install¶
Specify rules to run at install time.
Synopsis¶
install(TARGETS <target>... [...]) install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS <target>... [...]) install({FILES | PROGRAMS} <file>... [...]) install(DIRECTORY <dir>... [...]) install(SCRIPT <file> [...]) install(CODE <code> [...]) install(EXPORT <export-name> [...]) install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name> [...])
Introduction¶
This command generates installation rules for a project. Install rules
specified by calls to the install() command within a source directory
are executed in order during installation.
Changed in version 3.14: Install rules in subdirectories
added by calls to the add_subdirectory() command are interleaved
with those in the parent directory to run in the order declared (see
policy CMP0082).
Changed in version 3.22: The environment variable CMAKE_INSTALL_MODE can override the
default copying behavior of install().
There are multiple signatures for this command. Some of them define installation options for files and targets. Options common to multiple signatures are covered here but they are valid only for signatures that specify them. The common options are:
DESTINATIONSpecify the directory on disk to which a file will be installed. Arguments can be relative or absolute paths.
If a relative path is given it is interpreted relative to the value of the
CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIXvariable. The prefix can be relocated at install time using theDESTDIRmechanism explained in theCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIXvariable documentation.If an absolute path (with a leading slash or drive letter) is given it is used verbatim.
As absolute paths are not supported by
cpackinstaller generators, it is preferable to use relative paths throughout. In particular, there is no need to make paths absolute by prependingCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX; this prefix is used by default if the DESTINATION is a relative path.PERMISSIONSSpecify permissions for installed files. Valid permissions are
OWNER_READ,OWNER_WRITE,OWNER_EXECUTE,GROUP_READ,GROUP_WRITE,GROUP_EXECUTE,WORLD_READ,WORLD_WRITE,WORLD_EXECUTE,SETUID, andSETGID. Permissions that do not make sense on certain platforms are ignored on those platforms.CONFIGURATIONSSpecify a list of build configurations for which the install rule applies (Debug, Release, etc.). Note that the values specified for this option only apply to options listed AFTER the
CONFIGURATIONSoption. For example, to set separate install paths for the Debug and Release configurations, do the following:install(TARGETS target CONFIGURATIONS Debug RUNTIME DESTINATION Debug/bin) install(TARGETS target CONFIGURATIONS Release RUNTIME DESTINATION Release/bin)
Note that
CONFIGURATIONSappears BEFORERUNTIME DESTINATION.COMPONENTSpecify an installation component name with which the install rule is associated, such as
RuntimeorDevelopment. During component-specific installation only install rules associated with the given component name will be executed. During a full installation all components are installed unless marked withEXCLUDE_FROM_ALL. IfCOMPONENTis not provided a default component "Unspecified" is created. The default component name may be controlled with theCMAKE_INSTALL_DEFAULT_COMPONENT_NAMEvariable.EXCLUDE_FROM_ALLNew in version 3.6.
Specify that the file is excluded from a full installation and only installed as part of a component-specific installation
RENAMESpecify a name for an installed file that may be different from the original file. Renaming is allowed only when a single file is installed by the command.
OPTIONALSpecify that it is not an error if the file to be installed does not exist.
New in version 3.1: Command signatures that install files may print messages during
installation. Use the CMAKE_INSTALL_MESSAGE variable
to control which messages are printed.
New in version 3.11: Many of the install() variants implicitly create the directories
containing the installed files. If
CMAKE_INSTALL_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS is set, these
directories will be created with the permissions specified. Otherwise,
they will be created according to the uname rules on Unix-like platforms.
Windows platforms are unaffected.
Installing Targets¶
install(TARGETS targets... [EXPORT <export-name>]
[RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES args...|RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>]
[[ARCHIVE|LIBRARY|RUNTIME|OBJECTS|FRAMEWORK|BUNDLE|
PRIVATE_HEADER|PUBLIC_HEADER|RESOURCE|FILE_SET <set-name>|CXX_MODULES_BMI]
[DESTINATION <dir>]
[PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[NAMELINK_COMPONENT <component>]
[OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
[NAMELINK_ONLY|NAMELINK_SKIP]
] [...]
[INCLUDES DESTINATION [<dir> ...]]
