LinVst adds support for Windows vst's to be used in Linux vst capable DAW's.
See LinVst-X (https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst-X) for running vst plugins in a single Wine process so that plugins can communicate with each other or plugins that can use shared samples between instances will be able to communicate with their other instances.
See LinVst3 https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst3 for running vst3 plugins.
(See the Wiki page for a visual guide https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/wiki)
Decide on what version to run, either the embedded window version or the standalone window version (the embedded version would probably be the default choice)
Copy all of the lin-vst-serverxxxx files (files with lin-vst-server in their names) from the version that was chosen to /usr/bin (either the embedded or standalone version folder)
Make a folder and place the windows vst's in it.
Start linvstconvert (in the convert folder) and then select the linvst.so from the chosen embedded or standalone window version folder.
Point linvstconvert to the folder containing the windows vst's and hit the Start (Convert) button.
Start up the linux DAW and point it to scan the folder containing the windows vst's.
More detailed install info is at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Detailed-Guide which also includes possible performance details.
Install details for vsts are at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Tested-VST-Plugins.
Make info is at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Make-Guide
Binary LinVst releases are available at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/releases
If a LinVst version error pops up then LinVst probably needs to be reinstalled to /usr/bin and the older (renamed) linvst.so files in the vst dll folder need to be overwritten (using linvstconvert or linvstconvertree).
Scripts are also avaliable as an alternative to linvstconvert in the convert and manage folders and also https://github.com/Goli4thus/linvstmanage
linvstconvert will not convert vst dll's in sub folders and so some plugins might not appear after a daw scan, so if that happens then use linvstconverttree.
linvstconverttree will convert vst dll's in all sub folders.
If window resizing does not work, then after a resize the UI needs to be closed and then reopened for the new window size to take effect.
One of the problems in trying to intially load multiple vst's all at once is that when the Daw tries to load them, one or more plugins might not scan (and/or run) and the Daw scan might stop/hang.
Some plugins might not load for various reasons, and one of the basic ways to find problem plugins is to run the Daw from the terminal and look at the LinVst output for successful plugin loading as it tries to load each plugin.
It might require multiple Daw plugin rescans (maybe manual plugin rescans for some Daws) and also eliminating problem plugins by deleting their associated (renamed) .so files to get all working plugins scanned.
To be sure about what plugin might run and what plugin might not, it's probably best to proceed by adding one plugin at a time and/or by using the TestVst utility https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/releases which can also be run in batch mode to test multiple vsts.
TestVst can also be used to test dll overrides (wine dll's that are replaced by windows dll's) and if they are likely to work, without going through dll override trial and error using LinVst.
The terminal output of TestVst can sometimes be used to work out what dll override might be needed (if wine dll unimplemented function errors appear in the terminal output for instance).
Some plugins won't run due to various problems.
To install a windows vst exe installation file use wine "path to the exe file"
The quotes also handle paths with spaces in their names.
For example, if the windows vst exe installation file is located in the Downloads folder and is named delay.exe, then (from the terminal) wine ~/"Downloads/delay.exe" will start the installation (~ stands for the user path ie /home/your-user-name).
msi files can be clicked on to start their installation.
Usually by default vst installers install to a path something like ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Steinberg/VSTPlugins and that would usually be the path/folder to use with linvstconvert or (linvstconverttree for subdirs) and then that path would be set in the DAW's plugin search paths.
To change into the plugin directory (using the terminal) cd ~/".wine/drive_c/Program Files/Steinberg/VSTPlugins"
If a LinVst version error pops up then LinVst probably needs to be reinstalled to /usr/bin and the older (renamed) linvst.so files in the vst dll folder need to be overwritten (using linvstconvert or linvstconvertree).
LinVst looks for wine in /usr/bin and if there isn't a /usr/bin/wine then that will probably cause problems. /usr/bin/wine can be a symbolic link to /opt/wine-staging/bin/wine (for wine staging) for example.
Quite a few plugins need winetricks corefonts installed for fonts.
A large number of vst plugin crashes/problems can be basically narrowed down to the following dll's and then worked around by overriding/disabling them.
Quite a few vst plugins rely on the Visual C++ Redistributable dlls msvcr120.dll msvcr140.dll msvcp120.dll msvcp140.dll etc
Some vst plugins might crash if the Visual C++ Redistributable dlls are not present in /home/username/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32 for 64 bit vst's and /home/username/.wine/drive_c/windows/syswow64 for 32 bit vst's, and then overridden in the winecfg Libraries tab
Some vst plugins might not work due to Wines current capabilities or for some other reason.
Use TestVst for testing how a vst plugin might run under Wine.
Some vst plugins rely on the d2d1 dll which is not totally implemented in current Wine.
If a plugin has trouble with it's display then disabling d2d1 in the winecfg Libraries tab can be tried.
Some plugins need Windows fonts (~/.wine/drive_c/windows/Fonts) ./winetricks corefonts
Setting HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Wine Direct3D MaxVersionGL to 30002 (MaxVersionGL is a DWORD hex value) might help with some plugins and d2d1 (can also depend on hardware and drivers).
wininet is used by some vst's for net access including registration and online help etc and sometimes wines inbuilt wininet might cause a crash or have unimplemented functions.
wininet can be overridden with wininet.dll and iertutil.dll and nsi.dll
The winbind and libntlm0 and gnutls packages might need to be installed for net access (sudo apt-get install winbind sudo apt-get install gnutls-bin sudo apt-get install libntlm0)
Occasionally other dlls might need to be overridden such as gdiplus.dll etc
Winetricks https://github.com/Winetricks/winetricks can make overriding dll's easier.
For the above dll overrides
winetricks vcrun2013
winetricks vcrun2015
winetricks wininet
winetricks gdiplus
Winetricks also has a force flag --force ie winetricks --force vcrun2013
cabextract needs to be installed (sudo apt-get install cabextract, yum install cabextract etc)
For details about overriding dll's, see the Wine Config section in the Detailed Guide https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Detailed-Guide
To enable 32 bit vst's on a 64 bit system, a distro's multilib needs to be installed (on Ubuntu it would be sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib g++-multilib)
Drag and Drop is enabled for the embedded LinVst version used with Reaper/Tracktion/Waveforn/Bitwig but it's only for items dragged and dropped onto the vst window and not for items dragged and dropped from the vst window to the DAW/host or to the Desktop window. Usually the dragged item (dragged outside of the vst's window) will be saved as a midi or wav file in a location that is most likely to be located in one of the vst's folders ie a folder in My Documents or a folder that the vst installation has created. The midi or wav file can then be dragged to the DAW. See MT-PowerDrumKit and EZDrummer2 and Addictive Drums 2 and SSD5 in the Tested VST's folder at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Tested-VST-Plugins for some details.
Also, see the Tested VST's folder at https://github.com/osxmidi/LinVst/tree/master/Tested-VST-Plugins for some vst plugin setups and possible tips.
Waveform
For Waveform, disable sandbox option for plugins.
Bitwig
For Bitwig 2.5 and 3.x, In Settings->Plug-ins choose "Individually" plugin setting and check all of the LinVst plugins. For Bitwig 2.4.3, In Settings->Plug-ins choose Independent plug-in host process for "Each plug-in" setting and check all of the LinVst plugins.
Renoise
Choose the sandbox option for plugins.
Sometimes a synth vst might not declare itself as a synth and Renoise might not enable it.
A workaround is to install sqlitebrowser
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linuxgndu/sqlitebrowser-testing
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install sqlitebrowser
Add the synth vst's path to VST_PATH and start Renoise to scan it.
Then exit renoise and edit the database file /home/user/.renoise/V3.1.0/ CachedVSTs_x64.db (enable hidden folders with right click in the file browser).
Go to the "Browse Data" tab in SQLite browser and choose the CachedPlugins table and then locate the entry for the synth vst and enable the "IsSynth" flag from "0" (false) to "1" (true) and save.