1 ========================
2 Building LLVM with CMake
3 ========================
11 `CMake <http://www.cmake.org/>`_ is a cross-platform build-generator tool. CMake
12 does not build the project, it generates the files needed by your build tool
13 (GNU make, Visual Studio, etc.) for building LLVM.
15 If **you are a new contributor**, please start with the :doc:`GettingStarted`
16 page. This page is geared for existing contributors moving from the
17 legacy configure/make system.
19 If you are really anxious about getting a functional LLVM build, go to the
20 `Quick start`_ section. If you are a CMake novice, start with `Basic CMake usage`_
21 and then go back to the `Quick start`_ section once you know what you are doing. The
22 `Options and variables`_ section is a reference for customizing your build. If
23 you already have experience with CMake, this is the recommended starting point.
25 This page is geared towards users of the LLVM CMake build. If you're looking for
26 information about modifying the LLVM CMake build system you may want to see the
27 :doc:`CMakePrimer` page. It has a basic overview of the CMake language.
34 We use here the command-line, non-interactive CMake interface.
36 #. `Download <http://www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html>`_ and install
37 CMake. Version 3.13.4 is the minimum required.
39 #. Open a shell. Your development tools must be reachable from this shell
40 through the PATH environment variable.
42 #. Create a build directory. Building LLVM in the source
43 directory is not supported. cd to this directory:
45 .. code-block:: console
50 #. Execute this command in the shell replacing `path/to/llvm/source/root` with
51 the path to the root of your LLVM source tree:
53 .. code-block:: console
55 $ cmake path/to/llvm/source/root
57 CMake will detect your development environment, perform a series of tests, and
58 generate the files required for building LLVM. CMake will use default values
59 for all build parameters. See the `Options and variables`_ section for
60 a list of build parameters that you can modify.
62 This can fail if CMake can't detect your toolset, or if it thinks that the
63 environment is not sane enough. In this case, make sure that the toolset that
64 you intend to use is the only one reachable from the shell, and that the shell
65 itself is the correct one for your development environment. CMake will refuse
66 to build MinGW makefiles if you have a POSIX shell reachable through the PATH
67 environment variable, for instance. You can force CMake to use a given build
68 tool; for instructions, see the `Usage`_ section, below. You may
69 also wish to control which targets LLVM enables, or which LLVM
70 components are built; see the `Frequently Used LLVM-related
73 #. After CMake has finished running, proceed to use IDE project files, or start
74 the build from the build directory:
76 .. code-block:: console
80 The ``--build`` option tells ``cmake`` to invoke the underlying build
81 tool (``make``, ``ninja``, ``xcodebuild``, ``msbuild``, etc.)
83 The underlying build tool can be invoked directly, of course, but
84 the ``--build`` option is portable.
86 #. After LLVM has finished building, install it from the build directory:
88 .. code-block:: console
90 $ cmake --build . --target install
92 The ``--target`` option with ``install`` parameter in addition to
93 the ``--build`` option tells ``cmake`` to build the ``install`` target.
95 It is possible to set a different install prefix at installation time
96 by invoking the ``cmake_install.cmake`` script generated in the
99 .. code-block:: console
101 $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/tmp/llvm -P cmake_install.cmake
103 .. _Basic CMake usage:
109 This section explains basic aspects of CMake
110 which you may need in your day-to-day usage.
112 CMake comes with extensive documentation, in the form of html files, and as
113 online help accessible via the ``cmake`` executable itself. Execute ``cmake
114 --help`` for further help options.
116 CMake allows you to specify a build tool (e.g., GNU make, Visual Studio,
117 or Xcode). If not specified on the command line, CMake tries to guess which
118 build tool to use, based on your environment. Once it has identified your
119 build tool, CMake uses the corresponding *Generator* to create files for your
120 build tool (e.g., Makefiles or Visual Studio or Xcode project files). You can
121 explicitly specify the generator with the command line option ``-G "Name of the
122 generator"``. To see a list of the available generators on your system, execute
124 .. code-block:: console
128 This will list the generator names at the end of the help text.
130 Generators' names are case-sensitive, and may contain spaces. For this reason,
131 you should enter them exactly as they are listed in the ``cmake --help``
132 output, in quotes. For example, to generate project files specifically for
133 Visual Studio 12, you can execute:
135 .. code-block:: console
137 $ cmake -G "Visual Studio 12" path/to/llvm/source/root
139 For a given development platform there can be more than one adequate
140 generator. If you use Visual Studio, "NMake Makefiles" is a generator you can use
141 for building with NMake. By default, CMake chooses the most specific generator
142 supported by your development environment. If you want an alternative generator,
143 you must tell this to CMake with the ``-G`` option.
147 Explain variables and cache. Move explanation here from #options section.
149 .. _Options and variables:
151 Options and variables
152 =====================
154 Variables customize how the build will be generated. Options are boolean
155 variables, with possible values ON/OFF. Options and variables are defined on the
156 CMake command line like this:
158 .. code-block:: console
160 $ cmake -DVARIABLE=value path/to/llvm/source
162 You can set a variable after the initial CMake invocation to change its
163 value. You can also undefine a variable:
165 .. code-block:: console
167 $ cmake -UVARIABLE path/to/llvm/source
169 Variables are stored in the CMake cache. This is a file named ``CMakeCache.txt``
170 stored at the root of your build directory that is generated by ``cmake``.
