Build Instructions - Unigram

Requirements

The following tools and SDKs are mandatory for the project development:

Visual Studio 2022, with
- .NET desktop development
- Desktop development with C++
- Universal Windows Platform deveopment
  - Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22621.0)

Getting started

First, check that you have the necessary tools installed.
Go to https://my.telegram.org/apps and register a new app.
Clone the repository recursively by using git clone --recursive https://github.com/UnigramDev/Unigram.git.
Create a new file inside Unigram/Telegram and name it Constants.Secret.cs:

csharp

namespace Telegram
{
    public static partial class Constants
    {
        static Constants()
        {
            ApiId = your_api_id;
            ApiHash = "your_api_hash";
            
            AppChannel = "Telegram channel username used for in-app updates";
        }
    }
}

Replace your_api_id and your_api_hash with the data obtained from step 2.

Dependencies

Unigram uses NuGet for managed dependencies and vcpkg for unmanaged ones. Run the following commands to clone vcpkg:

shell

> git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git
> cd vcpkg
> git checkout cff6ed45719c0162fa7065fdac90506a0add812c
> ./bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

Apply the patch contained in Libraries\vcpkg.patch.

Now that vcpkg is ready, you must customize the ffmpeg port to be built with all the flags needed by the app:

Navigate to vcpkg\ports\ffmpeg
Open portfile.cmake
Locate --enable-libvpx and replace it with the following:

--disable-everything --enable-protocol=file --enable-libopus --enable-libdav1d --enable-libvpx --enable-decoder=aac --enable-decoder=aac_at --enable-decoder=aac_fixed --enable-decoder=aac_latm --enable-decoder=aasc --enable-decoder=ac3 --enable-decoder=alac --enable-decoder=alac_at --enable-decoder=av1 --enable-decoder=eac3 --enable-decoder=flac --enable-decoder=gif --enable-decoder=h264 --enable-decoder=hevc --enable-decoder=libdav1d --enable-decoder=libvpx_vp8 --enable-decoder=libvpx_vp9 --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=opus --enable-decoder=pcm_alaw --enable-decoder=pcm_alaw_at --enable-decoder=pcm_f32be --enable-decoder=pcm_f32le --enable-decoder=pcm_f64be --enable-decoder=pcm_f64le --enable-decoder=pcm_lxf --enable-decoder=pcm_mulaw --enable-decoder=pcm_mulaw_at --enable-decoder=pcm_s16be --enable-decoder=pcm_s16be_planar --enable-decoder=pcm_s16le --enable-decoder=pcm_s16le_planar --enable-decoder=pcm_s24be --enable-decoder=pcm_s24daud --enable-decoder=pcm_s24le --enable-decoder=pcm_s24le_planar --enable-decoder=pcm_s32be --enable-decoder=pcm_s32le --enable-decoder=pcm_s32le_planar --enable-decoder=pcm_s64be --enable-decoder=pcm_s64le --enable-decoder=pcm_s8 --enable-decoder=pcm_s8_planar --enable-decoder=pcm_u16be --enable-decoder=pcm_u16le --enable-decoder=pcm_u24be --enable-decoder=pcm_u24le --enable-decoder=pcm_u32be --enable-decoder=pcm_u32le --enable-decoder=pcm_u8 --enable-decoder=vorbis --enable-decoder=vp8 --enable-decoder=wavpack --enable-decoder=wmalossless --enable-decoder=wmapro --enable-decoder=wmav1 --enable-decoder=wmav2 --enable-decoder=wmavoice --enable-encoder=aac --enable-encoder=libopus --enable-parser=aac --enable-parser=aac_latm --enable-parser=flac --enable-parser=gif --enable-parser=h264 --enable-parser=hevc --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=hevc --enable-demuxer=matroska --enable-demuxer=m4v --enable-demuxer=mov --enable-demuxer=mp3 --enable-demuxer=ogg --enable-demuxer=w64 --enable-demuxer=wav --enable-muxer=mp4 --enable-muxer=ogg --enable-muxer=opus

Now that everything is properly configured go back to the terminal and enter the following:

> ./vcpkg.exe install ffmpeg[dav1d,opus,vpx]:x64-uwp lz4:x64-uwp openssl:x64-uwp zlib:x64-uwp libogg:x64-uwp opus:x64-uwp boost-regex:x64-uwp
> ./vcpkg.exe install ffmpeg[dav1d,opus,vpx]:arm64-uwp lz4:arm64-uwp openssl:arm64-uwp zlib:arm64-uwp libogg:arm64-uwp opus:arm64-uwp boost-regex:arm64-uwp
> ./vcpkg.exe integrate install

You can choose to install both x64 and arm64 or just opt for the architecture you need.

