How to compile or use CefSharp with a custom CEF build

[SorceryAdmin]

Can you provide any insights of what needs to be done to achieve:

1. Compile a CEF with h264 and other codecs like those.
   2.- Create a Custom CEF build and be able to use it on CefSharp?
   Basically Know the requirements to create a compatible build so can more/less be on sync with your releases.

[amaitland]

I haven't built CEF with H264 for some time, so this might need some tweaking. It might be worth asking on https://www.magpcss.org/ceforum/index.php before starting to build as it does take many hours typically.

CefSharp uses the binaries provided by Spotify at https://cef-builds.spotifycdn.com/index.html

1. Compile a CEF with h264 and other codecs like those.

Basic CEF build instructions for creating a release build are at https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/AutomatedBuildSetup.md#markdown-header-windows-configuration

Don't follow the Master Build Quick Start as that's for building a dev version.

Building with proprietary codecs should just require some additional GN_DEFINES

set GN_DEFINES=is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome

For reference https://www.magpcss.org/ceforum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=19221

CefSharp ships with x64, x86 and arm64 builds, each requires it's own build. (I'd suggest just building one first and use the existing binaries for the others until you have everything working).

Once you have a CEF build one, I'd suggest running cefclient.exe to confirm that it's working, confirm that H264 is working as expected.

1. 2.- Create a Custom CEF build and be able to use it on CefSharp?

It depends on what your aim is here. Is it to build a custom version of CefSharp or just replace the CEF binaries that come with it?

The easiest option is to build the exact same commit as CefSharp is using and you can just copy the build files over the top of the ones that come packaged with CefSharp. You don't need to perform any of the other build steps.

If you want to build CefSharp from scratch then you need to use the build.ps1 script from https://github.com/cefsharp/cef-binary
to package the CEF binaries into Nuget packages.

There are some instructions at https://github.com/cefsharp/cef-binary/wiki

CefSharp still uses VS2019 by default, you can build with VS2022 as well, you just need to specify the version to the script.

If you only want to package some of the three architectures then you can now pass in an argument for that

cefsharp/cef-binary#100 (comment)

Once you have Nuget packages from build.ps1 in cef-binary you can then move onto building CefSharp.

Clone CefSharp and checkout whichever branch or tag you wish to build against.

If you are using a different build version than the one CefSharp was using then you'll need to upgrade the nuget packages with

https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/blob/master/UpdateNugetPackages.ps1

Again there's a build.ps1 powershell script.

https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/blob/master/build.ps1

The Net Framework and Net Core versions are built independently (limitation of VC++)

https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/blob/master/appveyor.yml#L11

./build.ps1 -BuildArches "x86 x64" -Verbose -Target "vs2022" -Version  135.0.170 -AssemblyVersion 106.0.290 -TargetFramework "NetFramework"

IF YOU BUILD CEFSHARP WITH VS2022 THEN YOU'LL NEED VC++ 2022 Redist

[amaitland]

There is also the excellent project https://github.com/mitchcapper/CefSharpDockerfiles (which is a little outdated, would need some updating)

You can use as a reference if that helps.

[SorceryAdmin]

Thanks, will let you know how lucky I was.

[markosole]

Hi @amaitland,

Thank you for sharing details above, this really helps after 4 days of digging around and following not wrong but different methods without success.
Just a quick question for you here. I'll give example what I am trying to do and maybe steps to get there would be different.
I am using CefSharp.WinForms example and would like to essentially build a browser with H264 support. Let's assume I am running provided example from this repo, out of the box.

What is fastest / easiest method for building custom libs (dll's etc) in order to use them and copy them over the already built project (WinForms example)?

I would assume, the steps would be:

1. Build https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/tree/master/CefSharp.WinForms.Example with eg x64 Release version which will have basic setup and no H264 support.
2. Follow Automated build setup of CEF with flags set GN_DEFINES=is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome
3. Copy-paste built dll's and pak files generated during CEF build over a files from WinForms.Example release. This would replace none-h264 files with ones that have it.

I don't mind copy-pasting every time if that's all it takes just to have H264 supports. Automated post-build script can be ran in VS2022, so would not worry about that step.

Can you advise on this please as I can se a lot of forum posts but it's very missleading.

Thank you!

[markosole]

I've just completed build of CEF with H264 support and integrated into my application. This is minimal (I guess) that needs to be done. For those who are looking for solution.

Preparation

• Requiremets: Windows 10 or 11 x64, Visual Studio VS2022 17.13.+, Win SDK 10.0.26100.4654, Ninja, Python3, Git
• Version of CEF: We are building for same version of CEF & Chromium
• Platform: x86 or x64

Folder structure

Create folder structure as following:

C:\code\chromium_git\
C:\code\automate\
C:\code\depot_tools

Tooling

Download ane extract it's content to C:\code\depot_tools
Direct download: https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-infra/depot_tools.zip

Install Ninja using one of desired methods:
More info here: https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/wiki/Pre-built-Ninja-packages

winget install Ninja-build.Ninja

choco install ninja

scoop install ninja

BAT script config

Create bash script with content below and save it to C:\code\cefsharp_src\update.bat

Update tools by navigating to directory using cmd:
cd c:\code\depot_tools

And executing:

cd c:\code\depot_tools>update_depot_tools.bat

Update script update.bat

@echo off

:: --- Essential GN Flags for Proprietary Codecs ---
set GN_DEFINES=is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome chrome_pgo_phase=0
set GN_ARGUMENTS=--ide=vs2022 --sln=cef --filters=//cef/*

echo Downloading CEF source and Chromium dependencies...

