1.. _building-with-cmake:
2
3========================
4Building LLVM with CMake
5========================
6
7.. contents::
8   :local:
9
10Introduction
11============
12
13`CMake <http://www.cmake.org/>`_ is a cross-platform build-generator tool. CMake
14does not build the project, it generates the files needed by your build tool
15(GNU make, Visual Studio, etc) for building LLVM.
16
17If you are really anxious about getting a functional LLVM build, go to the
18`Quick start`_ section. If you are a CMake novice, start on `Basic CMake usage`_
19and then go back to the `Quick start`_ once you know what you are doing. The
20`Options and variables`_ section is a reference for customizing your build. If
21you already have experience with CMake, this is the recommended starting point.
22
23.. _Quick start:
24
25Quick start
26===========
27
28We use here the command-line, non-interactive CMake interface.
29
30#. `Download <http://www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html>`_ and install
31   CMake. Version 2.8 is the minimum required.
32
33#. Open a shell. Your development tools must be reachable from this shell
34   through the PATH environment variable.
35
36#. Create a directory for containing the build. It is not supported to build
37   LLVM on the source directory. cd to this directory:
38
39   .. code-block:: bash
40
41     $ mkdir mybuilddir
42     $ cd mybuilddir
43
44#. Execute this command on the shell replacing `path/to/llvm/source/root` with
45   the path to the root of your LLVM source tree:
46
47   .. code-block:: bash
48
49     $ cmake path/to/llvm/source/root
50
51   CMake will detect your development environment, perform a series of test and
52   generate the files required for building LLVM. CMake will use default values
53   for all build parameters. See the `Options and variables`_ section for
54   fine-tuning your build
55
56   This can fail if CMake can't detect your toolset, or if it thinks that the
57   environment is not sane enough. On this case make sure that the toolset that
58   you intend to use is the only one reachable from the shell and that the shell
59   itself is the correct one for you development environment. CMake will refuse
60   to build MinGW makefiles if you have a POSIX shell reachable through the PATH
61   environment variable, for instance. You can force CMake to use a given build
62   tool, see the `Usage`_ section.
63
64.. _Basic CMake usage:
65.. _Usage:
66
67Basic CMake usage
68=================
69
70This section explains basic aspects of CMake, mostly for explaining those
71options which you may need on your day-to-day usage.
72
73CMake comes with extensive documentation in the form of html files and on the
74cmake executable itself. Execute ``cmake --help`` for further help options.
75
76CMake requires to know for which build tool it shall generate files (GNU make,
77Visual Studio, Xcode, etc). If not specified on the command line, it tries to
78guess it based on you environment. Once identified the build tool, CMake uses
79the corresponding *Generator* for creating files for your build tool. You can
80explicitly specify the generator with the command line option ``-G "Name of the
81generator"``. For knowing the available generators on your platform, execute
82
83.. code-block:: bash
84
85  $ cmake --help
86
87This will list the generator's names at the end of the help text. Generator's
88names are case-sensitive. Example:
89
90.. code-block:: bash
91
92  $ cmake -G "Visual Studio 9 2008" path/to/llvm/source/root
93
94For a given development platform there can be more than one adequate
95generator. If you use Visual Studio "NMake Makefiles" is a generator you can use
96for building with NMake. By default, CMake chooses the more specific generator
97supported by your development environment. If you want an alternative generator,
98you must tell this to CMake with the ``-G`` option.
99
100.. todo::
101
102  Explain variables and cache. Move explanation here from #options section.
103
104.. _Options and variables:
105
106Options and variables
107=====================
108
109Variables customize how the build will be generated. Options are boolean
110variables, with possible values ON/OFF. Options and variables are defined on the
111CMake command line like this:
112
113.. code-block:: bash
114
115  $ cmake -DVARIABLE=value path/to/llvm/source
116
117You can set a variable after the initial CMake invocation for changing its
118value. You can also undefine a variable:
119
120.. code-block:: bash
121
122  $ cmake -UVARIABLE path/to/llvm/source
123
124Variables are stored on the CMake cache. This is a file named ``CMakeCache.txt``
125on the root of the build directory. Do not hand-edit it.