171 Editing it yourself is not recommended.
173 Variables are listed in the CMake cache and later in this document with
174 the variable name and type separated by a colon. You can also specify the
175 variable and type on the CMake command line:
177 .. code-block:: console
179 $ cmake -DVARIABLE:TYPE=value path/to/llvm/source
181 Frequently-used CMake variables
182 -------------------------------
184 Here are some of the CMake variables that are used often, along with a
185 brief explanation. For full documentation, consult the CMake manual,
186 or execute ``cmake --help-variable VARIABLE_NAME``. See `Frequently
187 Used LLVM-related Variables`_ below for information about commonly
188 used variables that control features of LLVM and enabled subprojects.
190 **CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE**:STRING
191 Sets the build type for ``make``-based generators. Possible values are
192 Release, Debug, RelWithDebInfo and MinSizeRel. If you are using an IDE such as
193 Visual Studio, you should use the IDE settings to set the build type.
194 Be aware that Release and RelWithDebInfo use different optimization levels on
195 most platforms. Be aware that Release and
196 RelWithDebInfo use different optimization levels on most
197 platforms, and that the default value of ``LLVM_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS``
200 **CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX**:PATH
201 Path where LLVM will be installed when the "install" target is built.
203 **CMAKE_{C,CXX}_FLAGS**:STRING
204 Extra flags to use when compiling C and C++ source files respectively.
206 **CMAKE_{C,CXX}_COMPILER**:STRING
207 Specify the C and C++ compilers to use. If you have multiple
208 compilers installed, CMake might not default to the one you wish to
211 .. _Frequently Used LLVM-related variables:
213 Frequently Used LLVM-related variables
214 --------------------------------------
216 The default configuration may not match your requirements. Here are
217 LLVM variables that are frequently used to control that. The full
218 description is in `LLVM-related variables`_ below.
220 **LLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS**:STRING
221 Control which projects are enabled. For example you may want to work on clang
222 or lldb by specifying ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS="clang;lldb"``.
224 **LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX**:STRING
225 Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be
226 installed. On a 64-bit architecture, one could use ``-DLLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX=64``
227 to install libraries to ``/usr/lib64``.
229 **LLVM_PARALLEL_{COMPILE,LINK}_JOBS**:STRING
230 Building the llvm toolchain can use a lot of resources, particularly
231 linking. These options, when you use the Ninja generator, allow you
232 to restrict the parallelism. For example, to avoid OOMs or going
233 into swap, permit only one link job per 15GB of RAM available on a
234 32GB machine, specify ``-G Ninja -DLLVM_PARALLEL_LINK_JOBS=2``.
236 **LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD**:STRING
237 Control which targets are enabled. For example you may only need to enable
238 your native target with, for example, ``-DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD=X86``.
240 **LLVM_USE_LINKER**:STRING
241 Override the system's default linker. For instance use ``lld`` with
242 ``-DLLVM_USE_LINKER=lld``.
244 Rarely-used CMake variables
245 ---------------------------
247 Here are some of the CMake variables that are rarely used, along with a brief
248 explanation and LLVM-related notes. For full documentation, consult the CMake
249 manual, or execute ``cmake --help-variable VARIABLE_NAME``.
251 **CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD**:STRING
252 Sets the C++ standard to conform to when building LLVM. Possible values are
253 14, 17, 20. LLVM Requires C++ 14 or higher. This defaults to 14.
255 .. _LLVM-related variables:
257 LLVM-related variables
258 -----------------------
260 These variables provide fine control over the build of LLVM and
261 enabled sub-projects. Nearly all of these variable names begin with
264 **BUILD_SHARED_LIBS**:BOOL
265 Flag indicating if each LLVM component (e.g. Support) is built as a shared
266 library (ON) or as a static library (OFF). Its default value is OFF. On
267 Windows, shared libraries may be used when building with MinGW, including
268 mingw-w64, but not when building with the Microsoft toolchain.
270 .. note:: BUILD_SHARED_LIBS is only recommended for use by LLVM developers.
271 If you want to build LLVM as a shared library, you should use the
272 ``LLVM_BUILD_LLVM_DYLIB`` option.
274 **LLVM_ABI_BREAKING_CHECKS**:STRING
275 Used to decide if LLVM should be built with ABI breaking checks or
276 not. Allowed values are `WITH_ASSERTS` (default), `FORCE_ON` and
277 `FORCE_OFF`. `WITH_ASSERTS` turns on ABI breaking checks in an
278 assertion enabled build. `FORCE_ON` (`FORCE_OFF`) turns them on
279 (off) irrespective of whether normal (`NDEBUG`-based) assertions are
280 enabled or not. A version of LLVM built with ABI breaking checks
281 is not ABI compatible with a version built without it.
