Get Involved/development/More
This page is the continuation with more advanced topics of the page Get_Involved/development.
kdesrc-build Qt5
kdesrc-build by default uses Qt6. Your kdesrc-build installation is configured for Qt6 if in the configuration file kdesrc-buildrc you have branch-group kf6-qt6.
You can convert your kdesrc-build installation from Qt6 to Qt5 by editing the existing kdesrc-buildrc file to replace all occurrences of the letter "6" with the letter "5".
Set up kdesrc-build following the "Set up kdesrc-build" procedure. The resulting kdesrc-build installation will be of type kf6-qt6. In kdesrc-buildrc in the "global" section you will have "branch-group kf6-qt6".
Edit the file ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc
- Replace all "6" with "5".
Develop in a Linux container
When you start programming for KDE, it is recommended that you use kdesrc-build in your main operating system or in a virtual machine running on a rolling-release Linux distribution (Arch, openSUSE Tumbleweed, KDE neon) or running on e.g. the latest version of Fedora KDE Spin or Kubuntu.
As an alternative, you can run kdesrc-build in a Linux container (docker, podman, toolbx, distrobox).
Option 1. The KDE PIM Docker image
You can install Docker and the KDE PIM Docker image. It provides a development environment that is isolated from your day-to-day system. It is based on KDE Neon Unstable.
Option 2. distrobox
It is possible to start developing KDE software using container images that are able to see inside your home folder. This can be done using distrobox and podman.
First, install distrobox and podman from your distribution repositories:
- Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install distrobox podman
- openSUSE: sudo zypper install distrobox podman
- Fedora: sudo dnf install distrobox podman
- Arch: sudo pacman --sync distrobox podman
Building without kdesrc-build
You can build a single repository using the KDE Neon Unstable docker image. We will be using the plasma:unstable image, which comes with the latest KDE software and libraries, and we will be using the minimal version, which requires you to install development libraries before compiling your projects.
After installing distrobox and podman, run the following to create a new distrobox container:
podman pull invent-registry.kde.org/neon/docker-images/plasma:unstable distrobox create --image invent-registry.kde.org/neon/docker-images/plasma:unstable
This will create a distrobox container named plasma-unstable.
Note
Lastly, enter the generated container:
distrobox enter plasma-unstable
You can then just clone the desired repository in your home folder and build it while being inside the container. If any development libraries are missing, you can just install them the same way you would install on Debian/Ubuntu/KDE Neon:
sudo apt install packagename-dev
You can also use build-dep to let apt install the required libraries for the program you will be compiling. For example, to install the development libraries for Kate, you can run:
sudo apt-get build-dep kate
Building with kdesrc-build
First, install distrobox and podman from your distribution repositories. Then run:
distrobox enter
This should create a container based on your current Linux OS and enter it. It is preferable to use one of the Linux distributions that is better suited for kdesrc-build, as mentioned in this wiki page, so if your distribution does not provide very up-to-date packages, you can download and use a different container image for your distrobox from Dockerhub. For example, with openSUSE Tumbleweed:
podman pull opensuse/tumbleweed distrobox create --image opensuse/tumbleweed --name tumbleweed distrobox enter tumbleweed
Then it's a matter of downloading and running kdesrc-build as detailed in Get_Involved/development/Set_up_a_development_environment:
mkdir -p ~/kde/src
cd ~/kde/src
git clone https://invent.kde.org/sdk/kdesrc-build.git
./kdesrc-build --initial-setup
source ~/.bashrc
From this point on, one important thing to bear in mind is that a distrobox container is transparent in its user space and containerized in its root space: when you are inside a distrobox container, you can see the content of system's home folder, but not your system's root folders, only the container's root folders. This means that you can install packages inside the container using root privileges and access those packages to compile your programs stored in your home, without ever installing those packages in your actual system!
You can take advantage of this by installing, for instance, Qt development packages used for kdesrc-build from inside the container. This way, it is not necessary to compile Qt with kdesrc-build. This is particularly convenient if you want to compile KDE software with Qt6 quickly.
