Octave for Microsoft Windows: Difference between revisions

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GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other POSIX conformal systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (eg: dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation.
:''This article is about using pre-built installers of Octave for Windows; for instructions about building it, see [[Windows Installer]].''


About version numbers (Feb 2012):
{{Note|Windows installers are available for the latest version of '''Octave ({{Release}}, released on {{Release Date}})''' from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.}}
*The 3.6.x are current releases.
*The 3.4.x are previous releases.
*The 3.2.x are very old releases.


=Standalone ports=
Users are encouraged to use the latest version unless a specific feature or requirement warrants using an older version of the software. Version specific instructions and installation notes are provided below.


==Octave-3.6.0-mingw + octaveforge pkgs==
:'''Note:''' As of version 4.4.1, '''Octave no longer supports Windows XP'''. There may be some workarounds to get Octave installed and running in command line mode (see Bug {{bug|54662}}), but maintainers cannot provide support and troubleshooting for this beyond what has already been documented.


===Files for manual installation===
=Installers for Microsoft Windows=


#Octave-3.6.0-mingw binaries tree
The easiest way to install GNU Octave on Microsoft Windows is by using [http://hg.octave.org/mxe-octave/ MXE] builds. For the current release, both 32-bit and 64-bit installers and zip archived packages (.zip and .7z formats) can be found at https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.  
#* Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_20120129.7z - MD5:53E4823B0DC5F2923C4CBCB8B60FC1B6
#: This is a 7z archive which includes a directory tree of all the binaries and libraries required for a complete octave installation (excluding octaveforge packages)
#:
#: It can be downloaded from [http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20Windows%20binaries/Octave%203.6.0%20for%20Windows%20MinGW%20installer/Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_20120129.7z/download octave forge]
#:
#* The archive include:
#:* octave-3.6.0 including PDF documentation (built by Tatsuro Matsuka http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/)
#:* mingw32 + msys tool chain
#:* gnuplot-4.4.4
#:* fig2dev-3.2.5c
#:* ghostscript-9.0.4
#:* pstoedit-3.60
#:
#*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
#*'''Latest update:''' 2012-01-29
#Octaveforge pkgs, built for Octave-3.6.0-mingw
#* Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_pkgs_20120128.7z - MD5:93CC6207EED411BCE747193D3A8B6625
#:
#: It can be downloaded from [http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20Windows%20binaries/Octave%203.6.0%20for%20Windows%20MinGW%20installer/Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_pkgs_20120128.7z/download octave forge]
#:
#: This is a 7z archive which includes additional binaries and libraries for a set of octaveforge packages.
#:
#* The included packages are:
#:* actuarial-1.1.0
#:* ad-1.0.6_patched
#:* audio-1.1.4
#:* benchmark-1.1.1
#:* bim-1.0.2
#:* bioinfo-0.1.2
#:* civil-engineering-1.0.7
#:* combinatorics-1.0.9
#:* communications-1.1.0_svn20120127_patched
#:* control-2.2.4
#:* data-smoothing-1.2.3
#:* dataframe-0.8.2
#:* econometrics-1.0.8
#:* fenv-0.1.0
#:* financial-0.3.2
#:* fpl-1.2.0
#:* fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.3.0
#:* ga-0.9.8
#:* general-1.2.2
#:* generate_html-0.1.3
#:* geometry-1.4.0
#:* gnuplot-1.0.1
#:* gpc-0.1.7
#:* gsl-1.0.8
#:* ident-1.0.7
#:* image-1.0.15
#:* informationtheory-0.1.8
#:* integration-1.0.7_svn20120128
#:* io-1.0.16
#:* irsa-1.0.7
#:* java-1.2.8_patched
#:* linear-algebra-2.1.0_svn20120127
#:* mapping-1.0.7
#:* mechanics-1.2.0
#:* miscellaneous-1.0.11_svn20120127
#:* missing-functions-1.0.2
#:* msh-1.0.2
#:* multicore-0.2.15
#:* nlwing2-1.2.0
#:* nnet-0.1.13
#:* nurbs-1.3.5
#:* ocs-0.1.3_svn20120128_patched
#:* octclip-1.0.0
#:* octgpr-1.2.0
#:* odebvp-1.0.6
#:* odepkg-0.8.0_svn20120127
#:* optim-1.0.17_patched
#:* optiminterp-0.3.4_svn20120128_patched
#:* outliers-0.13.9
#:* physicalconstants-0.1.7
#:* plot-1.1.0
#:* quaternion-1.0.0
#:* secs1d-0.0.8
#:* secs2d-0.0.8
#:* secs3d-0.0.1
#:* signal-1.1.2
#:* simp-1.1.0
#:* sockets-1.0.7_svn20120128_patched
#:* specfun-1.1.0
#:* special-matrix-1.0.7
#:* spline-gcvspl-1.0.8
#:* splines-1.0.7
#:* statistics-1.1.0_svn20120128
#:* strings-1.0.7
#:* struct-1.0.9
#:* symband-1.0.10
#:* symbolic-1.1.0
#:* tcl-octave-0.1.8
#:* time-1.0.9
#:* tsa-4.1.1
#:* video-1.0.2_patched
#:* vrml-1.0.12_svn20111014_patched
#:* windows-1.1.0
#:* xraylib-1.0.8
#:* zenity-0.5.7
#:
#*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
#*'''Latest update:''' 2012-01-28


