Building on macOS is relatively easy. Consider forking the project on GitHub before proceeding with this procedure if you intend to contribute back to the project. (More details on this are at Tracking Development with Git)

Build environment prerequisites

Supported macOS Versions

GCS requires macOS 10.10 or newer. See the Qt supported platforms list for further details.

Get Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager; it’s the best way to get some of the prerequisites to build dRonin.

In a terminal window, paste this magical incantation:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

and then:

brew doctor

Then, you can use Homebrew to install wget:

brew install wget

Download required programs

Xcode. If you do not already have Xcode, the latest version can be obtained from the Apple app store.

After this, start Xcode and go through the initial setup. Once Xcode is running, go to Xcode > Preferences > Downloads > Components and install “Command Line Tools”.

Fetching source code and building

Cloning the repository

First, clone the dRonin repository. If you have your own fork, specify it on the git command line.

git clone git://github.com/d-ronin/dRonin.git
cd dRonin

Automatic download and install of prerequisites

The dRonin build environment is capable of installing the rest of the tools that it needs.

GCS build tools

Removing existing Qt build locations!

If you have brew installed qt previously, unlink it now. If you get link errors building uavobjects, this is probably what is wrong: brew unlink qt

Next, run make qt_sdk_install, copy the path from the output in your terminal and paste it into the installer when prompted.

Don't install Qt to the default location!

When running the qt sdk install command, you’ll be told where to install qt, then the GUI installer will open. Here is what it will look like:

*** NOTE NOTE NOTE ***
*
*  In the GUI, please use exactly this path as the installation path:
*        /some/path/src/dRonin/tools/Qt5.8.0
*
*** NOTE NOTE NOTE ***

Be sure to copy the specified path into the installer when prompted for the install location!

GCS uses Google Breakpad for crash-reporting. Rather than compiling this every time you build GCS, it is built once during toolchain setup. Run make breakpad_install.

Flight firmware build tools

This is easy. Just type: make arm_sdk_install

Building the software

You should be ready to go. Type make all to compile the entire project. Type make to see a list of possible make arguments.

Running GCS

Launch the gcs with open build/ground/gcs/bin/dRonin-GCS.app and connect to / flash your board.