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QLC+ uses CMake as its build system and supports Qt5 and Qt6. This guide covers building QLC+ from source on all supported platforms.

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Prerequisites

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All Platforms

  • CMake 3.16 or later
  • Qt 5.x or 6.x with the following modules:
    • Core, Gui, Multimedia, MultimediaWidgets, Network, PrintSupport
    • Qml, Quick, Svg, Test, Widgets, LinguistTools
    • For QML UI (QLC+ 5): 3DCore, 3DInput, 3DLogic, 3DQuick, 3DQuickExtras, 3DRender, WebSockets
  • pkg-config
  • C++ compiler with C++11 support

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Linux

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake pkg-config qtbase5-dev \
  qtmultimedia5-dev qtscript5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5serialport5-dev \
  qttools5-dev qttools5-dev-tools

# For QML UI (QLC+ 5)
sudo apt-get install qt5-3d qt5-websockets

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macOS

brew install qt cmake pkg-config

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Windows

  • Install Qt from qt.io
  • Install CMake from cmake.org
  • Install Visual Studio or MinGW

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Build Configuration

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Project Version

The project is configured in the root CMakeLists.txt:2: 
project(qlcplus VERSION 4.14.2 LANGUAGES C CXX)

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Build Types

Available build types:
  • Debug (default) - Debug symbols, no optimizations
  • Release - Optimizations enabled, no debug symbols
  • RelWithDebInfo - Optimizations + debug symbols
  • MinSizeRel - Size optimizations

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Build Options

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qmlui
boolean
default:"OFF"
Build QLC+ 5 with QML UI instead of QtWidgets UI (QLC+ 4)
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INSTALL_ROOT
string
default:"/"
Installation root directory

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Building on Linux

1

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus.git
cd qlcplus
2

Create build directory

mkdir build
cd build
3

Configure with CMake

# For QLC+ 4 (QtWidgets UI)
cmake ..

# For QLC+ 5 (QML UI)
cmake -Dqmlui=ON ..

# Release build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
4

Build

# Build all targets
make -j$(nproc)

# Build specific targets
make qlcplus          # Main application
make qlcplus-fixtureeditor  # Fixture editor
5

Install (optional)

sudo make install

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Running Without Installing

On Unix systems, use the custom run target: 
# From build directory
make run

# Or run the fixture editor
make run-fxe
This sets the proper LD_LIBRARY_PATH automatically (CMakeLists.txt:188-193).

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Building on macOS

Follow the same steps as Linux, but ensure Qt is in your PATH: 
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/usr/local/opt/qt"
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

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Creating DMG Package

./create-dmg.sh

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Building on Windows

1

Open Qt Command Prompt

Use the Qt environment that matches your compiler (MSVC or MinGW)
2

Configure

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
3

Build

nmake

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Creating Installer

bash create-exe.sh

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Build Targets

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Standard Targets

make              # Build everything
make qlcplus      # Main application
make check        # Run unit tests
make translations # Generate translation files

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Testing Targets

# Run all unit tests
make check

# Run unit tests manually
make unittests

# Generate test coverage (Linux/macOS only)
make coverage
make lcov
See Testing for more details.

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Development Targets

# Run application from build directory (Unix only)
make run
make run-fxe      # Run fixture editor

# Generate Doxygen documentation (Unix only)
make doxygen

# Uninstall
make uninstall

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Project Structure

The build system is organized into subdirectories (CMakeLists.txt:73-89):
  • hotplugmonitor/ - USB device hotplug detection
  • engine/ - Core engine library
  • resources/ - Fixtures, icons, translations
  • plugins/ - I/O plugins (DMX, Art-Net, etc.)
  • webaccess/ - Web interface
  • qmlui/ - QML UI (QLC+ 5)
  • ui/ - QtWidgets UI (QLC+ 4)
  • main/ - Main application entry point
  • fixtureeditor/ - Fixture definition editor
  • launcher/ - macOS launcher
  • platforms/ - Platform-specific packaging

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Troubleshooting

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Full Rebuild Required

If you encounter unresolved symbols or linking errors after git pull, perform a clean rebuild: 
cd build
make clean
make -j$(nproc)
Dependencies between objects can sometimes require full package recompilation rather than incremental builds.

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Library Not Found at Runtime

On Linux, if libraries are not found: 
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/build/engine/src:/path/to/build/ui/src:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
./main/qlcplus
Or use the make run target which handles this automatically.

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Qt Version Conflicts

Ensure you’re using the correct Qt version: 
# Check Qt version
qmake --version

# Set Qt path explicitly
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/qt

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Missing Platform Headers

Linux: Install udev development headers: 
sudo apt-get install libudev-dev
macOS: IOKit is automatically detected (CMakeLists.txt:18-19).

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Cross-Platform Notes

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Installation Paths

The build system uses CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH to preserve library paths (CMakeLists.txt:13).

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Shared Library Prefix

On Windows, the shared library prefix is set to empty (CMakeLists.txt:70): 
if(WIN32)
  set(CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX "")
endif()

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Android/iOS

Building for mobile automatically enables QML UI (CMakeLists.txt:25-27): 
if (ANDROID OR IOS)
  set(qmlui ON)
endif()
Refer to platform-specific documentation in the GitHub Wiki.

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Packaging

./create-deb.sh

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Next Steps