283 **LLVM_APPEND_VC_REV**:BOOL
284 Embed version control revision info (Git revision id).
285 The version info is provided by the ``LLVM_REVISION`` macro in
286 ``llvm/include/llvm/Support/VCSRevision.h``. Developers using git who don't
287 need revision info can disable this option to avoid re-linking most binaries
288 after a branch switch. Defaults to ON.
290 **LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS**:BOOL
291 Build 32-bit executables and libraries on 64-bit systems. This option is
292 available only on some 64-bit Unix systems. Defaults to OFF.
294 **LLVM_BUILD_BENCHMARKS**:BOOL
295 Adds benchmarks to the list of default targets. Defaults to OFF.
297 **LLVM_BUILD_DOCS**:BOOL
298 Adds all *enabled* documentation targets (i.e. Doxgyen and Sphinx targets) as
299 dependencies of the default build targets. This results in all of the (enabled)
300 documentation targets being as part of a normal build. If the ``install``
301 target is run then this also enables all built documentation targets to be
302 installed. Defaults to OFF. To enable a particular documentation target, see
303 see LLVM_ENABLE_SPHINX and LLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN.
305 **LLVM_BUILD_EXAMPLES**:BOOL
306 Build LLVM examples. Defaults to OFF. Targets for building each example are
307 generated in any case. See documentation for *LLVM_BUILD_TOOLS* above for more
310 **LLVM_BUILD_INSTRUMENTED_COVERAGE**:BOOL
311 If enabled, `source-based code coverage
312 <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/SourceBasedCodeCoverage.html>`_ instrumentation
313 is enabled while building llvm.
315 **LLVM_BUILD_LLVM_DYLIB**:BOOL
316 If enabled, the target for building the libLLVM shared library is added.
317 This library contains all of LLVM's components in a single shared library.
318 Defaults to OFF. This cannot be used in conjunction with BUILD_SHARED_LIBS.
319 Tools will only be linked to the libLLVM shared library if LLVM_LINK_LLVM_DYLIB
321 The components in the library can be customised by setting LLVM_DYLIB_COMPONENTS
322 to a list of the desired components.
323 This option is not available on Windows.
325 **LLVM_BUILD_TESTS**:BOOL
326 Build LLVM unit tests. Defaults to OFF. Targets for building each unit test
327 are generated in any case. You can build a specific unit test using the
328 targets defined under *unittests*, such as ADTTests, IRTests, SupportTests,
329 etc. (Search for ``add_llvm_unittest`` in the subdirectories of *unittests*
330 for a complete list of unit tests.) It is possible to build all unit tests
331 with the target *UnitTests*.
333 **LLVM_BUILD_TOOLS**:BOOL
334 Build LLVM tools. Defaults to ON. Targets for building each tool are generated
335 in any case. You can build a tool separately by invoking its target. For
336 example, you can build *llvm-as* with a Makefile-based system by executing *make
337 llvm-as* at the root of your build directory.
339 **LLVM_CCACHE_BUILD**:BOOL
340 If enabled and the ``ccache`` program is available, then LLVM will be
341 built using ``ccache`` to speed up rebuilds of LLVM and its components.
342 Defaults to OFF. The size and location of the cache maintained
343 by ``ccache`` can be adjusted via the LLVM_CCACHE_MAXSIZE and LLVM_CCACHE_DIR
344 options, which are passed to the CCACHE_MAXSIZE and CCACHE_DIR environment
345 variables, respectively.
347 **LLVM_CREATE_XCODE_TOOLCHAIN**:BOOL
348 macOS Only: If enabled CMake will generate a target named
349 'install-xcode-toolchain'. This target will create a directory at
350 $CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX/Toolchains containing an xctoolchain directory which can
351 be used to override the default system tools.
353 **LLVM_DOXYGEN_QCH_FILENAME**:STRING
354 The filename of the Qt Compressed Help file that will be generated when
355 ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN=ON`` and
356 ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP=ON`` are given. Defaults to
358 This option is only useful in combination with
359 ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP=ON``;
360 otherwise it has no effect.
362 **LLVM_DOXYGEN_QHELPGENERATOR_PATH**:STRING
363 The path to the ``qhelpgenerator`` executable. Defaults to whatever CMake's
364 ``find_program()`` can find. This option is only useful in combination with
365 ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP=ON``; otherwise it has no
368 **LLVM_DOXYGEN_QHP_CUST_FILTER_NAME**:STRING
369 See `Qt Help Project`_ for
370 more information. Defaults to the CMake variable ``${PACKAGE_STRING}`` which
371 is a combination of the package name and version string. This filter can then
372 be used in Qt Creator to select only documentation from LLVM when browsing
373 through all the help files that you might have loaded. This option is only
374 useful in combination with ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP=ON``;
375 otherwise it has no effect.