126
127Variables are listed here appending its type after a colon. It is correct to
128write the variable and the type on the CMake command line:
129
130.. code-block:: bash
131
132  $ cmake -DVARIABLE:TYPE=value path/to/llvm/source
133
134Frequently-used CMake variables
135-------------------------------
136
137Here are listed some of the CMake variables that are used often, along with a
138brief explanation and LLVM-specific notes. For full documentation, check the
139CMake docs or execute ``cmake --help-variable VARIABLE_NAME``.
140
141**CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE**:STRING
142  Sets the build type for ``make`` based generators. Possible values are
143  Release, Debug, RelWithDebInfo and MinSizeRel. On systems like Visual Studio
144  the user sets the build type with the IDE settings.
145
146**CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX**:PATH
147  Path where LLVM will be installed if "make install" is invoked or the
148  "INSTALL" target is built.
149
150**LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX**:STRING
151  Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be
152  installed. On a 64-bit architecture, one could use ``-DLLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX=64``
153  to install libraries to ``/usr/lib64``.
154
155**CMAKE_C_FLAGS**:STRING
156  Extra flags to use when compiling C source files.
157
158**CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS**:STRING
159  Extra flags to use when compiling C++ source files.
160
161**BUILD_SHARED_LIBS**:BOOL
162  Flag indicating is shared libraries will be built. Its default value is
163  OFF. Shared libraries are not supported on Windows and not recommended in the
164  other OSes.
165
166.. _LLVM-specific variables:
167
168LLVM-specific variables
169-----------------------
170
171**LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD**:STRING
172  Semicolon-separated list of targets to build, or *all* for building all
173  targets. Case-sensitive. For Visual C++ defaults to *X86*. On the other cases
174  defaults to *all*. Example: ``-DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD="X86;PowerPC"``.
175
176**LLVM_BUILD_TOOLS**:BOOL
177  Build LLVM tools. Defaults to ON. Targets for building each tool are generated
178  in any case. You can build an tool separately by invoking its target. For
179  example, you can build *llvm-as* with a makefile-based system executing *make
180  llvm-as* on the root of your build directory.
181
182**LLVM_INCLUDE_TOOLS**:BOOL
183  Generate build targets for the LLVM tools. Defaults to ON. You can use that
184  option for disabling the generation of build targets for the LLVM tools.
185
186**LLVM_BUILD_EXAMPLES**:BOOL
187  Build LLVM examples. Defaults to OFF. Targets for building each example are
188  generated in any case. See documentation for *LLVM_BUILD_TOOLS* above for more
189  details.
190
191**LLVM_INCLUDE_EXAMPLES**:BOOL
192  Generate build targets for the LLVM examples. Defaults to ON. You can use that
193  option for disabling the generation of build targets for the LLVM examples.
194
195**LLVM_BUILD_TESTS**:BOOL
196  Build LLVM unit tests. Defaults to OFF. Targets for building each unit test
197  are generated in any case. You can build a specific unit test with the target
198  *UnitTestNameTests* (where at this time *UnitTestName* can be ADT, Analysis,
199  ExecutionEngine, JIT, Support, Transform, VMCore; see the subdirectories of
200  *unittests* for an updated list.) It is possible to build all unit tests with
201  the target *UnitTests*.
202
203**LLVM_INCLUDE_TESTS**:BOOL
204  Generate build targets for the LLVM unit tests. Defaults to ON. You can use
205  that option for disabling the generation of build targets for the LLVM unit
206  tests.
207
208**LLVM_APPEND_VC_REV**:BOOL
209  Append version control revision info (svn revision number or git revision id)
210  to LLVM version string (stored in the PACKAGE_VERSION macro). For this to work
211  cmake must be invoked before the build. Defaults to OFF.