===Manual installation instructions===
* For executable installers: the user can simply run the downloaded file and follow the on-screen installation prompts. It is recommended that the installation path does not include spaces or non-ASCII charactersShortcuts to the program will be created automatically.
#Create an installation directory of which doesn't have space chars (i.e. C:\Octave\Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2\). This directory is referred hereafter as <your_install_dir>.
#Extract the complete directories tree from Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_20120129.7z to the installation directory  keeping the original directory structure as in the archive (you can use 7-zip tool from http://www.7-zip.org/).
#Copy octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2.lnk to any convenient location and edit its properties respectively to point to <your_install_dir>\bin\octave.exe and <your_install_dir>\share\octave\3.6.0\imagelib\octave-logo.ico as an icon
#Copy octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_docs.lnk to any convenient location and edit its properties respectively to point to <your_install_dir>\doc\octave and <your_install_dir>\share\octave\3.6.0\imagelib\octave-logo.ico as an icon.
#:At this point you can:
#: a. Launch and use octave by double-clicking the copied octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2.lnk
#: b. Access and browse the documentation files by double-clicking the copied octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_docs.lnk
===Manual installation instructions for the Octave-forge packages===
#Extract the complete directories tree from Octave3.6.0_gcc4.6.2_pkgs_20120128.7z to the installation directory (<your_install_dir>) keeping the original directory structure as in the archive (you can use 7zip tool from http://www.7-zip.org/).
#In order to update octave_packages database with your installation tree and auto-load most packages (excluding 'ad' and 'windows' which may crash octave when loaded and 'clear all' is executed), launch Octave and execute the following 3 rebuild commands from the octave console:
    pkg rebuild -auto
    pkg rebuild -noauto ad windows
    pkg rebuild -auto java
#: Last pkg rebuild command is required in order for the java pkg entry to be moved to the top of <your_install_dir>\share\octave\octave_packages db file - thus java pkg is loaded before io pkg is loaded, and io pkg related jars are added to java class path.
#You can optionally adjust your installed packages status per your specific needs and usage by executing  the following commands:
: a. To interactively load or unload a package
pkg load <pkg_name>
: or
pkg unload <pkg_name>
: b. To disable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
pkg rebuild -noauto <pkg_name>
: c. To enable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
  pkg rebuild -auto <pkg_name>
: d. To completely uninstall a package
pkg uninstall <pkg_name>
===Optional installation of Notepad++ as an editor (recommended)===
#Download recent Notepad++ installation package from http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ and install it on your system.
#Edit <your_install_dir>\share\octave\site\m\startup\octaverc and un-comment the line which sets octave default editor:
EDITOR('C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe');
: Note: You may adjust the above line for the location of notepad++.exe as installed on your system.


