# Error Building Slicer on Windows Subsystem for Linux

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/error-building-slicer-on-windows-subsystem-for-linux/670>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [July 11, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/error-building-slicer-on-windows-subsystem-for-linux/670 "2017-07-11T20:12:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![edwardwang1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/858c86/32.png) [@edwardwang1](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/edwardwang1)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/error-building-slicer-on-windows-subsystem-for-linux/670/1 "2017-07-11T20:12:14Z")

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Hi all,

I am trying to build Slicer via the Windows Subsystem for Linux with Anaconda instead of default Python. Following the steps of the Slicer Wiki, I am able to get past the Cmake step. However, I run into an error during make, and I believe it is due do the following:

/mnt/g/SlicerCustom/Slicer/Slicer-Superbuild/PCRE-prefix/src/PCRE/missing: line 81: aclocal-1.15: command not found  
WARNING: ‘aclocal-1.15’ is missing on your system.  
You should only need it if you modified ‘acinclude.m4’ or  
’[configure.ac](http://configure.ac)’ or m4 files included by ‘[configure.ac](http://configure.ac)’.  
The ‘aclocal’ program is part of the GNU Automake package:  
[http://www.gnu.org/software/automake](http://www.gnu.org/software/automake)  
It also requires GNU Autoconf, GNU m4 and Perl in order to run:  
[http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf](http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf)  
[http://www.gnu.org/software/m4/](http://www.gnu.org/software/m4/)  
[http://www.perl.org/](http://www.perl.org/)  
– Looking for mknod  
make[3]: \*\*\* [/mnt/g/SlicerCustom/Slicer/Slicer-Superbuild/PCRE-prefix/src/PCRE/aclocal.m4] Error 127  
make[2]: \*\*\* [PCRE-prefix/src/PCRE-stamp/PCRE-build] Error 2  
make[1]: \*\*\* [CMakeFiles/PCRE.dir/all] Error 2

Any thoughts on solving this issue?  
Thanks,  
Edward

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/error-building-slicer-on-windows-subsystem-for-linux/670/2 "2017-07-11T20:19:56Z")

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It is an interesting experiment to see if WSL is complete enough so that you can build a complex project like Slicer, but as far as I know, applications with graphical user interface are not officially supported by WSL.

On Windows, it makes the most sense to build using native tools. VS2013 Community Edition is free.

If you prefer working in a Linux environment on Windows then you can use Docker or a virtual machine (VirtualBox, Hyper-V).

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**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/error-building-slicer-on-windows-subsystem-for-linux/670/3 "2017-07-11T21:22:57Z")

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It may also be worth exploring building using the dockcross-windows-x64 docker image bundling `MXE/MinGW-w64` toolchain.

See [https://github.com/dockcross/dockcross](https://github.com/dockcross/dockcross)