Compiling V REP without a GUI

Starting from version 3.3.0 the V-REP source code can be compiled without any QT dependency for use with no Graphical User Interface (GUI). This helps when running on clusters and workstations that only come with text based terminals. This page contains a very short guide on how to compile V-REP without QT on Ubuntu, just the basic steps are showed, if there is any problem with the compilation process you can refer to the V-REP forum or this post.

Preparing to compile

Notice: This guide assumes that you are using an Ubuntu 14.04 or newer system.

First, all the no QT dependencies that are listed in the normal compiling guide must be downloaded and installed:

$ sudo apt-get install lua5.1 lua5.1-doc lua5.1-lgi lua5.1-lgi-dev lua5.1-policy lua5.1-policy-dev
$ sudo apt-get install liblua5.1-0 liblua5.1-0-dbg liblua5.1-0-dev liblua5.1-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev

Both the V-REP simulator and its source code must be downloaded, taking notice of them being the exact same version (i.e. for simulator version 3.3.0 the 3.3.0 version of the source code should be downloaded).

The source code and the simulator come packed as compressed archives so they must be extracted to a convenient location.

Last, but not least, make sure gcc or another similar compiler is installed in Ubuntu.

Compiling

Make sure to run V-REP at least once by going to the extracted simulator folder and executing the vrep.sh file from a terminal window, but keep it closed for the compiling process.

Inside the extracted source code folder will be a folder named v_rep, copy or move this folder inside the extracted simulator folder (where vrep.sh is located).

Inside the v_rep folder search for a file named makefile_noGui_noGl and rename this file to makefile.

The current makefile that was just created is missing one line, just open it and insert the following line next to the lines similar to it:

gcc $(CFLAGS) -c sourceCode/mainContainers/applicationContainers/interfaceStackContainer.cpp -o interfaceStackContainer.o

Save the modified makefile.

Using a terminal window go to the source code v_rep folder location (inside the simulator folder) and execute the make command with no arguments.

If the process ends with no errors a new folder inside v_rep named lib should appear, inside lib the shared library libv_rep.so should be present.

Running the compiled V-REP

To run the compiled V-REP just copy the newly created libv_rep.so file to the simulator folder (where vrep.sh is located) and replace the file of the same name. Run V-REP by executing vrep.sh from a terminal window, this time no GUI should be opened but you will still be able to see V-REP running in the terminal.