Litecoin: Latest windows build instructions (#430)

Tested both 32 and 64 bit builds on Windows 10 Pro 1709 (16299.192)

doc/build-windows.md

@@ -3,81 +3,112 @@ WINDOWS BUILD NOTES
 
 Below are some notes on how to build Litecoin Core for Windows.
 
-Most developers use cross-compilation from Ubuntu to build executables for
+The options known to work for building Litecoin Core on Windows are:
-Windows. Cross-compilation is also used to build the release binaries.
 
-Currently only building on Ubuntu Trusty 14.04 or Ubuntu Zesty 17.04 or later is supported.
+* On Linux using the [Mingw-w64](https://mingw-w64.org/doku.php) cross compiler tool chain. Ubuntu Trusty 14.04 is recommended
-Building on Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 is known to be broken, see extensive discussion in issue [8732](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/8732).
+and is the platform used to build the Litecoin Core Windows release binaries.
-While it may be possible to do so with work arounds, it's potentially dangerous and not recommended.
+* On Windows using [Windows
+Subsystem for Linux (WSL)](https://msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/wsl/about) and the Mingw-w64 cross compiler tool chain.
 
-While there are potentially a number of ways to build on Windows (for example using msys / mingw-w64),
+Other options which may work but which have not been extensively tested are (please contribute instructions):
-using the Windows Subsystem For Linux is the most straightforward. If you are building with
-another method, please contribute the instructions here for others who are running versions
-of Windows that are not compatible with the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
 
-Compiling with Windows Subsystem For Linux
+* On Windows using a POSIX compatibility layer application such as [cygwin](http://www.cygwin.com/) or [msys2](http://www.msys2.org/).
--------------------------------------------
+* On Windows using a native compiler tool chain such as [Visual Studio](https://www.visualstudio.com).
+
+Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux
+---------------------------------------
 
 With Windows 10, Microsoft has released a new feature named the [Windows
-Subsystem for Linux](https://msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/wsl/about). This
+Subsystem for Linux (WSL)](https://msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/wsl/about). This
 feature allows you to run a bash shell directly on Windows in an Ubuntu-based
 environment. Within this environment you can cross compile for Windows without
-the need for a separate Linux VM or server.
+the need for a separate Linux VM or server. Note that while WSL can be installed with
+other Linux variants, such as OpenSUSE, the following instructions have only been
+tested with Ubuntu.
 
 This feature is not supported in versions of Windows prior to Windows 10 or on
 Windows Server SKUs. In addition, it is available [only for 64-bit versions of
 Windows](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/commandline/wsl/install_guide).
 
-To get the bash shell, you must first activate the feature in Windows.
+Full instructions to install WSL are available on the above link.
+To install WSL on Windows 10 with Fall Creators Update installed (version >= 16215.0) do the following:
 
-1. Turn on Developer Mode
+1. Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature
-  * Open Settings -> Update and Security -> For developers
-  * Select the Developer Mode radio button
-  * Restart if necessary
-2. Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature
   * From Start, search for "Turn Windows features on or off" (type 'turn')
-  * Select Windows Subsystem for Linux (beta)
+  * Select Windows Subsystem for Linux
   * Click OK
   * Restart if necessary
+2. Install Ubuntu
+  * Open Microsoft Store and search for Ubuntu or use [this link](https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NBLGGH4MSV6)
+  * Click Install
 3. Complete Installation
-  * Open a cmd prompt and type "bash"
+  * Open a cmd prompt and type "Ubuntu"
-  * Accept the license
   * Create a new UNIX user account (this is a separate account from your Windows account)
 
 After the bash shell is active, you can follow the instructions below, starting
 with the "Cross-compilation" section. Compiling the 64-bit version is
 recommended but it is possible to compile the 32-bit version.
 
-Cross-compilation
+Cross-compilation for Ubuntu and Windows Subsystem for Linux
--------------------
+------------------------------------------------------------
 
-These steps can be performed on, for example, an Ubuntu VM. The depends system
+At the time of writing the Windows Subsystem for Linux installs Ubuntu Xenial 16.04. The Mingw-w64 package
+for Ubuntu Xenial does not produce working executables for some of the Litecoin Core applications.
+It is possible to build on Ubuntu Xenial by installing the cross compiler packages from Ubuntu Zesty, see the steps below.
+Building on Ubuntu Zesty 17.04 up to 17.10 has been verified to work.
+
+The steps below can be performed on Ubuntu (including in a VM) or WSL. The depends system
 will also work on other Linux distributions, however the commands for
 installing the toolchain will be different.
 
 First, install the general dependencies:
 
-    sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool autotools-dev automake pkg-config bsdmainutils curl
+    sudo apt install build-essential libtool autotools-dev automake pkg-config bsdmainutils curl git
 
 A host toolchain (`build-essential`) is necessary because some dependency
 packages (such as `protobuf`) need to build host utilities that are used in the
 build process.
 