===Troubleshooting===
* For the 7z/zip archives:
Upon launching, some warnings may be displayed. These warnings can be ignored.
# Extract the file content to a directory on the harddrive (such as {{Path|C:\Octave}}). Spaces or non-ASCII characters in the path are discouraged and may cause program errors.
*Following warnings are about missing external tools which may reduce some of the functions of some packages. These external tools are not provided by the 7z archives in sourceforge.  
# Manually create a shortcut to the {{Path|octave.vbs}} file in the main installation directory. (Right-click on the file, select 'Create Shortcut', and move the new shortcut to your desired location.)
  warning: gmsh does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
# If a command-line only instance of Octave is desired, the user can create a shortcut as stated above, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and add <code>--no-gui</code> to the end of the Target field.
warning: dx does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
# Run the {{Path|post-install.bat}} file before running Octave the first time to reduce plot delays due to the Windows font cache and make the pre-installed packages visible to the system.
*Following warning is about fstat function of the statistics package that overloads the old (to be deprecated) fstat function of octave-3.6.0
warning: function C:\Octave\3.6.0_gcc-4.6.2\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.1.0\fstat.m shadows a core library function


==Octave-3.4.3-mingw + octaveforge pkgs==
==Packages==


#Octave-3.4.3-mingw (without pkgs)
A selection of pre-built, [[Octave Forge]] packages are included with for all versions of the official Windows release. If you following the installation directions above you can confirm the package list by typing the command below at the Octave command prompt:
#: Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_20111025.7z - MD5:5AA004D933E000E762AE2AE95573ACBD - http://www.multiupload.com/KDQ1N463UW
#Octaveforge pkgs, built for Octave-3.4.3-mingw
#: Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20111026.7z - MD5:2987F6078B4AD161F2D23634D5109D61 - http://www.multiupload.com/7U6J23CSZ6
:
:The above  archive files are now able to be downloaded from [https://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20Windows%20binaries/Octave%203.2.4%20for%20Windows%20MinGW32%20Installer/ octave forge]
*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
*'''Latest update:''' 2011-10-26
*Packages are archived by 7zip. 7zip software can be download from http://www.7-zip.org/
*Octave Binaries are built using Tatsuro Matsuka OctaveLibs.zip and gplibs.zip (http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/)


===Troubleshooting===
  >> pkg list
Upon launching, some warnings may be displayed. The following warnings can be ignored:
*Following warning is about interpretation of logical operators (on scalars) in octave which is slightly different than matlab's interpretation.
warning: C:\Octave\3.4.3_gcc-4.5.2\share\octave\packages\integration-1.0.7\PKG_ADD: possible Matlab-style short-circuit operator
at line 9, column 32
*Following messages are from java package about loading of java classes that have been found and how to manually run a statement which will display its capabilities.
io PKG_ADD: java classes has been found and added in C:\Octave\3.4.3_gcc-4.5.2\bin
io PKG_ADD: run chk_spreadsheet_support([],3) to view io support
*Following warnings are about missing external tools which may reduce some of the functions of some packages. These external tools are not provided by the 7z archives in sourceforge.
warning: gmsh does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
warning: dx does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
*Following warning is about fstat function of the statistics package that overloads the old (to be deprecated) fstat function of octave-3.4.3
warning: function C:\Octave\3.4.3_gcc-4.5.2\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.0.10\fstat.m shadows a core library function


==Octave-3.4.2-mingw + octaveforge pkgs==
A typical output (for version {{Release}}) is:
#Octave-3.4.2-mingw (without pkgs)
                                                                                           
#:Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_20110914.7z - MD5:4AA0DD4C97F73B2E9E0F7370CD8AD719 - http://www.multiupload.com/TCUHKNNH9S
Package Name        | Version | Installation directory
#Octaveforge pkgs, built for Octave-3.4.2-mingw
--------------------+---------+-----------------------
#:Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20111014.7z - MD5:49097AF3C6FC6CDB58EE83F510A50993 - http://www.multiupload.com/DCWFZOUGZA
    communications  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\communications-1.2.1
*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
            control  |  3.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\control-3.1.0
*'''Latest update:''' 2011-10-14
    data-smoothing  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\data-smoothing-1.3.0
*Packages are archived by the 7zip. The 7zip software can be download from http://www.7-zip.org/
          database  |  2.4.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\database-2.4.3
*Octave Binaries are built by Tatsuro Matsuoka (http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/)
          dataframe  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dataframe-1.2.0
*Octave manual (<code>octave-3.4.2.pdf.zip, octave-3.4.2.html.zip</code>) can be downloaded from http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/
              dicom  |  0.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dicom-0.2.1
          financial  |  0.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\financial-0.5.3
              fits  |  1.0.7 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fits-1.0.7
fuzzy-logic-toolkit |  0.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.4.5
                ga  |  0.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ga-0.10.0
            general  |  2.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\general-2.1.0
      generate_html  |  0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\generate_html-0.3.1
          geometry  |  3.0.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\geometry-3.0.0
                gsl  |  2.1.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\gsl-2.1.1
              image  |  2.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\image-2.10.0
instrument-control  |  0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\instrument-control-0.3.1
          interval  |  3.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\interval-3.2.0
                io  |  2.4.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\io-2.4.12
    linear-algebra  |  2.2.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\linear-algebra-2.2.2
              lssa  |  0.1.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\lssa-0.1.3
              ltfat  |  2.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ltfat-2.3.1
            mapping  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\mapping-1.2.1
      miscellaneous  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\miscellaneous-1.2.1
                nan  |  3.1.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nan-3.1.4
            netcdf  |  1.0.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\netcdf-1.0.12
              nurbs  |  1.3.13 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nurbs-1.3.13
                ocs  |  0.1.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ocs-0.1.5
            odepkg  |  0.8.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\odepkg-0.8.5
              optim  |  1.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optim-1.5.3
        optiminterp  |  0.3.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optiminterp-0.3.5
        quaternion  |  2.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\quaternion-2.4.0
          queueing  |  1.2.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\queueing-1.2.6
            signal  |  1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\signal-1.4.0
            sockets  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sockets-1.2.0
          sparsersb  |  1.0.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sparsersb-1.0.6
            specfun  |  1.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\specfun-1.1.0
            splines  |  1.3.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\splines-1.3.2
        statistics  |  1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.4.0
                stk  |  2.5.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\stk-2.5.1
            strings  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\strings-1.2.0
            struct  |  1.0.15 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\struct-1.0.15
            tisean  |  0.2.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tisean-0.2.3
                tsa  |  4.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tsa-4.4.5
              video  |  1.2.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\video-1.2.4
            windows  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\windows-1.3.0
            zeromq  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\zeromq-1.3.0


===Installation===
If Octave was installed from a zip of 7z archive, you may need to run:
 
  >> pkg rebuild


The installation instructions are the same as for the 3.4.3 version, above.
All packages can be updated to the latest version by running:
 
  >> pkg update


===Notes===
Other packages can be installed by running:
For details, please see http://old.nabble.com/Octave-3.4.2-mingw-%2B-octaveforge-pkgs-to32394771.html


Upon launching, some warnings may be displayed. The following warnings can be ignored:
  >> pkg install -forge <package name>
*Following warning is about interpretation of logical operators (on scalars) in octave which is slightly different than matlab's interpretation.
warning: C:\Octave\Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2\share\octave\packages\integration-1.0.7\PKG_ADD: possible Matlab-style
short-circuit operator at line 9, column 32
*Following warnings are about missing external tools which may reduce some of the functions of some packages. These external tools are not provided by the 7z archives in sourceforge.
warning: gmsh does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
warning: dx does not seem to be present some functionalities will be disabled
*Following warning is about fstat function of the statistics package that overloads the old (to be deprecated) fstat function of octave-3.4.3
warning: function C:\Octave\Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.0.10\fstat.m shadows a core library


