Build Instructions

Table of Contents

• Windows
• Linux
  • Dependencies
    • For Arch and derivatives:
    • For Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives
    • For Fedora and derivatives:
  • Build Cemu
    • CMake and Clang
    • GCC
    • Debug Build
    • Troubleshooting Steps
      • Compiling Errors
      • Building Errors
• macOS
  • Installing brew
  • Installing Tool Dependencies
  • Installing Library Dependencies
  • Build Cemu using CMake
• FreeBSD
  • Installing Dependencies
  • Build Cemu on BSD with CMake
• Updating Cemu and source code

Windows

Prerequisites:

• git
• A recent version of Visual Studio 2022 with the following additional components:
  • C++ CMake tools for Windows
  • Windows 10/11 SDK

Instructions for Visual Studio 2022:

1. Run git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
2. Open the newly created Cemu directory in Visual Studio using the "Open a local folder" option
3. In the menu select Project -> Configure CMake. Wait until it is done, this may take a long time
4. You can now build, run and debug Cemu

Any other IDE should also work as long as it has CMake and MSVC support. CLion and Visual Studio Code have been confirmed to work.

Linux

To compile Cemu, a recent enough compiler and STL with C++20 support is required! Clang-15 or higher is what we recommend.

Dependencies

For Arch and derivatives:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel bluez-libs clang cmake freeglut git glm gtk3 libgcrypt libpulse libsecret linux-headers llvm nasm ninja systemd unzip zip

For Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives:

sudo apt install -y cmake curl clang-15 freeglut3-dev git libbluetooth-dev libgcrypt20-dev libglm-dev libgtk-3-dev libpulse-dev libsecret-1-dev libsystemd-dev libtool nasm ninja-build

You may also need to install libusb-1.0-0-dev as a workaround for an issue with the vcpkg hidapi package.

At Step 3 in Build Cemu using cmake and clang, use the following command instead: cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang-15 -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang++-15 -G Ninja -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=/usr/bin/ninja

For Fedora and derivatives:

sudo dnf install bluez-libs-devel clang cmake cubeb-devel freeglut-devel git glm-devel gtk3-devel kernel-headers libgcrypt-devel libsecret-devel libtool libusb1-devel llvm nasm ninja-build perl-core systemd-devel wayland-protocols-devel zlib-devel zlib-static

Build Cemu

CMake and Clang

git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
cd Cemu
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang++ -G Ninja
cmake --build build

GCC

If you are building using GCC, make sure you have g++ installed:

• Installation for Arch and derivatives: sudo pacman -S gcc
• Installation for Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt install g++
• Installation for Fedora and derivatives: sudo dnf install gcc-c++

git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
cd Cemu
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/g++ -G Ninja
cmake --build build

Debug Build

git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
cd Cemu
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang++ -G Ninja
cmake --build build

If you are using GCC, replace cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/clang++ -G Ninja with cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/bin/gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/bin/g++ -G Ninja

Troubleshooting Steps

Compiling Errors

This section refers to running cmake -S... (truncated).

• vcpkg install failed
  • Run the following in the root directory and try running the command again (don't forget to change directories afterwards):
    • cd dependencies/vcpkg && git fetch --unshallow
• Please ensure you're using the latest port files with git pull and vcpkg update.
  • Either:
    • Update vcpkg by running by the following command:
      • git submodule update --remote dependencies/vcpkg
    • If you are sure vcpkg is up to date, check the following logs:
      • Cemu/dependencies/vcpkg/buildtrees/wxwidgets/config-x64-linux-out.log
      • Cemu/dependencies/vcpkg/buildtrees/libsystemd/config-x64-linux-dbg-meson-log.txt.log
      • Cemu/dependencies/vcpkg/buildtrees/libsystemd/config-x64-linux-dbg-out.log
• Not able to find Ninja.
  • Add the following and try running the command again:
    • -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=/usr/bin/ninja
• Compiling failed during the boost-build dependency.
  • It means you don't have a working/good standard library installation. Check the integrity of your system headers and making sure that C++ related packages are installed and intact.
• Compiling failed during rebuild after git pull with an error that mentions RPATH
  • Add the following and try running the command again:
    • -DCMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH=ON
• Environment variable VCPKG_FORCE_SYSTEM_BINARIES must be set.
  • Execute the folowing and then try running the command again:
    • export VCPKG_FORCE_SYSTEM_BINARIES=1
• If you are getting a random error, read the [package-name-and-platform]-out.log and [package-name-and-platform]-err.log for the actual reason to see if you might be lacking the headers from a dependency.

