Compile on MacOS/cs: Difference between revisions

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<languages/>
Since Mac OS X is BSD (UNIX) based, compiling FreeCAD on a Mac isn't much different from [[CompileOnUnix]], however there are a number of Mac-specific details critical to getting everything working properly. These instructions have been tested on Lion (10.7), but ''should work'' on Intel Macs running (Snow) Leopard as well.


{{Docnav
== Getting the source ==
|[[Compile_on_Linux|Compile on Linux]]
Before you can compile FreeCAD, you need the source code. There are 3 ways to get it:
|[[Compile_on_Docker|Compile on Docker]]
}}


{{VeryImportantMessage|There is an experimental FreeCAD Docker container that is being tested for FreeCAD development. Read more about it at [[Compile on Docker]]}}
=== Git ===
The quickest and best way to get the code is to clone the read-only git repository (you need the [http://git-scm.com/ git] package installed):
git clone git://free-cad.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/free-cad/free-cad freecad
This will place a copy of the latest version of the FreeCAD source code in a new directory called "freecad". The first time you try connecting to the free-cad.git.sourceforge.net host, you will receive a message asking to authenticate the sourceforge SSH key, which is normally safe to accept (you can check their SSH keys on the sourceforge website if you are not sure)


{{TOCright}}
=== Github ===
There is an always up to date FreeCAD repository on Gihub:
[https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD_sf_master github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD_sf_master]


=== Source package ===
== Overview ==
Alternatively you can download a source package, but they could be already quite old so it's always better to get the latest sources. Depending on your distribution, there are several ways to obtain a source package:
Official FreeCAD source packages (distribution-independent): https://sourceforge.net/projects/free-cad/files/FreeCAD%20Source/
Debian: http://packages.debian.org/source/sid/freecad
Ubuntu: http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/precise/freecad
=== Install Dependencies ===
On Mac OS X 10.7, the following dependencies are NOT bundled with the operating and thus must be installed before building FreeCAD:
*sip
*fortran
*xerces-c
*boost
*eigen
*ftgl
*coin3d
*OpenCASCADE
*Qt
*pyqt
*soqt


This page describes how to compile the FreeCAD source code on macOS. For other platforms, see [[Compiling|Compiling]].
==== Option 1: Homebrew ====
'''Note''': this section is still a work in progress! See the help forum post for the latest.
:https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2064&p=15405
Download and install the package manager Homebrew:
:http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/
Then compile and install most of FreeCAD's dependencies:
brew install sip gfortran xerces-c boost eigen coin qt pyqt soqt ftgl
Go on to [[CompileOnMac#Build OpenCASCADE]].
==== Option 2: MacPorts/Fink ====


These instructions have been tested on macOS Catalina with standard XCode 11.6. It is known to work on macOS BigSur Beta with XCode 12.0 beta. If you plan to use XCode Beta, please be sure to download Command Line Tools add on through a dmg package to workaround some libz dependency issues.
'''Note: this section is in need of updates.'''


This page serves as a quick start, and is not intended to be comprehensive with regard to describing all the available build options.
Install MacPorts (if you don't already have it). MacPorts is a system that allows you to download, compile, and install many common open-source applications with a single command. Similar applications from the UNIX/Linux world are PKGSRC and APT. To install, just download the disk image from the MacPorts site and follow the directions:
:http://www.macports.org/install.php
Whether or not you just installed MacPorts, you'll probably want to make sure it's up to date. Run:
sudo port selfupdate
Now that MacPorts is installed and up to date, you can start installing some of FreeCAD's required packages:
*xercesc
*boost
*py-sip
*ftlg
*f2c
*eigen3
*py-pyqt4
*Coin
The following command will compile/install the above libraries. If MacPorts produces errors, you may want to try installing them one at a time.
sudo port install xercesc boost ftgl f2c eigen3 py-sip py-pyqt4 Coin
Note that for python packages like py-sip and py-pyqt4, there are multiple packages, one for each MacPorts version of Python.


