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Installing HDDS on Windows

This guide covers installing HDDS on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Prerequisites​

  • Windows 10 1903+ or Windows 11
  • Visual Studio 2019+ with C++ workload (for C/C++ development)
  • Rust (for Rust development): rustup.rs
  • Python 3.10+ (for Python bindings)

Quick Install (MSI Installer)​

Download and run the MSI installer:

  1. Download from hdds.io/download
  2. Run hdds-1.0.0-x64.msi
  3. Follow the installation wizard
  4. Restart your terminal

The installer adds HDDS to your PATH and installs:

  • HDDS runtime DLL
  • C/C++ headers and import libraries
  • CLI tools (hdds_gen.exe, hdds_viewer.exe)

Verify Installation​

Open PowerShell or Command Prompt:

hdds --version

Cargo Installation (Rust)​

For Rust development:

# Ensure Rust is installed
winget install Rustlang.Rust.MSVC

# Add HDDS to your project
cargo add hdds

# Install CLI tools
cargo install hdds-gen

# Verify
hdds-gen --version

Feature Flags​

[dependencies]
hdds = { version = "1.0", features = ["async", "security"] }

Python Installation​

# Using pip
pip install hdds

# Verify
python -c "import hdds; print(hdds.__version__)"

C/C++ Development​

Visual Studio​

  1. Install via MSI or add to your project manually
  2. Configure project properties:

Include Directories:

C:\Program Files\HDDS\include

Library Directories:

C:\Program Files\HDDS\lib

Linker Input:

hdds.lib

CMake​

# Find HDDS
find_package(hdds REQUIRED)

add_executable(myapp main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE hdds::hdds)

Configure with:

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:\Program Files\HDDS"
cmake --build build

vcpkg​

# Install via vcpkg
vcpkg install hdds:x64-windows

# Use in CMake
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=[vcpkg-root]/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

Verify Installation​

# Check version
hdds --version

# Run self-test
hdds self-test

# List interfaces
hdds interfaces

Expected output:

HDDS 1.0.0
Platform: Windows x86_64
RTPS Version: 2.5
Security: Enabled

Self-test: PASSED (12/12 tests)

Network Interfaces:
  - Ethernet: 192.168.1.100 (multicast: enabled)
  - Loopback: 127.0.0.1 (multicast: disabled)

Windows Firewall Configuration​

DDS uses UDP multicast. Configure Windows Firewall:

Using PowerShell (Administrator)​

# Allow HDDS through firewall
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "HDDS DDS" `
    -Direction Inbound `
    -Protocol UDP `
    -LocalPort 7400-7500 `
    -Action Allow

# Or for your specific application
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "My DDS App" `
    -Program "C:\path\to\your\app.exe" `
    -Action Allow

Using GUI​

  1. Open Windows Security → Firewall & network protection
  2. Click Allow an app through firewall
  3. Click Change settings → Allow another app
  4. Add your application or allow ports 7400-7500 UDP

Multicast Configuration​

Windows supports multicast by default on most networks. Verify:

# Check route table
route print | findstr 239

# If multicast isn't working, try:
route add 239.255.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 192.168.1.1
VPN and Virtual Adapters

VPNs and virtual network adapters (VMware, VirtualBox, Docker) can interfere with multicast. Try disabling them for testing.

WSL2 Considerations​

If using WSL2:

# In WSL2, multicast may require additional configuration
# Use host networking or configure port forwarding

For best performance, use native Windows builds rather than WSL.

Troubleshooting​

"DLL not found" Error​

# Add HDDS to PATH
$env:PATH += ";C:\Program Files\HDDS\bin"

# Or copy DLLs to application directory
copy "C:\Program Files\HDDS\bin\hdds.dll" .\

"Access Denied" on Ports​

Run as Administrator or use ports above 1024.

Multicast Not Working​

# Check if multicast is enabled on your adapter
Get-NetAdapter | Get-NetIPInterface | Select-Object InterfaceAlias, InterfaceMetric

# Disable firewall temporarily for testing
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled False

Visual Studio Linker Errors​

Ensure you're using the correct architecture:

  • x64 project → hdds.lib from lib/x64
  • x86 project → hdds.lib from lib/x86

Next Steps​