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dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:291# Checking out and Building Chromium for Windows
2
Bruce Dawson4d1de592017-09-08 00:24:003There are instructions for other platforms linked from the
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:294[get the code](get_the_code.md) page.
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:105
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:296## Instructions for Google Employees
7
8Are you a Google employee? See
scottmg292538ae2017-01-12 00:10:559[go/building-chrome-win](https://goto.google.com/building-chrome-win) instead.
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:5810
11[TOC]
12
13## System requirements
14
Bruce Dawsonc2661722024-06-12 19:44:2915* An x86-64 machine with at least 8GB of RAM. More than 16GB is highly
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:5816 recommended.
dpranke4b470c5b2017-01-19 17:38:0417* At least 100GB of free disk space on an NTFS-formatted hard drive. FAT32
18 will not work, as some of the Git packfiles are larger than 4GB.
Bruce Dawson97367b72017-10-18 00:47:4919* An appropriate version of Visual Studio, as described below.
Bruce Dawson52c749c2020-12-03 16:44:2620* Windows 10 or newer.
brettwc25693b32016-05-26 01:11:5221
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:1022## Setting up Windows
23
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:5824### Visual Studio
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:1025
Devon Loehrc0acd932024-10-21 18:15:2026Chromium requires [Visual Studio 2022](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releases/2022/release-notes)
27(>=17.0.0) to build. Visual Studio can also be used to debug Chromium.
Raul Tambre1bb5c1a2018-12-29 00:57:1228The clang-cl compiler is used but Visual Studio's header files, libraries, and
29some tools are required. Visual Studio Community Edition should work if its
30license is appropriate for you. You must install the "Desktop development with
31C++" component and the "MFC/ATL support" sub-components. This can be done from
32the command line by passing these arguments to the Visual Studio installer (see
33below for ARM64 instructions):
Bruce Dawson1c0979a62017-09-13 17:47:2134```shell
Bruce Dawsone42d7642018-12-10 23:50:0035$ PATH_TO_INSTALLER.EXE ^
36--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop ^
37--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATLMFC ^
38--includeRecommended
Bruce Dawson1c0979a62017-09-13 17:47:2139```
pwnall43b43ba2016-08-22 19:29:2940
Bruce Dawsone42d7642018-12-10 23:50:0041If you want to build for ARM64 Win32 then some extra arguments are needed. The
42full set for that case is:
43```shell
44$ PATH_TO_INSTALLER.EXE ^
45--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop ^
46--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATLMFC ^
47--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.ARM64 ^
48--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.MFC.ARM64 ^
49--includeRecommended
50```
51
Solomon Kinard45427072023-06-22 18:21:0152Required
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:3853
Solomon Kinard45427072023-06-22 18:21:0154* [Windows 11 SDK](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/windows-sdk/)
Devon Loehrea1232d2024-10-31 17:01:3755version 10.0.22621.2428. This can be installed separately or by checking the
Solomon Kinard45427072023-06-22 18:21:0156appropriate box in the Visual Studio Installer.
Devon Loehrea1232d2024-10-31 17:01:3757* (Windows 11) SDK Debugging Tools 10.0.22621.755 or higher. This version of the
58Debugging tools is needed in order to support reading the large-page PDBs that
59Chrome uses to allow greater-than 4 GiB PDBs. This can be installed after the
60matching Windows SDK version is installed, from: Control Panel -> Programs and
61Features -> Windows Software Development Kit [version] -> Change -> Debugging Tools for
Bruce Dawson9588daa2023-10-18 22:07:2562Windows. If building on ARM64 Windows then you will need to manually copy the
63Debuggers\x64 directory from another machine because it does not get installed
64on ARM64 and is needed, whether you are building Chromium for x64 or ARM64 on
65ARM64.
Robert Sesekc8ffa1b2017-08-04 19:55:2266
Devon Loehrc0acd932024-10-21 18:15:2067WARNING: On sufficiently old versions of Windows (1909 or earlier), dawn (or
68related components) may fail with a D3d-related error when using the 26100 SDK.