-
+See also: [dependencies.md](dependencies.md).
-If you're building on Ubuntu 17.04 or later, run these two commands, selecting the 'posix' variant for both,
-to work around issues with mingw-w64. See issue [8732](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/8732) for more information.
-```
-sudo update-alternatives --config x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++
-sudo update-alternatives --config x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc
-```
 
 ## Building for 64-bit Windows
 
-To build executables for Windows 64-bit, install the following dependencies:
+The first step is to install the mingw-w64 cross-compilation tool chain. Due to different Ubuntu
+packages for each distribution and problems with the Xenial packages the steps for each are different.
 
-    sudo apt-get install g++-mingw-w64-x86-64 mingw-w64-x86-64-dev
+Common steps to install mingw32 cross compiler tool chain:
 
-Then build using:
+    sudo apt install g++-mingw-w64-x86-64
+
+Ubuntu Trusty 14.04:
+
+    No further steps required
+
+Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 and Windows Subsystem for Linux <sup>[1](#footnote1),[2](#footnote2)</sup>:
+
+    sudo apt install software-properties-common
+    sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty universe"
+    sudo apt update
+    sudo apt upgrade
+    sudo update-alternatives --config x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ # Set the default mingw32 g++ compiler option to posix.
+
+Ubuntu Zesty 17.04 <sup>[2](#footnote2)</sup>:
+
+    sudo update-alternatives --config x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ # Set the default mingw32 g++ compiler option to posix.
+
+Once the tool chain is installed the build steps are common:
+
+Note that for WSL the Litecoin Core source path MUST be somewhere in the default mount file system, for
+example /usr/src/litecoin, AND not under /mnt/d/. If this is not the case the dependency autoconf scripts will fail.
+This means you cannot use a directory that located directly on the host Windows file system to perform the build.
+
+The next three steps are an example of how to acquire the source in an appropriate way.
+
+    cd /usr/src
+    sudo git clone https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin.git
+    sudo chmod -R a+rw litecoin
+
+Once the source code is ready the build steps are below.
 
     PATH=$(echo "$PATH" | sed -e 's/:\/mnt.*//g') # strip out problematic Windows %PATH% imported var
     cd depends
@@ -91,7 +122,21 @@ Then build using:
 
 To build executables for Windows 32-bit, install the following dependencies:
 
-    sudo apt-get install g++-mingw-w64-i686 mingw-w64-i686-dev
+    sudo apt install g++-mingw-w64-i686 mingw-w64-i686-dev
+
+For Ubuntu Xenial 16.04, Ubuntu Zesty 17.04 and Windows Subsystem for Linux <sup>[2](#footnote2)</sup>:
+
+    sudo update-alternatives --config i686-w64-mingw32-g++  # Set the default mingw32 g++ compiler option to posix.
+
+Note that for WSL the Litecoin Core source path MUST be somewhere in the default mount file system, for
+example /usr/src/litecoin, AND not under /mnt/d/. If this is not the case the dependency autoconf scripts will fail.
+This means you cannot use a directory that located directly on the host Windows file system to perform the build.
+
+The next three steps are an example of how to acquire the source in an appropriate way.
+
+    cd /usr/src
+    sudo git clone https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin.git
+    sudo chmod -R a+rw litecoin
 
 Then build using:
 
@@ -116,3 +161,20 @@ as they appear in the release `.zip` archive. This can be done in the following
 way. This will install to `c:\workspace\litecoin`, for example:
 
     make install DESTDIR=/mnt/c/workspace/litecoin
+
+Footnotes
+---------
+
+<a name="footnote1">1</a>: There is currently a bug in the 64 bit Mingw-w64 cross compiler packaged for WSL/Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 that
+causes two of the litecoin executables to crash shortly after start up. The bug is related to the
+-fstack-protector-all g++ compiler flag which is used to mitigate buffer overflows.
+Installing the Mingw-w64 packages from the Ubuntu 17 distribution solves the issue, however, this is not
+an officially supported approach and it's only recommended if you are prepared to reinstall WSL/Ubuntu should
+something break.
+
+<a name="footnote2">2</a>: Starting from Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 both the 32 and 64 bit Mingw-w64 packages install two different
+compiler options to allow a choice between either posix or win32 threads. The default option is win32 threads which is the more
+efficient since it will result in binary code that links directly with the Windows kernel32.lib. Unfortunately, the headers
+required to support win32 threads conflict with some of the classes in the C++11 standard library in particular std::mutex.
+It's not possible to build the litecoin code using the win32 version of the Mingw-w64 cross compilers (at least not without
+modifying headers in the litecoin source code).