liboqs & liboqs-python Installation Guide:

This guide provides instructions for installing and compiling the liboqs and liboqs-python libraries on Windows and Raspberry Pi.

For Windows 11

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following installed:

• Python 3.10+ (Ensure "Add Python to PATH" was checked during installation)
• Git

Step 1: Install the C++ Build Environment

We need a C++ compiler and CMake.

1. Download Build Tools for Visual Studio 2026 (vs_BuildTools.exe) from the official Microsoft download page (scroll to the bottom, under "All Downloads" -> "Tools for Visual Studio").
   • Recommended: Click this link to download the Build Tools: https://aka.ms/vs/stable/vs_BuildTools.exe
   • Visual Studio Download: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads
2. Run the installer (vs_BuildTools.exe).
3. Under the Workloads tab, check ONLY one option:
   • Desktop development with C++
4. On the right-side Installation details panel, uncheck unnecessary components to save space, but ensure these three are checked:
   • MSVC v14x - VS C++ x64/x86 build tools
   • Windows 11 SDK
   • C++ CMake tools for Windows
5. Click Install. You can close the installer once it finishes.

Step 2: Compile liboqs (v0.14.0)

Python requires a dynamic library (.dll) to interact with C code. We must compile liboqs specifically to generate this file.

1. Click the Windows Start menu, search for "Developer Command Prompt for VS", right-click it, and select Run as administrator.
2. The prompt defaults to C:\Windows\System32. Do not clone code here. Move to a safe root directory:

   cd /d C:\

   mkdir dev

   cd dev

3. Run the following commands sequentially to clone and compile:
   1. Clone the 0.14.0 version:

   git clone --branch 0.14.0 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs.git

   cd liboqs

   2. Configure CMake:

   cmake -S . -B build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON

   3. Build the project:

   cmake --build build --config Release

   4. Install to the default Windows system directory:

   cmake --install build

   The compiled files are now located in C:\Program Files (x86)\liboqs.

Step 3: Configure Windows Environment Variables

Python needs to know where the compiled .dll file is located.

1. Open Windows Search and type "Edit the system environment variables", then hit Enter.
2. Click the Environment Variables button at the bottom right.
3. Under the System variables section (the bottom list), find and double-click the variable named Path.
4. Click New and paste the exact path to the bin folder:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\liboqs\bin
   

5. Click OK on all three windows to save the settings.

Step 4: Install liboqs-python (v0.14.1)

For the new environment variables to take effect, you must completely close any open terminals or IDEs before proceeding.

1. Open a fresh, standard Command Prompt or your Python virtual environment.
2. Install the Python wrapper:

   pip install liboqs-python

Step 5: Verify the Installation

Create a test script (e.g., test_pqc.py) and run the following code to ensure the Python wrapper is successfully communicating with the underlying C library.

import oqs
print("liboqs version:", oqs.oqs_version())
print("liboqs-python version:", oqs.oqs_python_version())
print("KEM supported in liboqs:")
print(oqs.get_supported_kem_mechanisms()[:3])

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For Raspberry Pi

Step 1: Prepare the System and Base Dependencies

This step ensures we have the correct build tools (cmake, ninja) and the essential development libraries required for cryptographic algorithms (OpenSSL headers).

1. Update the system package list

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install build tools and dependencies

sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build libssl-dev git python3-pip python3-venv

Step 2: Compile and Install liboqs (v0.14.0)

liboqs-python is just a wrapper; it heavily relies on the .so dynamic library existing in the system. We must compile the C library correctly first.

1. Return to the home directory

cd ~

2. Clone the specific 0.14.0 version source code

git clone --branch 0.14.0 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs.git

cd liboqs

3. Create a build directory

mkdir build && cd build

4. Configure the project using CMake

cmake -GNinja -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local ..

5. Compile and install to the system path

ninja

sudo ninja install

6. Refresh the system's shared library cache

sudo ldconfig

Verification: Run ls -l /usr/local/lib/liboqs* to ensure you can see liboqs.so.0.14.0.

Step 3: Configure the Python Virtual Environment

To avoid polluting the Raspberry Pi's system-level Python environment, we use a virtual environment for isolation.

1. Return to the home directory

cd ~

2. Create a virtual environment named oqs_env

python3 -m venv oqs_env

3. Activate the virtual environment (Once successful, your command line prefix will show "(oqs_env)")

source oqs_env/bin/activate

4. Update base packages (Optional but recommended)

pip install --upgrade pip setuptools

Step 4: Install liboqs-python

You must compile and install from the local source code while the virtual environment is activated. This ensures it perfectly binds to the 0.14.0 C library you just compiled.

0. Ensure the virtual environment is ACTIVATED

source oqs_env/bin/activate

1. Return to the home directory

cd ~

2. Clone the Python wrapper source code

git clone https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs-python.git

cd liboqs-python

3. Compile and install locally

pip install . --no-cache-dir

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Step 5: Final Verification

Run the following Python one-liner directly in the terminal to test your installation:

python3 -c "import oqs; print('\n Installation Successful!\nCurrent liboqs and liboqs-python version:', oqs.oqs_version(), oqs.oqs_python_version()); print('Supported KEM algorithms:', oqs.get_enabled_kem_mechanisms()[:3])"

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Updated on April 20, 2026