)
The TARGETS form specifies rules for installing targets from a
project. There are several kinds of target Output Artifacts
that may be installed:
ARCHIVETarget artifacts of this kind include:
Static libraries (except on macOS when marked as
FRAMEWORK, see below);DLL import libraries (on all Windows-based systems including Cygwin; they have extension
.lib, in contrast to the.dlllibraries that go toRUNTIME);On AIX, the linker import file created for executables with
ENABLE_EXPORTSenabled.
LIBRARYTarget artifacts of this kind include:
Shared libraries, except
DLLs (these go to
RUNTIME, see below),on macOS when marked as
FRAMEWORK(see below).
RUNTIMETarget artifacts of this kind include:
Executables (except on macOS when marked as
MACOSX_BUNDLE, seeBUNDLEbelow);DLLs (on all Windows-based systems including Cygwin; note that the accompanying import libraries are of kind
ARCHIVE).
OBJECTSNew in version 3.9.
Object files associated with object libraries.
FRAMEWORKBoth static and shared libraries marked with the
FRAMEWORKproperty are treated asFRAMEWORKtargets on macOS.BUNDLEExecutables marked with the
MACOSX_BUNDLEproperty are treated asBUNDLEtargets on macOS.PUBLIC_HEADERAny
PUBLIC_HEADERfiles associated with a library are installed in the destination specified by thePUBLIC_HEADERargument on non-Apple platforms. Rules defined by this argument are ignored forFRAMEWORKlibraries on Apple platforms because the associated files are installed into the appropriate locations inside the framework folder. SeePUBLIC_HEADERfor details.PRIVATE_HEADERSimilar to
PUBLIC_HEADER, but forPRIVATE_HEADERfiles. SeePRIVATE_HEADERfor details.RESOURCESimilar to
PUBLIC_HEADERandPRIVATE_HEADER, but forRESOURCEfiles. SeeRESOURCEfor details.FILE_SET <set>New in version 3.23.
File sets are defined by the
target_sources(FILE_SET)command. If the file set<set>exists and isPUBLICorINTERFACE, any files in the set are installed under the destination (see below). The directory structure relative to the file set's base directories is preserved. For example, a file added to the file set as/blah/include/myproj/here.hwith a base directory/blah/includewould be installed tomyproj/here.hbelow the destination.
CXX_MODULES_BMI
Note
Experimental. Gated by
CMAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_CXX_MODULE_CMAKE_APIAny module files from C++ modules from
PUBLICsources in a file set of typeCXX_MODULESwill be installed to the givenDESTINATION. All modules are placed directly in the destination as no directory structure is derived from the names of the modules. An emptyDESTINATIONmay be used to suppress installing these files (for use in generic code).
For each of these arguments given, the arguments following them only apply to the target or file type specified in the argument. If none is given, the installation properties apply to all target types.
For regular executables, static libraries and shared libraries, the
DESTINATION argument is not required. For these target types, when
DESTINATION is omitted, a default destination will be taken from the
appropriate variable from GNUInstallDirs, or set to a built-in
default value if that variable is not defined. The same is true for file
sets, and the public and private headers associated with the installed
targets through the PUBLIC_HEADER and PRIVATE_HEADER
target properties. A destination must always be provided for module libraries,
Apple bundles and frameworks. A destination can be omitted for interface and
object libraries, but they are handled differently (see the discussion of this
topic toward the end of this section).
For shared libraries on DLL platforms, if neither RUNTIME nor ARCHIVE
destinations are specified, both the RUNTIME and ARCHIVE components are
installed to their default destinations. If either a RUNTIME or ARCHIVE
destination is specified, the component is installed to that destination, and
the other component is not installed. If both RUNTIME and ARCHIVE
destinations are specified, then both components are installed to their
respective destinations.
The following table shows the target types with their associated variables and built-in defaults that apply when no destination is given:
Target Type |
GNUInstallDirs Variable |
Built-In Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Projects wishing to follow the common practice of installing headers into a
project-specific subdirectory may prefer using file sets with appropriate
paths and base directories. Otherwise, they must provide a DESTINATION
instead of being able to rely on the above (see next example below).