69This is because the d3dcompiler_47.dll file in the new SDK attempts to
70dynamically link versions of the Universal C Runtime which are not present by
71default on older systems. If you experience these errors, you can either update
72the UCRT on your system, or install the 22612 SDK and use the d3dcompiler_47.dll
73file included there, which statically links the UCRT.
74
75This problem may also manifest as a DLL failure to load `__CxxFrameHandler4`.
Devon Loehr0f6eaa52024-10-16 16:22:0176
Anne Redulla7b370052024-09-09 00:39:3577## git installation
78
79### Install git
80
81If you haven't installed `git` directly before, you can download a standalone
82installer for the latest version of Git For Windows from the Git website at
83https://git-scm.com/download/win.
84
85For more information on Git for Windows (which is a separate project from Git),
86see https://gitforwindows.org.
87
Kalvin Lee8d8ead12025-01-20 04:28:3388Note: if you are a Google employee, see git installation instructions at
89[go/building-chrome-win](https://goto.google.com/building-chrome-win#install-updates-and-required-software).
Anne Redulla7b370052024-09-09 00:39:3590
91### Update git
92
93Note: this section is about updating a direct installation of `git` because
94`depot_tools` will soon stop bundling `git`.
95
Anne Redulla7b370052024-09-09 00:39:3596Updating to the latest version of `git` will depend on which version you
97currently have installed. First, check your `git` version. From a cmd.exe shell,
98run:
99```shell
100$ git version
101```
102
103| Current version | How to update to latest |
104| --- | --- |
105| `2.14.1` or earlier | You will need to manually uninstall Git, then follow the instructions above to [install git](#install-git) |
106| `2.14.2` to `2.16.1` | In a cmd.exe shell, run: `git update` |
107| `2.16.1(2)` and later | In a cmd.exe shell, run: `git update-git-for-windows` |
108
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58109## Install `depot_tools`
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:10110
Anne Redulla7b370052024-09-09 00:39:35111***
112**Warning:** `depot_tools` will stop bundling Git for Windows from Sep 23, 2024
113onwards. To prepare for this change, Windows users should
114[install Git](#git-installation) directly before then.
115***
116
Solomon Kinard45427072023-06-22 18:21:01117Download the
118[depot_tools bundle](https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-infra/depot_tools.zip)
Eric Waldmanc469ba7b2022-03-02 20:33:00119and extract it somewhere (eg: C:\src\depot_tools).
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:10120
Solomon Kinard45427072023-06-22 18:21:01121***
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58122**Warning:** **DO NOT** use drag-n-drop or copy-n-paste extract from Explorer,
123this will not extract the hidden “.git” folder which is necessary for
Bruce Dawson4d1de592017-09-08 00:24:00124depot_tools to autoupdate itself. You can use “Extract all…” from the
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58125context menu though.
126***
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:10127
Bruce Dawson4d1de592017-09-08 00:24:00128Add depot_tools to the start of your PATH (must be ahead of any installs of
Eric Waldmanc469ba7b2022-03-02 20:33:00129Python. Note that environment variable names are case insensitive).
Anne Redulla7b370052024-09-09 00:39:35130* Assuming you unzipped the bundle to `C:\src\depot_tools`, open:
131 Control Panel → System and Security → System
132* Select which PATH variable to edit.
133 * If you have Administrator access, you can edit the **system** PATH. Click
134 Advanced system settings → Environment Variables. Under "System variables",
135 select the Path variable for editing.
136 * If you don't have Administrator access, you can edit your **user-level**
137 PATH. Search for "Edit environment variables for your account". Under "User
138 variables for %USER%", select the Path variable for editing.
139* Modify the Path variable by adding `C:\src\depot_tools` at the front (or at
140 least in front of any directory that might already have a copy of Python).
141 Note: If you can only modify your user-level PATH and the system PATH has a
142 Python in it, you will be out of luck.
143
Devon Loehrc0acd932024-10-21 18:15:20144Also, add a DEPOT_TOOLS_WIN_TOOLCHAIN environment variable in the same way, and
145set it to 0. This tells depot_tools to use your locally installed version of
146Visual Studio (by default, depot_tools will try to use a google-internal
147version).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58148
Bruce Dawsond95ceb62023-02-17 01:39:30149You may also have to set variable `vs2022_install` to your installation path of
150Visual Studio 2022, like
151`set vs2022_install=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional`.
