Hello USD - Part 17: I'll build OpenUSD on my VM, how long could it take?

I don’t want a GitHub Action to be the only way I find a problem with my code on Linux. If a test fails or the code won’t build I want to fix it in an environment with a faster feedback loop. I already have an Ubuntu VM already setup for Swift development and it’s time to install OpenUSD on it.

How’d this get to be a whole post all to itself??

This ended up taking ALL DAY, since SOMEONE decided to do this on a VM with only one processor allocated to it. Also, I had only ~80 MB to spare on my Virtual Machine when it was done! Whew. I’m using up about 3 more gigs of space now.

The number of cores matters because the python_build.py script actually does something pretty clever. They’ve designed it to run on multiple cores. make -j appears on lines 973, 982, 1033 with variables for the input, so somewhere else they’ve looked up the number of cores available. The -j option sets the number of subcommands allowed.

My build took so long because I gave this GIANT task, designed to work with multiple subprocesses, one measly wee little core. When installing OpenUSD a non VM, run the top command to see it throw itself a party.

To see how many processors a machine has available, run getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN (other ways)

ProTip: Update the settings next time!

What was on it before I started

Previously on the VM as documented on SwiftLIBPNG’s repo

A VirtualBox machine running Ubuntu 22.04.2

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install clang libicu-dev build-essential pkg-config
apt install git gh
apt install libpng-dev
mkdir ~/swift
cd ~/swift
# go to https://www.swift.org/download/#releases for current links
wget https://download.swift.org/swift-5.8-release/ubuntu2004/swift-5.8-RELEASE/swift-5.8-RELEASE-ubuntu20.04.tar.gz
tar xzf swift-5.8-RELEASE-ubuntu20.04.tar.gz #add v (xzvf) to see all files
mv swift-5.8-RELEASE-ubuntu22.04 5.8
# swift.org recommended choice: add a simlink to `swift` command to `/usr/bin/` 
# instead of adding version folder to $PATH. 
sudo ln -s ~/swift/5.8/usr/bin/swift /usr/bin/swift 
swift --version

Building OpenUSD

Steps make a working usdview included build of OpenUSD

sudo apt install cmake # <==== Ended up being a mistake.  
python --version # 3.10.6, perfect
sudo apt install python3-pip
pip3 install PyOpenGL numpy Pyside6
#As per warning
export PATH=$PATH:/home/ubuntu_admin/.local/bin;
sudo apt-get install -y libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libxt-dev
cd ~/Documents/GitHub
git clone https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD.git
python3 OpenUSD/build_scripts/build_usd.py ~/opb/OpenUSD_2023JUL24_default

No Joy.

ERROR: CMake version 3.24 or later required to build USD, but version found was 3.22.1

• https://cmake.org/install/
• https://www.electronicjunkies.net/index.php/2021/04/13/install-any-version-of-cmake-on-ubuntu/
• https://graspingtech.com/upgrade-cmake/

# Remove previous cmake versions
sudo apt remove cmake
sudo apt purge --auto-remove cmake
hash -r #console refresh
sudo apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev libssl-doc
wget https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.27.0/cmake-3.27.0.tar.gz
tar xf cmake-3.27.0.tar.gz
cd cmake-3.27.0
./bootstrap
make 
sudo make install
hash -r
cmake --version

Afterwards python3 OpenUSD/build_scripts/build_usd.py ~/opb/OpenUSD_2023JUL24_default worked just fine. Took forever. Had to delete a bunch of stuff on the VM so it would fit, but worked just fine.

It works!

I switched the setup in USDTestingCLI.swift

//MARK: --------------------- YOUR SETUP GOES HERE ------------------------
let USDBuild = "/home/USERNAME/opb/OpenUSD_2023JUL24_default"
let pythonEnv:USDServiceProvider.PythonEnvironment = .systemDefault

And it works!

usdview, too!