To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if
projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is recommended that they use a
path that begins with the appropriate GNUInstallDirs variable.
This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting
the appropriate cache variables. The following example shows a static library
being installed to the default destination provided by
GNUInstallDirs, but with its headers installed to a project-specific
subdirectory without using file sets:
add_library(mylib STATIC ...)
set_target_properties(mylib PROPERTIES PUBLIC_HEADER mylib.h)
include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(TARGETS mylib
PUBLIC_HEADER
DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/myproj
)
In addition to the common options listed above, each target can accept the following additional arguments:
NAMELINK_COMPONENTNew in version 3.12.
On some platforms a versioned shared library has a symbolic link such as:
lib<name>.so -> lib<name>.so.1
where
lib<name>.so.1is the soname of the library andlib<name>.sois a "namelink" allowing linkers to find the library when given-l<name>. TheNAMELINK_COMPONENToption is similar to theCOMPONENToption, but it changes the installation component of a shared library namelink if one is generated. If not specified, this defaults to the value ofCOMPONENT. It is an error to use this parameter outside of aLIBRARYblock.Consider the following example:
install(TARGETS mylib LIBRARY COMPONENT Libraries NAMELINK_COMPONENT Development PUBLIC_HEADER COMPONENT Development )
In this scenario, if you choose to install only the
Developmentcomponent, both the headers and namelink will be installed without the library. (If you don't also install theLibrariescomponent, the namelink will be a dangling symlink, and projects that link to the library will have build errors.) If you install only theLibrariescomponent, only the library will be installed, without the headers and namelink.This option is typically used for package managers that have separate runtime and development packages. For example, on Debian systems, the library is expected to be in the runtime package, and the headers and namelink are expected to be in the development package.
See the
VERSIONandSOVERSIONtarget properties for details on creating versioned shared libraries.NAMELINK_ONLYThis option causes the installation of only the namelink when a library target is installed. On platforms where versioned shared libraries do not have namelinks or when a library is not versioned, the
NAMELINK_ONLYoption installs nothing. It is an error to use this parameter outside of aLIBRARYblock.When
NAMELINK_ONLYis given, eitherNAMELINK_COMPONENTorCOMPONENTmay be used to specify the installation component of the namelink, butCOMPONENTshould generally be preferred.NAMELINK_SKIPSimilar to
NAMELINK_ONLY, but it has the opposite effect: it causes the installation of library files other than the namelink when a library target is installed. When neitherNAMELINK_ONLYorNAMELINK_SKIPare given, both portions are installed. On platforms where versioned shared libraries do not have symlinks or when a library is not versioned,NAMELINK_SKIPinstalls the library. It is an error to use this parameter outside of aLIBRARYblock.If
NAMELINK_SKIPis specified,NAMELINK_COMPONENThas no effect. It is not recommended to useNAMELINK_SKIPin conjunction withNAMELINK_COMPONENT.
The install(TARGETS) command can also accept the following options at the top level:
EXPORTThis option associates the installed target files with an export called
<export-name>. It must appear before any target options. To actually install the export file itself, call install(EXPORT), documented below. See documentation of theEXPORT_NAMEtarget property to change the name of the exported target.If
EXPORTis used and the targets includePUBLICorINTERFACEfile sets, all of them must be specified withFILE_SETarguments. AllPUBLICorINTERFACEfile sets associated with a target are included in the export.INCLUDES DESTINATIONThis option specifies a list of directories which will be added to the
INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIEStarget property of the<targets>when exported by the install(EXPORT) command. If a relative path is specified, it is treated as relative to the$<INSTALL_PREFIX>.RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SETNew in version 3.21.
This option causes all runtime dependencies of installed executable, shared library, and module targets to be added to the specified runtime dependency set. This set can then be installed with an install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command.
This keyword and the
RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIESkeyword are mutually exclusive.RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIESNew in version 3.21.
