Operating system prerequisites
Each operating system has its own set of prerequisites. Make sure that you have met the prerequisites for your platform. In the following sections we discuss Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and Windows.
Linux/Unix
The following items are usually already installed on your system. Note that a Git client is not required:
- Git: A Git client also gives you access to the current code repository (recommended especially for developers and those who want the latest code)
- GNUMAKE: The GNU version of Make
- AUTOCONF: Version 2.60 or higher
- AUTOMAKE: Version 1.9 or higher
- LIBTOOL: Version 1.5.14 or higher
- GCC: Version 3.3 or higher
- WGET: Any recent version
- LIBNCURSES: Any recent version
- BZIP2: Any recent version
Mac OS X
It is strongly recommended that Mac users have, at the very least, OS X Version 10.4. Compiling FreeSWITCH on OS X requires the installation of the Apple XCode Developer Tools. You may download them from http://connect.apple.com. Free registration is required.
Tip
Apple has been making some changes in the tools supported on OS X. The FreeSWITCH community does their best to keep people informed of the latest information with respect to building and running FreeSWITCH on OS X. Stay informed by visiting http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Installation_and_Setup_on_OS_X.
Windows
FreeSWITCH in a Windows environment has two primary requirements. They are as follows:
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 or 2010 (or 2008 or 2010 Express Edition).
- A file decompression utility.
FreeSWITCH in Windows is compiled and built using Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) or Visual C++ Express Edition (MSVCEE). The Express Edition is free to download, though registration is required. It can be obtained at http://www.microsoft.com/Express/VC. The other requirement for Windows is a file decompression utility like WinZip (www.winzip.com), or WinRAR (www.rarlab.com). A free alternative is 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org). Each of these utilities will add a right-click (context) menu option to Windows Explorer.
Note
The Express Editions of Visual C++ do not support 64-bit targets by default. If you are intending to build 64-bit versions of FreeSWITCH for Windows, it is recommended that you have the Professional Editions of Visual Studio instead of Visual C++ Express.