Quick Start for Windows (WSL)

On Windows 11, QUBO++ can be used through WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which allows Linux programs to run natively on Windows.

This document explains how to install WSL, required libraries, and QUBO++, and how to compile and run sample programs.

Install WSL

On Windows 11, WSL can be installed from Windows PowerShell. Open PowerShell as Administrator and execute the following command:

C:\WINDOWS\System32> wsl --install
Provisioning the new WSL instance Ubuntu
This might take a while...
Create a default Unix user account: [user account name]
New password: [your password]
Retype new password: [your password]
passwd: password updated successfully
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

Enter your [user account name] and [your password] when prompted. This installs WSL 2 and an Ubuntu-based Linux system running on Windows.

After the installation is complete, update and upgrade the system software inside WSL:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Install C++ compiler

QUBO++ requires a C++ compiler.

Install it using the following command:

sudo apt install -y build-essential

Install QUBO++

There are two ways to install QUBO++:

  • Method 1: apt (recommended) — Simple installation with automatic path configuration
  • Method 2: tar.gz — Manual installation without requiring apt repository setup

First, add the QUBO++ apt repository:

curl -fsSL https://nakanocs.github.io/qbpp-apt/KEY.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/qbpp.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/qbpp.gpg] https://nakanocs.github.io/qbpp-apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/qbpp.list

Then install QUBO++:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install qbpp

This automatically installs headers to /usr/local/include/qbpp/, shared libraries to /usr/local/lib/, and the qbpp-license command to /usr/local/bin/. No environment variable configuration is needed.

The sample programs are installed to /usr/local/share/qbpp/samples/. To compile and run them:

cp -r /usr/local/share/qbpp/samples ~/qbpp_samples
cd ~/qbpp_samples
make
./nqueen_easy

To upgrade to a new version:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade qbpp

To uninstall:

sudo apt remove qbpp

Method 2: Install via tar.gz

Download the .tar.gz file of the latest QUBO++ release from the Latest Release page.

Download one of the following files, depending on your Windows PC architecture:

  • qbpp_amd64_<version>.tar.gz : For Intel- or AMD-based Windows PCs
  • qbpp_arm64_<version>.tar.gz : For ARM-based Windows PCs (e.g., Copilot+ PCs)

If the file is downloaded to your Windows Downloads folder, extract it as follows:

tar xf /mnt/c/Users/<user name>/Downloads/qbpp_<arch>_<version>.tar.gz

This creates a directory named qbpp_<arch>_<version> containing all required files.

It is recommended to create a symbolic link to this directory:

ln -s qbpp_<arch>_<version> qbpp

This creates a symbolic link named qbpp, which simplifies access to the installation directory.

Set environment variables

Execute the following commands to set the environment variables required to compile and run QUBO++ programs:

export QBPP_PATH=$HOME/qbpp
export CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH=$QBPP_PATH/include:$CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH
export LIBRARY_PATH=$QBPP_PATH/lib:$LIBRARY_PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$QBPP_PATH/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export PATH=$QBPP_PATH/bin:$PATH

It is recommended to append these commands to the end of the ~/.bashrc file so that they are automatically executed when the WSL shell starts.

Compile and run sample programs 

cd qbpp/samples
make
./nqueen_easy

Upgrading to a new version

Download and extract the new QUBO++ release using tar, as described above. Then update the qbpp symbolic link to point to the new version as follows:

ln -sfn qbpp_<arch>_<new version> qbpp

This command overwrites the existing qbpp symbolic link so that it refers to the newly installed version.

Activate license

If you have a QUBO++ license key, set it using:

export QBPP_LICENSE_KEY=[Your QUBO++ license key]

It is recommended to append this command to the end of the ~/.bashrc file.

You can then activate the QUBO++ license by executing:

qbpp-license -a

If a QUBO++ license key has been set, the corresponding license will be activated. Otherwise, an anonymous license will be activated.

Execute ABS3 GPU Solver

If your system has a CUDA-enabled GPU, the ABS3 GPU Solver can be executed from WSL.

To enable GPU acceleration in WSL, install the NVIDIA GPU driver for Windows from the following page:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

NOTE Do not install a Linux GPU driver inside WSL. WSL uses the Windows GPU driver via its integration layer.

After installing the driver, verify that the GPU is available in WSL by executing:

nvidia-smi

If the driver is installed correctly, this command displays information about the installed GPU. You can then execute a sample program using the ABS3 GPU Solver as follows:

./labs_abs3

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