Build Instructions

This page covers building OpenSim from source code on multiple platforms. Please help us keep this page up to date as the project progresses.

Download OpenSim
Check out the Download page for instructions on obtaining an OpenSim source release.

MS Windows
NOTE: on or about May 31, 2009, MS C# Express 2005 is no longer supported. Last release for that date is r9748.

OpenSim requires either the .Net framework version 2.0, or the latest Mono. It supports the following compilers:
 * Microsoft Visual C# Express Edition (note: not Visual C++)
 * mono

Additional note: any Microsoft C# Express edition should work (2005 or 2008)

Additional note: Microsoft C# Express v9 may install .Net 3.5 with resultant path error.
 * 1) To avoid install .Net framework version 2.0

Additional note: It is possible to develop on Windows Vista 64 bits with the following tweaks:
 * 1) Select OpenSim project properties from solution and choose platform to be x86. Rebuild solution.
 * 2) Select OpenSim.exe properties under solution bin folder and choose windows xp sp 2 compatibility mode + run as administrator.

Building

 * In the top-level directory, run the 'runprebuild.bat' file. This will create a VS2005 solution file, a nant build file and a 'compile.bat' file.
 * If you prefer VS2008, run the 'runprebuild2008.bat' instead.


 * Open the resulting sln file with visual studio and build it there, or
 * Run the 'compile.bat' file. This will build the executable using MSBuild.
 * if you prefer to use nant, run nant in the same top-level directory. This will build the executables.

If you don't care about physics (walking on prims, etc), ignore the rest of this section.

Running
Recent versions of OpenSim come without an OpenSim.ini file. Copy the OpenSim.ini.example file to OpenSim.ini before making any changes.

Double-click on the OpenSim.exe executable file in the bin</tt> directory. This will start up OpenSim in standalone mode.

The debugger in VS2005 C# may be used to step through the code. For those that use a Cygwin shell, you may find that one or more dll's have permissions that cause problems running. Most find that a "chmod 777 *</tt>" from the bin</tt> directory solves this.

Physics can be invoked by adding the appropriate line to the [Startup] section of OpenSim.ini</tt>. For ODE, that would be:

physics = OpenDynamicsEngine

You can also add a command line option to a shortcut, or run from a command prompt with:

-physics=OpenDynamicsEngine

Windows Vista

Some people have reported that to run on Windows Vista, you must first disable Windows Firewall. Under the new "Start" button of Vista, select "Control panel". Then double-click "Windows Firewall". In the window that pops up, on the left column, select "Turn Windows Firewall on or off". You will have to give permission for this to run, then select the option "Off (not recommended)". Click "OK" and exit from the Windows Firewall window.

If you have McAfee SecurityCenter, see the description below.

Once all the security features are disabled, right click on OpenSim.exe</tt> and select "Run as administrator". This will pop up a window asking permission, select "Allow". Your OpenSim server should run in a DOS-like window and accept connections.

McAfee Security

McAfee Security does not allow applications to listen on ports not explicitly specified. You have two options: 1) disable firewall protection all together, 2) enable OpenSim.exe</tt> to be able to open ports.

Disable firewall

Open McAfee SecurityCenter. Select "Internet & Network". In the lower left corner is a small link to "Configure...". Select this. In the right side of the window, select the bar that says "Firewall protection is enabled". Here you can select "Off".

Enable OpenSim.exe</tt> to open ports

Open McAfee SecurityCenter. Select "Internet & Network". In the lower left corner is a small link to "Configure...". Select this. In the right side of the window, select the bar that says "Firewall protection is enabled". Select the "Advanced..." button. This will pop up a new window.

In the new window, on the left side, select "Program Permissions." In the middle on the right side of the window, select the "Add Allowed Program" button. Use the browser that pops up to find the OpenSim executable and select it.

Finally, select "OK" and exit the McAfee SecurityCenter window.

Linux/Mac OS X/FreeBSD
The easiest plaform to get running on the Linux side is Ubuntu 8.10, 32bit. This is what most of the developers running Linux use. If you are looking for the quick path, start there.