:: python or python3, how ever is configured

python3 ..\automate\automate-git.py --download-dir=c:\code\chromium_git --x64-build --depot-tools-dir=c:\code\depot_tools --branch=7390

:: Add --x64-build to build x64 version
:: Optional params, we dont use them --no-build  --no-distrib --no-build --mode=release

:: The branch number '7390' corresponds to your Chromium/CEF version in our case 141.0.7390 for CefSharp 141.0.110

Building

Run in Command Prompt (CMD):

cd c:\code\chromium_git>update.bat

Compailer may complain about dxil.dll that can't be fould in SDK folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.26100.0\x64, copy one provided with docs to a destination where is missing. Installation of mine SDK did not include file by default.

Build will take 1+ hours to complete. It may stop with errors 429 and if it does wait for 30-60 minutes and re-run update.bat again. Google has rate limiting to prevent abuse and blocks large number of requests. But don't worry, script will continue where it failed.

Also you may get "Access Denied" on files and folders. I've ran into issues multiple times and to prevent any issues disable your antivirus software.
You may also try to run CMD as Administrator and executing update.bat, it may help with files permissions.

Builds completed

Once builds are completed console output below will be shown indicating settings params used in build.

1h37m56.60s Build Succeeded: 57323 steps - 9.75/s
--> c:\code\chromium_git\chromium\src\out\Release_GN_x64\args.gn contents:
alternate_cdm_storage_id_key="968b476909da4373bxxxxxxxxxx"
chrome_pgo_phase=0
clang_use_chrome_plugins=false
disable_fieldtrial_testing_config=true
enable_background_mode=false
enable_cdm_host_verification=true
enable_cdm_storage_id=true
enable_downgrade_processing=false
enable_resource_allowlist_generation=false
enable_rlz=true
enable_widevine=true
ffmpeg_branding="Chrome"
is_component_build=false
is_debug=false
is_official_build=true
optimize_webui=true
proprietary_codecs=true
target_cpu="x64"

Versions and files

Locating files that we need depending on platform and OS. In our case we are building for Release and x64.

Files built in compile time will be exprted to: C:\code\chromium_git\chromium\src\out
Navigate to Release_GN_x64 and look for file:

libcef.dll

There are other files that aren't relevant that much right now.

chrome_100_percent.pak
chrome_200_percent.pak
chrome_elf.dll
d3dcompiler_47.dll
dxcompiler.dll
libEGL.dll
libGLESv2.dll
snapshot_blob.bin
v8_context_snapshot.bin

Debug

We will use this file to replace one in out project build.
While developing and running project in Debug mode, built files will be on path eg. C:\YourProjectFolder\ApplicationOutput\Debug\net481
We need to copy libcef.dll to our project output eg. C:\YourProjectFolder\ApplicationOutput\Debug\net481\x64

Release

We need to copy libcef.dll to our project output eg. C:\YourProjectFolder\ApplicationOutput\Release\net481\x64

---

Resources:
https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/MasterBuildQuickStart.md
https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/AutomatedBuildSetup.md#markdown-header-windows-configuration
https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/BranchesAndBuilding.md#markdown-header-current-release-branches-supported

[SorceryAdmin]

Great tutorial, looks way different on how I did. Will try your way and let you know. Thanks .

[markosole]

I've tried many other ways and options too and this finally worked (after 5 days of trying and failing). I've specified --x64-build as that's enough for my project.

[amaitland]

@markosole Thanks for providing such a detailed response. I'll try clarify some points.

https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/MasterBuildQuickStart.md

Stay away from this article unless you are planning on build CEF with the intent of debugging the source code. It looks like some of the steps you've put come from this article. Mixing and matching args could be problematic, I've seen plenty of people end up with a component build (which cannot be distributed), so again, stay way from this article.

Using the details at https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/AutomatedBuildSetup.md?iframe=true&spa=0#markdown-header-windows-configuration on it's own is what I would be doing if I needed to build CEF.

There are args like --no-chromium-history that are recommended which should save quite a lot of download time (relatively new CEF build config)

• Requiremets: Windows 10 or 11 x64, Visual Studio VS2022 17.13.+, Win SDK 10.0.26100.4654, Ninja, Python3, Git

Requirements are branch specific, they are outlined at https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/BranchesAndBuilding.md?markdown-header-current-release-branches-supported=&iframe=true&spa=0#markdown-header-current-release-branches-supported

They do change over time, make sure you use the relevant versions for the branch you are building.

https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/wiki/AutomatedBuildSetup.md?iframe=true&spa=0#markdown-header-windows-configuration has details on what's used by the Spotify automated builder.

Download ane extract it's content to C:\code\depot_tools

You shouldn't need to do this, CEF's automate-git.py should download the correct version of depot_tools that's required for the branch. CEF specifically pins a version of depot tools for older branches. So grabbing the latest won't work if you are being an older branch.

https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/cef/commits/?search=depot

Again, following the AutomatedBuildSetup steps closely with just appending the required GN_DEFINES is the recommended approach.

There are other files that aren't relevant that much right now.

If you build exactly the same commit that CefSharp is based on then just replacing libcef.dll is probably fine. If you just built the same branch then copying all the CEF files is the safest option, it's very difficult to know what actually changed internally within Chromium.

[amaitland]

CEF with H264 support

Make sure you are complying with the relevant licensing.

https://via-la.com/licensing-programs/

https://www.chromium.org/audio-video/#codec-and-container-support

Typically H264 video is paired with AAC audio which I believe requires an additional license.

Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, and this comment does not constitute legal advice. It’s provided for general informational purposes only. If you need guidance about licensing or patent issues related to proprietary codecs, you should consult a qualified lawyer or the relevant rights holders.