To install Boost.Build from an official release or a nightly build, as available on the official web site, follow these steps:



  1. Unpack the release. On the command line, go to the root of the unpacked tree.
  2. Run either .\bootstrap.bat (on Windows), or ./bootstrap.sh
  3. Run ./b2 install --prefix=PREFIX where PREFIX
  4. Optionally, add PREFIX/bin to your PATH environment variable.



If you are not using a Boost.Build package, but rather the version bundled with the Boost C++ Libraries, the above commands should be run in the tools/build/v2 directory.

Now that Boost.Build is installed, you can try some of the examples. Copy PREFIX/share/boost-build/examples/hello to a different directory, then change to that directory and run:

PREFIX/bin/b2
PREFIX

A simple executable should be built.