To install a new or updated package version manually, the package file can be downloaded from the [https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php Octave Forge website] to the working directory and can be installed using:


==Octave 3.2.4 for Windows MinGW32==
  >> pkg install package_file_name.tar.gz


*'''Download:''' [http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20Windows%20binaries/Octave%203.2.4%20for%20Windows%20MinGW32%20Installer/Octave-3.2.4_i686-pc-mingw32_gcc-4.4.0_setup.exe/download Octave-3.2.4_i686-pc-mingw32_gcc-4.4.0_setup.exe]
Detailed instructions for installing individual Octave Forge packages are given at https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php.
*'''Maintainer:''' Benjamin Lindner
*'''Latest release:''' 2010-03-25


===Includes===
=GNU Octave on [https://cygwin.com/ cygwin]=


*GNU Octave, version 3.2.4 (i686-pc-mingw32)
*atlas 3.8.2
*mingw32 (GCC 4.4.0 on http://www.mingw.org )
*gnuplot Version 4.4.0 specially prepared for octave
*mini-MSYS 1.0.11
*notepad++ 5.6.7 as text editor
*Some components of octave-forge packages
**actuarial-1.1.0 (New!)
**audio-1.1.4
**benchmark-1.1.1
**bim-1.0.0 (New!)
**bioinfo-0.1.2
**combinatorics-1.0.9
**communications-1.0.10
**control-1.0.11
**data-smoothing-1.2.0
**econometrics-1.0.8
**fenv-0.1.0 (New!)
**financial-0.3.2
**fixed-0.7.10
**fpl-1.0.0 (New!)
**ga-0.9.7
**general-1.2.0 (updated)
**generate_html-0.1.2 (New!)
**gnuplot-1.0.1 (New!)
**gpc-0.1.7
**gsl-1.0.8
**ident-1.0.7
**image-1.0.10
**informationtheory-0.1.8
**integration-1.0.7
**io-1.0.11 (updated)
**irsa-1.0.7
**java-1.2.7 (New!)
**jhandles-0.3.5 (New!)
**linear-algebra-1.0.8
**mapping-1.0.7
**miscellaneous-1.0.9
**missing-functions-1.0.2
**msh-1.0.0 (New!)
**nlwing2-1.1.1 (New!)
**nnet-0.1.10
**nurbs-1.0.3 (New!)
**ocs-0.0.4 (New!)
**oct2mat-1.0.7 (New!)
**octcdf-1.0.17 (updated 1.0.17+)
**octgpr-1.1.5 (New!)
**odebvp-1.0.6
**odepkg-0.6.10 (updated)
**optim-1.0.12 (updated)
**optiminterp-0.3.2
**outliers-0.13.9
**physicalconstants-0.1.7
**plot-1.0.7
**quaternion-1.0.0
**signal-1.0.10
**simp-1.1.0 (New!)
**sockets-1.0.5
**specfun-1.0.8
**special-matrix-1.0.7
**spline-gcvspl-1.0.8 (New!)
**splines-1.0.7
**statistics-1.0.9
**strings-1.0.7
**struct-1.0.7
**symband-1.0.10 (New!)
**symbolic-1.0.9
**time-1.0.9
**video-1.0.2 (New!)
**windows-1.0.8(updated to 1.0.8+)
**zenity-0.5.7
===Notes===
*Although there are some remaining known issues, some bugs reported to the octave-3.2.3 have been corrected. In addition, useful octave-forge packages are added (Java, Jhandles, ....). Please see [http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20Windows%20binaries/Octave%203.2.4%20for%20Windows%20MinGW32%20Installer/RELEASE_NOTES-3.2.4.txt/download RELEASE_NOTES.txt] for details: 
*Default Octave install folder changed to e.g. <code>C:\Octave\3.2.4_gcc-4.4.0\</code>.
*:If you have installed octave in a folder where the path name has whitespace, for example, <code>C:\Program Files\</code>, 'pkg install (package name)' command '''will fail''': See http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_name=4A1AF9EF.1000005@hotmail.com for details
'''Additional important topics found after the release:'''
*It is reported that the oct2mat octave-forge package affects plot related commands. The purpose of the package is to convert m-file into matlab-compatible coding style. Please see the documentation of the octave-forge (oct2mat - freetb4matlab) from http://octave.sourceforge.net/functions_by_package.php)
**Report for this problem: http://old.nabble.com/Re:-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-available-p28053703.html
**Explanation of the problem: http://old.nabble.com/Re:-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-available-p28090303.html
**Realistic solution at this moment, do not install the oct2mat package when you install octave with octave-forge packages if you do not use this package. Another solution is to execute
      pkg rebuild -noauto oct2mat
::at the octave prompt and then restart octave. The operation results in the oct2mat package not to be auto-loaded in startup. When you want to use oct2mat, execute
      pkg load oct2mat
*The plot octave-forge package still have ginput code although the ginput function is now merge into octave itself. Therefore conflict occur if the plot package is installed. To avoid this problem, rename 'ginput.m' in the folder <code>..\Octave\3.2.4_gcc-4.4.0\share\octave\packages\plot-1.0.7</code>, for example ginput.ob.m. In some computers which has one core CPU, response of ginput is very slow. In the case, modify '__gnuplot_ginput__.m' according to the following thread. http://old.nabble.com/ginput-on-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-to28093888.html
*From gnuplot-4.4.0, the default terminal of gnuplot for windows is the wxt terminal. Some users may set the GNUTERM environmental variable for the windows terminal being default. The gnuplot for windows allows to set GNUTERM to 'win' (abbreviated form) but octave does not recognize the abbreviated form for terminal name. If one would like set GNUTERM to windows terminal, one should specify it as 'windows' (full form) but not 'win' (abbreviated form). In detail see the following thread: http://old.nabble.com/flicking-problem-again-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-td28038688.html
=Octave on Cygwin=
== Octave 3.6.1 on cygwin==
*'''Web-Site:''' http://cygwin.com
*'''Maintainer:''' Marco Atzeri  
*'''Maintainer:''' Marco Atzeri  
*'''Latest release:''' 2012-02-27
*'''Latest release:''' 2018-08-17