This option causes all runtime dependencies of installed executable, shared library, and module targets to be installed along with the targets themselves. The
RUNTIME,LIBRARY,FRAMEWORK, and generic arguments are used to determine the properties (DESTINATION,COMPONENT, etc.) of the installation of these dependencies.RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIESis semantically equivalent to the following pair of calls:install(TARGETS ... RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>) install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name> args...)
where
<set-name>will be a randomly generated set name. Theargs...may include any of the following keywords supported by the install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command:DIRECTORIESPRE_INCLUDE_REGEXESPRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXESPOST_INCLUDE_REGEXESPOST_EXCLUDE_REGEXESPOST_INCLUDE_FILESPOST_EXCLUDE_FILES
The
RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIESandRUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SETkeywords are mutually exclusive.
One or more groups of properties may be specified in a single call to
the TARGETS form of this command. A target may be installed more than
once to different locations. Consider hypothetical targets myExe,
mySharedLib, and myStaticLib. The code:
install(TARGETS myExe mySharedLib myStaticLib
RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib/static)
install(TARGETS mySharedLib DESTINATION /some/full/path)
will install myExe to <prefix>/bin and myStaticLib to
<prefix>/lib/static. On non-DLL platforms mySharedLib will be
installed to <prefix>/lib and /some/full/path. On DLL platforms
the mySharedLib DLL will be installed to <prefix>/bin and
/some/full/path and its import library will be installed to
<prefix>/lib/static and /some/full/path.
Interface Libraries may be listed among the targets to install.
They install no artifacts but will be included in an associated EXPORT.
If Object Libraries are listed but given no destination for their
object files, they will be exported as Interface Libraries.
This is sufficient to satisfy transitive usage requirements of other
targets that link to the object libraries in their implementation.
Installing a target with the EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL target property
set to TRUE has undefined behavior.
New in version 3.3: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may
use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
New in version 3.13: install(TARGETS) can install targets that were created in
other directories. When using such cross-directory install rules, running
make install (or similar) from a subdirectory will not guarantee that
targets from other directories are up-to-date. You can use
target_link_libraries() or add_dependencies()
to ensure that such out-of-directory targets are built before the
subdirectory-specific install rules are run.
Installing Imported Runtime Artifacts¶
New in version 3.21.
install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS targets...
[RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>]
[[LIBRARY|RUNTIME|FRAMEWORK|BUNDLE]
[DESTINATION <dir>]
[PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
] [...]
)
The IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS form specifies rules for installing the
runtime artifacts of imported targets. Projects may do this if they want to
bundle outside executables or modules inside their installation. The
LIBRARY, RUNTIME, FRAMEWORK, and BUNDLE arguments have the
same semantics that they do in the TARGETS mode. Only the runtime artifacts
of imported targets are installed (except in the case of FRAMEWORK
libraries, MACOSX_BUNDLE executables, and BUNDLE
CFBundles.) For example, headers and import libraries associated with DLLs are
not installed. In the case of FRAMEWORK libraries,
MACOSX_BUNDLE executables, and BUNDLE CFBundles, the
entire directory is installed.
The RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET option causes the runtime artifacts of the
imported executable, shared library, and module library targets to be
added to the <set-name> runtime dependency set. This set can then be
installed with an install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command.
Installing Files¶
Note
If installing header files, consider using file sets defined by
target_sources(FILE_SET) instead. File sets associate
headers with a target and they install as part of the target.
install(<FILES|PROGRAMS> files...
TYPE <type> | DESTINATION <dir>
[PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[RENAME <name>] [OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL])
The FILES form specifies rules for installing files for a project.
File names given as relative paths are interpreted with respect to the
current source directory. Files installed by this form are by default
given permissions OWNER_WRITE, OWNER_READ, GROUP_READ, and
WORLD_READ if no PERMISSIONS argument is given.
The PROGRAMS form is identical to the FILES form except that the
default permissions for the installed file also include OWNER_EXECUTE,
GROUP_EXECUTE, and WORLD_EXECUTE. This form is intended to install
programs that are not targets, such as shell scripts. Use the TARGETS
form to install targets built within the project.
The list of files... given to FILES or PROGRAMS may use
"generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
However, if any item begins in a generator expression it must evaluate
to a full path.
Either a TYPE or a DESTINATION must be provided, but not both.