Andreas Papacharalampous1d22c9612020-06-13 23:11:17152
Reilly Grant07ff22e2021-10-19 19:21:20153From a cmd.exe shell, run:
Reilly Grant07ff22e2021-10-19 19:21:20154```shell
155$ gclient
156```
157
158On first run, gclient will install all the Windows-specific bits needed to work
159with the code, including msysgit and python.
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58160
161* If you run gclient from a non-cmd shell (e.g., cygwin, PowerShell),
162 it may appear to run properly, but msysgit, python, and other tools
163 may not get installed correctly.
164* If you see strange errors with the file system on the first run of gclient,
Yuma Takaid4809d552022-02-15 03:48:19165 you may want to [disable Windows Indexing](https://tortoisesvn.net/faq.html#cantmove2).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58166
Will Harris1c8f89c2021-03-08 22:53:43167## Check python install
168
henrikab232d892024-04-05 14:53:31169After running gclient open a command prompt and type `where python3` and
170confirm that the depot_tools `python3.bat` comes ahead of any copies of
171python3.exe. Failing to ensure this can lead to overbuilding when
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58172using gn - see [crbug.com/611087](https://crbug.com/611087).
173
Will Harris1c8f89c2021-03-08 22:53:43174[App Execution Aliases](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/desktop/modernize/desktop-to-uwp-extensions#alias)
175can conflict with other installations of python on the system so disable
176these for 'python.exe' and 'python3.exe' by opening 'App execution aliases'
177section of Control Panel and unticking the boxes next to both of these
178that point to 'App Installer'.
179
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58180## Get the code
181
Leonard Mosescu718c9ac2017-06-20 18:06:32182First, configure Git:
183
184```shell
185$ git config --global user.name "My Name"
186$ git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
187$ git config --global core.autocrlf false
188$ git config --global core.filemode false
Anne Redulla6a104522024-12-11 22:23:25189$ git config --global core.preloadindex true
190$ git config --global core.fscache true
Leonard Mosescu718c9ac2017-06-20 18:06:32191$ git config --global branch.autosetuprebase always
192```
193
Bruce Dawsonc2c02e52023-11-22 04:43:15194While not necessarily required it can be helpful to configure git to allow long
195path support (beyond the Windows MAX_PATH limit):
196
197```shell
198git config --global core.longpaths true
199```
200
Sonja Laurilac8949372023-06-27 10:09:23201Create a `chromium` directory for the checkout and change to it. You can call
202this whatever you like and put it wherever you like, as long as the full path
203has no spaces. However there are some performance benefits for Googlers in
204placing the directory under `C:\src\`
205(See [Why is my build slow?](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/windows_build_instructions.md#why-is-my-build-slow)).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58206
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44207```shell
208$ mkdir chromium && cd chromium
209```
210
211Run the `fetch` tool from `depot_tools` to check out the code and its
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58212dependencies.
213
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44214```shell
xiaoyin.l802e4b3e2016-12-04 22:17:30215$ fetch chromium
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44216```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58217
218If you don't want the full repo history, you can save a lot of time by
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44219adding the `--no-history` flag to `fetch`.
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58220
Bruce Dawson2c83223e2022-10-25 21:08:22221Expect the command to take over an hour on even a fast connection, and many
222hours on slower ones. You should configure your PC so that it doesn't sleep
223or hibernate during the fetch or else errors may occur. If errors occur while
224fetching sub-repos then you can start over, or you may be able to correct them
225by going to the chromium/src directory and running this command:
226
227```shell
228$ gclient sync
229```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58230
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44231When `fetch` completes, it will have created a hidden `.gclient` file and a
232directory called `src` in the working directory. The remaining instructions
233assume you have switched to the `src` directory:
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58234
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44235```shell
236$ cd src
237```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58238
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44239*Optional*: You can also [install API
240keys](https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/api-keys) if you want your
241build to talk to some Google services, but this is not necessary for most
242development and testing purposes.
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58243
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29244## Setting up the build
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58245
Tom Bridgwatereef401542018-08-17 00:54:43246Chromium uses [Ninja](https://ninja-build.org) as its main build tool along with
Andrew Williamsbbc1a1e2021-07-21 01:51:22247a tool called [GN](https://gn.googlesource.com/gn/+/main/docs/quick_start.md)
Tom Bridgwatereef401542018-08-17 00:54:43248to generate `.ninja` files. You can create any number of *build directories*
249with different configurations. To create a build directory:
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58250
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44251```shell
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28252$ gn gen out\Default
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44253```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58254
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44255* You only have to run this once for each new build directory, Ninja will
256 update the build files as needed.
257* You can replace `Default` with another name, but
258 it should be a subdirectory of `out`.
Aaron Gabledad9e0f2020-01-09 19:38:52259* For other build arguments, including release settings or using an alternate
260 version of Visual Studio, see [GN build
sdy93387fa2016-12-01 01:03:44261 configuration](https://www.chromium.org/developers/gn-build-configuration).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58262 The default will be a debug component build matching the current host
263 operating system and CPU.
Tom Bridgwatereef401542018-08-17 00:54:43264* For more info on GN, run `gn help` on the command line or read the [quick
Andrew Williamsbbc1a1e2021-07-21 01:51:22265 start guide](https://gn.googlesource.com/gn/+/main/docs/quick_start.md).
Juan Cruz Viotti9c7622d2021-06-30 00:27:23266
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58267### Faster builds
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:10268
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58269* Reduce file system overhead by excluding build directories from
270 antivirus and indexing software.
271* Store the build tree on a fast disk (preferably SSD).
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01272* The more cores the better (20+ is not excessive) and lots of RAM is needed
273(64 GB is not excessive).
tfarina502f3882016-03-23 12:48:10274
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01275There are some gn flags that can improve build speeds. You can specify these
276in the editor that appears when you create your output directory
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28277(`gn args out\Default`) or on the gn gen command line
278(`gn gen out\Default --args="is_component_build = true is_debug = true"`).
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01279Some helpful settings to consider using include:
Bruce Dawson2c83223e2022-10-25 21:08:22280* `is_component_build = true` - this uses more, smaller DLLs, and may avoid
281having to relink chrome.dll after every change.
Bruce Dawsonfcd3deb12017-07-28 17:12:20282* `enable_nacl = false` - this disables Native Client which is usually not
283needed for local builds.
Bruce Dawson2c83223e2022-10-25 21:08:22284* `target_cpu = "x86"` - x86 builds may be slightly faster than x64 builds. Note
285that if you set this but don't set `enable_nacl = false` then build times may
286get worse.
James Cook26699a92019-03-12 22:23:10287* `blink_symbol_level = 0` - turn off source-level debugging for
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01288blink to reduce build times, appropriate if you don't plan to debug blink.
Bruce Dawson63e0be72021-11-29 20:34:41289* `v8_symbol_level = 0` - turn off source-level debugging for v8 to reduce
290build times, appropriate if you don't plan to debug v8.
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01291
Bruce Dawson817f47fb2020-05-01 22:29:08292In order to speed up linking you can set `symbol_level = 1` or
293`symbol_level = 0` - these options reduce the work the compiler and linker have
294to do. With `symbol_level = 1` the compiler emits file name and line number
295information so you can still do source-level debugging but there will be no
296local variable or type information. With `symbol_level = 0` there is no
297source-level debugging but call stacks still have function names. Changing
298`symbol_level` requires recompiling everything.
brucedawsoncfc7fd52017-07-06 18:41:01299
Andrew Williams54da9cc2024-01-09 17:32:23300When invoking ninja, specify 'chrome' as the target to avoid building all test
301binaries as well.
302
Ben Segall4a89ec52023-09-26 15:02:56303#### Use Reclient
304
Devon Loehrc0acd932024-10-21 18:15:20305In addition, Google employees should use Reclient, a distributed compilation
306system. Detailed information is available internally but the relevant gn arg is:
Ben Segall4a89ec52023-09-26 15:02:56307* `use_remoteexec = true`
308
Solomon Kinard5cd00762023-11-04 00:47:19309Google employees can visit
Andrew Williams54da9cc2024-01-09 17:32:23310[go/building-chrome-win#setup-remote-execution](https://goto.google.com/building-chrome-win#setup-remote-execution)
311for more information. For external contributors, Reclient does not support
312Windows builds.
