Chapter 1.  Getting Started

Geant4 uses CMake to configure a build system for compiling and installing the toolkit headers, libraries and support tools. This document covers the basics of using CMake to build and install Geant4 together with an overview of the most commonly used advanced features. We also provide a basic overview of how to build an application that uses Geant4. For more information on CMake itself, the CMake Help and Documentation should be consulted.

1.1.  Supported and Tested Platforms

Geant4 is officially supported on the following operating system and compiler combinations:

  • Scientific Linux CERN 5 with gcc 4.1.2 or 4.3.X, 32/64bit

    Scientific Linux CERN 6 with gcc 4.6.X, 64bit

    Geant4 has also been successfully compiled on other Linux distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu and openSUSE. Please note that distributions other than SLC are not officially supported. However, we welcome feedback and patches for non-SLC platforms!

  • Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion) with gcc 4.2.1 (Apple), 64bit.

    Geant4 has also been successfully compiled on Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) with gcc 4.2.1 (Apple), but this version of Mac OS X is not officially supported.

  • Windows 7 with Visual Studio 10 (VS2010).

The following platforms and compilers are also tested, but not officially supported:

  • Scientific Linux CERN 5 with gcc 4.7.X, 64bit.

    Scientific Linux CERN 5 with Intel C++ 13, 64bit.

  • Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion) with Clang 3.1.
  • Windows 7 with Visual Studio 9 (VS2008).

We welcome user feedback and/or bug reports via our HyperNews Forum and Bugzilla.