377 .. _Qt Help Project: http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/qthelpproject.html#custom-filters
379 **LLVM_DOXYGEN_QHP_NAMESPACE**:STRING
380 Namespace under which the intermediate Qt Help Project file lives. See `Qt
382 for more information. Defaults to "org.llvm". This option is only useful in
383 combination with ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP=ON``; otherwise
386 **LLVM_DOXYGEN_SVG**:BOOL
387 Uses .svg files instead of .png files for graphs in the Doxygen output.
390 **LLVM_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS**:BOOL
391 Enables code assertions. Defaults to ON if and only if ``CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE``
394 **LLVM_ENABLE_BINDINGS**:BOOL
395 If disabled, do not try to build the OCaml and go bindings.
397 **LLVM_ENABLE_DIA_SDK**:BOOL
398 Enable building with MSVC DIA SDK for PDB debugging support. Available
399 only with MSVC. Defaults to ON.
401 **LLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN**:BOOL
402 Enables the generation of browsable HTML documentation using doxygen.
405 **LLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN_QT_HELP**:BOOL
406 Enables the generation of a Qt Compressed Help file. Defaults to OFF.
407 This affects the make target ``doxygen-llvm``. When enabled, apart from
408 the normal HTML output generated by doxygen, this will produce a QCH file
409 named ``org.llvm.qch``. You can then load this file into Qt Creator.
410 This option is only useful in combination with ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_DOXYGEN=ON``;
411 otherwise this has no effect.
413 **LLVM_ENABLE_EH**:BOOL
414 Build LLVM with exception-handling support. This is necessary if you wish to
415 link against LLVM libraries and make use of C++ exceptions in your own code
416 that need to propagate through LLVM code. Defaults to OFF.
418 **LLVM_ENABLE_EXPENSIVE_CHECKS**:BOOL
419 Enable additional time/memory expensive checking. Defaults to OFF.
421 **LLVM_ENABLE_FFI**:BOOL
422 Indicates whether the LLVM Interpreter will be linked with the Foreign Function
423 Interface library (libffi) in order to enable calling external functions.
424 If the library or its headers are installed in a custom
425 location, you can also set the variables FFI_INCLUDE_DIR and
426 FFI_LIBRARY_DIR to the directories where ffi.h and libffi.so can be found,
427 respectively. Defaults to OFF.
429 **LLVM_ENABLE_IDE**:BOOL
430 Tell the build system that an IDE is being used. This in turn disables the
431 creation of certain convenience build system targets, such as the various
432 ``install-*`` and ``check-*`` targets, since IDEs don't always deal well with
433 a large number of targets. This is usually autodetected, but it can be
434 configured manually to explicitly control the generation of those targets. One
435 scenario where a manual override may be desirable is when using Visual Studio
436 2017's CMake integration, which would not be detected as an IDE otherwise.
438 **LLVM_ENABLE_LIBCXX**:BOOL
439 If the host compiler and linker supports the stdlib flag, -stdlib=libc++ is
440 passed to invocations of both so that the project is built using libc++
441 instead of stdlibc++. Defaults to OFF.
443 **LLVM_ENABLE_LIBPFM**:BOOL
444 Enable building with libpfm to support hardware counter measurements in LLVM
448 **LLVM_ENABLE_LLD**:BOOL
449 This option is equivalent to `-DLLVM_USE_LINKER=lld`, except during a 2-stage
450 build where a dependency is added from the first stage to the second ensuring
451 that lld is built before stage2 begins.
453 **LLVM_ENABLE_LTO**:STRING
454 Add ``-flto`` or ``-flto=`` flags to the compile and link command
455 lines, enabling link-time optimization. Possible values are ``Off``,
456 ``On``, ``Thin`` and ``Full``. Defaults to OFF.
458 **LLVM_ENABLE_MODULES**:BOOL
459 Compile with `Clang Header Modules
460 <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/Modules.html>`_.
462 **LLVM_ENABLE_PEDANTIC**:BOOL
463 Enable pedantic mode. This disables compiler-specific extensions, if
464 possible. Defaults to ON.
466 **LLVM_ENABLE_PIC**:BOOL
467 Add the ``-fPIC`` flag to the compiler command-line, if the compiler supports
468 this flag. Some systems, like Windows, do not need this flag. Defaults to ON.
470 **LLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS**:STRING
471 Semicolon-separated list of projects to build, or *all* for building all
472 (clang, libcxx, libcxxabi, lldb, compiler-rt, lld, polly, etc) projects.
473 This flag assumes that projects are checked out side-by-side and not nested,
474 i.e. clang needs to be in parallel of llvm instead of nested in `llvm/tools`.
475 This feature allows to have one build for only LLVM and another for clang+llvm
476 using the same source checkout.
478 ``clang;clang-tools-extra;compiler-rt;cross-project-tests;libc;libclc;libcxx;libcxxabi;libunwind;lld;lldb;openmp;parallel-libs;polly;pstl``
480 **LLVM_ENABLE_RTTI**:BOOL
481 Build LLVM with run-time type information. Defaults to OFF.
483 **LLVM_ENABLE_SPHINX**:BOOL
484 If specified, CMake will search for the ``sphinx-build`` executable and will make
485 the ``SPHINX_OUTPUT_HTML`` and ``SPHINX_OUTPUT_MAN`` CMake options available.
488 **LLVM_ENABLE_THREADS**:BOOL
489 Build with threads support, if available. Defaults to ON.
491 **LLVM_ENABLE_UNWIND_TABLES**:BOOL
492 Enable unwind tables in the binary. Disabling unwind tables can reduce the
493 size of the libraries. Defaults to ON.
495 **LLVM_ENABLE_WARNINGS**:BOOL
496 Enable all compiler warnings. Defaults to ON.
498 **LLVM_ENABLE_WERROR**:BOOL
499 Stop and fail the build, if a compiler warning is triggered. Defaults to OFF.
501 **LLVM_ENABLE_Z3_SOLVER**:BOOL
502 If enabled, the Z3 constraint solver is activated for the Clang static analyzer.
503 A recent version of the z3 library needs to be available on the system.
505 **LLVM_ENABLE_ZLIB**:BOOL
506 Enable building with zlib to support compression/uncompression in LLVM tools.
509 **LLVM_EXPERIMENTAL_TARGETS_TO_BUILD**:STRING
510 Semicolon-separated list of experimental targets to build and linked into
511 llvm. This will build the experimental target without needing it to add to the
512 list of all the targets available in the LLVM's main CMakeLists.txt.
514 **LLVM_EXTERNAL_{CLANG,LLD,POLLY}_SOURCE_DIR**:PATH
515 These variables specify the path to the source directory for the external
516 LLVM projects Clang, lld, and Polly, respectively, relative to the top-level
517 source directory. If the in-tree subdirectory for an external project
518 exists (e.g., llvm/tools/clang for Clang), then the corresponding variable
519 will not be used. If the variable for an external project does not point
520 to a valid path, then that project will not be built.
522 **LLVM_EXTERNAL_PROJECTS**:STRING
523 Semicolon-separated list of additional external projects to build as part of
524 llvm. For each project LLVM_EXTERNAL_<NAME>_SOURCE_DIR have to be specified
525 with the path for the source code of the project. Example:
526 ``-DLLVM_EXTERNAL_PROJECTS="Foo;Bar"
527 -DLLVM_EXTERNAL_FOO_SOURCE_DIR=/src/foo
528 -DLLVM_EXTERNAL_BAR_SOURCE_DIR=/src/bar``.
530 **LLVM_EXTERNALIZE_DEBUGINFO**:BOOL
531 Generate dSYM files and strip executables and libraries (Darwin Only).
534 **LLVM_FORCE_USE_OLD_TOOLCHAIN**:BOOL
535 If enabled, the compiler and standard library versions won't be checked. LLVM
536 may not compile at all, or might fail at runtime due to known bugs in these
539 **LLVM_INCLUDE_BENCHMARKS**:BOOL
540 Generate build targets for the LLVM benchmarks. Defaults to ON.
542 **LLVM_INCLUDE_EXAMPLES**:BOOL
543 Generate build targets for the LLVM examples. Defaults to ON. You can use this
544 option to disable the generation of build targets for the LLVM examples.
546 **LLVM_INCLUDE_TESTS**:BOOL
547 Generate build targets for the LLVM unit tests. Defaults to ON. You can use
548 this option to disable the generation of build targets for the LLVM unit
551 **LLVM_INCLUDE_TOOLS**:BOOL
552 Generate build targets for the LLVM tools. Defaults to ON. You can use this
553 option to disable the generation of build targets for the LLVM tools.
555 **LLVM_INSTALL_BINUTILS_SYMLINKS**:BOOL
556 Install symlinks from the binutils tool names to the corresponding LLVM tools.
557 For example, ar will be symlinked to llvm-ar.
559 **LLVM_INSTALL_CCTOOLS_SYMLINKS**:BOOL
560 Install symliks from the cctools tool names to the corresponding LLVM tools.
561 For example, lipo will be symlinked to llvm-lipo.
563 **LLVM_INSTALL_OCAMLDOC_HTML_DIR**:STRING
564 The path to install OCamldoc-generated HTML documentation to. This path can
565 either be absolute or relative to the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX. Defaults to
566 `share/doc/llvm/ocaml-html`.
568 **LLVM_INSTALL_SPHINX_HTML_DIR**:STRING
569 The path to install Sphinx-generated HTML documentation to. This path can
570 either be absolute or relative to the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX. Defaults to
571 `share/doc/llvm/html`.
573 **LLVM_INSTALL_UTILS**:BOOL
574 If enabled, utility binaries like ``FileCheck`` and ``not`` will be installed
575 to CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX.
577 **LLVM_INTEGRATED_CRT_ALLOC**:PATH
578 On Windows, allows embedding a different C runtime allocator into the LLVM
579 tools and libraries. Using a lock-free allocator such as the ones listed below
580 greatly decreases ThinLTO link time by about an order of magnitude. It also
581 midly improves Clang build times, by about 5-10%. At the moment, rpmalloc,
582 snmalloc and mimalloc are supported. Use the path to `git clone` to select
583 the respective allocator, for example:
585 .. code-block:: console
587 $ D:\git> git clone https://github.com/mjansson/rpmalloc
588 $ D:\llvm-project> cmake ... -DLLVM_INTEGRATED_CRT_ALLOC=D:\git\rpmalloc
590 This flag needs to be used along with the static CRT, ie. if building the
591 Release target, add -DLLVM_USE_CRT_RELEASE=MT.
593 **LLVM_INSTALL_DOXYGEN_HTML_DIR**:STRING
594 The path to install Doxygen-generated HTML documentation to. This path can
595 either be absolute or relative to the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX. Defaults to
596 `share/doc/llvm/doxygen-html`.