212
213**LLVM_ENABLE_THREADS**:BOOL
214  Build with threads support, if available. Defaults to ON.
215
216**LLVM_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS**:BOOL
217  Enables code assertions. Defaults to OFF if and only if ``CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE``
218  is *Release*.
219
220**LLVM_ENABLE_PIC**:BOOL
221  Add the ``-fPIC`` flag for the compiler command-line, if the compiler supports
222  this flag. Some systems, like Windows, do not need this flag. Defaults to ON.
223
224**LLVM_ENABLE_WARNINGS**:BOOL
225  Enable all compiler warnings. Defaults to ON.
226
227**LLVM_ENABLE_PEDANTIC**:BOOL
228  Enable pedantic mode. This disable compiler specific extensions, is
229  possible. Defaults to ON.
230
231**LLVM_ENABLE_WERROR**:BOOL
232  Stop and fail build, if a compiler warning is triggered. Defaults to OFF.
233
234**LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS**:BOOL
235  Build 32-bits executables and libraries on 64-bits systems. This option is
236  available only on some 64-bits unix systems. Defaults to OFF.
237
238**LLVM_TARGET_ARCH**:STRING
239  LLVM target to use for native code generation. This is required for JIT
240  generation. It defaults to "host", meaning that it shall pick the architecture
241  of the machine where LLVM is being built. If you are cross-compiling, set it
242  to the target architecture name.
243
244**LLVM_TABLEGEN**:STRING
245  Full path to a native TableGen executable (usually named ``tblgen``). This is
246  intended for cross-compiling: if the user sets this variable, no native
247  TableGen will be created.
248
249**LLVM_LIT_ARGS**:STRING
250  Arguments given to lit.  ``make check`` and ``make clang-test`` are affected.
251  By default, ``'-sv --no-progress-bar'`` on Visual C++ and Xcode, ``'-sv'`` on
252  others.
253
254**LLVM_LIT_TOOLS_DIR**:PATH
255  The path to GnuWin32 tools for tests. Valid on Windows host.  Defaults to "",
256  then Lit seeks tools according to %PATH%.  Lit can find tools(eg. grep, sort,
257  &c) on LLVM_LIT_TOOLS_DIR at first, without specifying GnuWin32 to %PATH%.
258
259**LLVM_ENABLE_FFI**:BOOL
260  Indicates whether LLVM Interpreter will be linked with Foreign Function
261  Interface library. If the library or its headers are installed on a custom
262  location, you can set the variables FFI_INCLUDE_DIR and
263  FFI_LIBRARY_DIR. Defaults to OFF.
264
265**LLVM_EXTERNAL_{CLANG,LLD,POLLY}_SOURCE_DIR**:PATH
266  Path to ``{Clang,lld,Polly}``\'s source directory. Defaults to
267  ``tools/{clang,lld,polly}``. ``{Clang,lld,Polly}`` will not be built when it
268  is empty or it does not point valid path.
269
270**LLVM_USE_OPROFILE**:BOOL
271  Enable building OProfile JIT support. Defaults to OFF
272
273**LLVM_USE_INTEL_JITEVENTS**:BOOL
274  Enable building support for Intel JIT Events API. Defaults to OFF
275
276Executing the test suite
277========================
278
279Testing is performed when the *check* target is built. For instance, if you are
280using makefiles, execute this command while on the top level of your build
281directory:
282
283.. code-block:: bash
284
285  $ make check
286
287On Visual Studio, you may run tests to build the project "check".
288
289Cross compiling
290===============
291
292See `this wiki page <http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/CMake_Cross_Compiling>`_ for
293generic instructions on how to cross-compile with CMake. It goes into detailed
294explanations and may seem daunting, but it is not. On the wiki page there are
295several examples including toolchain files. Go directly to `this section
296<http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/CMake_Cross_Compiling#Information_how_to_set_up_various_cross_compiling_toolchains>`_
297for a quick solution.
298
299Also see the `LLVM-specific variables`_ section for variables used when
300cross-compiling.