A TYPE argument specifies the generic file type of the files being
installed. A destination will then be set automatically by taking the
corresponding variable from GNUInstallDirs, or by using a
built-in default if that variable is not defined. See the table below for
the supported file types and their corresponding variables and built-in
defaults. Projects can provide a DESTINATION argument instead of a
file type if they wish to explicitly define the install destination.
|
GNUInstallDirs Variable |
Built-In Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Projects wishing to follow the common practice of installing headers into a
project-specific subdirectory will need to provide a destination rather than
rely on the above. Using file sets for headers instead of install(FILES)
would be even better (see target_sources(FILE_SET)).
Note that some of the types' built-in defaults use the DATAROOT directory as
a prefix. The DATAROOT prefix is calculated similarly to the types, with
CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR as the variable and share as the built-in
default. You cannot use DATAROOT as a TYPE parameter; please use
DATA instead.
To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if
projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is recommended that they use a
path that begins with the appropriate GNUInstallDirs variable.
This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting
the appropriate cache variables. The following example shows how to follow
this advice while installing an image to a project-specific documentation
subdirectory:
include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(FILES logo.png
DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR}/myproj
)
New in version 3.4: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may
use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
New in version 3.20: An install rename given as a RENAME argument may
use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
Installing Directories¶
Note
To install a directory sub-tree of headers, consider using file sets
defined by target_sources(FILE_SET) instead. File sets not only
preserve directory structure, they also associate headers with a target
and install as part of the target.
install(DIRECTORY dirs...
TYPE <type> | DESTINATION <dir>
[FILE_PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS] [OPTIONAL] [MESSAGE_NEVER]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]]
[COMPONENT <component>] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
[FILES_MATCHING]
[[PATTERN <pattern> | REGEX <regex>]
[EXCLUDE] [PERMISSIONS permissions...]] [...])
The DIRECTORY form installs contents of one or more directories to a
given destination. The directory structure is copied verbatim to the
destination. The last component of each directory name is appended to
the destination directory but a trailing slash may be used to avoid
this because it leaves the last component empty. Directory names
given as relative paths are interpreted with respect to the current
source directory. If no input directory names are given the
destination directory will be created but nothing will be installed
into it. The FILE_PERMISSIONS and DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS options
specify permissions given to files and directories in the destination.
If USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS is specified and FILE_PERMISSIONS is not,
file permissions will be copied from the source directory structure.
If no permissions are specified files will be given the default
permissions specified in the FILES form of the command, and the
directories will be given the default permissions specified in the
PROGRAMS form of the command.
New in version 3.1: The MESSAGE_NEVER option disables file installation status output.
Installation of directories may be controlled with fine granularity
using the PATTERN or REGEX options. These "match" options specify a
globbing pattern or regular expression to match directories or files
encountered within input directories. They may be used to apply
certain options (see below) to a subset of the files and directories
encountered. The full path to each input file or directory (with
forward slashes) is matched against the expression. A PATTERN will
match only complete file names: the portion of the full path matching
the pattern must occur at the end of the file name and be preceded by
a slash. A REGEX will match any portion of the full path but it may
use / and $ to simulate the PATTERN behavior. By default all
files and directories are installed whether or not they are matched.
The FILES_MATCHING option may be given before the first match option
to disable installation of files (but not directories) not matched by
any expression. For example, the code
install(DIRECTORY src/ DESTINATION doc/myproj
FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.png")
will extract and install images from a source tree.
Some options may follow a PATTERN or REGEX expression as described
under string(REGEX) and are applied
only to files or directories matching them. The EXCLUDE option will
skip the matched file or directory. The PERMISSIONS option overrides
the permissions setting for the matched file or directory. For
example the code
install(DIRECTORY icons scripts/ DESTINATION share/myproj
PATTERN "CVS" EXCLUDE
PATTERN "scripts/*"
PERMISSIONS OWNER_EXECUTE OWNER_WRITE OWNER_READ
GROUP_EXECUTE GROUP_READ)
will install the icons directory to share/myproj/icons and the
scripts directory to share/myproj. The icons will get default
file permissions, the scripts will be given specific permissions, and any
CVS directories will be excluded.
Either a TYPE or a DESTINATION must be provided, but not both.