598 **LLVM_LINK_LLVM_DYLIB**:BOOL
599 If enabled, tools will be linked with the libLLVM shared library. Defaults
600 to OFF. Setting LLVM_LINK_LLVM_DYLIB to ON also sets LLVM_BUILD_LLVM_DYLIB
602 This option is not available on Windows.
604 **LLVM_LIT_ARGS**:STRING
605 Arguments given to lit. ``make check`` and ``make clang-test`` are affected.
606 By default, ``'-sv --no-progress-bar'`` on Visual C++ and Xcode, ``'-sv'`` on
609 **LLVM_LIT_TOOLS_DIR**:PATH
610 The path to GnuWin32 tools for tests. Valid on Windows host. Defaults to
611 the empty string, in which case lit will look for tools needed for tests
612 (e.g. ``grep``, ``sort``, etc.) in your %PATH%. If GnuWin32 is not in your
613 %PATH%, then you can set this variable to the GnuWin32 directory so that
614 lit can find tools needed for tests in that directory.
616 **LLVM_OPTIMIZED_TABLEGEN**:BOOL
617 If enabled and building a debug or asserts build the CMake build system will
618 generate a Release build tree to build a fully optimized tablegen for use
619 during the build. Enabling this option can significantly speed up build times
620 especially when building LLVM in Debug configurations.
622 **LLVM_PARALLEL_COMPILE_JOBS**:STRING
623 Define the maximum number of concurrent compilation jobs.
625 **LLVM_PARALLEL_LINK_JOBS**:STRING
626 Define the maximum number of concurrent link jobs.
628 **LLVM_PROFDATA_FILE**:PATH
629 Path to a profdata file to pass into clang's -fprofile-instr-use flag. This
630 can only be specified if you're building with clang.
632 **LLVM_REVERSE_ITERATION**:BOOL
633 If enabled, all supported unordered llvm containers would be iterated in
634 reverse order. This is useful for uncovering non-determinism caused by
635 iteration of unordered containers.
637 **LLVM_STATIC_LINK_CXX_STDLIB**:BOOL
638 Statically link to the C++ standard library if possible. This uses the flag
639 "-static-libstdc++", but a Clang host compiler will statically link to libc++
640 if used in conjunction with the **LLVM_ENABLE_LIBCXX** flag. Defaults to OFF.
642 **LLVM_TABLEGEN**:STRING
643 Full path to a native TableGen executable (usually named ``llvm-tblgen``). This is
644 intended for cross-compiling: if the user sets this variable, no native
645 TableGen will be created.
647 **LLVM_TARGET_ARCH**:STRING
648 LLVM target to use for native code generation. This is required for JIT
649 generation. It defaults to "host", meaning that it shall pick the architecture
650 of the machine where LLVM is being built. If you are cross-compiling, set it
651 to the target architecture name.
653 **LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD**:STRING
654 Semicolon-separated list of targets to build, or *all* for building all
655 targets. Case-sensitive. Defaults to *all*. Example:
656 ``-DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD="X86;PowerPC"``.
658 **LLVM_TEMPORARILY_ALLOW_OLD_TOOLCHAIN**:BOOL
659 If enabled, the compiler version check will only warn when using a toolchain
660 which is about to be deprecated, instead of emitting an error.
662 **LLVM_UBSAN_FLAGS**:STRING
663 Defines the set of compile flags used to enable UBSan. Only used if
664 ``LLVM_USE_SANITIZER`` contains ``Undefined``. This can be used to override
665 the default set of UBSan flags.
667 **LLVM_USE_CRT_{target}**:STRING
668 On Windows, tells which version of the C runtime library (CRT) should be used.
669 For example, -DLLVM_USE_CRT_RELEASE=MT would statically link the CRT into the
670 LLVM tools and library.
672 **LLVM_USE_INTEL_JITEVENTS**:BOOL
673 Enable building support for Intel JIT Events API. Defaults to OFF.
675 **LLVM_USE_LINKER**:STRING
676 Add ``-fuse-ld={name}`` to the link invocation. The possible value depend on
677 your compiler, for clang the value can be an absolute path to your custom
678 linker, otherwise clang will prefix the name with ``ld.`` and apply its usual
679 search. For example to link LLVM with the Gold linker, cmake can be invoked
680 with ``-DLLVM_USE_LINKER=gold``.
682 **LLVM_USE_NEWPM**:BOOL
683 If enabled, use the experimental new pass manager.
685 **LLVM_USE_OPROFILE**:BOOL
686 Enable building OProfile JIT support. Defaults to OFF.
688 **LLVM_USE_PERF**:BOOL
689 Enable building support for Perf (linux profiling tool) JIT support. Defaults to OFF.
691 **LLVM_USE_RELATIVE_PATHS_IN_FILES**:BOOL
692 Rewrite absolute source paths in sources and debug info to relative ones. The
693 source prefix can be adjusted via the LLVM_SOURCE_PREFIX variable.