*Latest packages:
*Latest packages:
:octave-3.6.1-1
:octave-forge-20120224-1


*To install : run cygwin setup.exe and select them in the Math category .
:octave-4.4.1-1
:Its announce on cygwin mailing list [https://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2018-08/msg00021.html]


*On Cygwin 1.7.9-1 the communication between octave and gnuplot is broken due to a cygwin bug.  
:Octave Forge packages have each a cygwin package.
:Please use version cygwin 1.7.11-1 or later.
:Its announce on cygwin mailing list [https://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2017-01/msg00078.html]
: Full cygwin package list is available here [https://cygwin.com/packages/]
: At 2017-04-06, 64 forge packages were available.  


===Notes===
*To install :  
*Not needed anymore, but just in case you want to try one cygwin snapshot.
: run cygwin setup-x86.exe (for cygwin 32 bit) or  setup-x86_64.exe (for cygwin 64 bit) and select them in the Math category.  
:HOWTO install a cygwin snapshot:
: All the package dependencies will be also installed.
:download <code>cygwin1-20120227.dll.bz2</code> (current last) from http://cygwin.com/snapshots/
    bunzip2 cygwin1-20120227.dll.bz2
    cp cygwin1-20120227.dll cygwin1.dll
    cp /bin/cygwin1.dll /bin/cygwin1.dll_backup
:exit all cygwin processes and from windows explorer
:copy the cygwin1.dll snapshot to
    c:\cygwin\bin
    (or in the equivalent directory of your cygwin installation).


*Graphics is based on X, so to plot you need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
:Graphics is based on X and to plot you will need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
:  I recommend to install "xinit", "xlaunch" and "gnuplot". These packages will pull all the functional Xserver.
:  Otherwise the only graphics will be ASCII art ;-)


*A new fltk graphics_toolkit is available, and the crash on "print" issue was solved starting from 3.4.2-3 using the patch proposed here: https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?31641
==Notes for cygwin==


*If a dlls collision arise, the correct invocation of the rebase utility within dash shell is:
*When building from development source (default branch)
    rebaseall -s "dll|so|oct"
:    "make check"
:as octave dll's use unexpected ".oct" suffix for its own extension.
:passes almost all the tests. Only, and not substantial, failures are:
:<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
/pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
/pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
/pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See
https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html
</syntaxhighlight>


*For general build notes, see <code>etc/README.Cygwin</code>.
* To build GNU Octave from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
 
:<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
*When building from development source (default branch)
tar -xf octave-4.4.1-1-src.tar.xz
    "make check"  
cygport octave.cygport almostall
:passes almost all the tests.
</syntaxhighlight>
:Only, and not substantial, failures are:
:see [https://cygwinports.github.io/cygport/ cygport documentation] for further info.
    /pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
    /pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
    /pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See
    https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html


*To build from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
=General info=
    $ tar -xvjf octave-3.6.1-1-src.tar.bz2
    gl2ps-print.patch
    octave-3.6.1-1.cygport
    octave-3.6.1-1.cygwin.patch
    octave-3.6.1-1.src.patch
    octave-3.6.1.tar.bz2


    $ cygport octave-3.6.1-1.cygport almostall
Be advised that GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX POSIX] conform systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Microsoft Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (e.g. dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation. GNU Octave standalone ports for Windows are independently compiled using either the [http://mingw.org MinGW] or Microsoft Visual Studio development environments (3.6 or before).


:see cygport documentation for further info.
=See also=


* [[Octave for Microsoft Windows (outdated)]] for older instructions.


[[Category:Windows]]
[[Category:Installation]]
[[Category:Building]]
[[Category:Microsoft Windows]]

Revision as of 01:05, 14 October 2019

This article is about using pre-built installers of Octave for Windows; for instructions about building it, see Windows Installer.
Info icon.svg
Windows installers are available for the latest version of Octave (9.1.0, released on March 14, 2024) from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.

Users are encouraged to use the latest version unless a specific feature or requirement warrants using an older version of the software. Version specific instructions and installation notes are provided below.

Note: As of version 4.4.1, Octave no longer supports Windows XP. There may be some workarounds to get Octave installed and running in command line mode (see Bug #54662), but maintainers cannot provide support and troubleshooting for this beyond what has already been documented.

Installers for Microsoft Windows

The easiest way to install GNU Octave on Microsoft Windows is by using MXE builds. For the current release, both 32-bit and 64-bit installers and zip archived packages (.zip and .7z formats) can be found at https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.

  • For executable installers: the user can simply run the downloaded file and follow the on-screen installation prompts. It is recommended that the installation path does not include spaces or non-ASCII characters. Shortcuts to the program will be created automatically.
  • For the 7z/zip archives:
  1. Extract the file content to a directory on the harddrive (such as C:\Octave). Spaces or non-ASCII characters in the path are discouraged and may cause program errors.
  2. Manually create a shortcut to the octave.vbs file in the main installation directory. (Right-click on the file, select 'Create Shortcut', and move the new shortcut to your desired location.)
  3. If a command-line only instance of Octave is desired, the user can create a shortcut as stated above, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and add --no-gui to the end of the Target field.
  4. Run the post-install.bat file before running Octave the first time to reduce plot delays due to the Windows font cache and make the pre-installed packages visible to the system.

Packages

A selection of pre-built, Octave Forge packages are included with for all versions of the official Windows release. If you following the installation directions above you can confirm the package list by typing the command below at the Octave command prompt:

  >> pkg list

A typical output (for version 9.1.0) is:

Package Name        | Version | Installation directory
--------------------+---------+-----------------------
    communications  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\communications-1.2.1
           control  |   3.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\control-3.1.0
    data-smoothing  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\data-smoothing-1.3.0
          database  |   2.4.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\database-2.4.3
         dataframe  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dataframe-1.2.0
             dicom  |   0.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dicom-0.2.1
         financial  |   0.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\financial-0.5.3
              fits  |   1.0.7 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fits-1.0.7
fuzzy-logic-toolkit |   0.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.4.5
                ga  |  0.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ga-0.10.0
           general  |   2.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\general-2.1.0
     generate_html  |   0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\generate_html-0.3.1
          geometry  |   3.0.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\geometry-3.0.0
               gsl  |   2.1.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\gsl-2.1.1
             image  |  2.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\image-2.10.0
instrument-control  |   0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\instrument-control-0.3.1
          interval  |   3.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\interval-3.2.0
                io  |  2.4.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\io-2.4.12
    linear-algebra  |   2.2.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\linear-algebra-2.2.2
              lssa  |   0.1.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\lssa-0.1.3
             ltfat  |   2.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ltfat-2.3.1
           mapping  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\mapping-1.2.1
     miscellaneous  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\miscellaneous-1.2.1
               nan  |   3.1.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nan-3.1.4
            netcdf  |  1.0.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\netcdf-1.0.12
             nurbs  |  1.3.13 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nurbs-1.3.13
               ocs  |   0.1.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ocs-0.1.5
            odepkg  |   0.8.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\odepkg-0.8.5
             optim  |   1.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optim-1.5.3
       optiminterp  |   0.3.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optiminterp-0.3.5
        quaternion  |   2.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\quaternion-2.4.0
          queueing  |   1.2.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\queueing-1.2.6
            signal  |   1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\signal-1.4.0
           sockets  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sockets-1.2.0
         sparsersb  |   1.0.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sparsersb-1.0.6
           specfun  |   1.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\specfun-1.1.0
           splines  |   1.3.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\splines-1.3.2
        statistics  |   1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.4.0
               stk  |   2.5.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\stk-2.5.1
           strings  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\strings-1.2.0
            struct  |  1.0.15 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\struct-1.0.15
            tisean  |   0.2.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tisean-0.2.3
               tsa  |   4.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tsa-4.4.5
             video  |   1.2.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\video-1.2.4
           windows  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\windows-1.3.0
            zeromq  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\zeromq-1.3.0

If Octave was installed from a zip of 7z archive, you may need to run:

  >> pkg rebuild

All packages can be updated to the latest version by running:

  >> pkg update

Other packages can be installed by running:

  >> pkg install -forge <package name>

To install a new or updated package version manually, the package file can be downloaded from the Octave Forge website to the working directory and can be installed using:

  >> pkg install package_file_name.tar.gz

Detailed instructions for installing individual Octave Forge packages are given at https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php.

GNU Octave on cygwin

  • Maintainer: Marco Atzeri
  • Latest release: 2018-08-17
  • Latest packages:
octave-4.4.1-1
Its announce on cygwin mailing list [1]
Octave Forge packages have each a cygwin package.
Its announce on cygwin mailing list [2]
Full cygwin package list is available here [3]
At 2017-04-06, 64 forge packages were available.
  • To install :
run cygwin setup-x86.exe (for cygwin 32 bit) or setup-x86_64.exe (for cygwin 64 bit) and select them in the Math category.
All the package dependencies will be also installed.
Graphics is based on X and to plot you will need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
I recommend to install "xinit", "xlaunch" and "gnuplot". These packages will pull all the functional Xserver.
Otherwise the only graphics will be ASCII art ;-)

Notes for cygwin

  • When building from development source (default branch)
"make check"
passes almost all the tests. Only, and not substantial, failures are:
/pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
/pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
/pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See 
https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html
  • To build GNU Octave from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
tar -xf octave-4.4.1-1-src.tar.xz 
cygport octave.cygport almostall
see cygport documentation for further info.

General info

Be advised that GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other POSIX conform systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Microsoft Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (e.g. dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation. GNU Octave standalone ports for Windows are independently compiled using either the MinGW or Microsoft Visual Studio development environments (3.6 or before).

See also