Likewise, you should install the required dependencies from inside the distrobox rather than from your system's repositories. Then you can start compiling as usual.
After compiling your program with kdesrc-build from inside the distrobox, you can run it with kdesrc-build run, and despite it originating from inside a container and using the libraries from the container, it will run just fine as a GUI application on your system!
The only few gotchas to using this method are:
- You cannot use a full Plasma Desktop session made from git.
- You will need qqc2-desktop-style and Breeze to show the correct theme for your applications.
- You will need the QtWayland library and its respective development package to run your applications natively on a Wayland session.
Other operating systems
Kubuntu 23.10
The default configuration of kdesrc-build requires Qt version 6.5. Kubuntu 23.10 has Qt version 6.4.2. It is recommended that you use a Linux OS that is better supported by kdesrc-build.
FreeBSD
Install the latest release of FreeBSD with KDE Plasma Desktop on your hardware computer or in a virtual machine.
Your user should be member of the "wheel" user group (e.g. this can be configured in the FreeBSD installer, when creating your user you can select additional user groups for your user). Your user should be able to use sudo:
pkg install sudo visudo # Uncomment the line: %wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
Then set up kdesrc-build using the same procedure as when installing kdesrc-build on a Linux operating system. FreeBSD is currently supported by kdesrc-build. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2wq0eTnUuc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT-AN4J-hn8
Microsoft Windows
You can build and develop KDE projects using the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Apple macOS
You can build and develop KDE projects using the Apple macOS operating system.
What to do if CMake configure fails because a build dependency is missing
If you run kdesrc-build in order to build a KDE git repository. And if building fails with a CMake error. Then, that is most often caused by the fact that you do not have installed some binary packages from your Linux OS.
See below for some ideas about how to find out what Linux packages you need to install.
Debian/Kubuntu/KDE neon
E.g. I am on Kubuntu 22.10, kdesrc-build frameworks fails, module kcoreaddons has CMake (configure) error Could NOT find Qt6LinguistTools (missing: Qt6LinguistTools_DIR).
Option 1:
Search on the internet for ubuntu packages Qt6LinguistTools it returns https://packages.ubuntu.com/kinetic/amd64/qt6-tools-dev Expand "amd64 [list of files]": /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/cmake/Qt6LinguistTools/Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
sudo apt install qt6-tools-dev
Option 2:
sudo apt install apt-file
sudo apt-file update
apt-file find Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
# qt6-tools-dev: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/cmake/Qt6LinguistTools/Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
sudo apt install qt6-tools-dev
If the error is:
The imported target "Qt6::qtwaylandscanner" references the file
"/usr/lib/qt6/libexec/qtwaylandscanner"
but this file does not exist.
Then:
apt-file find /usr/lib/qt6/libexec/qtwaylandscanner
# qt6-wayland-dev-tools: /usr/lib/qt6/libexec/qtwaylandscanner
sudo apt install qt6-wayland-dev-tools
Option 3:
apt search linguist | grep qt6
# linguist-qt6/kinetic 6.3.1-2 amd64
sudo apt install linguist-qt6
More examples:
# Error "Could not find OsmTools (missing: OSMCONVERT_EXECUTABLE
apt-file search -i OSMCONVERT
# Returns "osmctools: /usr/bin/osmconvert".
sudo apt install osmctools
# Error "Program doxygen found: NO
# doc/meson.build:6:0: ERROR: Program 'doxygen' not found or not executable"
apt-file search doxygen | grep "/doxygen$"
#doxygen: /usr/bin/doxygen
#polymake-common: /usr/share/polymake/scripts/doxygen
sudo apt install doxygen
Fedora
sudo dnf provides "NameOrPathOfFileThatIsMissing"
See https://invent.kde.org/redstrate/cmake-package-installer/-/blob/master/src/main.rs
E.g. if the error is:
Failed to find required Qt component "LinguistTools".
