How to compile QT with VS2015 and GCC

Below I provided a simple step by step instruction on how to compile QT 5.7 with VS2015 assuming you already have VS2015 and Git client installed on your Windows machine.

Install Perl, Python and Ruby.

To get QT 5.7 sources open Git Bash and run the following command (the repository has some submodules, so “recursive” option is required), see the list of possible clone here at the bottom of the page:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/qtproject/qt5.git --branch 5.7

Create a bat file called configureqt.bat with the following content:

set PATH=%PATH%;"C:\Program Files (x86)\Portable\ruby-2.3.0-i386-mingw32\bin";C:\Perl\bin;C:\Python27
D:
cd D:\Repos\qt5\
set _ROOT=D:\Repos\qt5
set PATH=%_ROOT%\qtbase\bin;%_ROOT%\gnuwin32\bin;%PATH%
set QMAKESPEC=win32-msvc2015
set _ROOT=
configure -debug -nomake examples -opensource

Another alternative configuration (last line in the bat file) is:

configure -debug -confirm-license -opensource

it compiles QT with all the examples and does not ask to accept the license.

Probably the following can help to switch QT branch:

git checkout 5.9
git submodule update --init --recursive

Open VS2015 Command Prompt x86 and run configureqt.bat. If everything went right run nmake and wait a few hours.

To create your first QT project in VS2015 go to Tools->Extensions and Updates and install Qt5Package:

QT5Package

Restart VS2015, Go to QT5->Qt Options and specify the path to QT binaries:

the path to QT binaries

Go to File->New->Project and select Templates->Visual C++->Qt5 Projects->Qt Application:

QT Project

Click OK, and select modules you want to include in your project:

QT Project

and then click Finish.

I built QT 5.9 a bit differently: in Developer Command Prompt for VS2015 I run the following commands:

git clone --recursive https://code.qt.io/qt/qt5.git --branch 5.9
set PATH=%PATH%;"C:\Program Files (x86)\Portable\ruby-2.3.0-i386-mingw32\bin";C:\Perl\bin;C:\Python27
configure -prefix %CD%\qtbase -debug -confirm-license -opensource -nomake examples -nomake tests
nmake

There is alternative way how to clone and build QT that I used on Ubuntu with GCC 5.4.1 and CMake 2.8.12.2 (there is no branch 5.9.1 but only 5.9, so the tag is used):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcc-7 g++-7
sudo update-alternatives --remove-all gcc
update-alternatives --display gcc
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-7 10 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-7
git clone --recursive https://code.qt.io/qt/qt5.git v5.9.1
./configure -prefix /home/dmitry/examples/libs/qt591 -debug -confirm-license -opensource -nomake examples -nomake tests -skip qtquick1 -platform linux-g++

The output message was:

...
  OpenGL:
    Desktop OpenGL ....................... yes
    OpenGL ES 2.0 ........................ no
    OpenGL ES 3.0 ........................ no
    OpenGL ES 3.1 ........................ no
...
Note: Also available for Linux: linux-clang linux-icc

Note: Dropped compiler flags '-pthread' when detecting library 'glib'.

Note: Disabling X11 Accessibility Bridge: D-Bus or AT-SPI is missing.

Qt is now configured for building. Just run 'make'.
Once everything is built, you must run 'make install'.
Qt will be installed into '/home/dmitry/examples/libs/qt591'.

Prior to reconfiguration, make sure you remove any leftovers from
the previous build.

Without ‘./init-repository –branch -f’ there was compiler error:

graphicsitems/qdeclarativetextinput.cpp: In member function ‘void QDeclarativeTextInput::setCursorVisible(bool)’:
graphicsitems/qdeclarativetextinput.cpp:517:17: error: ‘class QWidgetLineControl’ has no member named ‘setCursorBlinkPeriod’

To reconfigure QT I used (‘make confclean’ did not work):

git submodule foreach --recursive "git clean -dfx"

The full list of the repositories installed on my Ubuntu system is:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:neon1ks/bumblebee
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:beineri/opt-qt551-trusty
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:developmentseed/mapbox
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:x2go/stable

See also:

5 Responses to How to compile QT with VS2015 and GCC

  1. Jack says:

    QT doesnt work with visual studio when compiled using MinGW

  2. dmitriano says:

    building on Ubuntu, see https://forum.qt.io/topic/82880/unable-to-get-qt-5-9-from-github-com

    584 ./configure -debug -confirm-license -opensource -qt-xcb –prefix=/home/dmitry/examples/tools/install/
    585 ll /home/dmitry/examples/qt5/qtbase/src/corelib/global/qconfig.cpp
    586 cd qtnetworkauth
    587 ll
    588 ls .git
    589 ls .git/modules/
    590 ls .git/modules/qtnetworkauth
    591 git status
    592 git reset –hard
    593 git status
    594 git clean -xdf
    595 git status
    596 git submodule reset
    597 git submodule update –init
    598 ll -d qtx11extras/
    599 git checkout qtnetworkauth
    600 ll qtnetworkauth
    601 ll -d qtnetworkauth
    602 git status
    603 cd qtnetworkauth
    604 git reset –hard .
    605 git status
    606 cd –
    607 ll .git/modules/qtnetworkauth
    608 git checkout master
    609 git branch -a
    610 git checkout origin/HEAD
    611 git status
    612 git reset –HARD
    613 git reset –hard
    614 git status
    615 git submodule foreach git reset –hard

  3. dmitriano says:

    switching to a branch (see http://wiki.qt.io/Android):
    git checkout v5.9.1
    git submodule update –recursive

  4. dmitriano says:

    Installing GCC9:
    sudo apt-get install gcc-9 g++-9
    sudo update-alternatives –install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-9 10 –slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-9

  5. dmitriano says:

    Ubuntu 20.04:
    Install C compiler by installation of the development package build-essential:
    sudo apt install build-essential
    g++ –version
    g++ (Ubuntu 9.3.0-10ubuntu2) 9.3.0

Leave a Reply to dmitriano Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *