Windows Core Installation

Required software

See Requirements before you continue.

Pulling & Compiling the source

Pulling the code

1. Create the directory where the source files will be located. In this guide we will use C:\Azerothcore.

2. Right-click on the folder and select GitExt Clone...

3. Fill in the data as follow:

Repository to clone: https://github.com/azerothcore/azerothcore-wotlk
Destination: C:\Azerothcore
Subdirectory to create: <none>*
Branch: master
Repository type: Personal repository

Click Clone. Within a few minutes Azerothcore's sourcefiles will be cloned into C:\Azerothcore.

Configuring and generating Visual C++ solution with CMake

Before you begin, create a new directory called Build. In this guide we will use C:\Build.

1. Open CMake

2. Click Browse Source... → Select the source directory (C:\Azerothcore)

3. Click Browse Build... → Select the build directory (C:\Build)

4. Click Configure.

5. In the dropdown menu, choose the version of the compiler you downloaded in Requirements section. Be sure to choose Win64 version if you work on a 64-bit compilation.

6. Make sure that Use default native compilers is checked.

7. Click Finish.

8. Make sure TOOLS_BUILD is set to all. This will compile the extractors needed later in the setup.

9. Click Configure again. As long as you have error(s) typed in red in the log window you will need to check your parameters and re-run it.

10. Click Generate. This will install the selected build files into your C:\Build folder.

Some error fixes

• If MySQL is not found by CMake it is required to set MYSQL_INCLUDE_DIR = C:/XX/MySQL/MySQL Server X.X/include and MYSQL_LIBRARY = C:/XX/MySQL/MySQL Server X.X/lib(_XX)/libmysql.lib.

  • XX depends on which MySQL version you use.

  • (If you do not see the MYSQL fields in CMake, tick the Advanced box).

• If you get linker errors (e.g "error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol mysql_server_init"), make sure MYSQL_LIBRARY is set to the libmysql.lib that matches your compile mode (x64 vs 32 bits).

  • (If you do not see the MYSQL fields in CMake, tick the Advanced box).

• If you get an error that CMake could NOT find OpenSSL:

  • Check the Advanced checkbox.

  • Find the two OPENSSL entries in the list and point to the correct directories:

    • OPENSSL_ROOT_DIR is the installation path (by default, C:/OpenSSL-Win32 or C:/OpenSSL-Win64)

    • OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR is the "include" folder in installation path (by default, C:/OpenSSL-Win32/include or C:/OpenSSL-Win64/include)

• If you get an error that CMake *Could NOT find Boost (missing: system filesystem program_options iostreams regex) (found suitable version "1.74.0", minimum required is "1.70")

  • Locate your Boost folder

    • Run the Bootstrap.bat file

    • Run the b2.exe file

Compiling the Source

1. In CMake press Open Project to open the AzerothCore.sln file directly with Visual Studio.

2. In the menu at the top, click Build and select Configuration Manager.

3. Set Active Solution Configuration to RelWithDebInfo.

4. In the list menus below "Help", set Active Solution Platform to x64 and then click Close (settings automatically save).

   1. If you set 32-bit compilation during CMake configuration, select x86.

5. Right-click ALL_BUILD in the Solution Explorer on the right sidebar and select Clean.

6. Right-click ALL_BUILD and select Build. (Ctrl + Shift + B)

   1. If your GUI does not show Solution Explorer, click the Build menu and select Clean Solution then Build.

Build time differs from machine to machine, but you can expect it to take between 5 and 30 minutes.

If you are asked to "Reload build files" during or after the compile, do so.

When the build is complete you will find a message in the output that looks similar to this:

========== Build: 22 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 up-to-date, 1 skipped ==========

You will find your freshly compiled binaries in the C:\Build\bin\RelWithDebInfo or C:\Build\bin\Debug folder. These are all used to run your server at the end of this instruction.

You will need the following files in order for the core to function properly:

\configs\
authserver.exe
authserver.pbd
worldserver.exe
worldserver.pdb
libmysql.dll
libeay32.dll / libcrypto-1_1.dll / libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll (Only for OpenSSL 1.1.x and below)
ssleay32.dll / libssl-1_1.dll / libssl-1_1-x64.dll (Only for OpenSSL 1.1.x and below)
legacy.dll (Only for OpenSSL 3.0 and later)

In the configs folder you should find:

authserver.conf.dist
worldserver.conf.dist

There are two/three DLL files that need to be manually added to this folder, and you need to copy them from the following installation/bin directories:

libmysql.dll → C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.x\lib\

Note: You need the exact version of libmysql to correspond to the MySQL you have downloaded. Due to this you cannot download the DLL from the web and need to take it out of the folder.

OpenSSL before version 1.1.0:

libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll → C:\OpenSSL-Win64\ or C:\OpenSSL-Win32\ (depends on if your core is 64-bit or 32-bit).

OpenSSL 1.1.x names have changed:

For 32-bit version: libssl-1_1.dll and libcrypto-1_1.dll → C:\OpenSSL-Win32\bin

For 64-bit version: libssl-1_1-x64.dll and libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll → C:\OpenSSL-Win64\bin

OpenSSL 3.0 and more recent installed, you need to copy:

legacy.dll → C:\OpenSSL-Win(32/64)\bin

About compilation log and report

pdb files only exist if you compile on Debug or RelWithDebInfo modes, it's not mandatory but it's recommended to compile core on at least RelWithDebInfo mode to get proper crashlogs. If you compile on Release mode the pdb files aren't needed.

To report crash logs it's MANDATORY to compile on Debug or RelWithDebInfo mode.

Help

If you are still having problems, check:

• FAQ

• Common Errors

• How to ask for help

• Join our Discord Server, but it is not a 24/7 support channel. A staff member will answer you whenever they have time.