Building Dolphin on Linux

Despite not being listed on the main site, Dolphin is readily available for Linux, but it must be compiled oneself. Dolphin is fully compatible with both 32 and 64 bit Linux distributions. Here's how to do it, using the cmake build system.

(This howto is based upon the outdated build instruction from the project wiki page)

Step 1 - Install the Correct Dependencies
Ubuntu 12.04

Ubuntu 11.10

Other Linux version? If running a distribution without aptitude, see the build dependencies in addendum A for a list of packages needed to install.

Step 2 - Get the Dolphin Repository
Install git if it's not already.

Get a local copy of the dolphin-emu repository.

Change to the directory created.

Later, to update the local copy run following command and proceed with the following steps.

Step 3 - Building Dolphin
Create a build subdirectory, and change into it.

Configure the build.

Optional you can change the install prefix by adding "-D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/new/path". Note that this path does not need to be absolute. cmake will complete it to its absolute equivalent. The default prefix is "/usr". This means that the executable will be installed as "/usr/bin/dolphin-emu", the plugins will be installed into "/usr/lib/dolphin-emu", and the shared data files will be installed into "/usr/share/dolphin-emu". From here build and install in the standard make way.

Note that superuser privileges are needed for the last command. To have the "local" build setup from the deprecated scons build configure the build with the following command.

Step 4 - Run Dolphin!
Run dolphin from anywhere by typing:

If the prefix changed and $prefix/bin is not in the path, then precede this with the path to the executable.

FAQ
Where can I get help? Go to the forums. Lots of Dolphin users use Linux, and they are very experienced with this process.

My build failed, but I did nothing wrong! Most of the time, any problems in the build process are due to user error. It's understandable, it is a complicated process and can be quite daunting for a first timer. But sometimes even with everything right, triple checked, and it's still not working. It's rare, but sometimes a build will just be bugged. But many of Dolphin devs are Linux users, so just wait a day or so, and it will be sorted out.

Addendum A - dependencies
This addendum lists the dependencies to build Dolphin.


 * Build Dependencies
 * git
 * cmake
 * g++
 * wx2.8-headers
 * libwxbase2.8-dev
 * libwxgtk2.8-dev
 * libgtk2.0-dev
 * nvidia-cg-toolkit
 * libbluetooth-dev (optional, for real wiimotes)
 * libxrandr-dev (optional, for switching desktop resolution in fullscreen mode)
 * libxext-dev
 * libreadline-dev
 * libasound-dev (optional, for alsa sound backend)
 * libpulse-dev (optional, for pulseaudio sound backend)
 * libao-dev (optional, for ao sound backend)
 * libopenal-dev (optional, for openal sound backend)
 * libavcodec-dev (optional, for dumping frames in AVI format)
 * libavformat-dev (optional, for dumping frames in AVI format)
 * libswscale-dev (optional, for dumping frames in AVI format)
 * libglew1.5-dev (optional, if not found will be built statically)
 * liblzo2-dev (optional, if not found will be built statically)
 * libsdl1.2-dev (optional, if not found will be built statically)
 * libsoil-dev (optional, if not found will be built statically)
 * libsfml-dev (optional, if not found will be built statically)