Ben Segall4a89ec52023-09-26 15:02:56313
Juan Cruz Viotti9c7622d2021-06-30 00:27:23314#### Use SCCACHE
315
316You might be able to use [sccache](https://github.com/mozilla/sccache) for the
317build process by enabling the following arguments:
318
319* `cc_wrapper = "sccache"` - assuming the `sccache` binary is in your `%PATH%`
Juan Cruz Viotti9c7622d2021-06-30 00:27:23320
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38321### Why is my build slow?
322
323Many things can make builds slow, with Windows Defender slowing process startups
324being a frequent culprit. Have you ensured that the entire Chromium src
Bruce Dawson0bbe2d42018-03-06 19:45:55325directory is excluded from antivirus scanning (on Google machines this means
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38326putting it in a ``src`` directory in the root of a drive)? Have you tried the
327different settings listed above, including different link settings and -j
328values? Have you asked on the chromium-dev mailing list to see if your build is
329slower than expected for your machine's specifications?
330
Bruce Dawson15104782023-10-19 20:06:23331If you suspect that Defender is slowing your build then you can try Microsoft's
332[Performance analyzer for Microsoft Defender Antivirus](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/tune-performance-defender-antivirus?view=o365-worldwide)
333to investigate in detail.
334
Bruce Dawson89390172019-05-08 09:51:18335The next step is to gather some data. If you set the ``NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD``
Bruce Dawsonb9988e92019-09-16 17:01:10336environment variable to 1 then ``autoninja`` will do three things. First, it
337will set the [NINJA_STATUS](https://ninja-build.org/manual.html#_environment_variables)
Bruce Dawson89390172019-05-08 09:51:18338environment variable so that ninja will print additional information while
339building Chrome. It will show how many build processes are running at any given
340time, how many build steps have completed, how many build steps have completed
341per second, and how long the build has been running, as shown here:
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38342
343```shell
Bruce Dawson89390172019-05-08 09:51:18344$ set NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38345$ autoninja -C out\Default base
346ninja: Entering directory `out\Default'
347[1 processes, 86/86 @ 2.7/s : 31.785s ] LINK(DLL) base.dll base.dll.lib base.dll.pdb
348```
349
Bruce Dawson89390172019-05-08 09:51:18350This makes slow process creation immediately obvious and lets you tell quickly
351if a build is running more slowly than normal.
352
353In addition, setting ``NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1`` tells ``autoninja`` to print a
354build performance summary when the build completes, showing the slowest build
355steps and slowest build-step types, as shown here:
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38356
357```shell
358$ set NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1
359$ autoninja -C out\Default base
Bruce Dawson2721f0b2019-11-08 18:41:27360Longest build steps:
361 0.1 weighted s to build obj/base/base/trace_log.obj (6.7 s elapsed time)
362 0.2 weighted s to build nasm.exe, nasm.exe.pdb (0.2 s elapsed time)
363 0.3 weighted s to build obj/base/base/win_util.obj (12.4 s elapsed time)
364 1.2 weighted s to build base.dll, base.dll.lib (1.2 s elapsed time)
365Time by build-step type:
366 0.0 s weighted time to generate 6 .lib files (0.3 s elapsed time sum)
367 0.1 s weighted time to generate 25 .stamp files (1.2 s elapsed time sum)
368 0.2 s weighted time to generate 20 .o files (2.8 s elapsed time sum)
369 1.7 s weighted time to generate 4 PEFile (linking) files (2.0 s elapsed
370time sum)
371 23.9 s weighted time to generate 770 .obj files (974.8 s elapsed time sum)
37226.1 s weighted time (982.9 s elapsed time sum, 37.7x parallelism)
373839 build steps completed, average of 32.17/s
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38374```
375
Bruce Dawson2721f0b2019-11-08 18:41:27376The "weighted" time is the elapsed time of each build step divided by the number
377of tasks that were running in parallel. This makes it an excellent approximation
378of how "important" a slow step was. A link that is entirely or mostly serialized
379will have a weighted time that is the same or similar to its elapsed time. A
380compile that runs in parallel with 999 other compiles will have a weighted time
381that is tiny.
