Installing openCARP using the Windows subsystem for Linux

We propose here an installation process for openCARP on Windows. It uses the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which "lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment - including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications -- directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup". More information about WSL is available on the Microsoft website.

This procedure was tested on Windows 11, and the process could slightly differ depending on your operating system version. If you have trouble with the installation, you can get help via our Question & Answer system.

Install WSL

More detailed installation instructions for WSL are available on the Microsoft website.

If you are running Windows 10 version 2004 and higher or Windows 11, you can install WSL.

First, open the PowerShell as an administrator (Right click on the application and choose "Execute as administrator").

Then type the following command:

wsl --install -d ubuntu

This command will enable the required components, download the latest Linux kernel, set WSL 2 as your default, and install Ubuntu.

Then reboot your computer.

You can now run your WSL Ubuntu by typing wsl -d ubuntu in the PowerShell.

You can now follow the installation instructions of openCARP for Ubuntu distributions in order to install the openCARP ecosystem.

Install openCARP with carputils and meshtool

Typically:

apt update
apt install git python3 python3-testresources python-is-python3 ca-certificates
wget https://git.opencarp.org/api/v4/projects/16/packages/generic/opencarp-linux/v8.1/opencarp-v8.1.deb
apt install ./opencarp-v8.1.deb

Note: the latest *.deb packages can be found at https://git.opencarp.org/openCARP/openCARP/-/releases, you could not want to use version 8.1 if a newer version is available.

You have now openCARP, carputils and meshtool installed.

Note: if you are not running Ubuntu as 'root' (with administrator privileges), you must execute the apt commands as root by adding sudo before the apt commands:

sudo apt ...

Install meshalyzer

Additionally, you can install meshalyzer in the WSL Ubuntu (see the openCARP website for the updated instructions).

First, install the dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install -y \
    build-essential \
    git \
    ca-certificates \
    fluid \
    freeglut3-dev \
    libfltk1.3-dev \
    libglew-dev \
    libglu1-mesa-dev \
    libpng-dev \
    libjpeg-dev \
    cmake

Then clone meshalyzer's repository and compile meshalyzer:

git clone https://git.opencarp.org/openCARP/meshalyzer.git
cd meshalyzer
cmake -S. -B_build -DUSE_VTK=OFF
cmake --build _build

Then, inside the meshalyzer directory, you can type ./meshalyzer to run meshalyzer.

Troubleshooting

Some problems encountered by the users are listed here, contributions to this section are welcome! You can submit your installation issues on the Question and Answers system.

Issue at runtime with Meshalyzer: error: GLSL 4.10 is not supported.

This means that the version 4.1 of OpenGL is not supported. This can be due to the fact that the version of mesa is too old.

You can get a newer version using the following commands (if you are not root, sudomust be added at the beginning of the commands):

(Not: this is a suggestion for troubleshooting, the repository used here is not an official source and its integrity can't be guaranteed!)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade