To install the Intel® HLS Compiler on Microsoft* Windows* Systems:

1. Confirm that your operating system version is supported by the Intel® HLS Compiler:
   • Microsoft* Windows* 10
   • Microsoft* Windows Server* 2016
2. Install one of the following software products:
   • Microsoft* Visual Studio* 2017 Professional
   • Microsoft* Visual Studio* 2017 Community
   Important: The Intel® HLS Compiler software does not support versions of Microsoft* Visual Studio* other than those specified for the edition of the software.

   If you have multiple versions of Visual Studio*, Microsoft recommends installing Visual Studio* versions in the order in which the versions were released. For example, install Visual Studio* 2010 before installing Visual Studio* 2015. For details, see Install Visual Studio* Versions Side-by-Side in the MSDN Library.
3. Depending on your current system and what installation package or packages you have downloaded, you might have to complete some additional steps to prepare your installation:

   Only Intel® HLS Compiler Installation Package

   If you are upgrading (or adding) the Intel® HLS Compiler in an existing Intel® Quartus® Prime installation:

   1. Ensure that you have Intel® Quartus® Prime already installed.
   2. Take note of the path to your Intel® Quartus® Prime installation.

      You need this path information to complete the Intel® HLS Compiler installation wizard.

   3. If you are upgrading your Intel® HLS Compiler installation, rename the existing HLS directory in your current Intel® Quartus® Prime version to keep that version as a backup.

      For example, if you are installing Intel® HLS Compiler Version 21.4 into an Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Version 21.3 installation, rename C:\intelFPGA_pro\21.3\hls to C:\intelFPGA_pro\21.3\hls_old.

   Separate Intel® Quartus® Prime and Intel® HLS Compiler Installation Packages

   If you are installing separately downloaded Intel® Quartus® Prime (from Individual Files tab of the Quartus Prime download page at the Download Center for FPGAs) and Intel® HLS Compiler (from Additional Software tab of the Quartus Prime download page at the Download Center for FPGAs) installation packages:

   Ensure that you have both installation packages in the same directory. The Intel® Quartus® Prime installer detects the Intel® HLS Compiler installation package and installs both software packages for you.

   Combined Installation Package

   If you are installing the complete Intel® Quartus® Prime and Intel® HLS Compiler installation package (from the Combined Files tab of the Quartus Prime download page at the Download Center for FPGAs), no additional steps are needed before running the installation package.

4. Install the package that you downloaded in Downloading the Intel HLS Compiler Pro Edition.

   For the standalone Intel® HLS Compiler installation package, you are asked to specify the path of the destination Intel® Quartus® Prime installation.

   For detailed instructions about installing Intel® Quartus® Prime software, including system requirements, prerequisites, and licensing requirements, refer to the Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing .

5. If you use the Siemens* EDA Questa* software provided with Intel® Quartus® Prime, add the path to Questa* to your PATH environment variable.
   For example:

   set "PATH=%PATH%;<quartus_installdir>\questa_fse\win64"

   To make these changes permanent, edit the system environment variables from the Windows Control Panel.

6. Optional: If you plan to use Platform Designer to integrate your component with a system, add the path to Platform Designer to your PATH environment variable.
   For example:

   set "PATH=%PATH%;<quartus_installdir>\qsys\bin"

   To make these changes permanent, edit the system environment variables from the Windows Control Panel.