382
Devon Loehrc0acd932024-10-21 18:15:20383You can also generate these reports by manually running the script after a
384build:
Bruce Dawson0bbe2d42018-03-06 19:45:55385
386```shell
387$ python depot_tools\post_build_ninja_summary.py -C out\Default
388```
389
Bruce Dawsonb9988e92019-09-16 17:01:10390Finally, setting ``NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1`` tells autoninja to tell Ninja to
391report on its own overhead by passing "-d stats". This can be helpful if, for
392instance, process creation (which shows up in the StartEdge metric) is making
393builds slow, perhaps due to antivirus interference due to clang-cl not being in
394an excluded directory:
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38395
396```shell
Bruce Dawsonb9988e92019-09-16 17:01:10397$ set NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1
398$ autoninja -C out\Default base
Bruce Dawsone9f20fff2018-03-03 01:58:38399metric count avg (us) total (ms)
400.ninja parse 3555 1539.4 5472.6
401canonicalize str 1383032 0.0 12.7
402canonicalize path 1402349 0.0 11.2
403lookup node 1398245 0.0 8.1
404.ninja_log load 2 118.0 0.2
405.ninja_deps load 2 67.5 0.1
406node stat 2516 29.6 74.4
407depfile load 2 1132.0 2.3
408StartEdge 88 3508.1 308.7
409FinishCommand 87 1670.9 145.4
410CLParser::Parse 45 1889.1 85.0
411```
412
Bruce Dawsonb9988e92019-09-16 17:01:10413You can also get a visual report of the build performance with
414[ninjatracing](https://github.com/nico/ninjatracing). This converts the
Chunbo Huaea6a9cf2022-07-20 03:01:10415.ninja_log file into a .json file which can be loaded into [chrome://tracing](chrome://tracing):
Bruce Dawsonb9988e92019-09-16 17:01:10416
417```shell
418$ python ninjatracing out\Default\.ninja_log >build.json
419```
420
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58421## Build Chromium
422
Max Morozf5b31fcd2018-08-10 21:55:48423Build Chromium (the "chrome" target) with Ninja using the command:
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58424
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29425```shell
Max Morozf5b31fcd2018-08-10 21:55:48426$ autoninja -C out\Default chrome
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29427```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58428
Max Morozf5b31fcd2018-08-10 21:55:48429`autoninja` is a wrapper that automatically provides optimal values for the
430arguments passed to `ninja`.
431
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58432You can get a list of all of the other build targets from GN by running
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28433`gn ls out\Default` from the command line. To compile one, pass to Ninja
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58434the GN label with no preceding "//" (so for `//chrome/test:unit_tests`
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28435use `autoninja -C out\Default chrome/test:unit_tests`).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58436
Junji Watanabedb7caa62024-04-22 08:15:34437## Compile a single file
438
Lalit Rana8bd378e2024-08-19 19:34:37439Ninja supports a special [syntax `^`][ninja hat syntax] to compile a single
440object file specifying the source file. For example, `ninja -C
441out/Default ../../base/logging.cc^` compiles `obj/base/base/logging.o`.
Junji Watanabedb7caa62024-04-22 08:15:34442
443[ninja hat syntax]: https://ninja-build.org/manual.html#:~:text=There%20is%20also%20a%20special%20syntax%20target%5E%20for%20specifying%20a%20target%20as%20the%20first%20output%20of%20some%20rule%20containing%20the%20source%20you%20put%20in%20the%20command%20line%2C%20if%20one%20exists.%20For%20example%2C%20if%20you%20specify%20target%20as%20foo.c%5E%20then%20foo.o%20will%20get%20built%20(assuming%20you%20have%20those%20targets%20in%20your%20build%20files)
444
445With autoninja, you need to add `^^` to preserve the trailing `^`.