If you just want to evaluate the latest pre-release build of FreeCAD, you can download pre-built binaries [https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases from here].
Note that boost is a large package, and py-pyqt4 depends on qt4-mac, which is a large package. You may want to run port -v install so that you have more of an idea what's going on during these long builds.


== Install Prerequisites ==
Qt4 is also available for Mac as a binary installer from the Qt web site. I'm not sure how nicely this approach plays with FreeCAD compiling.


The following software must be installed to support the build process.
It is also possible to choose the version of the gcc compiler to use, some recent versions might sometimes cause problems:
sudo port -v install gcc_select
sudo port select --list gcc
sudo port select --set gcc mp-gcc46
'''Install Fortran Compiler'''


=== Homebrew Package Manager ===
You also need a FORTRAN compiler. Apple's fork of gcc on OSX does not come with FORTRAN.


Homebrew is a command line based package manager for macOS. The [https://brew.sh/ Homebrew main page] provides an installation command line that you simply paste into a terminal window.
An installer for GFortran can be found here, and will do the trick:
http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/GFortranBinaries#MacOS
If you are using fink, another method is to use the following commands (attempted by Shaneyfelt 2100.Nov.14)
sudo fink selfupdate
sudo fink install gcc46
''This installs another gcc compiler collection with the name gcc-4 to avoid a name conflict with the apple one.''


=== CMake ===
MacPorts gcc4x packages also include FORTRAN compilers, so this should also work:
sudo port install gcc46
Another possible MacPorts package is g95. This seems to be a valid FORTRAN90 compiler and will pass FreeCAD's cmake configuration tests, but the actual build seems to ask for gcc-specific options, so probably easier to stick to gcc4x.


CMake is a build tool that generates a build configuration based on variables you specify. You then issue the 'make' command to actually build that configuration. The command-line version of CMake is automatically installed as part of the Homebrew installation, above. If you prefer to use a GUI version of CMake, you can download it from [https://www.cmake.org/downloadDownload here].
'''Install Eigen3'''


== Install Dependencies ==
Download and unzip the latest eigen3 library here:
http://eigen.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
These are needed for solver functionality. Once unzipped, the folder named 'Eigen' can be dropped into


FreeCAD maintains a Homebrew 'cask' which installs the required formulas and dependencies. Issue the following brew commands in your terminal.
'''/usr/local/include/eigen3/'''


{{Code|code=
=== Build OpenCASCADE ===
brew tap freecad/freecad
brew install eigen
brew install --only-dependencies freecad
}}


{{Incode|brew install}} may take quite a while, so you may want go grab a beverage. :-).
Currently, the easiest way to build OpenCASCADE on OS X is from the community edition (oce). Download the source or check out the Git repository from:
:https://github.com/tpaviot/oce
Then, in terminal:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cd ..
make
make install/strip
You may need cmake:
sudo port install cmake
=== Download and 'install' the FreeCAD.app template ===
The following archive contains an application bundle template for FreeCAD. This is not strictly necessary, but it makes working with FreeCAD more convenient than the default installation configuration. The recommended install location for the bundle is the /Applications folder, but you should be able to put it anywhere you want -- just remember that the bundle can't be moved after FreeCAD is complied and installed without further modifications. Running make install using the configuration in the next step will install into this bundle.
:http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/103808/FreeCAD/FreeCAD_bundle_template_20091128.tar.gz
=== Compile ===
Configure, compile, and install FreeCAD using the following commands from within the root FreeCAD folder. If you put your FreeCAD.app bundle somewhere other than /Applications (or aren't using the bundle), change the 'PREFIX' argument accordingly.
./autogen.sh
PREFIX=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents
If you installed dependencies using Option 1 (Homebrew):


