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Prerequisites

Before compiling CoD4 Unleashed Server, ensure you have the required tools and libraries installed for your platform.

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Required Tools

Compiler

GCC (Linux) or MinGW32 (Windows)

Assembler

NASM

HTTP Library

libcurl with OpenSSL

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Linux Installation

1

Install Dependencies

Install the required build tools and libraries:
sudo apt-get install nasm build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev
The build-essential package includes GCC, G++, make, and other essential compilation tools.
2

Compile the Server

Navigate to the source directory and run the build script:
./build_elf.sh
The script will:
  1. Compile all C source files with -m32 flag
  2. Assemble NASM files to ELF format
  3. Link everything into bin/cod4u_lnx
  4. Clean up intermediate object files
3

Verify Installation

Check that the server binary was created successfully:
ls -lh bin/cod4u_lnx
You should see the compiled server executable in the bin directory.

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Windows Installation

1

Install MinGW32

Download and install MinGW32 (Minimalist GNU for Windows):
  • Visit mingw.org
  • Install the 32-bit version with GCC compiler
  • Add MinGW’s bin directory to your PATH
2

Install NASM

Download NASM for Windows:
  • Visit nasm.us
  • Install to %LOCALAPPDATA%\nasm or add to PATH
The build script automatically adds %LOCALAPPDATA%\nasm to the PATH if NASM is installed there.
3

Install OpenSSL

Download and install Win32 OpenSSL:
Make sure to install the 32-bit version, not the 64-bit version. The server requires 32-bit libraries.
4

Compile the Server

Open Command Prompt in the source directory and run:
build_win32.cmd
The build process will:
  1. Set up the NASM path
  2. Compile C sources with -m32 -march=nocona -D WINVER=0x501
  3. Assemble NASM files to COFF format with --prefix _
  4. Link with Windows-specific libraries (ws2_32, wsock32, gdi32, winmm)
  5. Create plugin export library
  6. Clean up object files
5

Verify Installation

Check that bin/cod4u_win32.exe was created successfully:
dir bin\cod4u_win32.exe

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Build Script Details

# Compile C code with 32-bit, debug symbols, and CoD4U flags
gcc -m32 -Wall -O0 -g -fno-omit-frame-pointer -mtune=nocona \
    -D COD4U -I../lib_tomcrypt/headers \
    -I../lib_tomcrypt/math/tommath -D _GNU_SOURCE \
    -c ../src/*.c

# Assemble platform hooks
nasm -f elf src/qcommon_hooks.asm -o bin/qcommon_hooks.o
nasm -f elf src/cmd_hooks.asm -o bin/cmd_hooks.o
nasm -f elf src/filesystem_hooks.asm -o bin/filesystem_hooks.o
# ... more hooks

# Link with custom linker script
gcc -m32 -rdynamic -Tlinkerscript.ld -o bin/cod4u_lnx bin/*.o \
    -Llib/ -lcurl -ltomcrypt_linux -ltommath_linux \
    -ldl -lpthread -lm -lstdc++
  • -m32 - Compile for 32-bit architecture
  • -Wall - Enable all compiler warnings
  • -O0 - No optimization (for debugging)
  • -g - Include debug symbols
  • -fno-omit-frame-pointer - Keep frame pointer for better stack traces
  • -mtune=nocona / -march=nocona - Optimize for Intel Nocona architecture
  • -D COD4U - Define COD4U preprocessor macro
  • -D _GNU_SOURCE - Enable GNU extensions (Linux)
  • -D WINVER=0x501 - Target Windows XP SP3+ (Windows)

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Troubleshooting

Problem: libcurl development files are not installed or not found.Solution:
  • Linux: Install libcurl4-openssl-dev:i386
  • Windows: Ensure libcurl is in the lib/ directory
Problem: NASM is not installed or not in PATH.Solution:
  • Linux: sudo apt-get install nasm:i386 or sudo pacman -S nasm
  • Windows: Install NASM and add to PATH or place in %LOCALAPPDATA%\nasm
Problem: 32-bit compilation support is not enabled (64-bit Linux).Solution:
sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib g++-multilib
Problem: OpenSSL DLLs are not found at runtime.Solution:
  • Ensure Win32 OpenSSL is properly installed
  • Copy required DLLs to the bin/ directory
  • Add OpenSSL installation directory to PATH

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Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

Now that you’ve compiled the server, learn how to configure and launch it.

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