How do I build Monero for Windows from source?

Question

Are there detailed build instructions for building Monero for Windows?

Does the version of Windows we are building for (7,8, 10) (x86 vs x64) require different dependencies?

edit: Can we compile Windows binaries in Linux? Or must we compile Monero using MinGW?

Answer 1

Detailed instructions about how to compile Monero on Windows can be found here. If you are encountering problems compiling the x86 version try this walkthrough.

The x86 version requires specialized x86 dependencies (on Windows).

Answer 2

It is much harder to compile software for Windows than it is for GNU/Linux or MacOSX. Instructions do exist in one of Ilya Kitaev's GitHub forks, but they haven't been merged yet at time of writing. They are copied (almost verbatim) below:

On Windows:

1. Install msys2, follow the instructions on that page on how to update packages to the latest versions
2. Install monero dependencies as described in monero documentation

3. Install git:

   pacman -S git
   

4. Install Qt5:

   • if you need to build x86 application, install:

     pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-qt5
     

   • if you need to build x64 application, install:

     pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-qt5
     

5. Open mingw shell. MSYS2 will install start menu items for both mingw32 and mingw64 environments, so you need to open appropriate one:
   %MSYS_ROOT%\msys2_shell.cmd -mingw32 for x86 targed
   or
   %MSYS_ROOT%\msys2_shell.cmd -mingw64 for x64 targed

   Where %MSYS_ROOT% will be c:\msys32 if your host OS is x86-based or c:\msys64 if your host OS is x64-based

6. Clone git repository:

   git clone https://github.com/monero-project/monero-core.git
   

7. Build the project:

   cd monero-core
   ./build.sh
   

8. Take result binary and dependencies in ./build/release/bin

   important: if you testing application within VirtualBox virtual machine, make sure 3D acceleration is enabled in machine's settings:
   Machine > Settings > Display > [v] Enable 3D Acceleration