TDLib

In order to communicate with Telegram servers, Unigram uses TDLib. Here is complete instruction for TDLib binaries building:

Download and install Microsoft Visual Studio. Enable C++ and Windows 10 SDK support while installing.
Download and install CMake; choose "Add CMake to the system PATH" option while installing.
Download and install Git.
Download and unpack PHP. Add the path to php.exe to the PATH environment variable.
Close and re-open PowerShell if the PATH environment variable was changed.
Run these commands in PowerShell to build TDLib and to install it to td/tdlib:

shell

> git clone https://github.com/tdlib/td.git
> cd td
> git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git
> cd vcpkg
> git checkout cff6ed45719c0162fa7065fdac90506a0add812c
> ./bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
> ./vcpkg.exe install gperf:x86-windows openssl:x64-uwp zlib:x64-uwp
> ./vcpkg.exe install gperf:x86-windows openssl:arm64-uwp zlib:x64-uwp
> cd ..
> cd example/uwp
> powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass ./build.ps1 -vcpkg_root ../../vcpkg -nupkg

You can choose to install both x64 and arm64 or just opt for the architecture you need. Note that gperf:x86-windows is needed regardless of the architecture you choose. The resulting .nupkg file must be copied into Unigram\Libraries.

LibVLC

Unigram uses LibVLC to play videos and audio in the app. We can't use the system provided media player doesn't meet the app quality expectations. The app is currently using version 3.0.22-rc1 with some patches applied on top, and can be built by running the script build.ps1 located in Unigram repository\Libraries\vlc.

Building LibVLC requires Docker to be installed and running.

shell

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass ./build.ps1 -arch x64,ARM64

The script will automatically apply the needed patches to libvlc (that comes as a submodule when you clone the repository) and create a NuGet package inside the Libraries folder.

For reference, this is the list of VLC plugins currently needed by Unigram to properly work:

access\libhttps_plugin.dll
access\libhttp_plugin.dll
access\libimem_plugin.dll
audio_filter\libaudio_format_plugin.dll
audio_filter\libsamplerate_plugin.dll
audio_filter\libscaletempo_plugin.dll
audio_filter\libtrivial_channel_mixer_plugin.dll
audio_filter\libugly_resampler_plugin.dll
audio_mixer\libfloat_mixer_plugin.dll
audio_output\libwasapi_plugin.dll
audio_output\libwinstore_plugin.dll
codec\libavcodec_plugin.dll
codec\libd3d11va_plugin.dll
codec\libdav1d_plugin.dll
codec\libflac_plugin.dll
codec\libfaad_plugin.dll
codec\libmpg123_plugin.dll
codec\libopus_plugin.dll
demux\libes_plugin.dll
demux\libflacsys_plugin.dll
demux\libmp4_plugin.dll
demux\libogg_plugin.dll
demux\libps_plugin.dll
packetizer\libpacketizer_flac_plugin.dll
packetizer\libpacketizer_h264_plugin.dll
packetizer\libpacketizer_mpegaudio_plugin.dll
packetizer\libpacketizer_mpegvideo_plugin.dll
stream_filter\libcache_block_plugin.dll
stream_filter\libcache_read_plugin.dll
stream_filter\librecord_plugin.dll
stream_filter\libskiptags_plugin.dll
text_renderer\libtdummy_plugin.dll
video_chroma\libswscale_plugin.dll
video_chroma\libyuvp_plugin.dll
video_output\libdirect3d11_plugin.dll

WebRTC

Unigram uses WebRTC for calls and video chats. Since WebRTC doesn't currently support UWP, you must use our fork to build it.

Click on Start Menu → Visual Studio 2022 → x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2022.
Navigate to .\Unigram\Libraries\webrtc
Execute .\acquire.cmd. This will clone WebRTC source code to C:\webrtc, and it will take a while (~1.5h)
Execute .\build.cmd "$arch$" "$config$". Replace $arch$ with either x64, win32 or arm64 depending on your build target. $config$ can be set to either release or debug.

⚠️ Note that WebRTC build instructions are based on WinRTC.

Building without WebRTC

Since compiling WebRTC is time and resources consuming, it is possible to build the app without calls support:

Locate Telegram > References and remove Telegram.Native.Calls from the list.
From Telegram > Properties > Build, remove ENABLE_CALLS directive.
Exclude from the project the following files:
- Controls/Cells/GroupCallParticipantGridCell.xaml
- Views/Calls/*

Code fails to build?

If the code fails to build make sure to create a new issue or to open a pull request.