Install UHD from Pre-Built Binary Packages on Any OS

Pre-built UHD packages are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, letting you get up and running without compiling from source. Choose the tab that matches your operating system and follow the steps to install the driver, configure any USB hardware, and optionally add the UHD Python API.

Windows
Linux
macOS

Download the NSIS Installer

Ettus Research provides 64-bit Windows installers built with LibUSBx for USB3 support. Installer file names encode the target architecture and MSVC compiler version — for example, a file ending in _Win64_VS2019.exe was built for 64-bit Windows with the Visual Studio 2019 toolchain.

Latest release: files.ettus.com/binaries/uhd/latest_release
All previous releases: files.ettus.com/binaries/uhd/

Run the installer

Download and execute the .exe installer that matches your target architecture and MSVC version. Accept the defaults or choose a custom install directory.

Install the MSVC Redistributable

Download and run the MSVC Redistributable Package that matches the architecture encoded in the installer file name.

Install the WinUSB driver (USB devices only)

Starting with UHD 4.9, the installer automatically places the Windows UHD USB driver in the installation folder and registers it with Windows — no further action is needed.For earlier UHD versions, or to install the driver manually:

Download erllc_uhd_winusb_driver.zip and extract it.
Plug in the USRP device; it will appear as an unrecognized USB device in Device Manager.
Right-click the unrecognized device and select Update/Install driver software.
Choose Browse for driver, navigate to <UHD Install Dir>\share\uhd\usbdriver, and select the .inf file for your device type.
Complete the wizard. Repeat once per USB device type per host computer.

Add UHD to PATH

Add the UHD bin directory (typically C:\Program Files\UHD\bin) to the %PATH% environment variable.

The default Windows interface for editing environment variable paths is limited. Rapid Environment Editor is a convenient free alternative.

Download FPGA images

After installation, run the images downloader to fetch the FPGA and firmware images for your device:

"C:\Program Files\UHD\bin\uhd_images_downloader.exe"

LibUSB (optional custom version)

UHD installers from version 4.8 onwards bundle a compatible LibUSB DLL at <UHD Install Dir>\bin. If you need a different LibUSB version, download a release from the LibUSB GitHub releases page. Ensure the binary matches the platform and MSVC toolset version shown in the UHD installer filename, then copy all files from \VS20XX\MSYY\dll inside the archive into <UHD Install Dir>\bin.

On Windows, LibUSB v1.0.19 or later is required to use most USB 3 controllers.

Python API (Windows)

Starting with UHD 4.8, the UHD Python API for Windows is distributed as a separate binary wheel on PyPI. The wheel supports the same architecture and MSVC toolchain as the installer and is available for Python 3.10 and 3.12.

The UHD Python wheel version must exactly match the version of the UHD Installer Package. Mismatched versions are untested and unsupported.

Confirm the installed UHD version

"C:\Program Files\UHD\bin\uhd_config_info.exe" --version

Install the matching wheel

Replace <version> with the version string reported above:

python -m pip install uhd==<version>

pip will automatically download the correct wheel from PyPI.

Verify the import

python
>>> import uhd

No error output means the Python API is ready to use.

Python package troubleshooting

Task	Command
Show installed wheel version	`python -m pip show uhd`
List all available versions on PyPI	`python -m pip index versions uhd`
Upgrade to the latest version	`python -m pip install --upgrade uhd`
Install a specific version	`python -m pip install uhd==<version>`
Check your Python version	`python --version`

Open a new command prompt after updating the UHD Installer Package so that the updated DLLs are found before initialising the Python module.

Distribution Package Manager

Most Linux distributions ship UHD in their official repositories. These packages are the easiest way to install and keep UHD up to date.

sudo apt-get install libuhd-dev uhd-host

Live CD/DVD/USB installations are not supported. Refer to your distribution’s package manager documentation for any other distro.

Ettus Research PPA / Repository

Ettus Research publishes binary installers for the latest two Ubuntu LTS releases and the latest two Fedora versions for every stable UHD release. These packages are often more recent than those in the distribution repositories.Latest release binaries: files.ettus.com/binaries/uhd_stable/latest_release/

Ubuntu (PPA)
Fedora (repo)

Add the Ettus Research PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ettusresearch/uhd
sudo apt-get update

Install UHD

sudo apt-get install libuhd-dev uhd-host

Download FPGA images

sudo uhd_images_downloader

Create the Ettus repository file

Create /etc/yum.repos.d/ettus.repo with the following content:

[ettus-uhd-stable-repo]
name=Ettus Research - UHD Stable $releasever-$basearch
baseurl=http://files.ettus.com/binaries/uhd/repo/uhd/fedora/$releasever/$basearch
gpgcheck=0

If you are updating an existing repository configuration, run yum clean metadata all before installing.

Install UHD

sudo yum --enablerepo='ettus-uhd-stable-repo' install uhd

Download FPGA images

sudo uhd_images_downloader

Post-install: library path

If libuhd.so is not found at runtime, add its directory to your library path:

sudo ldconfig

Or add the path explicitly to /etc/ld.so.conf, then run sudo ldconfig.

MacPorts (Recommended)

MacPorts is the actively supported installation method for UHD on macOS. It installs UHD together with all dependencies, and automatically downloads and installs the correct FPGA images — no post-install image download step is required.

Install MacPorts

If MacPorts is not already installed, follow the MacPorts installation guide. Ensure the MacPorts bin directory is prepended to your PATH as instructed during setup.

Do not set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH (or any other DYLD_* variable) for general use. macOS provides its own robust mechanisms for library resolution, and setting these variables typically causes hard-to-diagnose issues later.

Install UHD (stable release)

sudo port install uhd

(Optional) Install UHD development snapshot

sudo port install uhd-devel

The uhd-devel port is tested for basic compilation and functionality but is not a formal release — treat it as beta software that may contain bugs or regressions.

HomeBrew / Fink

HomeBrew and Fink can also provide UHD and its dependencies. Consult those package managers’ documentation for the specific install commands and variable settings needed for your environment.

Ettus Research recommends installing all dependencies through a single package manager. Mixing package managers makes dependency tracking and future upgrades significantly more difficult.

After installation via any method other than MacPorts, download FPGA images manually:

uhd_images_downloader

After Installation

FPGA Images

Learn how to download and manage FPGA and firmware images for every USRP device family.

Build from Source

Need a custom build or a version not yet in your package manager? Compile UHD directly from the Git repository.

Introduction

Installation

USRP Devices

Download the NSIS Installer

LibUSB (optional custom version)

Python API (Windows)

Python package troubleshooting

Distribution Package Manager

Ettus Research PPA / Repository

Post-install: library path

MacPorts (Recommended)

HomeBrew / Fink

After Installation

FPGA Images

Build from Source

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Introduction

Installation

USRP Devices

Documentation Index

​Download the NSIS Installer

​LibUSB (optional custom version)

​Python API (Windows)

​Python package troubleshooting

​Distribution Package Manager

​Ettus Research PPA / Repository

​Post-install: library path

​MacPorts (Recommended)

​HomeBrew / Fink

​After Installation

FPGA Images

Build from Source

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Download the NSIS Installer

LibUSB (optional custom version)

Python API (Windows)

Python package troubleshooting

Distribution Package Manager

Ettus Research PPA / Repository

Post-install: library path

MacPorts (Recommended)

HomeBrew / Fink

After Installation