Skip to main content

Wiki vcpkg

vcpkg is cross-platform C/C++ package manager, and its peers include conan.

The most common type of package is a C/C++ library consisting of headers, source code, and binaries.

Some useful folders in VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg in vcpkg:

How vcpkg install fmt library when calling vcpkg install fmt in classic mode?

  1. Download the source code fmt.tar.gz into %VCPKG_ROOT%/downloads/ directory.
  2. build tree -> %VCPKG_ROOT%/buildtrees:
    1. Put the source code under %VCPKG_ROOT%/buildtrees/fmt/src/xxxx-xxxx.clean/ directory.
    2. Create building directory: %VCPKG_ROOT%/buildtrees/fmt/arm64-osx-dynamic-rel/(triplet+release/debug) and then start building
  3. package tree -> %VCPKG_ROOT%/package:
    1. Package fmt built library like fmt.dylib, its header files and binaries(tools) in build tree into %VCPKG_ROOT%/packages/fmt_arm64-osx-dynamic/
  4. install tree -> %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed:
    1. Install fmt's libs, headers and tools in package tree into %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed/arm64-osx-dynamic/lib, %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed/arm64-osx-dynamic/include and %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed/arm64-osx-dynamic/tools respectively.

As it outlines, vcpkg builds each package separately in build tree and package tree stages and finally in install tree stage reduce all packages into the central set in %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed/arm64-osx-dynamic/.

Classic mode​

Official saying: In Classic mode, vcpkg maintains a central installed tree inside the vcpkg instance built up by individual vcpkg install and vcpkg remove commands. This central set of packages can then be shared by any number of projects.

All packages are installed in a common %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed directory.

Classic mode how-to​

Just run vcpkg install %package% to use classic mode as the package will be installed into %VCPKG_ROOT%/installed/.

Manifest mode​

Official saying: In Manifest mode, vcpkg creates separate installed trees for each project and configuration. This allows separate projects to use different versions of libraries. The vcpkg.json file and optional vcpkg-configuration.json file form a project's manifest. The manifest declares the project's direct dependencies, version constraints, and registries used.

All packages are installed in their own ${project}/vcpkg_installed directory inside the ${project} directory.

Manifest mode how-to​

Create vcpkg.json in the project, then run vcpkg install to use manifest mode as all the packages declared in vcpkg.json will be installed into ${project}/vcpkg_installed/.

Useful environment variables for development​

CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR CURRENT_PACKAGES_DIR

set(VCPKG_RELEASE_LIBDIR "${CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR}/lib")
set(VCPKG_DEBUG_LIBDIR "${CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR}/debug/lib")
set(VCPKG_TOOLS_DIR "${CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR}/tools")
set(VCPKG_SHARE_DIR "${CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR}/share")
set(VCPKG_INCLUDE_DIR "${CURRENT_INSTALLED_DIR}/include")

Tips and Tricks​

How to specify a compiler fof vcpkg install?​

As vcpkg just use cmake toolchain to do install, how to set a specific compile is cmake things.

A fast way is use CC and CXX environment variables.

export CC=gcc-4.2
export CXX=/usr/bin/g++-4.2

See more ways at iar - How to specify a compiler in CMake? - Stack Overflow

Install *-osx-dynamic​

vcpkg install libpq --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic

Reinstall packages without caching​

vcpkg remove icu --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic
vcpkg install icu --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --no-binarycaching
vcpkg install libpq --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --binarysource=clear
vcpkg remove libpq --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic

vcpkg remove "qtbase[gui,widgets]" --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic
vcpkg install "qtbase[gui,widgets]" --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --no-binarycaching
vcpkg install "qtbase[gui,widgets]" --host-triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --triplet=arm64-osx-dynamic --binarysource=clear

Clean up all packages​

rm -rf /opt/vcpkg/installed/
rm -rf /opt/vcpkg/packages/
rm -rf /opt/vcpkg/buildtrees/

Clean up all caching packages​

rm -rf ~/.cache/vcpkg/archives/

INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH will not work properly when being used in the manifest mode, because CMake will don't handle libraries located in buildtree:

set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES
    INSTALL_RPATH "@executable_path/../Frameworks"
    INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH ON
)

After ${PROJECT_NAME} installed, in the manifest mode:

❯ otoolll /Users/frankchen/Documents/vcpkg-qt-app/install/./helloworld.app/Contents/MacOS/helloworld
          cmd LC_RPATH
      cmdsize 48
         path @executable_path/../Frameworks (offset 12)

After ${PROJECT_NAME} installed, in the classic mode:

❯ otoolll /Users/frankchen/Documents/vcpkg-qt-app/install/./helloworld.app/Contents/MacOS/helloworld
          cmd LC_RPATH
      cmdsize 56
         path /opt/vcpkg/installed/arm64-osx-dynamic/lib (offset 12)
Load command 27
      cmd LC_FUNCTION_STARTS
--
          cmd LC_RPATH
      cmdsize 48
         path @executable_path/../Frameworks (offset 12)

[wiki-cmake.mdx#RPATH in CMake](./wiki-cmake.mdx#RPATH in CMake)

Resources​

TODO: Fix qtbase tools/config in release/debug osx

https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/tree/master/ports/qtbase

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcpkg/maintainers/functions/vcpkg_cmake_config_fixup