Ubuntu 8.04 / 8.10
For Ubuntu users on older distributions (7.10, 8.04, etc.) you need to upgrade your mono to at least 1.9.1. Mono 2.2 is currently the preferred version to run OpenSim with.

You can use the built in packages for mono. However, for better performance, you may want to upgrade mono to 1.9.1 (Other simple method)

sudo apt-get install subversion nant mono-gmcs libmono-microsoft8.0-cil \ libmono-system-runtime2.0-cil libgdiplus libmono-i18n2.0-cil libmono-oracle2.0-cil ruby Download opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant

To upgrade the Mono version to the latest stable build Mono 2.0.1, read this page Ubuntu on Mono 2.0.1

openSUSE 10.3/11/11.1
Install an openSUSE 11.1, 11 or 10.3 with its default options, add the online repositories when finished installing do an online update with all the latest packages.

In yast install these packages, for running Opensim in standalone mode. (there is a slight diffrence between 10.3 and 11/11.1 but following should be same) subversion nant mono-jscript - check that mono-core is installed

just in case you do not already have it installed

sudo zypper install mono-data-oracle

A tip for OpenSuSE 11.1 users - you can install packages from the command line using the 'zypper' tool. For example, to install 'nant', use this command:

sudo zypper install nant

If you just want to use SQLite then jump to last section within this post.

Install these mysql packages via yast mysql mysql-client mysql-administrator mysql-gui-tools mysql-query-browser
 * Optional mysql - for Opensim running in Grid mode:

(note that selecting mysql in the Yast2 Installer will select the other packages automatically)

Before building create the mysql database. /etc/init.d/mysql start mysql -u root -p -h localhost (when asked for password just hit enter)

mysql> create database opensim; mysql> use opensim; mysql> create user 'opensim'@'localhost' identified by 'thePassword'; mysql> grant all on *.* to 'opensim'@'localhost'; mysql> quit


 * note that the grant all command may differ if you're adding the opensim database to an existing mysql installation.

On current builds set the connection string inside bin/OpenSim.ini after coppying the OpenSim.ini.example file. If you are changing to MySQL from SQLite, the connection string for mysql also exists in the bin/Region/*xml files.
 * It is important to remember this if you start out using the built-in SQLite database engine.

Build after installation of above in bash terminal. I save it in /opt

su - cd /opt Download opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant

Or, if you have a current (0.6+), you can simply execute:

make

After this you should be able to continue on starting the diffrent Servers, look in the mysql-config section,or just run your OpenSim as a Standalone. By - eagleFX

Mac OS X 10.5/10.4
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/lib/pkgconfig/:${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}" svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim/tags/0.5.0-release opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant
 * OpenSim is now working on PowerPC Macs! Thanks to DrScofield and those who helped him. Current nightly builds for PowerPC are not working, not sure about Intel so use the 0.5 Build. OpenSim works on Intel Macs. I'm testing on PowerBook G4. Tested these step on 10.5, but not 10.4 but should work --Mokele 22:36, 14 February 2008 (PST) (Works on iMac G5 with OS 10.4.11, including expanding to local grid mode. --Magnuz 2008-12-15 10:50 (CET))
 * Install XCode Developers Tools from DVD/CD Installation Disk or download from http://developer.apple.com/. You have to create an Apple account to access the downloads if you don't have an Apple account.
 * Install X11 for 10.4 from the Optional Install from the DVD/CD Installation Disk. X11 for 10.5 is installed by default.
 * Install Mono 1.2.5 from http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/archive/1.2.5/macos-10-universal/5/MonoFramework-1.2.5_5.macos10.novell.universal.dmg (The more recent releases Mono 1.2.6, 1.9.1 and 2.0.1 do not appear to work with these installation instructions. --Magnuz 2008-12-14 15:56 (CET)) and in Terminal or X11 edit the .profile file and add the following line:
 * Compile OpenSim

svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim-libs/old/libsl1550 opensim-libs cd opensim-libs/openjpeg-libsl make -f Makefile.osx cp libopenjpeg-libsl-2.1.2.0.dylib ../../bin
 * Download and Compile libopenjpeg-libsl-2.1.2.0.dylib and libsecondlife.dll
 * libopenjpeg-libsl-2.1.2.0.dylib:
 * Note: The Makefile that creates the libopenjpeg-libsl-2.1.2.0.so does not compile on PowerPC, but works properly on Intel Macs. Looks like a gcc issue with compile options. (It appears to work on iMac G5 with OS X 10.4.11. --Magnuz 2008-12-14 15:55 (CET))

cd .. (back into opensim-libs) nant cp bin/libsecondlife.dll ../bin
 * libsecondlife.dll: (for PowerPC Only, see details on this step installing OpenSim on PowerPC…or: of eggs and virtual worlds)


 * Edit the libsecondlife.dll.config (PowerPC Only). Remove the cpu="x86" tag in the last dllmap line.

Here is what worked for me (OS X 10.5.7, Intel):

svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim/tags/0.6.5-post-fixes opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant --Kusako 08:06, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
 * make sure you have X11 installed
 * grab the Apple Dev Tools from
 * install Mono Framework 2.4 from
 * Get OpenSim source:
 * Compile OpenSim:

FreeBSD 6.2
su cd /usr/ports/devel/subversion/ && make install clean (you may also need to rebuild apr-svn if this step fails) cd /usr/ports/lang/mono/ && make install clean cd /usr/ports/devel/nant/ && make install clean cd /usr/ports/databases/sqlite3/ && make install clean cd /usr/ports/x11-toolkits/libgdiplus/ && make install clean cd /opensim/installation/directory/ Download opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant

Note: |Follow the instructions on the FAQ to fix the "System.DllNotFoundException: ./libopenjpeg-libsl-2.1.2.0.so" issue, but use "gmake" instead of "make"

For ODE Physics you must do the following: cd /usr/ports/graphics/libGL/ && make install clean cd /usr/ports/graphics/libGLU/ && make install clean cd /opensim/installation/directory/ svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim-libs/trunk opensim-libs cd opensim-libs/unmanaged/OpenDynamicsEngine2/ sh autogen.sh ./configure --enable-shared --enable-release --disable-demos make mv ./ode/src/.libs/libode.so /opensim/installation/directory/opensim/bin/

RedHat Enterprise Linux 4
sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mono.repo

[mono] name=Mono for rhel-4-i386 (stable) baseurl=http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/download-stable/rhel-4-i386/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=0

sudo yum install mono-complete monodoc-core nant Download opensim cd opensim ./runprebuild.sh nant

RedHat Enterprise Linux 5
The instructions below also work on other RedHat Linux flavors such as CentOS or maybe Fedora.

1. Put the Mono.repo file in the /etc/yum.repo.d/ directory: $ sudo su - $ cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ $ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Mono/RHEL_5/Mono.repo Naturally use the most up-to-date link for your distribution.

2. Install Mono and related tools with yum: $ yum install mono nant mono-jscript mono-nunit Make sure to use nunit-console2 to run your tests.

Fedora 5

 * I needed to build latest mono and nant from sources to build OpenSim successfully, the ones available in yum repository didn't work so I had to uninstall and build and configure the packages.

For detailed instructions go here

Debian 4
For detailed instructions please see Debian 4 Build Instructions

CentOS 5.2 32bit
For detailed instructions please see CentOS 5.2 Build Instructions

64bit
Please note that only 32bit binaries are provided in the bin/ directory of subversion. If you want to use 64bit, you'll need to rebuild these shared objects. See Installing and running on x86-64

Physics (Open Dynamics Engine ODE)
As installed from svn, ODE will work on most 32 bit platforms. If you get an ODE-related crash, and/or a libode.so not found type of error, you will need to build libode from source.

Remove libode.so</tt> from the ./bin</tt> folder. (Note that subsequent svn updates may replace it again; best fix is to copy your built libode.so</tt> to bin</tt>). Do NOT remove ode.net.dll</tt>! Download the latest source from:

svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim-libs/trunk/unmanaged/OpenDynamicsEngine

OpenSim requires a couple of patches on top of ODE which are not yet included upstream. When compiling, make sure to use the following configure options:

--with-trimesh=gimpact --enable-shared

Make sure the configure script confirms these choices, and always compile with single precision (I believe that's the default). Try  if you get errors relating to drawstuff, test*, or openGL. should put libode.so</tt> in the proper place (usually /usr/local/lib</tt>), and it should be seen by opensim (ode.net.dll</tt>)

Note: if OpenSim fails to launch with Exception: System.DllNotFoundException: ode</tt>, after compiling ODE, just copy <tt>libode.so</tt> from its usual place (probably <tt>/usr/local/lib/</tt>) to ./bin/, as per this suggestion

Setting up ODE for 64 Bits systems:
HOWTO on setting up and Install OpenSim on SLES10 - SP1 64Bit

1. I installed Mono 2.01, added this installation source in Yast2 This distro supports installing packages via YaST. Add the following installation source to YaST: * http://ftp.novell.com/pub/mono/download-stable/SLE_10 [^] For assistance with using repositories and installing packages with YaST, visit the Yast help page.

"nant" was installed also via this operation.

2. I installed subversion from http://software.opensuse.org/search [^]

SLES/SLED10 -> subversion-1.5.2-34.2.x86_64.rpm

3. I downloaded and installed the lastest SVN version of opensim as usual (like a 32 bit system): http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Build_Instructions [^]

4. I downloaded and installed the Open Dynamics Engine (ODE) to replace the 32 bit version of ODE with a 64 bit version. I did that with the following linux commands: (it is expected that you have all required Linux building tools installed): # cd  # svn co http://opensimulator.org/svn/opensim-libs/trunk/unmanaged/OpenDynamicsEngine [^] # cd OpenDynamicEngine # chmod a+x ou/bootstrap # sh autogen.sh

I installed/updated SLES10 with these rpm's for autogen.sh to run properly. http://software.opensuse.org/search [^]

SLES/SLED10 -> - autoconf-2.61-168.1.x86_64.rpm - automake-1.10.1-5.3.x86_64.rpm

# CFLAGS="-m64" ./configure --enable-shared # make

I installed gtk2-devel via yast2, and all its dependancies, because make keept failing.

# cp ./ode/src/.libs/libode.so /opt/opensim/bin/

note: in this directory it had made several versions of the "libode.so" because of running the previous commands several times so i had to copy libode.so.1.0.0 to /opt/opensim/bin/libode.so

# vi ../opensim/bin/OpenSim.ini (change av_capsule_standup_tensor_linux to 1700000)

The 'chmod' command is required to fix permissions that are wrong. The change in OpenSim.ini is required to avoid that avatars have bend legs and/or their feet are in the ground.

Running
Recent versions of OpenSim come without an <tt>OpenSim.ini</tt> file. Copy the <tt>OpenSim.ini.example</tt> file to <tt>OpenSim.ini</tt> before making any changes.

Note: if you are running a 32bit Server such as Ubuntu 8.0.4 you need the alternative launcher:

-physics=OpenDynamicsEngine to the <tt>mono OpenSim.exe</tt> line
 * To invoke ODE, add the option:

or add  to the [Startup] section of <tt>OpenSim.ini</tt>. Same deal for other physics engines, when available.

On mono 1.2.6, some distributions may see Unhandled Exception: System.NotSupportedException: CodePage 1252 not supported on startup when using mysql. This can be resolved by installing the package libmono-i18n2.0-cil (see http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=33938).

Additional Items

 * GC NO EXPLICIT - Enable Large Heap in Mono, this has been known to help performance and stability

Hardware selection guide
An often-asked question is "what kind of hardware do I need to successfully run OpenSim?" Unfortunately, the answer is "it depends". The number of regions hosted on a given machine, number of simultaneous avatars on those regions, number of prims, use of scripts, etc., all affect hardware requirements. So, to help you make a more informed selection, some examples of hardware used are listed in the hardware selection guide.