platforms or conditions can be found at the following links:

Scripted Builds

The easiest way to build the KDE SC from scratch is to use one of the build scripts that are available. This approach is highly recommended for those new to building KDE SC. The builds remain compatible with the manual methods of building KDE SC so you can change later if you want.

The kdesrc-bld script by Michael Pyne
The build-tool script by Michael Jansen

Build Environment

The KDE Build System requires certain environment settings before it can build KDE software. There are also further shortcut settings you can configure to make your like easier. You can find the details of these on the Build Environment page.

Build Requirements

Building and running KDE software requires a number of supporting tools and libraries to be installed on your system. You can find the details of these on the Build Requirements page.

Qt

Building and running KDE software requires the Qt libraries to be installed on your system. You can find the details of this on the Qt page.

Building The Source

Build Requirements from your distribution SVN Download and Build KDE SC from Git Build a stable 4.x release Set up scripts to ease KDE development

KDE 4 (Development version, trunk): Instructions for installing the latest and greatest KDE development source code on:

Linux
- openSUSE Linux

Old Versions: Instructions for building older KDE versions.

Coexisting Versions: Directions to build multiple KDE versions on the same machine simultaneously.

FAQ: Help with errors and other questions you might have.

Troubleshooting the build

See Troubleshooting

Compile and Linking errors are frequent sources of discouragement. Make careful note of the first occurrence of an error in your build process. It could be as simple as a bad environment variable, an unexpected version of a library or missing prerequisite.

Please review your logs and do searches for fixes. If you cannot find a solution, try Build/KDE4/Errors, the IRC channel, and the mailing lists. You can post your detailed issue from Build/Stories.