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This page has been only sporadically updated for a decade, and it is unlikely to be updated properly anytime soon. Update the top half, and add a note about the tutorial section being out of date. The trigger for this was a question on the mailing list about Windows 11 support, since it's not listed in the supported platforms list. Part-of: <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/-/merge_requests/5239>
225 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
225 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# Installing on Windows
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## Supported platforms
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* Windows 7
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* Windows 8
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* Windows 8.1
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* Windows 10
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* Windows 11 and newer
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## Prerequisites
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To develop applications using GStreamer for Windows we recommend using Windows
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10 or newer with Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 or newer. Older versions of each
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may also work, but they are not recommended.
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GStreamer package includes C headers (`.h`) and library files (`.lib`) valid
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for any version of [Microsoft Visual Studio](http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio).
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For convenience, property pages (`.props`) are also included which extremely
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simplify creating new projects.
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## Download and install GStreamer binaries
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There are 3 sets of files in GStreamer binaries:
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- The runtime files are needed to run GStreamer applications. You probably want
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to distribute these files with your application (or the installer below).
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- The development files are **additional** files you need at build-time to
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create GStreamer applications.
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- The [Merge Modules](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa369820%28v=vs.85%29.aspx)
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files are **additional** files you can use to deploy GStreamer binaries
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alongside your application (see [Windows deployment](deploying/windows.md)).
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Get both **the Runtime and Development** installers appropriate for
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your architecture from the [GStreamer download page](https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/download/).
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If in doubt, download the 64-bit MSVC packages:
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- Runtime installer: e.g. `gstreamer-1.0-msvc-x86_64-{VERSION}.msi`
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- Development files installer: e.g. `gstreamer-1.0-devel-msvc-x86_64-{VERSION}.msi`
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Execute the installers and choose an installation folder. The suggested
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default is usually OK.
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> 
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> If you plan to use Visual Studio, **close it before installing GStreamer**.
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> The installer will define new environment variables which will not be picked up by Visual Studio if it is open.
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> On **Windows 8** and **Windows 10**, it might be necessary to log out and log back in to your account
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> after the installation for the newly defined environment variables to be picked up by Visual Studio.
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It is the application's responsibility to ensure that, at runtime,
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GStreamer can access its libraries and plugins. It can be done by adding
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`%GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86%\bin` to the `PATH` environment variable, or
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by running the application from this same folder.
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How to do this:
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Windows start icon > Search "environment variables" > Edit the system environment variables (will open System Properties)
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> Environment Variables > System variables > Variable :Path > Edit > New > Paste "C:\gstreamer\1.0\msvc_x86_64\bin" > OK
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At runtime, GStreamer will look for its plugins in the following folders:
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- `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEFOLDER%/.gstreamer-1.0/plugins`
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- `C:\gstreamer\1.0\x86\lib\gstreamer-1.0`
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- `<location of gstreamer-1.0-0.dll>\..\lib\gstreamer-1.0`
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- `%GST_PLUGIN_PATH%`
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So, typically, if your application can find `gstreamer-1.0-0.dll`,
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it will find the GStreamer plugins, as long as the installation folder
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structure is unmodified. If you do change this structure in your
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application, then you can use the `GST_PLUGIN_PATH` environment
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variable to point GStreamer to its plugins. The plugins are initially
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found at `%GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86%\lib\gstreamer-1.0`.
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Additionally, if you want to prevent GStreamer from looking in all the
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default folders listed above, you can set the `GST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH`
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environment variable to point where the plugins are located.
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## Configure your development environment
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**NOTE: these instructions are out of date, exercise caution while following them**
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### Building the tutorials
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The tutorials code, along with project files and a solution file for
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Visual Studio 2010, are in the
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[gst-docs](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/-/tree/main/subprojects/gst-docs) in the
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`examples/tutorials` folder.
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In order to prevent accidental modification of the original code, and to
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make sure Visual Studio has the necessary permissions to write the
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output files, copy the entire `tutorials` folder to a place of your
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liking, and work from there.
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> 
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> **64-bit Users**
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>
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> Use the `GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86_64` environment variable if you have installed GStreamer binaries for 64-bit platforms.
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> Both GStreamer packages (32 and 64-bit) can be installed simultaneously, hence the separate environment variables.
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>
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> Make sure you select the Solution Configuration that matches GStreamer that you have installed: `Win32` for 32-bit or `x64` for 64-bit.
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>
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> 
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You can launch Visual Studio 2010 and load your copy of the
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`tutorials.sln` solution file (Click on the screen shots to enlarge them).
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Hit **F7**, press the Build Solution button
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 or go to Build →
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Build Solution. All projects should build without problems.