Alternately, you can install the individual dependencies manually by installing the following packages using {{Incode|brew install ...}}:
''Note'': this config line has not been verified and may contain errors!
./configure --with-xercesc-lib=/usr/local/lib --with-xercesc-include=/usr/local/include \
--with-boost-lib=/usr/local/lib --with-boost-include=/usr/local/include \
--with-qt4-dir=/usr/local--with-qt4-lib=/usr/local/lib --with-qt4-include=/usr/local/include \
--with-qt4-framework=/usr/local/lib --with-qt4-bin=/usr/local/bin --with-occ-lib=/usr/local/lib \
--with-occ-include=/usr/local/include/oce --with-coin=/usr/local/lib --with-soqt=/usr/local/lib \
--prefix=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents --bindir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/MacOS \
--libdir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Frameworks/FreeCAD \
--includedir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Resources/include \
--datarootdir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Resources/share --enable-debug=no \
--with-python-include=/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Headers
Or if you installed dependencies using Option 2 (MacPorts/Fink):
./configure --with-xercesc-lib=/opt/local/lib --with-xercesc-include=/opt/local/include \
--with-boost-lib=/opt/local/lib --with-boost-include=/opt/local/include \
--with-qt4-dir=/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0 --with-qt4-lib=/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0/lib \
--with-qt4-include=/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0/include --with-qt4-framework=/Library/Frameworks \
--with-qt4-bin=/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0/bin --with-occ-lib=/usr/local/lib \
--with-occ-include=/usr/local/include/oce --with-coin=/Library/Frameworks \
--with-soqt=/Library/Frameworks --prefix=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents \
--bindir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/MacOS --libdir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Frameworks/FreeCAD \
--includedir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Resources/include \
--datarootdir=/Applications/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Resources/share --enable-debug=no \
--with-python-include=/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Headers
Then:
make
make install
Depending on your machine's processing power, the make step can take quite a while.


* {{incode|cmake}}
=== Run ===
* {{incode|swig}}
If everything went OK, double-clicking the .app bundle should start FreeCAD. If you have any issues, post the details on the [http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewforum.php?f=4 help forum].
* {{incode|boost}}
* {{incode|boost-python3}}
* {{incode|eigen}}
* {{incode|gts}}
* {{incode|vtk}}
* {{incode|xerces-c}}
* {{incode|qt@5}} - Only Qt5 is currently supported, support for Qt6 is a work-in-progress
* {{incode|opencascade}}
* {{incode|doxygen}}
* {{incode|pkgconfig}}
* {{incode|coin3d}} - Note that as of this writing (Nov. 2022) this will install an unusable version of pyside@2 as a dependency.


There are several packages that are only available when you have tapped the freecad cask: you must do that ({{incode|brew tap freecad/freecad}}). Due to some historical bug workarounds, at the time of this writing (Nov. 2022) the versions of PySide2 and Shiboken2 installed by Homebrew are not usable because they force the use of Py_Limited_API, which FreeCAD does not support. It is expected that this workaround will be removed in the coming months, but in the meantime you must use the FreeCAD cask versions of PySide and Shiboken. Use {{incode|brew install ...}}, install the following packages:
=== PyQt4 ===


* {{incode|freecad/freecad/pyside2@5.15.5}}
Some users reported facing a "No Module named PyQt4" message on FreeCAD startup. This is a workaround to correct it:
* {{incode|freecad/freecad/shiboken2@5.15.5}}
cd /Library/Python/2.6/site-packages
* {{incode|freecad/freecad/med-file}}
sudo ln -s /contrib/lib/python2.6/site-packages/PyQt4 .
* {{incode|freecad/freecad/netgen}}
sudo ln -s /contrib/lib/python2.6/site-packages/sip* .
cd /volatile/FreeCAD-r5443-ser/bin/pivy
cp _coin.dylib _coin.so
cd /volatile/FreeCAD-r5443-ser/lib
for i in *.dylib; do j=`basename $i .dylib`; cp $i $j.so; done
=== Pivy ===
Some FreeCAD components won't work without Pivy. See [[Extra_python_modules#Pivy|here]] for partial build instructions.


You will also need to "link" PySide and Shiboken:


{{Code|code=
{{docnav/cs|CompileOnUnix/cs|Third Party Libraries/cs}}
brew link freecad/freecad/pyside2@5.15.5 freecad/freecad/shiboken2@5.15.5
}}


In some cases the packages installed by Homebrew do not use the same Python version: for example, at the time of this writing PySide2 uses Python 3.10, but boost-python3 uses Python 3.11. While it is possible to "roll back" the more advanced version (so that in this case boost-python3 uses Python 3.10) this is an advanced operation, and in many cases it is best to wait for an update to the other package. If you want to pursue that path anyway, look at the "brew extract" command, which you can use to extract a formula into a new cask (typically freecad/freecad). You can then edit that formula as needed.
[[Category:Developer Documentation/cs]]


You will need to set the path to Qt: Qt5 is currently supported, while support for Qt6 is a work-in-progress. Set FREECAD_QT_VERSION to "Auto" or "5" to select Qt5 (the default). On the command line, use something like:
{{clear}}

<languages/>
{{Code|code=
cmake \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" \
-DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE="/usr/local/bin/python3" \
-DQt5_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/qt@5/5.15.7/lib/cmake/Qt5" \
-DPySide2_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/pyside2@5.15.5/5.15.5/lib/cmake/PySide2-5.15.5" \
-DShiboken2_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/shiboken2@5.15.5/5.15.5_1/lib/cmake/Shiboken2-5.15.5" \
../freecad-source
}}

== Get the source ==

In the following instructions, the source and build folders are created side-by-side under

{{Code|code=
/Users/username/FreeCAD
}}

but you can use whatever folders you want.

{{Code|code=
mkdir ~/FreeCAD
cd ~/FreeCAD
}}

The following command will clone the FreeCAD git repository into a directory called FreeCAD-git.

{{Code|code=
git clone https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD FreeCAD-git
}}

Create the build folder.

{{Code|code=
mkdir ~/FreeCAD/build
}}

== Run CMake ==

Next, we will run CMake to generate the build configuration. Several options must be passed to CMake. The following table describes the options and gives some background.

=== CMake Options ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! Name !! Value !! Notes
|-
| CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE || Release (STRING) || Release or Debug. Debug is generally used for developer-level testing but may also be required for user-level testing and troubleshooting.
|-
| CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH || "/usr/local/opt/qt5152;" ... (PATH) || Required to build with Qt5. See note below. You also need to add path to VTK libraries and NGLIB libraries cmake configuration file.

|-
| FREECAD_CREATE_MAC_APP || 1 (BOOL) || Create a FreeCAD.app bundle at the location specified in CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, when the 'make install' command issued.
|-
| CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX || "./.." (PATH) || Path where you want to generate the FreeCAD.app bundle.
|-
| FREECAD_USE_EXTERNAL_KDL || 1 (BOOL) || Required.
|-
| BUILD_FEM_NETGEN || 1 (BOOL) || Required if choosing to build the FEM tools.
|}

Note: Command line to generate CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:

<!--NOT CHANGE THE <pre> </pre> BALISE CAUSE THE PIPE OR SPACE IN MACRO CODE CUT THE MACRO-->
ls -d $(brew list -1 | grep qt | tail -1 | xargs brew --cellar)/*/lib/cmake

=== CMake GUI ===

Open the CMake app, and fill in the source and build folder fields. In this example, it would be '''/Users/username/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-git''' for the source, and '''/Users/username/FreeCAD/build''' for the build folder.

Next, click the '''Configure''' button to populate the list of configuration options. This will display a dialog asking you to specify what generator to use. Leave it at the default '''Unix Makefiles.''' Configuring will fail the first time because there are some options that need to be changed. Note: You will need to check the '''Advanced''' checkbox to get all of the options.

Set options from the table above, then click '''Configure''' again and then '''Generate'''.

=== CMake command line ===

Enter the following in the terminal.

