Compiling on Linux

The instructions on this page describe how you compile the frePPLe source code into binaries. After compilation you need to return to the installation and configuration steps outlined on the previous page.

In the folder contrib/docker you find a number of dockerfiles that automate the instructions below for some common linux distributions.

1. Update your system with the development software packages.

   • gcc

     Front end for the GNU compiler suite.
   • gcc-c++

     GNU C++ compiler.
   • xerces-c, 3.1 or higher

     Xerces is a validating XML parser provided by the Apache Foundation.

     You need to install the libraries as well as the development libraries.
   • python 3.5 or higher

     Python is a modern, easy to learn interpreted programming language.

     You need to install the language as well as the development libraries.
   • git

     Distributed version control tool.
   • CMake, 3.0 or higher

     CMake is a cross-platform tool for building and packaging software.
   • python-sphinx (optional)

     A modern documentation generation tool.
   • PostgreSQL, 9.5 or higher

     The world’s most advanced open source relational database. And that’s not an overstatement…

2. Pick up the latest code from the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/frePPLe/frePPLe.git <project_directory>
   

3. Initialize the build environment

   The CMakeLists.txt file has some logic to detect your Linux distribution and configure the build script. In case you’re working on an unknown distribution or version, you will need to update this file.

   The initialization step will also check for all required build software and

   report any missing packages.

   cd <project_directory>
   mkdir build
   cd build
   cmake ..
   

4. Build the software

   cd <project_directory>/build
   cmake --build . --config Release
   

5. Install the software

   cd <project_directory>/build
   cmake --install .
   

6. Optionally, create a installation .deb or .rpm package

   cd <project_directory>/build
   cmake --build . --target package
   

7. Free the disk space used during the build.

   cd <project_directory>
   rm -rf build
   

8. To sync your environment with the latest changes from the repository:

   cd <project_directory>
   git pull
   

9. Putting it all together… Here is an example build script for Ubuntu:

   # Update your linux with the right development packages
   # The package manager and the package names will vary by distribution
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install libxerces-c3.2 libxerces-c-dev openssl libssl-dev cmake python3 python3-dev g++ git libpq5 libpq-dev python3-sphinx
   
   # Clone the source code from the git repository
   git clone https://github.com/frePPLe/frePPLe.git -b master ~/frepple
   
   # Install Python packages
   cd ~/frepple
   sudo pip3 install -r ./requirements.txt
   sudo pip3 install psycopg2 Sphinx
   
   # Compile
   mkdir ~/frepple/build
   cd ~/frepple/build
   cmake ..
   cmake --build . --target Release
   cmake --build . --target package