Error: Compiling Openfast v4.0.2 using Visual Studio 2019/2022.

[chendiandian421]

I've tried compiling on three different computers, and the same problem occurs on both VS2019 and VS2022. I also tried seeking solutions on Chinese forums to no avail. So, I want to get more professional guidance on GitHub.

⚪Firstly, my compilation environment is:
· Windows 11
· Visual studio 2019
· intel-oneapi-base-toolkit-2025.0.1.47 & intel-oneapi-hpc-toolkit-2025.0.1.48

⚪Secondly, Some settings are shown in the figure：

⚪When generating the solution, two errors are reported, as shown in the figure.

“Creating library...
x64\simclist.obj: not a COFF object, bitcode, archive, import library or resource file
FASTlib : error PRJ0019: A tool returned an error code
Build log written to "file://F:/openfast/openfast-main/vs-build/FASTlib/x64/Release/BuildLog.htm"
FASTlib - 1 error(s), 31 warning(s)
4>------ 已跳过全部重新生成: 项目: OpenFAST-Simulink (IFX), 配置: Release_Matlab x64 ------
4>没有为此解决方案配置选中要生成的项目
5>------ 已启动全部重新生成: 项目: FAST (IFX), 配置: Release x64 ------
Deleting intermediate files and output files for project 'FAST', configuration 'Release|x64'.
Compiling with Intel® Fortran Compiler 2025.0.4 [Intel(R) 64]...
FAST_Prog.f90
Linking...
lld-link: error: could not open 'F:/openfast/openfast-main/build/bin/FASTlib_x64.lib': no such file or directory

Build log written to "file://F:/openfast/openfast-main/vs-build/FAST/x64/Release/BuildLog.htm"
FAST - 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== 全部重新生成: 成功 2 个，失败 2 个，跳过 1 个 ==========”

⚪I hope that experts can guide me in setting up properly or provide helpful suggestions; I would be extremely grateful. Thanks a lot!

[andrew-platt]

@chendiandian421, can you attach the log file file://F:/openfast/openfast-main/vs-build/FASTlib/x64/Release/BuildLog.htm? The the FASTlib_x64.lib file didn't build, most likely due to a missing Simulink dependency.

@deslaughter, did we change the reference to the Simulink library location in the 4.0.2 vs-build config?

[chendiandian421]

r

@chendiandian421, can you attach the log file file://F:/openfast/openfast-main/vs-build/FASTlib/x64/Release/BuildLog.htm? The the FASTlib_x64.lib file didn't build, most likely due to a missing Simulink dependency.

@deslaughter, did we change the reference to the Simulink library location in the 4.0.2 vs-build config?

Sir, thank you for your response. I checked the address you provided and found that the BuildLog.htm file was generated yesterday when I attempted to compile (as shown in the figure).

[andrew-platt]

Can you attach that file to a comment? I need to read the contents of it.

[chendiandian421]

Can you attach that file to a comment? I need to read the contents of it.

Sir, I've successfully compiled it. The method was simple: I switched FAST_Registry and MAP_dll to compile with the C++ compiler provided by Oneapi. Thank you for your reply.

[andrew-platt]

Great! Thanks for letting us know!

[salicto]

Hello OpenFAST community,

I am experiencing a similar issue to the one described by @chendiandian421. After verifying that I am using the same parameters, it seems the problem is related to relative paths during the compilation of the MoorDyn module.
I receive the following error message:

`------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------- OpenFAST Registry ---------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
input file: ..\..\modules\moordyn\src\MoorDyn_Registry.txt
opening Registry_NWTC_Library.txt
opening ../../modules/seastate/src/SeaSt_WaveField.txt
Registry error: cannot open 'Current.txt'.

Error running FAST Registry for MoorDyn.`

I attempted to fix the relative paths in both MoorDyn_Registry.txt and SeaSt_WaveField.txt to explicitly point to ../../modules/seastate/src/Current.txt. After cleaning the solution and rebuilding, I encountered several additional errors (see the attached buildingLog file).
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance,

compilation environnement :
· Windows 11
· Visual studio 2019
· intel-oneapi-base-toolkit-2025.0.1.47 & intel-oneapi-hpc-toolkit-2025.0.1.48

BuildLog.htm

[bjonkman]

I'm not sure which git commit of OpenFAST you are using, but it sounds like you may need to fix the include directories on the call to the run Registry for MoorDyn. This was fixed here: #2914

[salicto]

Dear @bjonkman
I recently updated to a more recent version of OpenFAST (v4.0.3) and attempted to compile it with the Simulink version. I adjusted the path for libmex.lib in the OpenFAST-Simulink dependencies to ensure it points to the correct MATLAB library location.
However, after compiling, I encountered an error that I don’t fully understand. Could you help me interpret this issue or suggest potential fixes?
Thank you in advance for your assistance!

BuildLog.htm

[bjonkman]

I'm a little confused about what you are building. The build log you sent shows it's building the FAST project instead of OpenFAST-Simulink, but is somehow trying to link with OpenFAST-Simulink. Can you check that the Configuration Manager, found under the Build menu, is set to build OpenFAST-Simulink when you've selected the Release_Matlab configuration? The checkbox for FAST should be unchecked in this configuration.

[salicto]

Hello,
Thank you for your guidance! I wasn’t aware that I needed to uncheck FAST (IFX) in the Release_Matlab configuration to build OpenFAST-Simulink. After unchecking it, the compilation completed successfully, and I obtained the openfast_simulink.dll libraries and the create-S-Func.m script, which works as expected.
However, I now have a question about the next steps:

Should I create a new solution (or run a separate build) with FAST (IFX) checked and OpenFAST-Simulink unchecked if I also want to generate the openfast.exe executable?
Or is there a way to generate both the openfast.exe executable and the OpenFAST-Simulink libraries in a single step, without manually switching configurations each time?

I assume these two targets aren’t compatible for simultaneous compilation, but I’d appreciate clarification to avoid any mistakes. Thanks in advance for your help!

[bjonkman]

You can't build both the FAST and OpenFAST-Simulink binaries in the same configuration step. Both rely on the FASTlib project, which has different settings based on which configuration you are running. For example, the FAST executable prints messages to the screen, but the OpenFAST-Simulink library calls some Matlab API routines to print messages to the Matlab command window.

Also, you should not need to make any changes to the Visual Studio solution and project files in the repo (with possibly the exception of changing the Matlab path in the OpenFAST-Simulink section). They have been created with the appropriate projects already checked in the build configuration. For release binaries, you should run the existing MATLAB_Release configuration to build the OpenFAST interface for Simulink and you should run the Release configuration for the stand-alone OpenFAST executable.