Expected Config file at
"/lib64/cmake/Qt6LinguistTools/Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake" does NOT exist
run:
dnf provides Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
# Error: No matches found. If searching for a file, try specifying the full path
# or using a wildcard prefix ("*/") at the beginning.
dnf provides */Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
# qt6-qttools-devel-6.5.1-1.fc38.i686 : Development files for qt6-qttools
# Repo : updates
# Matched from:
# Filename : /usr/lib/cmake/Qt6LinguistTools/Qt6LinguistToolsConfig.cmake
Advanced kdesrc-build
After you have edited a git repository and you want to build it, --no-src will make sure that kdesrc-build does not overwrite your changes with the latest source code from the official git repository (remote "origin" / https://invent/kde.org).
--no-include-dependencies only builds the git repository that you give as parameter to kdesrc-build.
--debug shows verbose output.
--refresh-build forces a rebuild (not an incremental build) and a full reinstall.
E.g. you have edited kcalc. You run:
kdesrc-build kcalc --no-src --no-include-dependencies --refresh-build --debug |& tee ~/a.txt
For details, see:
kdesrc-build --help
Note: the resources below might not be up to date.
See the kdesrc-build manual, Readme #1, Readme #2, Document #3 for more kdesrc-build information and options.
Qt 6 installed using Qt online installer
The homepage of the Qt Framework is https://www.qt.io . Go to this web page, create an online account. https://www.qt.io/download-open-source > "Download the Qt Online Installer" > Linux > "Qt Online Installer for Linux (64-bit)" > download a file named e.g. qt-unified-linux-x64-4.6.1-online.run into the directory e.g. "~/Downloads".
ls -la ~/Downloads # The downloaded file needs to hace the "executable" chmod bit set. chmod +x ~/Downloads/qt-unified-linux-x64-4.6.1-online.run ~/Downloads/qt-unified-linux-x64-4.6.1-online.run
Login using your Qt online account. Next > check the checkbox "I have read and agree to the terms and conditions of using OpenSource Qt", check the checkbox "I'm an individual and do not use Qt for any company" > Next > Next > enable "Help us improve" > Next > Custom installation, notice that the install directory is "~/Qt" > Next. Install the latest version of Qt6 and the latest version of the Qt Creator integrated development environment (IDE). There are some Qt6 components that are not used by KDE and can be left out when installing Qt6 e.g. WebAssembly, Android, Sources, Qt Quick 3D, Qt 3D, "Quick: 3D Physics", "Qt debug Information Files".
In the KDE Plasma app launcher you now have the application "Qt Maintenance Tool".
Set up kdesrc-build from scratch as usual.
Edit the file kdesrc-buildrc to look like:
global
...
qtdir ~/Qt/6.6.0/gcc_64 # Where to install Qt6 if kdesrc-build supplies it
libname lib
...
end global
...
Make gpgme build:
sudo su mkdir -p /home/qt/work chown -R username:username /home/qt/work ln -s /home/username/Qt/6.6.0/gcc_64 /home/qt/work/install ls -la /home/qt/work
kf5-qt5 vs. kf6-qt6
Many KDE git repositories can build correctly and run correctly using "kdesrc-build kf6-qt6".
The KDE git repositories that can build correctly and run correctly using "kdesrc-build kf6-qt6" have two long lived git branches:
- A long lived git branch that does not contain the deprecated symbols from kf5-qt5, named e.g. "master".
- And another long lived git branch for qt5-kf5, where the deprecated symbols still exist.
What is "kf5-qt5"? Follow the chapter "kdesrc-build Qt5". The resulting kdesrc-build installation will be of type kf5-qt5. In kdesrc-buildrc in the "global" section you will have "branch-group kf5-qt5". The git repositories that have only one long lived git branch e.g. named "master" will use that. The git repositories that have a second long lived git branch where the deprecated symbols still exist e.g. named "kf5" will use that.
What is "kf6-qt6"? You just set up kdesrc-build following the procedure. The resulting kdesrc-build installation will be of type kf6-qt6. In kdesrc-buildrc in the "global" section you will have "branch-group kf6-qt6". The git repositories that have only one long lived git branch e.g. named "master" will use that. The git repositories that have a second long lived git branch, will use the git branch where the deprecated symbols do not exist e.g. named "master".
Build Qt6 using kdesrc-build
A screen recording version is available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDzX0376QyA
Note: If you cannot build the KDE frameworks using kdesrc-build and using the Qt6 provided by your OS (Linux distribution). Because the Qt6 is not complete. You might want to build Qt6 using kdesrc-build.
Note: Building Qt6 using kdesrc-build is an advanced topic.
Set up kdesrc-build clean from scratch.
Edit two files.
~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc:
# This file controls options to apply when configuring/building modules, and
# controls which modules are built in the first place.
# List of all options: https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-build/conf-options-table.html
global
branch-group kf6-qt6
# Finds and includes *KDE*-based dependencies into the build. This makes
# it easier to ensure that you have all the modules needed, but the
# dependencies are not very fine-grained so this can result in quite a few
# modules being installed that you didn't need.
include-dependencies true
# Install directory for KDE software
kdedir ~/kde/usr
# Directory for downloaded source code
source-dir ~/kde/src
# Directory to build KDE into before installing
# relative to source-dir by default
build-dir ~/kde/build
qtdir ~/kde/usr # Where to install Qt6 if kdesrc-build supplies it
cmake-options -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
# kdesrc-build sets 2 options which is used in options like make-options or set-env
# to help manage the number of compile jobs that happen during a build:
#
# 1. num-cores, which is just the number of detected CPU cores, and can be passed
# to tools like make (needed for parallel build) or ninja (completely optional).
#
# 2. num-cores-low-mem, which is set to largest value that appears safe for
# particularly heavyweight modules based on total memory, intended for
# modules like qtwebengine
num-cores 15
num-cores-low-mem 4
# kdesrc-build can install a sample .xsession file for "Custom"
# (or "XSession") logins,
install-session-driver false
# or add a environment variable-setting script to
# ~/.config/kde-env-master.sh
install-environment-driver true
# Stop the build process on the first failure
stop-on-failure true
# Use a flat folder layout under ~/kde/src and ~/kde/build
# rather than nested directories
directory-layout flat
# Build with LSP support for everything that supports it
compile-commands-linking true
compile-commands-export true
git-repository-base qt6-copy https://invent.kde.org/qt/qt/
end global
# With base options set, the remainder of the file is used to define modules to build, in the
# desired order, and set any module-specific options.
#
# Modules may be grouped into sets, and this is the normal practice.
#
# You can include other files inline using the "include" command. We do this here
# to include files which are updated with kdesrc-build.
# Common options that should be set for some KDE modules no matter how
# kdesrc-build finds them. Do not comment these out unless you know
# what you are doing.
#include /home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build/kf6-common-options-build-include
# Qt and some Qt-using middleware libraries. Uncomment if your distribution's Qt
# tools are too old but be warned that Qt take a long time to build!
include /home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build/qt6-build-include
#include /home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build/custom-qt6-libs-build-include
# KF6 and Plasma :)
#include /home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build/kf6-qt6-build-include
# To change options for modules that have already been defined, use an
# 'options' block. See kf6-common-options-build-include for an example
~/kde/src/kdesrc-build/qt6-build-include:
# Downloads and installs Qt6 from the KDE mirror, using Qt6's CMake support
# exclusively. Consider this an unofficial build that won't be supported by Qt
# upstream since we don't go through the init-repository script.
# It is probably better to install from your local distribution devel packages
# if possible!
module-set qt6-set
override-build-system qt6 # technically optional for now
repository qt6-copy # as defined in kdesrc-buildrc-kf6-sample
branch 6.5
# install path. This *MUST* match your qtdir setting in kdesrc-buildrc!
prefix ${qtdir}
# These have been manually placed in dependency order based on the
# .gitmodules file in https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt/qt5.git/tree/.gitmodules
# in "essential" or "addons" categories with some additions
# qtdoc should be last to give it best opportunity to make needed docs
use-modules qtbase qttools qtshadertools qtdeclarative qtsvg \
qtimageformats qtmultimedia qtwayland \
qtwebsockets qtwebchannel qtwebengine qtwebview qtsensors \
qtnetworkauth qt5compat qtdoc qtpositioning \
qtlocation qtvirtualkeyboard qttranslations \
qtlanguageserver
# if you want qtwebengine, add it to use-modules after "qtwebchannel" and
# comment this out. Note qtwebengine has significant and different build
# requirements of its own.
#ignore-modules qtwebengine
# Archiving API requires zstd support which may not be present in your CMake
cmake-options -DQT_BUILD_TESTS=FALSE -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
-DQT_AVOID_CMAKE_ARCHIVING_API=TRUE
cmake-generator Ninja # comment out if you want the default CMake generator
end module-set
options qtwebengine
# qtwebengine build system is weird, involving make as the top-level driver
# and then calling ninja for the bulk of the build. qtwebengine is a bulky
# module and having ninja use all cores at once may run out of memory if
# not careful, so we use make to pass less aggressive Ninja flags.
# num-cores-low-mem needs to be defined in your kdesrc-buildrc.
make-options NINJAFLAGS=-j${num-cores-low-mem}
end options
# vim: set ft=kdesrc-buildrc:
Debian/Ubuntu:
apt build-dep qt6-base-dev qt6-tools-dev qt6-shadertools-dev qt6-shadertools-dev qt6-svg-dev \
qt6-image-formats-plugins qt6-multimedia-dev qt6-wayland-dev \
qt6-websockets-dev qt6-webchannel-dev qt6-webengine-dev qt6-webview-dev qt6-sensors-dev\
qt6-networkauth-dev qt6-5compat-dev qt6-documentation-tools qt6-positioning-dev \
qt6-virtualkeyboard-dev qt6-translations-l10n \
qt6-languageserver-dev
# If qttools does not build because of missing "#include <litehtml.h>"
# as per https://groups.google.com/g/linux.debian.bugs.dist/c/xQS2TvgKn6E
# Edit ~/kde/src/qttools/src/assistant/qlitehtml/src/container_qpainter_p.h:80
# replace "#include <litehtml.h>" with "#include <litehtml/litehtml.h>".
kdesrc-build qt6-set
To compile Qt6 with Qt X11 Extras which is a necessary library to compile KWindowSystem, you shoud enable XCB feature during compilation
kdesrc-build qt6-set --cmake-options="-DQT_FEATURE_xcb=ON"
Portable installation of kdesrc-build
The current directory (pwd) is important when running kdesrc-build. If there exists a file kdesrc-buildrc in the the current directory (pwd), kdesrc-build will prefer that file over ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc.
If you are interested in or need separate builds of KDE software, like when building with Qt5 or Qt6, you can create a self-contained, portable installation of kdesrc-build in its own folder. This way, you can manage your kdesrc-build configuration files each in their own environment without mixing configurations or having to rebuild the universe every time you want to test a different one.
# To not lose your previous build, make a backup:
mv ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc~bak && mv ~/kde ~/kde~bak
# Edit ~/.bashrc file and remove the kdesrc-build block.
# Set up kdesrc-build by following just the chapter https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/development/Set_up_a_development_environment
# Make sure to answer "No" (or press the Enter key) when it asks if
# you want to add the kdesrc-build block to ~/.bashrc.
# Do not source ~/.bashrc.
# Edit ~/.bashrc file and remove the kdesrc-build block.
# Reboot the computer or relogin such that the $PATH environment variable
# does not contain the string "~/kde" or sub directories of "~/kde".
# You should not have built anything using kdesrc-build yet.
# Then move the generated kdesrc-buildrc to the directory where
# you git cloned kdesrc-build:
cd ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build
mv ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc .
# If the current directory is ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build, kdesrc-build will use
# the file ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-buildrc even if the file
# ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc exists.
# Edit the file paths in the file ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-buildrc by
# replacing the string "/home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build/"
# with the empty string.
# Before running kdesrc-build or kdesrc-run, always make sure that
# you are in the directory ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build
cd ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build
# Calling ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-build will then use the file
# kdesrc-buildrc from the current directory:
./kdesrc-build kconfig
Whenever you move or copy this portable installation of kdesrc-build to another directory, do the following:
# E.g. copy the existing portable kdesrc-build installation # from the directory ~/kde to the directory ~/kdenew cp -r ~/kde ~/kdenew # Or to any other directory. # Edit the file paths in the file ~/kdenew/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-buildrc # E.g. replace "~/kde/" with "~/kdenew/". # Cleanup. Binary files contain file full paths starting with "~/kde" rm -rf ~/kdenew/usr rm -rf ~/kdenew/build cd ~/kdenew/src/kdesrc-build ./kdesrc-build frameworks
Two independent kdesrc-build installations on the same machine: kf6-qt6 and kf5-qt5
Make a backup of your existing kdesrc-build setup.
mv ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc~bak && mv ~/kde ~/kde~bak
Set up a portable kdesrc-build from scratch in the directory ~/kde. See the chapter #Portable installation of kdesrc-build for details. But do not run kdesrc-build to build anything.
In the directory ~/kde there will be a new kdesrc-build installation of type kf6-qt6.
At the end of this procedure there will be two independent and portable kdesrc-build installations:
- In the directory
~/kdea kdesrc-build installation for Qt6 - In the directory
~/kde5a kdesrc-build installation for Qt5
# You have a kdesrc-build kf6-qt6 installation in ~/kde
# kf5-qt5 kdesrc-build installation.
cp -r ~/kde ~/kde5
# Edit the file ~/kde5/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-buildrc such that the kdesrc-build installation becomes one of type kf5-qt5, see chapter "kdesrc-build Qt5".
# Edit the file paths in the file ~/kde5/src/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-buildrc
# E.g. replace "~/kde/" with "~/kde5/".
# Now you have a kdesrc-build kf5-qt5 installation in ~/kde5
Usage:
# Use different terminal windows or tabs (e.g. different Konsole tabs) for
# kf5-qt5 and kf6-qt6
# Go to the terminal window or tab for kf6-qt6.
cd ~/kde/src/kdesrc-build
./kdesrc-build kcalc
./kdesrc-run kcalc
# Go to the terminal window or tab for kf5-qt5.
cd ~/kde5/src/kdesrc-build
./kdesrc-build plasma-systemmonitor
./kdesrc-run plasma-systemmonitor
What is the command line of the processes started by kdesrc-build
E.g. what are the command lines that are run by kdesrc-build in order to run the CMake configure step for the kconfig KDE git repository?
kdesrc-build kconfig --no-src --no-include-dependencies --debug --refresh-build |& tee ~/a.txt
kate ~/a.txt &
Returns:
Building kconfig (build system KDE CMake) from frameworks (1/1)
Queueing PKG_CONFIG_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/lib/pkgconfig
Queueing LD_LIBRARY_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/lib
Queueing PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/bin:/home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build:/home/username/.local/bin:/home/username/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
Not prepending /home/username/kde/usr/lib/pkgconfig to PKG_CONFIG_PATH as it appears to already be defined in PKG_CONFIG_PATH.
Queueing PKG_CONFIG_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/lib/pkgconfig
Not prepending /home/username/kde/usr/lib to LD_LIBRARY_PATH as it appears to already be defined in LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
Queueing LD_LIBRARY_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/lib
Not prepending /home/username/kde/usr/bin to PATH as it appears to already be defined in PATH.
Queueing PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/bin:/home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build:/home/username/.local/bin:/home/username/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
Queueing CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr
Queueing CMAKE_MODULE_PATH to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/lib64/cmake:/home/username/kde/usr/lib/cmake
Queueing XDG_DATA_DIRS to be set to /home/username/kde/usr/share:/usr/share/plasma:/home/username/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
Source update complete for kconfig: Skipped
cd /home/username/kde/build
Preparing build system for kconfig.
Removing files in build directory for kconfig
Old build system cleaned, starting new build system.
cd /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
Running cmake targeting Unix Makefiles...
run_logged_p(): Module kconfig, Command: {'cmake', '-B', '.', '-S', '/home/username/kde/src/kconfig', '-G', 'Unix Makefiles', '-DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS:BOOL=ON', '-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug', '-DQT_MAJOR_VERSION=6', '-DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON', '-DBUILD_TESTING=TRUE', '-DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON', '-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=-pipe', '-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/username/kde/usr'} from /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
cd /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
log_command(): Module kconfig, Command: cmake -B . -S /home/username/kde/src/kconfig -G Unix Makefiles -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS:BOOL=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DQT_MAJOR_VERSION=6 -DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON -DBUILD_TESTING=TRUE -DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=-pipe -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/username/kde/usr
run_logged_p(): kconfig cmake complete: 0
Therefore, kdesrc-build has run the following commands:
# Preparing build system for kconfig. Removing files in build directory for kconfig. Old build system cleaned, starting new build system.
rm -rf /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
mkdir -p /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
# Queueing X to be set to ...
PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/home/username/kde/usr/lib/pkgconfig
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/username/kde/usr/lib
PATH=/home/username/kde/usr/bin:/home/username/kde/src/kdesrc-build:/home/username/.local/bin:/home/username/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/home/username/kde/usr
CMAKE_MODULE_PATH=/home/username/kde/usr/lib64/cmake:/home/username/kde/usr/lib/cmake
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/home/username/kde/usr/share:/usr/share/plasma:/home/username/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
cd /home/username/kde/build/kconfig
cmake -B . -S /home/username/kde/src/kconfig -G Unix\ Makefiles -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS:BOOL=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DQT_MAJOR_VERSION=6 -DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON -DBUILD_TESTING=TRUE -DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=-pipe -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/username/kde/usr
How to write the entire verbose STDOUT and STDERR of kdesrc-build to a file
script -eq -c "kdesrc-build kconfig --no-src --no-include-dependencies --refresh-build --debug" ~/a.txt ; sed -i $'s/\033\[[0-9]\+m//g' ~/a.txt
The sed part removes the terminal ANSI color escape codes.
script -eq -c "command" ~/a.txt is better than command |& tee ~/a.txt because kdesrc-build behaves differently if it is run in a user interactive terminal session (isatty).
If using tee, part of the output of kdesrc-build will not be written to file. E.g. the output of the cmake step, the final part of the make -j step, the final part of the make install step.
Other CPU architectures than x86_64/amd64 and x86
You can build and develop KDE projects using a Linux OS installed on an ARM architecture CPU.
kdesrc-build issues
"kdesrc-build kfilemetadata" fails because of appimage
This happens on KDE neon.
Solution:
sudo apt remove libappimage-dev
wayland-protocols is too old, e.g. "kdesrc-build kidletime" fails
mkdir -p ~/kde/misc && cd ~/kde/misc wget https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/wayland-protocols/-/releases/1.31/downloads/wayland-protocols-1.31.tar.xz tar -xJvf wayland-protocols-*.tar.xz && mv wayland-protocols-*/ wayland-protocols cd wayland-protocols meson setup builddir --prefix $HOME/kde/usr meson compile -C builddir meson install -C builddir
"kdesrc-build kpat" fails because of black-hole-solitaire
This happens on Debian/Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Because there is no Linux distribution binary package for https://github.com/shlomif/black-hole-solitaire.
Solution: append at the end of kdesrc-buildrc file:
options kpat
cmake-options -DWITH_BH_SOLVER=OFF
end options
"kdesrc-build frameworks" fails because of qtwebkit
Note: qtwebkit and kdewebkit are Qt5 only.
Some Linux OSes do not have a package for qtwebkit anymore. E.g. the Arch Linux family.
When you want to build all of the KDE Frameworks 5 using kdesrc-build, exclude kdewebkit.
kdesrc-build frameworks --ignore-modules kdewebkit
libdisplay-info is not available
If your Linux OS does not have a package for libdisplay-info.
Append at the end of the file kdesrc-buildrc:
module libdisplay-info repository https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/emersion/libdisplay-info.git end module