.. _doc_compiling_for_macos: Compiling for macOS =================== .. highlight:: shell .. note:: This page describes how to compile macOS editor and export template binaries from source. If you're looking to export your project to macOS instead, read :ref:`doc_exporting_for_macos`. Requirements ------------ For compiling under macOS, the following is required: - `Python 3.5+ `_. - `SCons 3.0+ `_ build system. - `Xcode `_ (or the more lightweight Command Line Tools for Xcode). .. warning:: If you are building the ``master`` branch, download and install the `Vulkan SDK for macOS `__. This is **required** to compile Godot 4.x, as MoltenVK is used to translate Vulkan to Metal (macOS doesn't support Vulkan out of the box). .. note:: If you have `Homebrew `_ installed, you can easily install SCons using the following command:: brew install scons Installing Homebrew will also fetch the Command Line Tools for Xcode automatically if you don't have them already. Similarly, if you have `MacPorts `_ installed, you can easily install SCons using the following command:: sudo port install scons .. seealso:: To get the Godot source code for compiling, see :ref:`doc_getting_source`. For a general overview of SCons usage for Godot, see :ref:`doc_introduction_to_the_buildsystem`. Compiling --------- Start a terminal, go to the root directory of the engine source code. To compile for Intel (x86-64) powered Macs, use:: scons platform=macos arch=x86_64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) To compile for Apple Silicon (ARM64) powered Macs, use:: scons platform=macos arch=arm64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) To support both architectures in a single "Universal 2" binary, run the above two commands and then use ``lipo`` to bundle them together:: lipo -create bin/godot.macos.tools.x86_64 bin/godot.macos.tools.arm64 -output bin/godot.macos.tools.universal If all goes well, the resulting binary executable will be placed in the ``bin/`` subdirectory. This executable file contains the whole engine and runs without any dependencies. Executing it will bring up the project manager. .. note:: If you want to use separate editor settings for your own Godot builds and official releases, you can enable :ref:`doc_data_paths_self_contained_mode` by creating a file called ``._sc_`` or ``_sc_`` in the ``bin/`` folder. To create an ``.app`` bundle like in the official builds, you need to use the template located in ``misc/dist/macos_tools.app``. Typically, for an optimized editor binary built with ``target=release_debug``:: cp -r misc/dist/macos_tools.app ./Godot.app mkdir -p Godot.app/Contents/MacOS cp bin/godot.macos.opt.tools.universal Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot chmod +x Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot .. note:: If you are building the ``master`` branch, you also need to include support for the MoltenVK Vulkan portability library. By default, it will be linked statically from your installation of the Vulkan SDK for macOS. You can also choose to link it dynamically by passing ``use_volk=yes`` and including the dynamic library in your ``.app`` bundle:: mkdir -p Godot.app/Contents/Frameworks cp /macOS/lib/libMoltenVK.dylib Godot.app/Contents/Frameworks/libMoltenVK.dylib Compiling a headless/server build --------------------------------- To compile a *headless* build which provides editor functionality to export projects in an automated manner, use:: scons platform=server tools=yes target=release_debug --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) To compile a debug *server* build which can be used with :ref:`remote debugging tools `, use:: scons platform=server tools=no target=release_debug --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) To compile a release *server* build which is optimized to run dedicated game servers, use:: scons platform=server tools=no target=release --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) Building export templates ------------------------- To build macOS export templates, you have to compile with ``tools=no`` (no editor) and respectively for ``target=release`` (release template) and ``target=release_debug``. Official templates are universal binaries which support both Intel x86_64 and ARM64 architectures. You can also create export templates that support only one of those two architectures by leaving out the ``lipo`` step below. - For Intel x86_64:: scons platform=macos tools=no target=release arch=x86_64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) scons platform=macos tools=no target=release_debug arch=x86_64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) - For ARM64 (Apple M1):: scons platform=macos tools=no target=release arch=arm64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) scons platform=macos tools=no target=release_debug arch=arm64 --jobs=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) To support both architectures in a single "Universal 2" binary, run the above two commands blocks and then use ``lipo`` to bundle them together:: lipo -create bin/godot.macos.opt.x86_64 bin/godot.macos.opt.arm64 -output bin/godot.macos.opt.universal lipo -create bin/godot.macos.opt.debug.x86_64 bin/godot.macos.opt.debug.arm64 -output bin/godot.macos.opt.debug.universal To create an ``.app`` bundle like in the official builds, you need to use the template located in ``misc/dist/macos_template.app``. The release and debug builds should be placed in ``macos_template.app/Contents/MacOS`` with the names ``godot_macos_release.64`` and ``godot_macos_debug.64`` respectively. You can do so with the following commands (assuming a universal build, otherwise replace the ``.universal`` extension with the one of your arch-specific binaries):: cp -r misc/dist/macos_template.app . mkdir -p macos_template.app/Contents/MacOS cp bin/godot.macos.opt.universal macos_template.app/Contents/MacOS/godot_macos_release.64 cp bin/godot.macos.opt.debug.universal macos_template.app/Contents/MacOS/godot_macos_debug.64 chmod +x macos_template.app/Contents/MacOS/godot_macos* .. note:: If you are building the ``master`` branch, you also need to include support for the MoltenVK Vulkan portability library. By default, it will be linked statically from your installation of the Vulkan SDK for macOS. You can also choose to link it dynamically by passing ``use_volk=yes`` and including the dynamic library in your ``.app`` bundle:: mkdir -p macos_template.app/Contents/Frameworks cp /macOS/libs/libMoltenVK.dylib macos_template.app/Contents/Frameworks/libMoltenVK.dylib You can then zip the ``macos_template.app`` folder to reproduce the ``macos.zip`` template from the official Godot distribution:: zip -q -9 -r macos.zip macos_template.app Cross-compiling for macOS from Linux ------------------------------------ It is possible to compile for macOS in a Linux environment (and maybe also in Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux). For that, you'll need to install `OSXCross `__ to be able to use macOS as a target. First, follow the instructions to install it: Clone the `OSXCross repository `__ somewhere on your machine (or download a ZIP file and extract it somewhere), e.g.:: git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/tpoechtrager/osxcross.git "$HOME/osxcross" 1. Follow the instructions to package the SDK: https://github.com/tpoechtrager/osxcross#packaging-the-sdk 2. Follow the instructions to install OSXCross: https://github.com/tpoechtrager/osxcross#installation After that, you will need to define the ``OSXCROSS_ROOT`` as the path to the OSXCross installation (the same place where you cloned the repository/extracted the zip), e.g.:: export OSXCROSS_ROOT="$HOME/osxcross" Now you can compile with SCons like you normally would:: scons platform=macos If you have an OSXCross SDK version different from the one expected by the SCons buildsystem, you can specify a custom one with the ``osxcross_sdk`` argument:: scons platform=macos osxcross_sdk=darwin15