301
302Embedding LLVM in your project
303==============================
304
305The most difficult part of adding LLVM to the build of a project is to determine
306the set of LLVM libraries corresponding to the set of required LLVM
307features. What follows is an example of how to obtain this information:
308
309.. code-block:: cmake
310
311  # A convenience variable:
312  set(LLVM_ROOT "" CACHE PATH "Root of LLVM install.")
313
314  # A bit of a sanity check:
315  if( NOT EXISTS ${LLVM_ROOT}/include/llvm )
316  message(FATAL_ERROR "LLVM_ROOT (${LLVM_ROOT}) is not a valid LLVM install")
317  endif()
318
319  # We incorporate the CMake features provided by LLVM:
320  set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${LLVM_ROOT}/share/llvm/cmake")
321  include(LLVMConfig)
322
323  # Now set the header and library paths:
324  include_directories( ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
325  link_directories( ${LLVM_LIBRARY_DIRS} )
326  add_definitions( ${LLVM_DEFINITIONS} )
327
328  # Let's suppose we want to build a JIT compiler with support for
329  # binary code (no interpreter):
330  llvm_map_components_to_libraries(REQ_LLVM_LIBRARIES jit native)
331
332  # Finally, we link the LLVM libraries to our executable:
333  target_link_libraries(mycompiler ${REQ_LLVM_LIBRARIES})
334
335This assumes that LLVM_ROOT points to an install of LLVM. The procedure works
336too for uninstalled builds although we need to take care to add an
337`include_directories` for the location of the headers on the LLVM source
338directory (if we are building out-of-source.)
339
340Alternativaly, you can utilize CMake's ``find_package`` functionality. Here is
341an equivalent variant of snippet shown above:
342
343.. code-block:: cmake
344
345  find_package(LLVM)
346
347  if( NOT LLVM_FOUND )
348    message(FATAL_ERROR "LLVM package can't be found. Set CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH variable to LLVM's installation prefix.")
349  endif()
350
351  include_directories( ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
352  link_directories( ${LLVM_LIBRARY_DIRS} )
353
354  llvm_map_components_to_libraries(REQ_LLVM_LIBRARIES jit native)
355
356  target_link_libraries(mycompiler ${REQ_LLVM_LIBRARIES})
357
358Developing LLVM pass out of source
359----------------------------------
360
361It is possible to develop LLVM passes against installed LLVM.  An example of
362project layout provided below:
363
364.. code-block:: bash
365
366  <project dir>/
367      |
368      CMakeLists.txt
369      <pass name>/
370          |
371          CMakeLists.txt
372          Pass.cpp
373          ...
374
375Contents of ``<project dir>/CMakeLists.txt``:
376
377.. code-block:: cmake
378
379  find_package(LLVM)
380
381  # Define add_llvm_* macro's.
382  include(AddLLVM)
383
384  add_definitions(${LLVM_DEFINITIONS})
385  include_directories(${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
386  link_directories(${LLVM_LIBRARY_DIRS})
387
388  add_subdirectory(<pass name>)
389
390Contents of ``<project dir>/<pass name>/CMakeLists.txt``:
391
392.. code-block:: cmake
393
394  add_llvm_loadable_module(LLVMPassname
395    Pass.cpp
396    )
397
398When you are done developing your pass, you may wish to integrate it
399into LLVM source tree. You can achieve it in two easy steps:
400
401#. Copying ``<pass name>`` folder into ``<LLVM root>/lib/Transform`` directory.
402
403#. Adding ``add_subdirectory(<pass name>)`` line into
404   ``<LLVM root>/lib/Transform/CMakeLists.txt``.
405
406Compiler/Platform specific topics
407=================================
408
409Notes for specific compilers and/or platforms.
410
411Microsoft Visual C++
412--------------------
413
414**LLVM_COMPILER_JOBS**:STRING
415  Specifies the maximum number of parallell compiler jobs to use per project
416  when building with msbuild or Visual Studio. Only supported for Visual Studio
417  2008 and Visual Studio 2010 CMake generators. 0 means use all
418  processors. Default is 0.
419