System Requirements
-------------------
-The DPDK and its applications require the Clang-LLVM C compiler
-and Microsoft MSVC linker.
+Building the DPDK and its applications requires one of the following
+environments:
+
+* The Clang-LLVM C compiler and Microsoft MSVC linker.
+* The MinGW-w64 toolchain (either native or cross).
+
The Meson Build system is used to prepare the sources for compilation
with the Ninja backend.
The installation of these tools is covered in this section.
+Option 1. Clang-LLVM C Compiler and Microsoft MSVC Linker
+---------------------------------------------------------
+
Install the Compiler
---------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Download and install the clang compiler from
`LLVM website <http://releases.llvm.org/download.html>`_.
Install the Linker
-------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Download and install the Build Tools for Visual Studio to link and build the
files on windows,
and ensure the Windows SDK is selected.
+Option 2. MinGW-w64 Toolchain
+-----------------------------
+
+Obtain the latest version from
+`MinGW-w64 website <http://mingw-w64.org/doku.php/download>`_.
+On Windows, install to a folder without spaces in its name, like ``C:\MinGW``.
+This path is assumed for the rest of this guide.
+
+Version 4.0.4 for Ubuntu 16.04 cannot be used due to a
+`MinGW-w64 bug <https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/bugs/562/>`_.
+
+
Install the Build System
------------------------
http://mesonbuild.com/Getting-meson.html#installing-meson-and-ninja-with-the-msi-installer%22
+Recommended version is either Meson 0.47.1 (baseline) or the latest release.
+
Install the Backend
-------------------
The build environment is setup to build the EAL and the helloworld example by
default.
-Using the ninja backend
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Option 1. Native Build on Windows
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+When using Clang-LLVM, specifying the compiler might be required to complete
+the meson command:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+ set CC=clang
+
+When using MinGW-w64, it is sufficient to have toolchain executables in PATH:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+ set PATH=C:\MinGW\mingw64\bin;%PATH%
+
+To compile the examples, the flag ``-Dexamples`` is required.
.. code-block:: console
cd C:\Users\me\dpdk
- meson build
- cd build
- ninja
+ meson -Dexamples=helloworld build
+ ninja -C build
-Run the helloworld example
-==========================
+Option 2. Cross-Compile with MinGW-w64
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Navigate to the build directory and run `dpdk-helloworld.exe`.
+The cross-file option must be specified for Meson.
+Depending on the distribution, paths in this file may need adjustments.
.. code-block:: console
- cd C:\Users\me\dpdk\build
- helloworld.exe
- hello from core 1
- hello from core 3
- hello from core 0
- hello from core 2
+ meson --cross-file config/x86/meson_mingw.txt -Dexamples=helloworld build
+ ninja -C build