# Is it possible to run a VTK based application on a Windows server that does not have OpenGL support?

**URL:** https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [May 28, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414 "2020-05-28T15:45:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![rsahu](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@rsahu](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/rsahu)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414/1 "2020-05-28T15:45:01Z")

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I tried using a VTK based application on a Windows server machine that does not have OpenGL support. The program crashes immediately for lack of OpenGL support.

Is it possible to run a VTK based application on such a platform?

I am using VTK 7.1.1.

I use the following lines of code/modules in a C++ program to use OpenGL.

```
#include <vtkAutoInit.h>

VTK_MODULE_INIT(vtkRenderingOpenGL2);
VTK_MODULE_INIT(vtkInteractionStyle);
VTK_MODULE_INIT(vtkRenderingFreeType);

```

I haven’t found an alternative to `vtkRenderingOpenGL2`.

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414/2 "2020-05-28T16:31:52Z")

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Not if you want to use OpenGL 🙂 . Render-less applications should be fine, but VTK requires OpenGL to be working in order to actually render anything.

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### Author: ![rsahu](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@rsahu](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/rsahu)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414/3 "2020-05-28T16:43:09Z")

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@ben.boeckel I am looking for a way to use VTK without OpenGL.

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/is-it-possible-to-run-a-vtk-based-application-on-a-windows-server-that-does-not-have-opengl-support/3414/4 "2020-05-28T17:41:14Z")

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You can do data manipulations (such as filters) and IO, but if you want to render it, you’ll need OpenGL. The app you’re using will need to not use any of the Rendering libraries (certainly `vtkRenderingOpenGL2`). Alternatively, you could compile Mesa and use software rendering, though this is more complicated on Windows and I don’t have any reliable instructions for that handy.