How do I make CMake output into a 'bin' dir?

Question

I'm currently constructing a project with a plugin structure. I'm using CMake to compile the project. The plugins are compiled in separate directories. My problem is that CMake compiles and saves the binaries and plugins, dynamic libraries, in the directory structure of the source. How do I make CMake save the files in something like a ./bin directory?

You should not override CMake's build directory layout. Instead, use the install() command and cmake --install. It will automatically copy executables to a bin subdirectory by default. — alexchandel
– alexchandel, Commented Mar 1, 2023 at 17:34
@alexchandel lol -- this was 11 year ago :) I love that you found it, and if thats true, it's a great answer :) — Martin Kristiansen
– Martin Kristiansen, Commented Mar 1, 2023 at 23:54

starball · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-18 21:32:32Z

As in Oleg's answer, I believe the correct variable to set is CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY. We use the following in our root CMakeLists.txt:

set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib) set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib) set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)

You can also specify the output directories on a per-target basis:

set_target_properties( targets... PROPERTIES ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib" LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib" RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin" )

In both cases you can append _[CONFIG] to the variable/property name to make the output directory apply to a specific configuration (the standard values for configuration are DEBUG, RELEASE, MINSIZEREL and RELWITHDEBINFO).

You can also override this on a per-target basis by setting the RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY target property. See documentation here: cmake.org/cmake/help/…
What is the purpose of setting CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, considering that the command install(TARGETS <target_name>) still complains about "given no RUNTIME DESTINATION for executable target"? This variable supposedly provides a default value, therefore the install command should not complain about the absence of a RUNTIME DESTINATION.
CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY sets where static (archive) libraries (.a files on Linux) will be built. It doesn't affect where install puts files.
take notice, you should put CMAKE_*** directives before adding the targets.

Guy Avraham · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-24 19:43:45Z

40

Use set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/some/full/path/to/bin")

edited Oct 24, 2017 at 19:43

Guy Avraham

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answered Jul 6, 2011 at 10:29

ovk

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4 Comments

DLRdave Over a year ago

Use the full path name to the directory as the variable value, and do not put a trailing "/" in the value... as in Adam Bowen's answer.

Scorb Over a year ago

Why do you need to add the full path? It seems like an annoyance when you move your project...

hamaney Over a year ago

maybe change the path "/some/full/path/to/bin" to something relative to the root CMakeLists.txt which will have its path set in ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}

Vasantha Ganesh Kanniappan Over a year ago

Does exactly what I want. You might want to use some variable like ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/some/path or ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/some/path.

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2018-09-03 09:29:14Z

Use the EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH CMake variable to set the needed path. For details, refer to the online CMake documentation:

CMake 2.8.8 Documentation

Jayhello · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-13 08:07:18Z

As to me I am using cmake 3.5, the below(set variable) does not work:

set( ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/lib/" LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/lib/" RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/bin/" )

but this works(set set_target_properties):

set_target_properties(demo5 PROPERTIES ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/lib/" LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/lib/" RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/home/xy/cmake_practice/bin/" )

I am using Adam's answer with set (CMAKE_... and it works, but only when you do it before adding libraries, executables etc. I think it's an important note for beginners like me.
Wow. @ashrasmun saved me from going insane after a few hours. Absolutely nothing was working until coming to the realization that the order of these commands is very relevant.
CMake version 3.19, this worked: set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "/some/full/path/to/bin"). Also you can specify path relative to the current directory (directory from which the cmake command is being executed).

mcandre · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-03 04:45:57Z

5

$ cat CMakeLists.txt project (hello) set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH "bin") add_executable (hello hello.c)

edited Apr 3, 2016 at 4:45

answered Apr 2, 2016 at 23:57

mcandre

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Comments

BTJ · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-03 02:45:08Z

One more refinement to serg06's answer:

To force the three paths to be used as-is with all generators and for all build configurations, you can add an empty generator expression as in the following:

set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "$<0:>${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin") # .exe and .dll set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "$<0:>${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib") # .so and .dylib set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "$<0:>${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib") # .lib and .a

That has the side-effect of forcing the Visual Studio generator in particular to use the specified path as-is, instead of appending a configuration-specific subdirectory, with no need for a foreach loop.

What does "be used as-is with all generators and for all build configurations" mean? Maybe you can explain with an example?

jpr42 · Accepted Answer · 2023-07-03 17:30:49Z

Be careful about changing the OUTPUT_DIRECTORY like the answers above describe. It's not an ideal solution since it can make your CMake project less friendly to add_subdirectory users.

I'm currently constructing a project with a plugin structure. I'm using CMake to compile the project. The plugins are compiled in separate directories. My problem is that CMake compiles and saves the binaries and plugins, dynamic libraries, in the directory structure of the source.

Sounds like your real issue is trying to load dlls.

CMake 3.21 added functionality for this exact situation.

$<TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS:tgt> New in version 3.21.

This generator expression can be used to copy all of the DLLs that a target depends on into its output directory in a POST_BUILD custom command using the cmake -E copy -t command. For example:

find_package(foo CONFIG REQUIRED) # package generated by install(EXPORT) add_executable(exe main.c) target_link_libraries(exe PRIVATE foo::foo foo::bar) add_custom_command(TARGET exe POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy -t $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:exe> $<TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS:exe> COMMAND_EXPAND_LISTS )

Link to official documentation:

https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS

Fundamentally this is a Windows issue CMake tries to provide a nice solution for since the MSVC compiler doesn't have RPATH support. Which makes this a trivial problem on almost all systems except for Windows.

serg06 · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-22 05:41:52Z

To add on to this:

If you're using CMAKE to generate a Visual Studio solution, and you want Visual Studio to output compiled files into /bin, Peter's answer needs to be modified a bit:

# set output directories for all builds (Debug, Release, etc.) foreach( OUTPUTCONFIG ${CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES} ) string( TOUPPER ${OUTPUTCONFIG} OUTPUTCONFIG ) set( CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_${OUTPUTCONFIG} ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib ) set( CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_${OUTPUTCONFIG} ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib ) set( CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_${OUTPUTCONFIG} ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/bin ) endforeach( OUTPUTCONFIG CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES )

user438383 · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-27 17:34:59Z

Use this line config:

set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/build/)
place your any CMakeLists.txt project.

This ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} is your current source directory where project place .
and if wander why is ${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH} check this file CMakeCache.txt then search the key word output path, all the variables define here, it would give a full explanation of the project all setting.

This will force the executable to be build in the project working directory, which is counter to what the OP is trying to do. It's generally a bad idea. (What if you want to build two different configurations?) Also, EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH is superseded by RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.

Paul Floyd · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-03 12:09:36Z

-1

cat CMakeLists.txt project (hello) set(CMAKE_BINARY_DIR "/bin") set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}) add_executable (hello hello.c)

edited Apr 3, 2018 at 12:09

Paul Floyd

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answered Apr 3, 2018 at 12:06

Meet Modia

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1 Comment

Paul Floyd Over a year ago

Could you add some explanation to your answer?

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