695 **LLVM_USE_RELATIVE_PATHS_IN_DEBUG_INFO**:BOOL
696 Rewrite absolute source paths in debug info to relative ones. The source prefix
697 can be adjusted via the LLVM_SOURCE_PREFIX variable.
699 **LLVM_USE_SANITIZER**:STRING
700 Define the sanitizer used to build LLVM binaries and tests. Possible values
701 are ``Address``, ``Memory``, ``MemoryWithOrigins``, ``Undefined``, ``Thread``,
702 ``DataFlow``, and ``Address;Undefined``. Defaults to empty string.
704 **SPHINX_EXECUTABLE**:STRING
705 The path to the ``sphinx-build`` executable detected by CMake.
706 For installation instructions, see
707 https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/installation.html
709 **SPHINX_OUTPUT_HTML**:BOOL
710 If enabled (and ``LLVM_ENABLE_SPHINX`` is enabled) then the targets for
711 building the documentation as html are added (but not built by default unless
712 ``LLVM_BUILD_DOCS`` is enabled). There is a target for each project in the
713 source tree that uses sphinx (e.g. ``docs-llvm-html``, ``docs-clang-html``
714 and ``docs-lld-html``). Defaults to ON.
716 **SPHINX_OUTPUT_MAN**:BOOL
717 If enabled (and ``LLVM_ENABLE_SPHINX`` is enabled) the targets for building
718 the man pages are added (but not built by default unless ``LLVM_BUILD_DOCS``
719 is enabled). Currently the only target added is ``docs-llvm-man``. Defaults
722 **SPHINX_WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS**:BOOL
723 If enabled then sphinx documentation warnings will be treated as
724 errors. Defaults to ON.
729 Recently LLVM and Clang have been adding some more complicated build system
730 features. Utilizing these new features often involves a complicated chain of
731 CMake variables passed on the command line. Clang provides a collection of CMake
732 cache scripts to make these features more approachable.
734 CMake cache files are utilized using CMake's -C flag:
736 .. code-block:: console
738 $ cmake -C <path to cache file> <path to sources>
740 CMake cache scripts are processed in an isolated scope, only cached variables
741 remain set when the main configuration runs. CMake cached variables do not reset
742 variables that are already set unless the FORCE option is specified.
744 A few notes about CMake Caches:
746 - Order of command line arguments is important
748 - -D arguments specified before -C are set before the cache is processed and
749 can be read inside the cache file
750 - -D arguments specified after -C are set after the cache is processed and
751 are unset inside the cache file
753 - All -D arguments will override cache file settings
754 - CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE is evaluated after both the cache file and the command
756 - It is recommended that all -D options should be specified *before* -C
758 For more information about some of the advanced build configurations supported
759 via Cache files see :doc:`AdvancedBuilds`.
764 Testing is performed when the *check-all* target is built. For instance, if you are
765 using Makefiles, execute this command in the root of your build directory:
767 .. code-block:: console
771 On Visual Studio, you may run tests by building the project "check-all".
772 For more information about testing, see the :doc:`TestingGuide`.
777 See `this wiki page <https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/community/wikis/doc/cmake/CrossCompiling>`_ for
778 generic instructions on how to cross-compile with CMake. It goes into detailed
779 explanations and may seem daunting, but it is not. On the wiki page there are
780 several examples including toolchain files. Go directly to the
781 ``Information how to set up various cross compiling toolchains`` section
782 for a quick solution.
784 Also see the `LLVM-related variables`_ section for variables used when
787 Embedding LLVM in your project
788 ==============================
790 From LLVM 3.5 onwards the CMake build system exports LLVM libraries as
791 importable CMake targets. This means that clients of LLVM can now reliably use
792 CMake to develop their own LLVM-based projects against an installed version of
793 LLVM regardless of how it was built.
795 Here is a simple example of a CMakeLists.txt file that imports the LLVM libraries
796 and uses them to build a simple application ``simple-tool``.
798 .. code-block:: cmake
800 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13.4)
801 project(SimpleProject)
803 find_package(LLVM REQUIRED CONFIG)
805 message(STATUS "Found LLVM ${LLVM_PACKAGE_VERSION}")
806 message(STATUS "Using LLVMConfig.cmake in: ${LLVM_DIR}")
808 # Set your project compile flags.