A TYPE argument specifies the generic file type of the files within the
listed directories being installed. A destination will then be set
automatically by taking the corresponding variable from
GNUInstallDirs, or by using a built-in default if that variable
is not defined. See the table below for the supported file types and their
corresponding variables and built-in defaults. Projects can provide a
DESTINATION argument instead of a file type if they wish to explicitly
define the install destination.
|
GNUInstallDirs Variable |
Built-In Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note that some of the types' built-in defaults use the DATAROOT directory as
a prefix. The DATAROOT prefix is calculated similarly to the types, with
CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR as the variable and share as the built-in
default. You cannot use DATAROOT as a TYPE parameter; please use
DATA instead.
To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if
projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is recommended that they use a
path that begins with the appropriate GNUInstallDirs variable.
This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting
the appropriate cache variables.
New in version 3.4: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may
use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
New in version 3.5: The list of dirs... given to DIRECTORY may use
"generator expressions" too.
Custom Installation Logic¶
install([[SCRIPT <file>] [CODE <code>]]
[ALL_COMPONENTS | COMPONENT <component>]
[EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL] [...])
The SCRIPT form will invoke the given CMake script files during
installation. If the script file name is a relative path it will be
interpreted with respect to the current source directory. The CODE
form will invoke the given CMake code during installation. Code is
specified as a single argument inside a double-quoted string. For
example, the code
install(CODE "MESSAGE(\"Sample install message.\")")
will print a message during installation.
New in version 3.21: When the ALL_COMPONENTS option is given, the custom installation
script code will be executed for every component of a component-specific
installation. This option is mutually exclusive with the COMPONENT
option.
New in version 3.14: <file> or <code> may use "generator expressions" with the syntax
$<...> (in the case of <file>, this refers to their use in the file
name, not the file's contents). See the
cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.
Installing Exports¶
install(EXPORT <export-name> DESTINATION <dir>
[NAMESPACE <namespace>] [FILE <name>.cmake]
[PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]
[CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY <directory>]
[EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL])
install(EXPORT_ANDROID_MK <export-name> DESTINATION <dir> [...])
The EXPORT form generates and installs a CMake file containing code to
import targets from the installation tree into another project.
Target installations are associated with the export <export-name>
using the EXPORT option of the install(TARGETS) signature
documented above. The NAMESPACE option will prepend <namespace> to
the target names as they are written to the import file. By default
the generated file will be called <export-name>.cmake but the FILE
option may be used to specify a different name. The value given to
the FILE option must be a file name with the .cmake extension.
If a CONFIGURATIONS option is given then the file will only be installed
when one of the named configurations is installed. Additionally, the
generated import file will reference only the matching target
configurations. The EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES keyword, if
present, causes the contents of the properties matching
(IMPORTED_)?LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES(_<CONFIG>)? to be exported, when
policy CMP0022 is NEW.
Note
The installed <export-name>.cmake file may come with additional
per-configuration <export-name>-*.cmake files to be loaded by
globbing. Do not use an export name that is the same as the package
name in combination with installing a <package-name>-config.cmake
file or the latter may be incorrectly matched by the glob and loaded.
When a COMPONENT option is given, the listed <component> implicitly
depends on all components mentioned in the export set. The exported
<name>.cmake file will require each of the exported components to be
present in order for dependent projects to build properly. For example, a
project may define components Runtime and Development, with shared
libraries going into the Runtime component and static libraries and
headers going into the Development component. The export set would also
typically be part of the Development component, but it would export
targets from both the Runtime and Development components. Therefore,
the Runtime component would need to be installed if the Development
component was installed, but not vice versa. If the Development component
was installed without the Runtime component, dependent projects that try
to link against it would have build errors. Package managers, such as APT and
RPM, typically handle this by listing the Runtime component as a dependency
of the Development component in the package metadata, ensuring that the
library is always installed if the headers and CMake export file are present.
New in version 3.7: In addition to cmake language files, the EXPORT_ANDROID_MK mode may be
used to specify an export to the android ndk build system. This mode
accepts the same options as the normal export mode. The Android
NDK supports the use of prebuilt libraries, both static and shared. This
allows cmake to build the libraries of a project and make them available
to an ndk build system complete with transitive dependencies, include flags
and defines required to use the libraries.
CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY
Note
Experimental. Gated by
CMAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_CXX_MODULE_CMAKE_APISpecify a subdirectory to store C++ module information for targets in the export set. This directory will be populated with files which add the necessary target property information to the relevant targets. Note that without this information, none of the C++ modules which are part of the targets in the export set will support being imported in consuming targets.
The EXPORT form is useful to help outside projects use targets built
and installed by the current project. For example, the code
install(TARGETS myexe EXPORT myproj DESTINATION bin)
install(EXPORT myproj NAMESPACE mp_ DESTINATION lib/myproj)
install(EXPORT_ANDROID_MK myproj DESTINATION share/ndk-modules)
will install the executable myexe to <prefix>/bin and code to import
it in the file <prefix>/lib/myproj/myproj.cmake and
<prefix>/share/ndk-modules/Android.mk. An outside project
may load this file with the include command and reference the myexe
executable from the installation tree using the imported target name
mp_myexe as if the target were built in its own tree.
Note
This command supersedes the install_targets() command and
the PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT
target properties. It also replaces the FILES forms of the
install_files() and install_programs() commands.
The processing order of these install rules relative to
those generated by install_targets(),
install_files(), and install_programs() commands
is not defined.
Installing Runtime Dependencies¶
New in version 3.21.
install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>
[[LIBRARY|RUNTIME|FRAMEWORK]
[DESTINATION <dir>]
[PERMISSIONS permissions...]
[CONFIGURATIONS [Debug|Release|...]]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[NAMELINK_COMPONENT <component>]
[OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
] [...]
[PRE_INCLUDE_REGEXES regexes...]
[PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES regexes...]
[POST_INCLUDE_REGEXES regexes...]
[POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES regexes...]
[POST_INCLUDE_FILES files...]
[POST_EXCLUDE_FILES files...]
[DIRECTORIES directories...]
)
Installs a runtime dependency set previously created by one or more
install(TARGETS) or install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS) commands. The
dependencies of targets belonging to a runtime dependency set are installed in
the RUNTIME destination and component on DLL platforms, and in the
LIBRARY destination and component on non-DLL platforms. macOS frameworks
are installed in the FRAMEWORK destination and component.
Targets built within the build tree will never be installed as runtime
dependencies, nor will their own dependencies, unless the targets themselves
are installed with install(TARGETS).
The generated install script calls file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES)
on the build-tree files to calculate the runtime dependencies. The build-tree
executable files are passed as the EXECUTABLES argument, the build-tree
shared libraries as the LIBRARIES argument, and the build-tree modules as
the MODULES argument. On macOS, if one of the executables is a
MACOSX_BUNDLE, that executable is passed as the
BUNDLE_EXECUTABLE argument. At most one such bundle executable may be in
the runtime dependency set on macOS. The MACOSX_BUNDLE property
has no effect on other platforms. Note that
file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) only supports collecting the runtime
dependencies for Windows, Linux and macOS platforms, so
install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) has the same limitation.
The following sub-arguments are forwarded through as the corresponding
arguments to file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) (for those that provide
a non-empty list of directories, regular expressions or files). They all
support generator expressions.
DIRECTORIES <directories>PRE_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regexes>PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regexes>POST_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regexes>POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regexes>POST_INCLUDE_FILES <files>POST_EXCLUDE_FILES <files>
Generated Installation Script¶
Note
Use of this feature is not recommended. Please consider using the
cmake --install instead.
The install() command generates a file, cmake_install.cmake, inside
the build directory, which is used internally by the generated install target
and by CPack. You can also invoke this script manually with
cmake -P. This script accepts several variables:
COMPONENTSet this variable to install only a single CPack component as opposed to all of them. For example, if you only want to install the
Developmentcomponent, runcmake -DCOMPONENT=Development -P cmake_install.cmake.BUILD_TYPESet this variable to change the build type if you are using a multi-config generator. For example, to install with the
Debugconfiguration, runcmake -DBUILD_TYPE=Debug -P cmake_install.cmake.DESTDIRThis is an environment variable rather than a CMake variable. It allows you to change the installation prefix on UNIX systems. See
DESTDIRfor details.