{{Code|code=
export PREFIX_PATH="/usr/local/opt/qt5152;\
/usr/local/Cellar/nglib/v6.2.2007/Contents/Resources;\
/usr/local/Cellar/vtk@8.2/8.2.0_1/lib/cmake;"
}}

{{Code|code=
$cd ~/FreeCAD/build
$cmake \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" \
-DBUILD_QT5=1 \
-DWITH_PYTHON3=1 \
-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="$PREFIX_PATH" \
-DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE="/usr/local/bin/python3" \
-DFREECAD_USE_EXTERNAL_KDL=1 \
-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS='-std=c++14' \
-DBUILD_FEM_NETGEN=1 \
-DFREECAD_CREATE_MAC_APP=1 \
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="./.." \
../FreeCAD-git/

}}

== Run make ==

Finally, from a terminal run '''make''' to compile and link FreeCAD, and generate the app bundle.

{{Code|code=
cd ~/FreeCAD/build
make -j5 install
}}

The -j option specifies how many make processes to run at once. One plus the number of CPU cores is usually a good number to use. However, if compiling fails for some reason, it is useful to rerun make without the -j option, so that you can see exactly where the error occurred.

See also [[Compiling_(Speeding_up)|Compiling - Speeding up]].

If make finishes without any errors, you can now launch FreeCAD by double clicking the executable in the Finder.

== Updating from Github ==

FreeCAD development happens fast; every day or so there are bug fixes or new features. To get the latest changes, use git to update the source directory (see [[Source code management]]), then re-run the CMake and make steps above. It is not usually necessary to start with a clean build directory in this case, and subsequent compiles will generally go much faster than the first one.

== Building with Qt4 and Python 2.7 ==

FreeCAD has transitioned from Qt 4 to Qt 5 as well as homebrew. Qt 4 is no longer available as an option for new build on macOS following Qt 5 transition. Python 2.7 has been deprecated within homebrew and upcoming macOS and we do not support it anymore for macOS build either.

== Troubleshooting ==

=== Segfault on Qt5 launch ===

If Qt4 was previously installed via brew, and you then build with Qt5, you may get a EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SEGSEGV) exception when launching the new Qt5 build. The fix for this is to manually uninstall Qt4.

{{Code|code=
brew uninstall --ignore-dependencies --force cartr/qt4/shiboken@1.2 cartr/qt4/pyside@1.2 cartr/qt4/pyside-tools@1.2 cartr/qt4/qt-legacy-formula
}}

=== Fortran ===

''"No CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER could be found."'' during configuration - Older versions of FreeCAD will need a fortran compiler installed. With Homebrew, do "brew install gcc" and try configuring again, giving cmake the path to Fortran ie -DCMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER=/opt/local/bin/gfortran-mp-4.9 . Or, preferably use a more current version of FreeCAD source!

=== FreeType ===

When using CMake versions older than 3.1.0, it's necessary to set CMake variable FREETYPE_INCLUDE_DIR_freetype2 manually, eg /usr/local/include/freetype2

=== Additional Build Instructions ===

FreeCAD can be built against the latest git master hosted on github, and launched from a CLI using libraries provided by the homebrew-freecad tap. For a complete list of build instructions see [https://github.com/ipatch/homebrew-us-05/tree/dev/freecad#building-freecad-for-macos-by-macos here].

{{Docnav/cs
|[[Compile_on_Linux/cs|Compile on Linux]]
|[[Compile_on_Docker/cs|Compile on Docker]]
}}

{{Userdocnavi{{#translation:}}}}
[[Category:Developer_Documentation{{#translation:}}]]
[[Category:Developer{{#translation:}}]]

Latest revision as of 11:50, 12 March 2023

There is an experimental FreeCAD Docker container that is being tested for FreeCAD development. Read more about it at Compile on Docker

Overview

This page describes how to compile the FreeCAD source code on macOS. For other platforms, see Compiling.

These instructions have been tested on macOS Catalina with standard XCode 11.6. It is known to work on macOS BigSur Beta with XCode 12.0 beta. If you plan to use XCode Beta, please be sure to download Command Line Tools add on through a dmg package to workaround some libz dependency issues.

This page serves as a quick start, and is not intended to be comprehensive with regard to describing all the available build options.

If you just want to evaluate the latest pre-release build of FreeCAD, you can download pre-built binaries from here.

Install Prerequisites

The following software must be installed to support the build process.