809 # E.g. if using the C++ header files
810 # you will need to enable C++11 support
813 include_directories(${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
814 separate_arguments(LLVM_DEFINITIONS_LIST NATIVE_COMMAND ${LLVM_DEFINITIONS})
815 add_definitions(${LLVM_DEFINITIONS_LIST})
817 # Now build our tools
818 add_executable(simple-tool tool.cpp)
820 # Find the libraries that correspond to the LLVM components
821 # that we wish to use
822 llvm_map_components_to_libnames(llvm_libs support core irreader)
824 # Link against LLVM libraries
825 target_link_libraries(simple-tool ${llvm_libs})
827 The ``find_package(...)`` directive when used in CONFIG mode (as in the above
828 example) will look for the ``LLVMConfig.cmake`` file in various locations (see
829 cmake manual for details). It creates a ``LLVM_DIR`` cache entry to save the
830 directory where ``LLVMConfig.cmake`` is found or allows the user to specify the
831 directory (e.g. by passing ``-DLLVM_DIR=/usr/lib/cmake/llvm`` to
832 the ``cmake`` command or by setting it directly in ``ccmake`` or ``cmake-gui``).
834 This file is available in two different locations.
836 * ``<INSTALL_PREFIX>/lib/cmake/llvm/LLVMConfig.cmake`` where
837 ``<INSTALL_PREFIX>`` is the install prefix of an installed version of LLVM.
838 On Linux typically this is ``/usr/lib/cmake/llvm/LLVMConfig.cmake``.
840 * ``<LLVM_BUILD_ROOT>/lib/cmake/llvm/LLVMConfig.cmake`` where
841 ``<LLVM_BUILD_ROOT>`` is the root of the LLVM build tree. **Note: this is only
842 available when building LLVM with CMake.**
844 If LLVM is installed in your operating system's normal installation prefix (e.g.
845 on Linux this is usually ``/usr/``) ``find_package(LLVM ...)`` will
846 automatically find LLVM if it is installed correctly. If LLVM is not installed
847 or you wish to build directly against the LLVM build tree you can use
848 ``LLVM_DIR`` as previously mentioned.
850 The ``LLVMConfig.cmake`` file sets various useful variables. Notable variables
854 The path to the LLVM CMake directory (i.e. the directory containing
858 A list of preprocessor defines that should be used when building against LLVM.
860 ``LLVM_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS``
861 This is set to ON if LLVM was built with assertions, otherwise OFF.
864 This is set to ON if LLVM was built with exception handling (EH) enabled,
868 This is set to ON if LLVM was built with run time type information (RTTI),
871 ``LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS``
872 A list of include paths to directories containing LLVM header files.
874 ``LLVM_PACKAGE_VERSION``
875 The LLVM version. This string can be used with CMake conditionals, e.g., ``if
876 (${LLVM_PACKAGE_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.5")``.
878 ``LLVM_TOOLS_BINARY_DIR``
879 The path to the directory containing the LLVM tools (e.g. ``llvm-as``).
881 Notice that in the above example we link ``simple-tool`` against several LLVM
882 libraries. The list of libraries is determined by using the
883 ``llvm_map_components_to_libnames()`` CMake function. For a list of available
884 components look at the output of running ``llvm-config --components``.
886 Note that for LLVM < 3.5 ``llvm_map_components_to_libraries()`` was
887 used instead of ``llvm_map_components_to_libnames()``. This is now deprecated
888 and will be removed in a future version of LLVM.
890 .. _cmake-out-of-source-pass:
892 Developing LLVM passes out of source
893 ------------------------------------
895 It is possible to develop LLVM passes out of LLVM's source tree (i.e. against an
896 installed or built LLVM). An example of a project layout is provided below.
909 Contents of ``<project dir>/CMakeLists.txt``:
911 .. code-block:: cmake
913 find_package(LLVM REQUIRED CONFIG)
915 separate_arguments(LLVM_DEFINITIONS_LIST NATIVE_COMMAND ${LLVM_DEFINITIONS})
916 add_definitions(${LLVM_DEFINITIONS_LIST})
917 include_directories(${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
919 add_subdirectory(<pass name>)
921 Contents of ``<project dir>/<pass name>/CMakeLists.txt``:
923 .. code-block:: cmake
925 add_library(LLVMPassname MODULE Pass.cpp)
927 Note if you intend for this pass to be merged into the LLVM source tree at some
928 point in the future it might make more sense to use LLVM's internal
929 ``add_llvm_library`` function with the MODULE argument instead by...
932 Adding the following to ``<project dir>/CMakeLists.txt`` (after
933 ``find_package(LLVM ...)``)
935 .. code-block:: cmake
937 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${LLVM_CMAKE_DIR}")
940 And then changing ``<project dir>/<pass name>/CMakeLists.txt`` to
942 .. code-block:: cmake
944 add_llvm_library(LLVMPassname MODULE
948 When you are done developing your pass, you may wish to integrate it
949 into the LLVM source tree. You can achieve it in two easy steps:
951 #. Copying ``<pass name>`` folder into ``<LLVM root>/lib/Transform`` directory.
953 #. Adding ``add_subdirectory(<pass name>)`` line into
954 ``<LLVM root>/lib/Transform/CMakeLists.txt``.
956 Compiler/Platform-specific topics
957 =================================
959 Notes for specific compilers and/or platforms.
964 **LLVM_COMPILER_JOBS**:STRING
965 Specifies the maximum number of parallel compiler jobs to use per project
966 when building with msbuild or Visual Studio. Only supported for the Visual
967 Studio 2010 CMake generator. 0 means use all processors. Default is 0.