Build instructions for Visual Studio 2015

Prepare folder
Clone source code
Prepare libraries
Building Telegram Desktop

Prepare folder

Choose a folder for the future build, for example D:\TBuild\. There you will have two folders, Libraries for third-party libs and tdesktop for the app.

All commands (if not stated otherwise) will be launched from VS2015 x86 Native Tools Command Prompt.bat (should be in Start Menu > Programs > Visual Studio 2015 menu folder).

A note on D:\TBuild

In case you don't have a D drive, or prefer to use another working directory. Since all of the examples and commands here are using the D drive, you might find it more comfortable to map the drive to a folder you of your choice. For example, to map D:\ to C:\base_folder_for_telegram_dev, open the cmd and execute: subst D: C:\base_folder_for_telegram_dev.

Clone source code

Go to D:\TBuild

D:
cd TBuild

and run

git clone --recursive https://github.com/telegramdesktop/tdesktop.git
mkdir Libraries

Prepare libraries

OpenSSL

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git
cd openssl
git checkout OpenSSL_1_0_1-stable
perl Configure VC-WIN32 --prefix=D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl\Release
ms\do_ms
nmake -f ms\nt.mak
nmake -f ms\nt.mak install
cd ..
git clone https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git openssl_debug
cd openssl_debug
git checkout OpenSSL_1_0_1-stable
perl Configure debug-VC-WIN32 --prefix=D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl_debug\Debug
ms\do_ms
nmake -f ms\nt.mak
nmake -f ms\nt.mak install

LZMA SDK 9.20

http://www.7-zip.org/sdk.html > Download LZMA SDK (C, C++, C#, Java) 9.20

Extract to D:\TBuild\Libraries

Building library

Open in VS2015 D:\TBuild\Libraries\lzma\C\Util\LzmaLib\LzmaLib.dsw > One-way upgrade – OK
For Debug and Release configurations
- LzmaLib Properties > General > Configuration Type = Static library (.lib) – Apply
- LzmaLib Properties > Librarian > General > Target Machine = MachineX86 (/MACHINE:X86) – OK
- If you can't find Librarian, you forgot to click Apply after changing the Configuration Type.
For Debug configuration
- LzmaLib Properties > C/C++ > General > Debug Information Format = Program Database (/Zi) - OK
Build Debug configuration
Build Release configuration

zlib 1.2.8

http://www.zlib.net/fossils/ > Download zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz

Extract to D:\TBuild\Libraries

Building library

Open in VS2015 D:\TBuild\Libraries\zlib-1.2.8\contrib\vstudio\vc11\zlibvc.sln > One-way upgrade – OK
We are interested only in zlibstat project, but it depends on some custom pre-build step, so build all
For Debug configuration
- zlibstat Properties > C/C++ > Code Generation > Runtime Library = Multi-threaded Debug (/MTd) – OK
For Release configuration
- zlibstat Properties > C/C++ > Code Generation > Runtime Library = Multi-threaded (/MT) – OK
Build Solution for Debug configuration – only zlibstat project builds successfully
Build Solution for Release configuration – only zlibstat project builds successfully

libexif 0.6.20

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://github.com/telegramdesktop/libexif-0.6.20.git

Building library

Open in VS2015 D:\TBuild\Libraries\libexif-0.6.20\win32\lib_exif.sln
Build Debug configuration
Build Release configuration

OpenAL Soft, slightly patched

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone git://repo.or.cz/openal-soft.git
cd openal-soft
git checkout 18bb46163af
git apply ./../../tdesktop/Telegram/Patches/openal.diff

Building library

Install CMake
Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries\openal-soft\build and run

cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015" -D LIBTYPE:STRING=STATIC -D FORCE_STATIC_VCRT:STRING=ON ..

Open in VS2015 D:\TBuild\Libraries\openal-soft\build\OpenAL.sln and build Debug and Release configurations

Opus codec

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://github.com/telegramdesktop/opus.git

Building libraries

Open in VS2015 D:\TBuild\Libraries\opus\win32\VS2010\opus.sln
Build Debug configuration
Build Release configuration (it will be required in FFmpeg build!)

