Installation This guide walks through installing the ReXGlue SDK and configuring your development environment for static recompilation of Xbox 360 executables.
System Requirements Minimum Requirements:
Windows 10/11 (x64)
Clang 18 or newer
CMake 3.25+
Ninja build system
Visual Studio 2022 (for Windows SDK)
Graphics:
DirectX 12 capable GPU
Latest graphics drivers
Minimum Requirements:
Linux (x64) - Ubuntu 22.04+ or equivalent
Clang 18 or newer (Clang 20 recommended)
CMake 3.25+
Ninja build system
GTK 3 development libraries
Graphics:
Vulkan 1.2+ capable GPU
Latest Mesa drivers or proprietary GPU drivers
Architecture Requirement : ReXGlue requires x64 architecture. 32-bit systems and ARM are not supported.
Compiler Requirement : ReXGlue requires Clang 18+ and will not compile with GCC or MSVC. The build system enforces this requirement.
Step 1: Install Prerequisites
Install LLVM/Clang 18+ :
Download from LLVM releases
Add to PATH: C:\Program Files\LLVM\bin
Install CMake :
Download from cmake.org
Or via chocolatey: choco install cmake
Install Ninja :
Install Visual Studio 2022 :
Required for Windows SDK headers
Select “Desktop development with C++” workload
Verify Installation clang --version # Should show 18.0.0 or newer cmake --version # Should show 3.25 or newer ninja --version
Ubuntu/Debian: # Add LLVM repository for Clang 20 wget -qO- https://apt.llvm.org/llvm-snapshot.gpg.key | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/apt.llvm.org.asc sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://apt.llvm.org/$( lsb_release -sc )/ llvm-toolchain-$( lsb_release -sc )-20 main" # Install build tools sudo apt update sudo apt install -y clang-20 clang++-20 cmake ninja-build # Install GTK and Vulkan development libraries sudo apt install -y libgtk-3-dev libvulkan-dev vulkan-validationlayers-dev # Set Clang as default sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang clang /usr/bin/clang-20 100 sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang++ clang++ /usr/bin/clang++-20 100
Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S clang cmake ninja gtk3 vulkan-devel
Verify Installation clang-20 --version # Should show 20.0.0 or newer cmake --version # Should show 3.25 or newer ninja --version vulkaninfo | head # Verify Vulkan is available
Step 2: Download ReXGlue SDK You can either download a pre-built release or build from source.
Pre-built Release
Build from Source
Download from GitHub Releases
Visit ReXGlue SDK Releases
Download the latest release for your platform:
rexglue-sdk-win-amd64-vX.X.X.zip (Windows)rexglue-sdk-linux-amd64-vX.X.X.tar.gz (Linux)
Extract to your preferred location:
# Windows (PowerShell) Expand-Archive rexglue-sdk-win-amd64-v0.2.2.zip -DestinationPath C: \r exglue-sdk # Linux tar -xzf rexglue-sdk-linux-amd64-v0.2.2.tar.gz -C ~/rexglue-sdk
Add the SDK binaries to your PATH:
# Windows (add to environment variables) setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\rexglue-sdk\bin" # Linux (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc) export PATH = " $HOME /rexglue-sdk/bin: $PATH "
Pre-built releases include the rexglue CLI tool and runtime libraries ready to use.
Clone and Build SDK
Clone the repository : git clone https://github.com/rexglue/rexglue-sdk.git cd rexglue-sdk
Configure build (choose your platform preset): Windows Debug
Windows Release
Linux Debug
Linux Release
cmake --preset win-amd64-debug
Build the SDK : # Build all targets cmake --build out/build/ < preset-nam e > # Or build specific targets cmake --build out/build/ < preset-nam e > --target rexglue
Verify build output : # Binary output location ls out/win-amd64/ # Windows ls out/linux-amd64/ # Linux
Building from source gives you the latest development version and allows you to customize build options.
Step 3: Verify Installation Test that the ReXGlue CLI tool is working:
You should see output similar to:
ReXGlue - Xbox 360 Recompilation Toolkit Usage: rexglue <command> [flags] [args] Commands: codegen <config.toml> Analyze XEX and generate C++ code init Initialize a new project migrate Migrate project to current SDK version recompile-tests Generate Catch2 tests from PPC assembly Run 'rexglue --help' for flag details.
Location: src/rexglue/main.cpp:44-53
The SDK supports multiple graphics backends depending on your platform.
Windows (D3D12)
Linux (Vulkan)
Dual Backend
Direct3D 12 is the default backend on Windows.Enabled automatically via CMake option: REXGLUE_USE_D3D12=ON Requirements:
Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12
D3D12-capable GPU (most GPUs from 2015+)
No additional configuration needed. Vulkan is the default backend on Linux.Enabled automatically via CMake option: REXGLUE_USE_VULKAN=ON Verify Vulkan installation: vulkaninfo | grep "Vulkan Instance Version"
Should show version 1.2.0 or newer. Optional: Enable validation layers for debugging export VK_LAYER_PATH = / usr / share / vulkan / explicit_layer . d export VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS = VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation
You can enable both backends on Windows for testing: cmake -DREXGLUE_USE_D3D12=ON -DREXGLUE_USE_VULKAN=ON --preset win-amd64-release
At least one graphics backend must be enabled. The build will fail if both are disabled.
Location: CMakeLists.txt:18-30 Optional: Enable Build Features Build with Tests Enable unit tests and PPC instruction tests:
cmake -DREXGLUE_BUILD_TESTS=ON --preset < your-prese t > cmake --build out/build/ < preset-nam e > # Run tests ctest --test-dir out/build/ < preset-nam e >
Enable Sanitizers (Debug) Enable undefined behavior sanitizer for debugging:
cmake -DREXGLUE_ENABLE_SANITIZERS=ON --preset < debug-prese t >
Address Sanitizer (ASan) is not compatible with ReXGlue’s memory mapping at 0x100000000. Only UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer (UBSan) is supported.
Location: CMakeLists.txt:96-101
Project Integration Methods Once installed, you can use the SDK in your projects in two ways:
Method 1: Add as Subdirectory (Recommended) Include the SDK source tree in your project:
# In your CMakeLists.txt set (REXSDK_DIR "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/rexglue-sdk" CACHE PATH "" ) add_subdirectory ( "${REXSDK_DIR}" rexglue-sdk) target_link_libraries (my_game PRIVATE rex::core rex:: system )
Method 2: Use Installed Package If you installed the SDK to a system location:
find_package (rexglue REQUIRED CONFIG) target_link_libraries (my_game PRIVATE rex::core rex:: system )
Troubleshooting
CMake can't find Clang 18
Explicitly set the compiler: cmake -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ --preset < prese t >
On Linux with specific version: cmake -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang-20 -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++-20 --preset < prese t >
Build fails with 'Clang required' error
The SDK enforces Clang compiler. Verify: Ensure it shows Clang 18.0.0 or newer. Set compiler explicitly in CMake. Location: CMakeLists.txt:39-46
Graphics backend error 'at least one backend must be enabled'
Check that you haven’t disabled both graphics backends: # On Windows, enable D3D12 (default) cmake -DREXGLUE_USE_D3D12=ON --preset win-amd64-release # On Linux, enable Vulkan (default) cmake -DREXGLUE_USE_VULKAN=ON --preset linux-amd64-release
Location: CMakeLists.txt:28-30
Vulkan validation layers not found (Linux)
Install validation layers: # Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt install vulkan-validationlayers-dev # Arch sudo pacman -S vulkan-validation-layers
Next Steps
Quick Start Guide Create your first recompiled project with rexglue init
Architecture Overview Learn about the recompilation system architecture