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, Boost, and oneTBB

QUBO++ requires a C++ compiler, the Boost library, and oneTBB.

Install them using the following command:

$ sudo apt install -y build-essential libboost-all-dev libtbb-dev

Install QUBO++

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:

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

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

$ export QBPP_LICENSE_KEY=[Your QUBO++ license key]

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.

Activate license

You can now 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.

Compile and execute the sample programs

Compile the QUBO++ sample programs using the following commands:

$ cd qbpp/samples
$ make

For example, you can run the QUBO++ program that solves the N-Queens problem as follows:

$ ./nqueen_easy

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

Upgrading to a new version of QUBO++

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.

Last updated: 2026.01.02