Day038 — How to install VTK, GLM, Boost on Windows

3 min readDec 22, 2017

I have a project that has to install VTK, GLM and Boost on Windows using Visual Studio. Here is the process of how I do that from scratch.

Below is the version and link I used to download the software.

Visual Studio Community 2017 15.5.2

Visual Studio Downloads

Improve productivity with professional developer tools and services to build applications for Android, iOS, macOS…

www.visualstudio.com

VTK 8.0.1

Download | VTK

git tag: "v8.0.1" git tag: "v7.1.1" git tag: "v6.3.0" This software may not be exported in violation of any U.S. export…

www.vtk.org

Boost 1.65.1

Version 1.65.1

...one of the most highly regarded and expertly designed C++ library projects in the world. Herb Sutter and Andrei…

www.boost.org

glm 0.9.8.5

OpenGL Mathematics

This library works perfectly with OpenGL but it also ensures interoperability with other third party libraries and SDK…

glm.g-truc.net

Visual Studio

In the Visual Studio Installer, check the “development tools for c++”, which should be checked in default, to install Visual C++ Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017.

VTK

Here is the process I took for building VTK.

download source code from VTK website
put the folder to C:\local
open cmake-gui 3.9.1 (assume you installed cmake)
choose C:\local\vtk as source and choose C:\local\vtk\bin as build
click configure button
check advanced options to show more
check build examples, Module_vtkTestingcore and Module_vtkTestingRendering to include these module for build
click generate to generate Visual Studio project
run visual studio community 2017 as administrator
use that visual studio to open the project (.sln) newly generated by cmake
right click all_build to build
right click install to build
VTK will be installed to C:\Program Files\VTK
Put C:\Program Files\VTK\bin to path variable in environment variables. (remember to reopen applications (like visual studio) for them to see this variable change)

I refer below link to do the compile and install.

VTK/Configure and Build - KitwarePublic

CMake is a tool that makes cross-platform building simple. If CMake does not exist on the system, and there are no pre…

www.vtk.org

I also use below YouTube video for reference.

Boost

Below is the link to download the Window Binaries pre-built. It provides an easy set up of Boost on Windows.

Boost Downloads

As well as the official releases, members of the community provide other downloads for your convenience. Since these…

www.boost.org

Choose the right binary for the right compiler to download. For my case, I am using a 64 bit computer and VS 2017 C++ Build Tools, which comes with Visual Stduio 2017. Therefore, the right one for me is “boost_1_65_1-msvc-14.1–64.exe”.

14.1 means Visual C++ Build Tools for VS 2017
64 means 64-bit machine

(14.0 means Visual C++ Build Tools for VS 2015)

After the download is finished, simply execute it. The setup is straight forward without any complex configuration, it should be a no-brainer. You can check C:\local\boost to see what is installed. The directory should look like this.

Also, in below link, you will find all versions of binaries built for specific compiler on Windows.

Boost C++ Libraries — Browse /boost-binaries at SourceForge.net

Free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries

sourceforge.net

GLM

GLM is a header library. It means that you just download it, unzip and copy the folder to the place you desired. I placed the GLM folder to C:\local. I just like it to be alongside with Boost’s directory.

Summary

By now, I have installed VTK, Boost, GLM on my computer. VTK is installed in C:\Program Files\VTK. Boost and GLM are insalled in C:\local. In next post, I will show you how I include and link them in my visual studio project.