This document will guide you through the steps to build and install KeePassXC from source. You can visit the online version of this document at the following link:
https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassx/wiki/Install-Instruction-from-Source
The KeePassXC QuickStart gets you started using KeePassXC on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer using the pre-built binaries.
The following tools must exist within your PATH:
- make
- cmake (>= 2.8.12)
- g++ (>= 4.7) or clang++ (>= 3.0)
The following libraries are required:
- Qt 5 (>= 5.2): qtbase and qttools5
- libgcrypt (>= 1.6)
- zlib
- libmicrohttpd
- libxi, libxtst, qtx11extras (optional for auto-type on X11)
To compile from source, open a Terminal (on Linux/MacOS) or a MSYS2-MinGW shell (on Windows)
Note: on Windows make sure you are using a MINGW shell by checking the label before the current path
First, download the KeePassXC source tarball or check out the latest version from our Git repository.
To clone the project from Git, cd
to a suitable location and run
git clone https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc.git
This will clone the entire contents of the repository and check out the current develop
branch.
To update the project from within the project's folder, you can run the following command:
git pull
Navigate to the directory where you have downloaded KeePassXC and type these commands:
cd directory-where-sources-live
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DWITH_TESTS=OFF ...and other options - see below...
make
These steps place the compiled KeePassXC binary inside the ./build/src/
directory.
(Note the cmake notes/options below.)
Cmake Notes:
-
Common cmake parameters
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=<RelWithDebInfo/Debug/Release> -DWITH_GUI_TESTS=ON
-
cmake accepts the following options:
-DWITH_XC_AUTOTYPE=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable Auto-Type (default: ON) -DWITH_XC_HTTP=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable KeePassHTTP and custom icon downloads (default: OFF) -DWITH_XC_YUBIKEY=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable YubiKey HMAC-SHA1 authentication support (default: OFF) -DWITH_TESTS=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable building of unit tests (default: ON) -DWITH_GUI_TESTS=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable building of GUI tests (default: OFF) -DWITH_DEV_BUILD=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable deprecated method warnings (default: OFF) -DWITH_ASAN=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable address sanitizer checks (Linux / macOS only) (default: OFF) -DWITH_COVERAGE=[ON|OFF] Enable/Disable coverage tests (GCC only) (default: OFF)
-
If you are on MacOS you must add this parameter to Cmake, with the Qt version you have installed
-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/usr/local/Cellar/qt5/5.6.2/lib/cmake/
❗ When building with ASan support on macOS, you need to use export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
before running the tests (no LSan support in macOS).
After you have successfully built KeePassXC, install the binary by executing the following:
sudo make install
You can specify the destination dir with
DESTDIR=X
You can create a package to redistribute KeePassXC (zip, deb, rpm, dmg, etc..)
make package
You can perform test on the executable
make test
Common parameters:
CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE=1
ARGS+=-jX
ARGS+="-E testgui"