Homebrew Package Manager

Homebrew is a command line based package manager for macOS. The Homebrew main page provides an installation command line that you simply paste into a terminal window.

CMake

CMake is a build tool that generates a build configuration based on variables you specify. You then issue the 'make' command to actually build that configuration. The command-line version of CMake is automatically installed as part of the Homebrew installation, above. If you prefer to use a GUI version of CMake, you can download it from here.

Install Dependencies

FreeCAD maintains a Homebrew 'cask' which installs the required formulas and dependencies. Issue the following brew commands in your terminal.

brew tap freecad/freecad
brew install eigen
brew install --only-dependencies freecad

brew install may take quite a while, so you may want go grab a beverage. :-).

Alternately, you can install the individual dependencies manually by installing the following packages using brew install ...:

  • cmake
  • swig
  • boost
  • boost-python3
  • eigen
  • gts
  • vtk
  • xerces-c
  • qt@5 - Only Qt5 is currently supported, support for Qt6 is a work-in-progress
  • opencascade
  • doxygen
  • pkgconfig
  • coin3d - Note that as of this writing (Nov. 2022) this will install an unusable version of pyside@2 as a dependency.

There are several packages that are only available when you have tapped the freecad cask: you must do that (brew tap freecad/freecad). Due to some historical bug workarounds, at the time of this writing (Nov. 2022) the versions of PySide2 and Shiboken2 installed by Homebrew are not usable because they force the use of Py_Limited_API, which FreeCAD does not support. It is expected that this workaround will be removed in the coming months, but in the meantime you must use the FreeCAD cask versions of PySide and Shiboken. Use brew install ..., install the following packages:

  • freecad/freecad/pyside2@5.15.5
  • freecad/freecad/shiboken2@5.15.5
  • freecad/freecad/med-file
  • freecad/freecad/netgen

You will also need to "link" PySide and Shiboken:

brew link freecad/freecad/pyside2@5.15.5 freecad/freecad/shiboken2@5.15.5

In some cases the packages installed by Homebrew do not use the same Python version: for example, at the time of this writing PySide2 uses Python 3.10, but boost-python3 uses Python 3.11. While it is possible to "roll back" the more advanced version (so that in this case boost-python3 uses Python 3.10) this is an advanced operation, and in many cases it is best to wait for an update to the other package. If you want to pursue that path anyway, look at the "brew extract" command, which you can use to extract a formula into a new cask (typically freecad/freecad). You can then edit that formula as needed.

You will need to set the path to Qt: Qt5 is currently supported, while support for Qt6 is a work-in-progress. Set FREECAD_QT_VERSION to "Auto" or "5" to select Qt5 (the default). On the command line, use something like:

cmake \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" \
  -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE="/usr/local/bin/python3" \
  -DQt5_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/qt@5/5.15.7/lib/cmake/Qt5" \
  -DPySide2_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/pyside2@5.15.5/5.15.5/lib/cmake/PySide2-5.15.5" \
  -DShiboken2_DIR="/usr/local/Cellar/shiboken2@5.15.5/5.15.5_1/lib/cmake/Shiboken2-5.15.5" \
  ../freecad-source

Get the source

In the following instructions, the source and build folders are created side-by-side under

/Users/username/FreeCAD

but you can use whatever folders you want.

mkdir ~/FreeCAD
cd ~/FreeCAD

The following command will clone the FreeCAD git repository into a directory called FreeCAD-git.

git clone https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD FreeCAD-git

Create the build folder.

mkdir ~/FreeCAD/build

Run CMake

Next, we will run CMake to generate the build configuration. Several options must be passed to CMake. The following table describes the options and gives some background.

CMake Options

Name Value Notes
CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release (STRING) Release or Debug. Debug is generally used for developer-level testing but may also be required for user-level testing and troubleshooting.
CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "/usr/local/opt/qt5152;" ... (PATH) Required to build with Qt5. See note below. You also need to add path to VTK libraries and NGLIB libraries cmake configuration file.
FREECAD_CREATE_MAC_APP 1 (BOOL) Create a FreeCAD.app bundle at the location specified in CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, when the 'make install' command issued.
CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX "./.." (PATH) Path where you want to generate the FreeCAD.app bundle.
FREECAD_USE_EXTERNAL_KDL 1 (BOOL) Required.
BUILD_FEM_NETGEN 1 (BOOL) Required if choosing to build the FEM tools.