FFmpeg

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg.git ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
git checkout release/3.2

http://www.msys2.org/ > Download the latest version and install it to D:\msys64

Building libraries

Download yasm for Win64 from http://yasm.tortall.net/Download.html, rename yasm-1.3.0-win64.exe to yasm.exe and place it to your Visual C++ bin directory, like \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14\VC\bin\

While still running the VS2015 x86 Native Tools Command Prompt, go to D:\msys64 and launch msys2_shell.bat. There run

PATH="/c/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0/VC/BIN:$PATH"

cd /d/TBuild/Libraries/ffmpeg
pacman -Sy
pacman -S msys/make
pacman -S mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-opus
pacman -S diffutils
pacman -S pkg-config

PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/mingw64/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"

./configure --toolchain=msvc --disable-programs --disable-doc --disable-everything --enable-protocol=file --enable-libopus --enable-decoder=aac --enable-decoder=aac_latm --enable-decoder=aasc --enable-decoder=flac --enable-decoder=gif --enable-decoder=h264 --enable-decoder=mp1 --enable-decoder=mp1float --enable-decoder=mp2 --enable-decoder=mp2float --enable-decoder=mp3 --enable-decoder=mp3adu --enable-decoder=mp3adufloat --enable-decoder=mp3float --enable-decoder=mp3on4 --enable-decoder=mp3on4float --enable-decoder=mpeg4 --enable-decoder=msmpeg4v2 --enable-decoder=msmpeg4v3 --enable-decoder=wavpack --enable-decoder=opus --enable-decoder=vorbis --enable-decoder=wmalossless --enable-decoder=wmapro --enable-decoder=wmav1 --enable-decoder=wmav2 --enable-decoder=wmavoice --enable-encoder=libopus --enable-hwaccel=h264_d3d11va --enable-hwaccel=h264_dxva2 --enable-parser=aac --enable-parser=aac_latm --enable-parser=flac --enable-parser=h264 --enable-parser=mpeg4video --enable-parser=mpegaudio --enable-parser=opus --enable-parser=vorbis --enable-demuxer=aac --enable-demuxer=flac --enable-demuxer=gif --enable-demuxer=h264 --enable-demuxer=mov --enable-demuxer=mp3 --enable-demuxer=ogg --enable-demuxer=wav --enable-muxer=ogg --enable-muxer=opus --extra-ldflags="-libpath:/d/TBuild/Libraries/opus/win32/VS2010/Win32/Release celt.lib silk_common.lib silk_float.lib"

make
make install

Qt 5.6.2, slightly patched

Install Python 3.3.2 from https://www.python.org/download/releases/3.3.2 > Windows x86 MSI Installer (3.3.2)
Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone git://code.qt.io/qt/qt5.git qt5_6_2
cd qt5_6_2
perl init-repository --module-subset=qtbase,qtimageformats
git checkout v5.6.2
cd qtimageformats && git checkout v5.6.2 && cd ..
cd qtbase && git checkout v5.6.2 && cd ..

Apply the patch

cd qtbase && git apply ../../../tdesktop/Telegram/Patches/qtbase_5_6_2.diff && cd ..

Install Windows SDKs

If you didn't install Windows SDKs before, you need to install them now. To install the SDKs just open Telegram solution at D:\TBuild\tdesktop\Telegram.sln (jump here to generate Telegram.sln) and on startup Visual Studio 2015 will popup dialog box and ask to download and install extra components (including Windows 7 SDK).

If you already have Windows SDKs then find the library folder and correct it at configure's command below (like C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\Lib\win8\um\x86).

Building library

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries\qt5_6_2 and run

configure -debug-and-release -force-debug-info -opensource -confirm-license -static -I "D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl\Release\include" -L "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A\Lib" -l Gdi32 -no-opengl -openssl-linked OPENSSL_LIBS_DEBUG="D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl_debug\Debug\lib\ssleay32.lib D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl_debug\Debug\lib\libeay32.lib" OPENSSL_LIBS_RELEASE="D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl\Release\lib\ssleay32.lib D:\TBuild\Libraries\openssl\Release\lib\libeay32.lib" -mp -nomake examples -nomake tests -platform win32-msvc2015
nmake
nmake install

building (nmake command) will take really long time.

