Hive

Copyright (C) 2017-2026, Emilien Vallot, Christophe Calmejane and other contributors

What is Hive

Hive is a pro audio Avdecc (IEEE Std 1722.1) controller. Hive allows you to inspect, configure and connect AVB Entities on your network, specifically targeting AVnu Milan compatible devices (but not only).

Precompiled binaries

Precompiled binaries for macOS and Windows can be found here.

Note: Starting with Hive 1.3, the precompiled Mac binaries require macOS 12 or later to run (both Intel and Apple Silicon).

Minimum requirements for compilation

• CMake 3.29
• Qt 6.8.3 (although Qt 5.15.2 was supported in the past, it's no longer guaranteed to compile correctly)
• Visual Studio 2022 17.4 (using platform toolset v143), Xcode 26, g++ 11.0
• [Optional, for cross-compilation] Docker / Docker Compose

Compilation

• Check and install la_avdecc compilation requirements for your system
• Clone this repository
• Copy .hive_config.sample to .hive_config, then edit it for installer customization
• Run the setup_fresh_env.sh script that should properly setup your working copy
• Run the gen_cmake.sh script with whatever optional parameters required (run gen_cmake.sh -h to display the help)
  • [Linux only] For Ubuntu users, install the qt6-base-dev package and make sure the major and minor version matches what Hive requires. You can alternatively use the -qtvers and -qtdir options when invoking gen_cmake.sh if you want to use a different Qt version (but there is no guarantee it will compile).
• Go into the generated output folder
• Compile everything
  • [macOS/Windows] Open the generated solution and compile from the IDE
  • [Linux] Run cmake --build .

Note: If you are using CMake >= 4.0, you have have to pass extra parameters to gen_cmake.sh (eg: add this at the end of the command line: -- -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5)

Cross-compilation using Docker

• Requires docker and docker-compose to be installed
• Go to the Docker folder
• Build the docker builder image: docker-compose build
• Generate the build solution: docker-compose run --rm gen_cmake -debug -c Ninja -qtvers 6.8.3 -qtdir /usr/local/Qt-6.8.3/lib/cmake -- -DBUILD_HIVE_TESTS=FALSE
• You may change parameters to your convenience
• Build the solution: docker-compose run --rm build --target install
• If you want to run the application, you must authorize X connections to your display: xhost local:root
• You can then run the application from the docker container: APP=Hive-d docker-compose run -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix --rm run
• Windows users need to have a running X Server:
  • Install VcXsrv
  • Start it with access control disabled
  • Find the IP address of your WSL network interface using ipconfig
  • Set a DISPLAY environment variable with value WSL_Interface_IP:0
• macOS users need to have a running XQuartz:
  • Install XQuartz
  • Start it and make sure it's not running with the Allow connections from network clients option (XQuartz -> Preferences -> Security)
  • Change the above command line to APP=Hive-d docker-compose run -e DISPLAY=host.docker.internal:0 --rm run

Installer generation

• Run the gen_install.sh script on either Windows or macOS (not supported on Linux yet)

AppImage generation (Linux)

On Linux, Hive can be distributed as an AppImage, a self-contained portable executable that works on most Linux distributions without installation.

Prerequisites

The following packages must be available on the build system (or Docker image):

• file
• patchelf
• squashfs-tools
• libfuse2

Generating the AppImage

Run the gen_appimage.sh script with the required parameters (run gen_appimage.sh -h to display the help):

./gen_appimage.sh -qtvers 6.8.3 -qtdir /path/to/Qt/6.8.3/lib/cmake

The generated AppImage will be placed in the _deliverables/ folder.

Using Docker

You can also generate the AppImage using the Docker builder:

cd Docker
docker-compose run --rm shell
# Inside the container:
cd /home/builder/sources
bash ./gen_appimage.sh -o ../builds/Hive-appimage -d ../builds/Hive-deliverables -qtvers 6.8.3 -qtdir /usr/local/Qt-6.8.3/lib/cmake

Network capture (pcap) capabilities

Unlike a regular build, setcap cannot be applied directly to an AppImage file (the binary runs from a FUSE mount or a temporary extraction directory, neither of which preserves file capabilities). Additionally, when a binary has file capabilities, the Linux kernel activates secure execution mode (AT_SECURE) which rejects $ORIGIN in DT_RPATH/DT_RUNPATH and clears LD_LIBRARY_PATH, preventing library resolution.

To solve this, the Hive AppImage includes a custom launcher that handles everything automatically on first run:

1. It extracts the application to ~/.local/share/Hive/ (persistent, survives reboots)
2. It rewrites all library RPATHs from $ORIGIN to absolute paths (using a bundled patchelf), so that library resolution works even under AT_SECURE
3. It creates a .desktop entry so Hive appears in your application menu with its icon
4. It prompts for your administrator password (via pkexec) to grant cap_net_raw on the binary (for network capture)
5. On subsequent launches (from the AppImage or the application menu), Hive starts directly

If the capability prompt is skipped, Hive will still run but without network capture. You can set it up later:

sudo setcap cap_net_raw+ep ~/.local/share/Hive/usr/bin/Hive

When a new version of the AppImage is launched, the persistent install is automatically updated and capabilities are re-requested.

Note: After the first run, Hive is available in your application menu. You can safely delete the .AppImage file — to update later, simply download and run a new AppImage.

MacOS notarization

If you want to generate a proper installer that can be distributed (outside the AppStore), you need to notarize the installer. The gen_install.sh script can do this for you if you define notarization_profile in the config file.

You need to create a notarization profile that will be saved in your keychain (just once). For that you'll need your Apple team identifier, Apple account ID, and to generate an application-password (you cannot use your Apple ID account password for security reasons). To generate an application-password, do the following:

• Sign in to your Apple ID account page (https://appleid.apple.com/account/home)
• In the Security section, click Generate Password below App-Specific Passwords
• Follow the steps on your screen

To save a profile in your keychain, do the following:

• xcrun notarytool store-credentials YourProfileName --apple-id YourAccountEmailAdrs --password YourAppSpecificPwd --team-id YourTeamID

MacOS runtime specificities

Before running Hive on a macOS system, you must install Install ChmodBPF.pkg which can be found in /Applications/Hive <Version>/. If you have previously installed Wireshark or LANetworkManager, then you don't need this step.

Linux runtime specificities

Before running Hive on a linux system, you must give the program access to RAW SOCKETS creation.

If using the AppImage, this is handled automatically on first launch (see AppImage generation above).

If using a local build, run the following command (replace /path/to/Hive with the actual path to the binary):

sudo setcap cap_net_raw+ep /path/to/Hive

Versioning

We use SemVer for versioning.

License

See the COPYING and COPYING.LESSER files for details.

Contributing code

Please read this file

Third party

Hive uses the following 3rd party resources:

• L-Acoustics (open source) Avdecc libraries
• Qt
• Material Icons
• Discount Markdown
• BugTrap
• Sparkle and WinSparkle
• ChmodBPF macOS script from Wireshark