446
447```shell
448$ autoninja -C out\Default ..\..\base\logging.cc^^
449```
450
451In addition to `foo.cc^^`, Siso also supports `foo.h^^` syntax to compile
452the corresponding `foo.o` if it exists.
453
Peter Kastinga8ddeee2024-08-09 08:42:33454If you run a `bash` shell, you can use the following script to ease invocation:
455
456```shell
457#!/bin/sh
458files=("${@/#/..\/..\/}")
459autoninja -C out/Default ${files[@]/%/^^}
460```
461
462This script assumes it is run from `src` and your output dir is `out/Default`;
463it invokes `autoninja` to compile all given files. If you place it in your
464`$PATH` and name it e.g. `compile`, you can invoke like this:
465
466```shell
467$ pwd # Just to illustrate where this is run from
468/c/src
469$ compile base/time/time.cc base/time/time_unittest.cc
470...
471[0/47] 5.56s S CXX obj/base/base/time.obj
472...
473[2/3] 9.27s S CXX obj/base/base_unittests/time_unittest.obj
474...
475```
476
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58477## Run Chromium
478
479Once it is built, you can simply run the browser:
480
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29481```shell
482$ out\Default\chrome.exe
483```
484
485(The ".exe" suffix in the command is actually optional).
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58486
487## Running test targets
488
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28489Tests are split into multiple test targets based on their type and where they
490exist in the directory structure. To see what target a given unit test or
491browser test file corresponds to, the following command can be used:
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58492
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29493```shell
Andrew Williamsfa9b7d62023-03-20 15:48:28494$ gn refs out\Default --testonly=true --type=executable --all chrome\browser\ui\browser_list_unittest.cc
495//chrome/test:unit_tests
496```
497
498In the example above, the target is unit_tests. The unit_tests binary can be
499built by running the following command:
500
501```shell
502$ autoninja -C out\Default unit_tests
503```
504
505You can run the tests by running the unit_tests binary. You can also limit which
506tests are run using the `--gtest_filter` arg, e.g.:
507
508```shell
509$ out\Default\unit_tests.exe --gtest_filter="BrowserListUnitTest.*"
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29510```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58511
512You can find out more about GoogleTest at its
513[GitHub page](https://github.com/google/googletest).
514
Greg Thompson530c2a92024-07-16 14:03:33515## Build an Installer
516
517Build the `mini_installer` target to create a self-contained installer. This
518has everything needed to install your browser on a machine.
519
520```shell
521$ autoninja -C out\Default mini_installer
522```
523
524See [//chrome/installer/setup/README.md](../chrome/installer/setup/README.md)
525and [//chrome/installer/mini_installer/README.md](../chrome/installer/mini_installer/README.md)
526for more information.
527
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58528## Update your checkout
529
530To update an existing checkout, you can run
531
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29532```shell
533$ git rebase-update
Bruce Dawsonef0b5452020-10-03 00:13:09534$ gclient sync -D
dpranke1a70d0c2016-12-01 02:42:29535```
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58536
537The first command updates the primary Chromium source repository and rebases
Andrew Williamsbbc1a1e2021-07-21 01:51:22538any of your local branches on top of tip-of-tree (aka the Git branch
539`origin/main`). If you don't want to use this script, you can also just use
540`git pull` or other common Git commands to update the repo.
dpranke0ae7cad2016-11-30 07:47:58541
Bruce Dawsonef0b5452020-10-03 00:13:09542The second command syncs the subrepositories to the appropriate versions,
543deleting those that are no longer needed, and re-runs the hooks as needed.
544
545### Editing and Debugging With the Visual Studio IDE
546
547You can use the Visual Studio IDE to edit and debug Chrome, with or without
548Intellisense support.