Qt5Package

https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/c89ff880-8509-47a4-a262-e4fa07168408

Download, close all VS2015 instances and install for VS2015

Google Breakpad

Breakpad is a set of client and server components which implement a crash-reporting system.

Installation

depot_tools

Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/tools/depot_tools.git
cd depot_tools
gclient

If you get errors like

Cannot rebase: You have unstaged changes.
Please commit or stash them.
Failed to update depot_tools.

run git reset --hard HEAD and execute gclient again

Breakpad

cd ..
mkdir breakpad && cd breakpad
..\depot_tools\fetch breakpad
..\depot_tools\gclient sync
xcopy src\src\* src /s /i
rmdir src\src /s /q

Build

Open D:\TBuild\Libraries\breakpad\src\client\windows\breakpad_client.sln in VS2015
Change Treat WChar_t As Built in Type to No in all projects & configurations (should be in Project -> Properties -> C/C++ -> Language)
Change Treat Warnings As Errors to No in all projects & configurations (should be in Project -> Properties -> C/C++ -> General)
Build Debug configuration
Build Release configuration

Building Telegram Desktop

Setup GYP/Ninja and generate VS solution

Download Ninja binaries and unpack them to D:\TBuild\Libraries\ninja to have D:\TBuild\Libraries\ninja\ninja.exe
Go to D:\TBuild\Libraries and run

git clone https://chromium.googlesource.com/external/gyp
SET PATH=%PATH%;D:\TBuild\Libraries\gyp;D:\TBuild\Libraries\ninja;
cd ..\tdesktop\Telegram

Also, actually add D:\TBuild\Libraries\ninja\ (not just for running the gyp command) to your path environment variable, since Telegram needs it for the build process.

If you want to pass a build define (like TDESKTOP_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE or TDESKTOP_DISABLE_NETWORK_PROXY), call set TDESKTOP_BUILD_DEFINES=TDESKTOP_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE,TDESKTOP_DISABLE_NETWORK_PROXY,... (comma seperated string)

After, call gyp\refresh.bat (python 2.7 needed)

Configure VS

Launch VS2015 for configuring Qt5Package
QT5 > Qt Options > Add
- Version name: Qt 5.6.22Win32
- Path: D:\TBuild\Libraries\qt5_6_2\qtbase
  - If you made a network map, here you should use the real path! (e.g C:\base_folder_for_telegram_dev or what you used at the beginning)
Default Qt/Win version: Qt 5.6.2 Win32 – OK - You may need to restart Visual Studio for this to take effect.

Build the project

File > Open > Project/Solution > D:\TBuild\tdesktop\Telegram.sln
Select Telegram project and press Build > Build Telegram (Debug and Release configurations)
The result Telegram.exe will be located in D:\TBuild\tdesktop\out\Debug (and Release)

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building-msvc.md

building-msvc.md

Build instructions for Visual Studio 2015

Prepare folder

A note on D:\TBuild

Clone source code

Prepare libraries

OpenSSL

LZMA SDK 9.20

Building library

zlib 1.2.8

Building library

libexif 0.6.20

Building library

OpenAL Soft, slightly patched

Building library

Opus codec

Building libraries

FFmpeg

Building libraries

Qt 5.6.2, slightly patched

Apply the patch

Install Windows SDKs

Building library

Qt5Package

Google Breakpad

Installation

depot_tools

Breakpad

Build

Building Telegram Desktop

Setup GYP/Ninja and generate VS solution

Configure VS

Build the project

Files

building-msvc.md

Latest commit

History

building-msvc.md

File metadata and controls

Build instructions for Visual Studio 2015

Prepare folder

A note on D:\TBuild

Clone source code

Prepare libraries

OpenSSL

LZMA SDK 9.20

Building library

zlib 1.2.8

Building library

libexif 0.6.20

Building library

OpenAL Soft, slightly patched

Building library

Opus codec

Building libraries

FFmpeg

Building libraries

Qt 5.6.2, slightly patched

Apply the patch

Install Windows SDKs

Building library

Qt5Package

Google Breakpad

Installation

depot_tools

Breakpad

Build

Building Telegram Desktop

Setup GYP/Ninja and generate VS solution

Configure VS

Build the project