If you are getting a different error than any of the errors listed above, you may either open an issue in this repo or try using GCC. Make sure your standard library and compilers are updated since Cemu uses a lot of modern features!

Building Errors

This section refers to running cmake --build build.

• main.cpp.o: in function 'std::__cxx11::basic_string...
  • You likely are experiencing a clang-14 issue. This can only be fixed by either lowering the clang version or using GCC, see GCC.
• fatal error: 'span' file not found
  • You're either missing libstdc++ or are using a version that's too old. Install at least v10 with your package manager, eg sudo apt install libstdc++-10-dev. See #644.
• undefined libdecor_xx
  • You are likely experiencing an issue with sdl2 package that comes with vcpkg. Delete sdl2 from vcpkg.json in source file and recompile.

If you are getting a different error than any of the errors listed above, you may either open an issue in this repo or try using GCC. Make sure your standard library and compilers are updated since Cemu uses a lot of modern features!

macOS

To compile Cemu, a recent enough compiler and STL with C++20 support is required! LLVM 13 and below don't support the C++20 feature set required, so either install LLVM from Homebrew or make sure that you have a recent enough version of Xcode. Xcode 15 is known to work. The OpenGL graphics API isn't supported on macOS, so Vulkan must be used through the Molten-VK compatibility layer.

Installing brew

1. /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
2. Set up the Homebrew shell environment:
   1. On an Intel Mac: eval "$(/usr/local/Homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
   2. On an Apple Silicon Mac: eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Installing Tool Dependencies

The native versions of these can be used regardless of what type of Mac you have.

brew install git cmake ninja nasm automake libtool

Installing Library Dependencies

On Apple Silicon Macs, Rosetta 2 and the x86_64 version of Homebrew must be used to install these dependencies:

1. softwareupdate --install-rosetta # Install Rosetta 2 if you don't have it. This only has to be done once
2. arch -x86_64 zsh # run an x64 shell
3. /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
4. eval "$(/usr/local/Homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Then install the dependencies:

brew install boost molten-vk

Build Cemu using CMake

1. git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
2. cd Cemu
3. cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64 -G Ninja
4. cmake --build build
5. You should now have a Cemu executable file in the /bin folder, which you can run using ./bin/Cemu_release.

Troubleshooting steps

• If step 3 gives you an error about not being able to find ninja, try appending -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=/usr/local/bin/ninja to the command and running it again.

FreeBSD

The following instructions to build Cemu on FreeBSD are experimental. Some features available on other platforms are not available on FreeBSD (discord rich presence, bluetooth/support for actual Wii U controllers, auto-updates, etc.)

To compile Cemu, a recent enough compiler and STL with C++20 support is required! Clang-15 or higher is what we recommend. Any version of FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE or higher comes bundled with LLVM > version 15 as part of the base system. However, if for whatever reason your system lacks a recent version of LLVM you can install one by executing:

sudo pkg install llvm15

Or a higher version as desired.

Installing Dependencies

sudo pkg install boost-libs cmake-core curl glslang gtk3 libzip ninja png pkgconf pugixml rapidjson sdl2 wayland wayland-protocols wx32-gtk3 xorg zstd

Build Cemu on BSD with CMake

git clone --recursive https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu
cd Cemu
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DENABLE_BLUEZ=OFF -DENABLE_DISCORD_RPC=OFF -DENABLE_FERAL_GAMEMODE=OFF -DENABLE_HIDAPI=OFF -DENABLE_VCPKG=OFF -G Ninja
cmake --build build

cd build && ninja install

You should now have a Cemu executable file in the /bin folder, which you can run using ./bin/Cemu_release.

Updating Cemu and source code

1. To update your Cemu local repository, use the command git pull --recurse-submodules (run this command on the Cemu root).
   • This should update your local copy of Cemu and all of its dependencies.
2. Then, you can rebuild Cemu using the steps listed above, according to whether you use Linux or Windows.

If CMake complains about Cemu already being compiled or another similar error, try deleting the CMakeCache.txt file inside the build folder and retry building.

CMake configure flags

Some flags can be passed during CMake configure to customise which features are enabled on build.

Example usage: cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=release -DENABLE_SDL=ON -DENABLE_VULKAN=OFF

All platforms

Windows

Linux

macOS