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Overview

Step 3 is the longest step in the setup process. It configures, compiles, and installs all the third-party libraries that Miele-LXIV depends on. The build process is fully automated but takes approximately one hour to complete.
Build Time: Approximately 1 hour on modern hardware. The exact time depends on your CPU and number of cores.

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What Gets Built

The build process compiles and installs each library in the correct dependency order:
  1. libiconv - Character encoding conversion
  2. OpenSSL - Cryptography library
  3. libpng - PNG image support
  4. zlib - Compression library
  5. libxml2 - XML parsing
  6. libjpeg - JPEG image support
  7. libtiff - TIFF image support
  8. VTK - Visualization Toolkit (collapsed into single library)
  9. ITK - Insight Toolkit (collapsed into single library)
  10. DCMTK - DICOM Toolkit (collapsed into single library)
  11. OpenJPEG - JPEG 2000 support
  12. Jasper - Additional image format support
  13. GLEW - OpenGL extensions (optional)
  14. GLM - OpenGL mathematics (optional)

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Running the Build

1

Open the configuration menu

From your $EASY_HOME directory:
./reconfigure.sh
2

Enable Configure, Build, and Install

In the kconfig-mconf interface:
  1. Disable “Download sources” (if it’s enabled - you’ve already downloaded everything)
  2. Enable “Configure” - prepares build configurations
  3. Enable “Build” - compiles the libraries
  4. Enable “Install” - installs to your BIN directory Build configuration
3

Save and exit

  1. Select Save
  2. Confirm with Ok
  3. Select Exit
  4. Confirm Exit again
4

Start the build with logging

Because this step takes a long time and generates significant output, it’s recommended to capture everything to a log file:
script log/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M).txt
./build.sh ; exit
This creates a timestamped log file in the log/ directory that you can review later if needed.

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Build Process Details

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Configuration Phase

For each library, the build system:
  • Runs CMake or configure scripts with appropriate flags
  • Sets up compiler options for macOS compatibility
  • Configures library dependencies
  • Specifies installation paths

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Build Phase

Libraries are compiled using:
  • Parallel compilation (-j flag using all CPU cores)
  • Release configuration
  • Static linking where appropriate
  • macOS deployment target settings

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Install Phase

Compiled libraries are installed to your configured BIN directory: 
$BIN/
├── dcmtk-3.6.x/
│   ├── include/
│   └── lib/
├── VTK-9.x.x/
│   ├── include/
│   └── lib/
├── InsightToolkit-5.x.x/
│   ├── include/
│   └── lib/
└── [other libraries...]

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Monitoring Progress

The build script outputs detailed progress information: 
=== Configure library libpng
=== Build library PNG
=== Install library PNG
=== Configure VTK
=== Compile VTK
=== Install VTK
=== Collapse VTK into a single library
...
The “collapse” steps combine multiple .a files into single libraries for VTK, ITK, and DCMTK, making them easier to link in Xcode.

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Expected Output

You’ll see:
  • CMake configuration output
  • Compiler progress with percentage completion
  • Installation confirmations
  • Occasional warnings (usually safe to ignore)

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Library Collapsing

For the major toolkits (VTK, ITK, DCMTK), the build process creates consolidated libraries:
  • libVTK.a - Single VTK library from all VTK components
  • libITK.a - Single ITK library from all ITK components
  • libDCMTK.a - Single DCMTK library from all DCMTK components
This simplifies linking in the Xcode project.

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Disk Space Requirements

During the build:
  • BLD directory: ~10-15 GB (temporary build files)
  • BIN directory: ~3-5 GB (installed libraries)
After the build completes successfully, you can safely delete the BLD directory to reclaim disk space. The Xcode project only needs the BIN directory.

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Troubleshooting

Common causes:
  • Xcode Command Line Tools not installed or outdated
  • Missing dependencies
  • Incompatible macOS version
Check the log file for specific error messages. The build script shows which library failed.
The build process requires significant temporary space. Free up disk space and restart from the failed library by:
  1. Running ./reconfigure.sh
  2. Disabling already-built libraries in the Build menu
  3. Running ./build.sh again
This can happen with conflicting OpenSSL versions from Homebrew. The build script includes commented-out commands to temporarily unlink OpenSSL 3 and use OpenSSL 1.1:Edit build.sh around line 577-582 and uncomment the brew link/unlink commands.
On older hardware, the build can take 2+ hours. The main time consumers are:
  • VTK: 20-30 minutes
  • ITK: 20-30 minutes
  • DCMTK: 10-15 minutes
This is normal. Let it complete.

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Verifying Success

Check that libraries were installed: 
ls -la $BIN
You should see directories for each library. Verify key libraries exist: 
ls $BIN/dcmtk-*/lib/libDCMTK.a
ls $BIN/VTK-*/lib/libVTK.a
ls $BIN/InsightToolkit-*/lib/libITK.a

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Reclaiming Disk Space

After successful build and install: 
rm -rf $BLD
This removes ~10-15 GB of temporary build files that are no longer needed.

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Next Step

Step 4: Create Symbolic Links

With all libraries compiled and installed, create symbolic links to make them accessible to the Xcode project.

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