549
550#### Using Visual Studio Intellisense
551
552If you want to use Visual Studio Intellisense when developing Chromium, use the
553`--ide` command line argument to `gn gen` when you generate your output
554directory (as described on the [get the code](https://dev.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/get-the-code)
Junji Watanabe0f6489c72023-02-01 04:02:11555page). This is an example when your checkout is `C:\src\chromium` and your
556output directory is `out\Default`:
Bruce Dawsonef0b5452020-10-03 00:13:09557
558```shell
Junji Watanabe0f6489c72023-02-01 04:02:11559$ gn gen --ide=vs --ninja-executable=C:\src\chromium\src\third_party\ninja\ninja.exe out\Default
Bruce Dawsonef0b5452020-10-03 00:13:09560$ devenv out\Default\all.sln
561```
562
563GN will produce a file `all.sln` in your build directory. It will internally
564use Ninja to compile while still allowing most IDE functions to work (there is
565no native Visual Studio compilation mode). If you manually run "gen" again you
566will need to resupply this argument, but normally GN will keep the build and
567IDE files up to date automatically when you build.
568
569The generated solution will contain several thousand projects and will be very
570slow to load. Use the `--filters` argument to restrict generating project files
571for only the code you're interested in. Although this will also limit what
572files appear in the project explorer, debugging will still work and you can
573set breakpoints in files that you open manually. A minimal solution that will
574let you compile and run Chrome in the IDE but will not show any source files
575is:
576
577```
Junji Watanabe0f6489c72023-02-01 04:02:11578$ gn gen --ide=vs --ninja-executable=C:\src\chromium\src\third_party\ninja\ninja.exe --filters=//chrome --no-deps out\Default
Bruce Dawsonef0b5452020-10-03 00:13:09579```
580
581You can selectively add other directories you care about to the filter like so:
582`--filters=//chrome;//third_party/WebKit/*;//gpu/*`.
583
584There are other options for controlling how the solution is generated, run `gn
585help gen` for the current documentation.
586
587#### Using Visual Studio without Intellisense
588
589It is also possible to debug and develop Chrome in Visual Studio without the
590overhead of a multi-project solution file. Simply "open" your chrome.exe binary
591with `File->Open->Project/Solution`, or from a Visual Studio command prompt like
592so: `devenv /debugexe out\Debug\chrome.exe <your arguments>`. Many of Visual
593Studio's code exploration features will not work in this configuration, but by
594installing the [VsChromium Visual Studio Extension](https://chromium.github.io/vs-chromium/)
595you can get the source code to appear in the solution explorer window along
596with other useful features such as code search. You can add multiple executables
597of interest (base_unittests.exe, browser_tests.exe) to your solution with
598`File->Add->Existing Project...` and change which one will be debugged by
599right-clicking on them in `Solution Explorer` and selecting `Set as Startup
600Project`. You can also change their properties, including command line
601arguments, by right-clicking on them in `Solution Explorer` and selecting
602`Properties`.
603
604By default when you start debugging in Visual Studio the debugger will only
605attach to the main browser process. To debug all of Chrome, install
606[Microsoft's Child Process Debugging Power Tool](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/devops/2014/11/24/introducing-the-child-process-debugging-power-tool/).
607You will also need to run Visual Studio as administrator, or it will silently
608fail to attach to some of Chrome's child processes.
609
Bruce Dawson425d4ab2023-06-25 01:36:15610### Improving performance of git commands
Avi Drissmanc0f6793ac2023-05-26 19:22:44611
612#### Configure git to use an untracked cache
613
Bruce Dawson2154274a2023-06-17 22:24:29614Try running
Avi Drissmanc0f6793ac2023-05-26 19:22:44615
616```shell
617$ git update-index --test-untracked-cache
618```
619
620If the output ends with `OK`, then the following may also improve performance of
621`git status`:
622
623```shell
624$ git config core.untrackedCache true
625```
626
Avi Drissmanc0f6793ac2023-05-26 19:22:44627#### Configure git to use fsmonitor
628
Bruce Dawson2154274a2023-06-17 22:24:29629You can significantly speed up git by using [fsmonitor.](https://github.blog/2022-06-29-improve-git-monorepo-performance-with-a-file-system-monitor/)
630You should enable fsmonitor in large repos, such as Chromium and v8. Enabling
631it globally will launch many processes and consume excess commit/memory and
632probably isn't worthwhile. The command to enable fsmonitor in the current repo
633is:
Avi Drissmanc0f6793ac2023-05-26 19:22:44634
635```shell
636$ git config core.fsmonitor true
637```