Building Ardour in Windows using MSYS2

build-ardour-windows-msys2.md

Building Ardour in Windows using MSYS2

Install MSYS2

winget install --id MSYS2.MSYS2 --exact

Open MSYS2 MINGW64.

Refresh the package database and upgrades all installed packages to their latest versions.

In the terminal, re-run:

pacman --sync --refresh --sysupgrade --noconfirm

Tip: "Shift-Insert" will paste in the console.

Install micro editor (Optional)

curl https://getmic.ro | bash

Install required packages

pacman --sync --needed --noconfirm \
  git \
  unzip \
  make \
  mingw-w64-x86_64-{aubio,boost,cairomm,cmake,curl,doxygen,fftw,glib2,glibmm,graphviz,jack2,libarchive,liblo,libsndfile,libusb,libwebsockets,lilv,make,ninja,pangomm,portaudio,portaudio-asio,python,rubberband,serd,sord,sratom,taglib,toolchain,vamp-plugin-sdk} 

Add /mingw64 to PATH

Place at end of file.

micro ~/.bashrc

export PATH="$PATH:/mingw64/bin"

Close, and reopen MSYS2 MINGW64.

Clone ardour repo

cd ~
git config --global core.autocrlf false
git clone https://github.com/Ardour/ardour.git

Configure Ardour

Set "--prefix" to path where you want ardour to be installed to when "waf install" is called.

cd ~/ardour

./waf configure \
  --prefix='D:\ardour' \
  --check-c-compiler=gcc \
  --check-cxx-compiler=g++ \
  --dist-target=mingw \
  --configdir=share \
  --no-execstack \
  --no-dr-mingw \
  --optimize \
  --cxx17 \
  --ptformat

Build Ardour

./waf --jobs=$(nproc)

Ignore any warnings that are displayed.

Install ardour

Will install to the location specified with "--prefix" above.

./waf install

Copy dependent files

Change /d/ardour to the installation location that was specified above.

cp --verbose /mingw64/bin/*.dll '/d/ardour/lib/ardour9'

# On windows the .exe needs to be in the same folder with libardour.dll
mkdir '/D/ardour/lib/ardour9/fst'
cp --verbose build/libs/fst/*.exe '/D/ardour/lib/ardour9/fst'

Ardour Startup Script

Save this as d:\ardour\ardour.ps1

# Ardour launcher script (PowerShell)
Param([string]$ArdourPath = (Resolve-Path '.'))

$ArdourPath = $ArdourPath -replace '\\', '/'

# --- Environment variables ---
$env:GTK_PATH = "$ArdourPath/share/ardour9;$ArdourPath/lib/ardour9"
$env:LD_LIBRARY_PATH = "$ArdourPath/lib/ardour9"

# --- Ardour required environment variables ---
$env:ARDOUR_DATA_PATH = "$ArdourPath/share/ardour9"
$env:ARDOUR_CONFIG_PATH = "$ArdourPath/share/ardour9"
$env:ARDOUR_DLL_PATH = "$ArdourPath/lib/ardour9"

# NSM needs a path to this script
$env:ARDOUR_SELF = Split-Path -Leaf $PSCommandPath

# VAMP lookup path
$env:VAMP_PATH = "$ArdourPath/lib/ardour9/vamp"

# --- Exec Ardour ---
$ardourExe = (Get-ChildItem "$ArdourPath\lib\ardour9\ardour-*.*.*.exe" -File) | Sort-Object -Descending LastWriteTime | Select-Object -first 1 -ExpandProperty FullName

& $ardourExe @args

Create sessions in D:\ardour\sessions

Example Configuration

PortAudio (default)
  ASIO
  UMC ASIO Driver
  UMC ASIO Driver
  48 kHz
  64 samples (1.3 ms)