DOSBox Staging

This repository attempts to modernize the DOSBox codebase by using current
development practices and tools, fixing issues, and adding features that better
support today’s systems.

Donations

If you enjoy using DOSBox Staging, please consider a
donation to the
project.

If you want to help but can’t afford a donation, check out the Get
involved page of our website
for other ways to contribute.

Build status

Stable release builds

Linux,
Windows,
macOS

Test builds & development snapshots

Development builds.

Key features for developers

Source code analysis tools

• PVS-Studio — C++ static analyser
• Clang Static Analyzer — C++ static analyser
• Pylint — Python static analyser
• markdownlint — style checker and linter for Markdown
• ShellCheck — shell script analysis tool

Dependencies

DOSBox Staging has the following library dependencies:

See the Meson wrap files in subprojects the current library versions we use.

Get the sources

Clone the repository (one-time step):

git clone https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging.git

Build instructions

Read BUILD.md for the comprehensive compilation guide.

Note

CMake support is currently an experimental internal-only, work-in-progress
feature; it’s not ready for public consumption yet. Please ignore the
CMakeLists.txt files in the source tree.

Linux, macOS

Install build dependencies appropriate for your OS:

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ccache gcc-c++ meson alsa-lib-devel libatomic libpng-devel \
                 SDL2-devel SDL2_net-devel opusfile-devel \
                 fluidsynth-devel iir1-devel mt32emu-devel libslirp-devel \
                 speexdsp-devel libXi-devel zlib-ng-devel

# Debian, Ubuntu
sudo apt install ccache build-essential libasound2-dev libatomic1 libpng-dev \
                 libsdl2-dev libsdl2-net-dev libopusfile-dev \
                 libfluidsynth-dev libslirp-dev libspeexdsp-dev libxi-dev
# Install Meson on Debian-11 "Bullseye" or Ubuntu-21.04 and newer
sudo apt install meson

# Arch, Manjaro
sudo pacman -S ccache gcc meson alsa-lib libpng sdl2 sdl2_net \
               opusfile fluidsynth libslirp speexdsp libxi pkgconf

# openSUSE
sudo zypper install ccache gcc gcc-c++ meson alsa-devel libatomic1 libpng-devel \
                    libSDL2-devel libSDL2_net-devel \
                    opusfile-devel fluidsynth-devel libmt32emu-devel libslirp-devel \
                    speexdsp libXi-devel

# Void Linux
sudo xbps-install -S SDL2-devel SDL2_net-devel alsa-lib-devel \
                     fluidsynth-devel libiir1-devel libmt32emu-devel \
                     libpng-devel libslirp-devel opusfile-devel \
                     speexdsp-devel libatomic-devel libXi-devel

# NixOS
# With Home Manager on home.nix (Recommended Permanent Installation)
home.packages = [ pkg-config gcc_multi cmake ccache SDL2 SDL2_net \
                  fluidsynth glib gtest libGL libGLU libjack2 libmt32emu libogg \
                  libpng libpulseaudio libslirp libsndfile meson ninja opusfile \
                  libselinux speexdsp stdenv alsa-lib xorg.libXi irr1 ]
# Note: the same package list will work with environment.systemPackages
# on configuration.nix

# macOS
xcode-select --install
brew install cmake ccache meson libpng sdl2 sdl2_net opusfile \
     fluid-synth libslirp pkg-config python3 speexdsp

Build and stay up-to-date with the latest sources

1. Check out the main branch:

    # commit or stash any personal code changes
    git checkout main -f

2. Pull the latest updates. This is necessary every time you want a new build:

    git pull

3. Set up the build. This is a one-time step either after cloning the repo or
   cleaning your working directories:

    meson setup build

   The above enables all of DOSBox Staging’s functional features. If you’re
   interested in seeing all of Meson’s setup options, run meson configure.

4. Compile the sources. This is necessary every time you want a new build:

    meson compile -C build

   Your binary is: build/dosbox

   The binary depends on local resources relative to it, so we suggest
   symlinking to the binary from your PATH, such as into ~/.local/bin/.

   Have fun!

Windows – Visual Studio (2022 or newer)

First, you need to setup vcpkg to install build dependencies. Once vcpkg
is bootstrapped, open PowerShell and run:

PS:\> .\vcpkg integrate install

This step will ensure that MSVC can use vcpkg to build, find and links all
dependencies.

Start Visual Studio and open the file vs\dosbox.sln. Make sure you have
x64 selected as the solution platform. Use Ctrl+Shift+B to build all
projects.

Note, the first time you build a configuration, dependencies will be built
automatically and stored in the vcpkg_installed directory. This can take
a significant length of time.

Windows (MSYS2), macOS (MacPorts), Haiku, NixOS, others

Instructions for other build systems and operating systems are documented
in BUILD.md.

Links to OS-specific instructions: MSYS2, MacPorts, Haiku, NixOS.

Imported branches, community patches, old forks

Upstream commits are imported to this repo in a timely manner,
see branch svn/trunk.

• svn/* - branches from SVN
• forks/* - code for various abandoned DOSBox forks
• vogons/* - community patches posted on the Vogons forum

Git tags matching pattern svn/* are pointing to the commits referenced by SVN
“tag” paths at the time of creation.

Additionally, we attach some optional metadata to the commits in the form of
Git notes. To fetch them, run:

git fetch origin "refs/notes/*:refs/notes/*"

Website & documentation

Please refer to the documentation guide before making
changes to the website or the documentation.