Note: Command line to generate CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:

ls -d $(brew list -1 | grep qt | tail -1 | xargs brew --cellar)/*/lib/cmake

CMake GUI

Open the CMake app, and fill in the source and build folder fields. In this example, it would be /Users/username/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-git for the source, and /Users/username/FreeCAD/build for the build folder.

Next, click the Configure button to populate the list of configuration options. This will display a dialog asking you to specify what generator to use. Leave it at the default Unix Makefiles. Configuring will fail the first time because there are some options that need to be changed. Note: You will need to check the Advanced checkbox to get all of the options.

Set options from the table above, then click Configure again and then Generate.

CMake command line

Enter the following in the terminal.

export PREFIX_PATH="/usr/local/opt/qt5152;\
/usr/local/Cellar/nglib/v6.2.2007/Contents/Resources;\
/usr/local/Cellar/vtk@8.2/8.2.0_1/lib/cmake;"
$cd ~/FreeCAD/build
$cmake \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release"   \
  -DBUILD_QT5=1                  \
  -DWITH_PYTHON3=1               \
  -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="$PREFIX_PATH" \
  -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE="/usr/local/bin/python3" \
  -DFREECAD_USE_EXTERNAL_KDL=1   \
  -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS='-std=c++14' \
  -DBUILD_FEM_NETGEN=1           \
  -DFREECAD_CREATE_MAC_APP=1     \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="./.."  \
  ../FreeCAD-git/

Run make

Finally, from a terminal run make to compile and link FreeCAD, and generate the app bundle.

cd ~/FreeCAD/build
make -j5 install

The -j option specifies how many make processes to run at once. One plus the number of CPU cores is usually a good number to use. However, if compiling fails for some reason, it is useful to rerun make without the -j option, so that you can see exactly where the error occurred.

See also Compiling - Speeding up.

If make finishes without any errors, you can now launch FreeCAD by double clicking the executable in the Finder.

Updating from Github

FreeCAD development happens fast; every day or so there are bug fixes or new features. To get the latest changes, use git to update the source directory (see Source code management), then re-run the CMake and make steps above. It is not usually necessary to start with a clean build directory in this case, and subsequent compiles will generally go much faster than the first one.

Building with Qt4 and Python 2.7

FreeCAD has transitioned from Qt 4 to Qt 5 as well as homebrew. Qt 4 is no longer available as an option for new build on macOS following Qt 5 transition. Python 2.7 has been deprecated within homebrew and upcoming macOS and we do not support it anymore for macOS build either.

Troubleshooting

Segfault on Qt5 launch

If Qt4 was previously installed via brew, and you then build with Qt5, you may get a EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SEGSEGV) exception when launching the new Qt5 build. The fix for this is to manually uninstall Qt4.

brew uninstall --ignore-dependencies --force cartr/qt4/shiboken@1.2 cartr/qt4/pyside@1.2 cartr/qt4/pyside-tools@1.2 cartr/qt4/qt-legacy-formula

Fortran

"No CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER could be found." during configuration - Older versions of FreeCAD will need a fortran compiler installed. With Homebrew, do "brew install gcc" and try configuring again, giving cmake the path to Fortran ie -DCMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER=/opt/local/bin/gfortran-mp-4.9 . Or, preferably use a more current version of FreeCAD source!

FreeType

When using CMake versions older than 3.1.0, it's necessary to set CMake variable FREETYPE_INCLUDE_DIR_freetype2 manually, eg /usr/local/include/freetype2

Additional Build Instructions

FreeCAD can be built against the latest git master hosted on github, and launched from a CLI using libraries provided by the homebrew-freecad tap. For a complete list of build instructions see here.