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### Running the tutorials
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In order to run the tutorials, we will set the current working directory
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to `%GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86%\bin` in the Debugging section of the
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project properties. **This property is not stored in the project files,
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so you will need to manually add it to every tutorial you want to run
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from within Visual Studio**. Right click on a project in the Solution
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Explorer, Properties → Debugging → Working Directory, and type
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`$(GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86)\bin`.
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(The `$(...)` notation is required to access environment variables
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from within Visual Studio property pages. You use the `%...%` notation in Windows
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Explorer and in CMD scripts.)
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You should now be able to run the tutorials.
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### Creating new projects manually
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**If you want to create 64-bit applications, remember also to create x64
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Solution and Project configurations as
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explained [here](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s\(v=vs.100\).aspx).**
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#### Include the necessary GStreamer Property Sheet
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The included property sheets make creating new projects extremely easy.
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In Visual Studio 2010 create a new project (Normally a `Win32
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Console` or `Win32 Application`). Then go to the Property Manager
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(View→Property Manager), right-click on your project and select “Add
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Existing Property Sheet...”.
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> In Visual Studio 2017, the property manager can be found in
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> View→Other Windows→Property Manager
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Navigate to `%GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86%\share\vs\2010\libs` and load `gstreamer-1.0.props`.
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This property sheet contains the directories where the headers and
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libraries are located, and the necessary options for the compiler and
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linker, so you do not need to change anything else in your project.
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If you cannot find the Property Manager, you might need to enable Expert
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Settings. Go to Tools → Settings → Expert Settings. Upon first
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installation of Visual Studio, Expert Settings are disabled by
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default.
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> 
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> **Depending on the GStreamer libraries you need to use, you will have to add more property pages,
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> besides `gstreamer-1.0`** (each property page corresponds to one GStreamer library).
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>
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> The tutorial's project files already contain all necessary property pages. When developing your own applications,
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> the GStreamer documentation will tell you what library a function belongs to, and therefore, what property pages you need to add.
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#### Remove the dependency with the Visual Studio runtime
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At this point, you have a working environment, which you can test by
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running the tutorials. However, there is a last step remaining.
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Applications built with Visual C++ 2010 depend on the Visual C++ 2010
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Runtime, which is a DLL that gets installed when you install Visual
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Studio. If you were to distribute your application, you would need to
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distribute this DLL with it (e.g. via the [Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable
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Package](http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5555)).
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This happens with every version of Visual Studio, and the Runtime DLL is
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different for every version of Visual Studio.
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Furthermore, GStreamer itself is built using a “basic” C runtime which
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comes in every Windows system since Windows XP, and is named
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`MSVCRT.DLL`. If your application and GStreamer do not use the same C
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Runtime, problems are bound to crop out.
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In order to avoid these issues you must instruct your application to use
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the system's C Runtime. First install the [Windows Device Driver Kit
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Version 7.1.0](http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=11800) (DDK).
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When the installer asks about the features, select only “Build
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Environments”. Accept the suggested location for the installation, which
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is usually `C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1`. This download is an ISO file, you
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can either burn a DVD with it (as recommended in the Microsoft site. You
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will need DVD burning software), mount the file in a virtual DVD device
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(you will need DVD virtualization software) or unpack the file as if it
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was a regular compressed file (you will need decompression software that
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understands the ISO format).
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Then, add the `x86.props` or `x86_64.props` (for 32 or 64 bits) property
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sheet found in `%GSTREAMER_ROOT_X86%\share\vs\2010\msvc` to your
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project. This will make your application use the ubiquitous
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`MSVCRT.DLL` saving you from some troubles in the future.
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> 
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> If you did not install the WinDDK to the standard path `C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1`,
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> you will need to tell Visual Studio where it is. Unfortunately, there is no automated way to do this.
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> Once you have added the `x86.props` or `x86_64.props` to your project, go to the Property Manager,
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> expand your project and its subfolders until you find the property sheet called `config`.
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> Double click to edit it, and select the section called “User Macros” in the list on the left.
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> You should see a macro called `WINDOWS_DRIVER_KIT`. Double click to edit it, and set its value to
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> the root folder where you installed the DDK. This is the folder containing a file called `samples.txt`.
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>
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> That's it. Accept the changes, right click on the `config` property sheet and select “Save”.
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> The path to the DDK is now stored in `config.props` and you do not need to perform this operation anymore.
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### Creating new projects using the wizard
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Go to File → New → Project… and you should find a template
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named **GStreamer Project**. It takes no parameters, and sets all
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necessary project settings, both for 32 and 64 bits architectures.
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The generated project file includes the two required Property Sheets
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described in the previous section, so, in order to link to the correct
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`MSVCRT.DLL`, **you still need to install the Windows Device Driver
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Kit** and change the appropriate property sheets.
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