Building on Linux

Step-by-step instructions for building FreeRDP from source on Ubuntu/Debian and Fedora using CMake and Ninja.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
  build-essential git cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
  libssl-dev \
  libx11-dev libxext-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev \
  libxdamage-dev libxv-dev libxkbfile-dev \
  libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev \
  libasound2-dev libpulse-dev \
  libkrb5-dev \
  libcjson-dev \
  libusb-1.0-0-dev \
  libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev \
  libcups2-dev \
  libpcsclite-dev \
  libfuse3-dev \
  libsdl2-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install -y \
  gcc gcc-c++ git cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
  openssl-devel \
  libX11-devel libXext-devel libXinerama-devel libXcursor-devel \
  libXdamage-devel libXv-devel libxkbfile-devel \
  wayland-devel libxkbcommon-devel \
  alsa-lib-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel \
  krb5-devel \
  cjson-devel \
  libusb1-devel \
  ffmpeg-devel \
  cups-devel \
  pcsc-lite-devel \
  fuse3-devel \
  SDL2-devel SDL2_ttf-devel

Build

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP.git /tmp/freerdp/src
   
2. Configure with CMake

   cmake -GNinja \
     -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
     -DWITH_VERBOSE_WINPR_ASSERT=OFF \
     -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/tmp/freerdp/install \
     -B /tmp/freerdp/build \
     -S /tmp/freerdp/src
   
3. Compile and install

   cmake --build /tmp/freerdp/build --target install
   

Using Ninja (-GNinja) significantly speeds up incremental builds compared to the default Makefile generator.

Common CMake options

Display subsystems

Flag	Description
-DWITH_X11=ON	Build the X11 client and server (default on Linux).
-DWITH_WAYLAND=ON	Build wlfreerdp, the Wayland client.
-DWITH_X11=OFF -DWITH_WAYLAND=OFF	Headless / library-only build.

SSL

Flag	Description
-DWITH_OPENSSL=ON	Use OpenSSL (default).
-DWITH_MBEDTLS=ON	Use MBedTLS instead (set -DWITH_OPENSSL=OFF).

H.264 and graphics scaling

Flag	Description
-DWITH_FFMPEG=ON	Enable FFmpeg-based H.264 and audio.
-DWITH_OPENH264=ON	Enable Cisco OpenH264.
-DWITH_SWSCALE=ON	Enable Swscale for high-DPI / smart-sizing.
-DWITH_CAIRO=ON	Enable Cairo for high-DPI / smart-sizing.

Audio

Flag	Description
-DWITH_PULSE=ON	Enable PulseAudio (default when headers found).
-DWITH_ALSA=ON	Enable ALSA (default when headers found).
-DWITH_DSP_FFMPEG=ON	Use FFmpeg for audio processing.

Server and proxy

Flag	Description
-DWITH_SERVER=ON	Build server-side libraries.
-DWITH_PROXY=ON	Build the RDP proxy.
-DWITH_SHADOW=ON	Build the shadow server.

Using a CMake preload file

The repository includes a preload for a full Linux debug build with all optional features enabled:

cmake -C /tmp/freerdp/src/ci/cmake-preloads/config-linux-all.txt \
  -GNinja \
  -B /tmp/freerdp/build \
  -S /tmp/freerdp/src

cmake --build /tmp/freerdp/build

Debug vs release example

release build

cmake -GNinja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DWITH_VERBOSE_WINPR_ASSERT=OFF \
  -B build -S .
cmake --build build

For builds that are not from a stable release, keep -DWITH_VERBOSE_WINPR_ASSERT=ON so that crashes produce useful diagnostic output.