How to install ghdl on Windows and Linux

Installation on Windows

1. Download and install GtkWave waveform viewer to C:\APPZ\VHDL\. Do NOT use accented symbols and spaces in the path to install folder!

2. Download and install ghdl-0.29.1 compiler to C:\APPZ\VHDL\. Note that, actual version can be found here.

Installation on Linux

1. Start Terminal (typically Ctrl+Alt+T) and install ghdl compiler and GtkWave waveform viewer.

   sudo apt-get install ghdl gtkwave

Create a new project and simulate it

Note: Description and example of ghdl usage is also here.

1. Create a new project folder gates on your local disk. Do NOT use accented symbols and spaces in the path to project folder!

2. Create a design VHDL file gates/gates.vhd. Open the Example of basic gates and copy/paste the design.vhd code to your local gates/gates.vhd file.

3. Create a simulation VHDL file gates/tb_gates.vhd and copy/paste the testbench.vhd to this file.

4. Create a script file gates/RUN.sh and copy/paste this content to it. In this file:

   • set the TOP_ENTITY according to your testbench

   • set path to your gtkwave installation on Windows or Linux

     TOP_ENTITY=tb_gates
     
     # For Windows
     GTK=C:/APPZ/VHDL/gtkwave/bin
     
     # For Linux
     # GTK=/usr/bin

5. Run Git Bash, Command Prompt (Windows) of Terminal (Linux), navigate to your project folder, and run the script.

   # Windows Git Bash or Linux:
   sh RUN.sh

   

Tested on

Version	Result (yyyy-mm-dd)	Note
Windows 10	OK (2023-04-01)	HomeOffice
Linux Mint 20.3 (Una)	OK (2022-02-24)	Laptop

# FYI: How to check OS version in Linux
$ cat /etc/os-release

# Or by Neofetch
$ neofetch