Using Overlay Triplets

Building dynamic libraries on Linux

Using vcpkg you can build libraries for many configurations out of the box. However, this doesn't currently include shared libraries on Linux and Mac OS.

This doesn't mean that you cannot use vcpkg to build your dynamic libraries on these platforms! This document will guide you through creating your own custom triplets with --overlay-triplets to easily build dynamic libraries on Linux.

Step 1: Create the custom triplet files

To save time, copy the existing x64-linux.cmake triplet file.

~/git$ mkdir custom-triplets
~/git$ cp vcpkg/triplets/x64-linux.cmake custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake

And modify custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake to match the contents below:

# ~/git/custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake
set(VCPKG_TARGET_ARCHITECTURE x64)
set(VCPKG_CRT_LINKAGE dynamic)
set(VCPKG_LIBRARY_LINKAGE dynamic) # This changed from static to dynamic

set(VCPKG_CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME Linux)

Step 2: Use `--overlay-triplets` to build dynamic libraries

Use the --overlay-triplets option to include the triplets in the custom-triplets directory.

~/git$ vcpkg/vcpkg install sqlite3:x64-linux-dynamic --overlay-triplets=custom-triplets
The following packages will be built and installed:
    sqlite3[core]:x64-linux-dynamic
Starting package 1/1: sqlite3:x64-linux-dynamic
Building package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux-dynamic...
-- Loading triplet configuration from: /home/victor/git/custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake
-- Downloading https://sqlite.org/2019/sqlite-amalgamation-3280000.zip...
-- Extracting source /home/victor/git/vcpkg/downloads/sqlite-amalgamation-3280000.zip
-- Applying patch fix-arm-uwp.patch
-- Using source at /home/victor/git/vcpkg/buildtrees/sqlite3/src/3280000-6a3ff7ce92
-- Configuring x64-linux-dynamic-dbg
-- Configuring x64-linux-dynamic-rel
-- Building x64-linux-dynamic-dbg
-- Building x64-linux-dynamic-rel
-- Performing post-build validation
-- Performing post-build validation done
Building package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux-dynamic... done
Installing package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux-dynamic...
Installing package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux-dynamic... done
Elapsed time for package sqlite3:x64-linux-dynamic: 44.82 s

Total elapsed time: 44.82 s

The package sqlite3:x64-linux-dynamic provides CMake targets:

    find_package(unofficial-sqlite3 CONFIG REQUIRED)
    target_link_libraries(main PRIVATE unofficial::sqlite3::sqlite3)

Overlay triplets enables your custom triplet files when using vcpkg install, vcpkg update, vcpkg upgrade, and vcpkg remove.

When using the --overlay-triplets option, a message like the following lets you know that a custom triplet is being used:

-- Loading triplet configuration from: /home/custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake

Overriding default triplets

As you may have noticed, the default triplets for Windows (x86-windows and x64-windows) install dynamic libraries, while a suffix (-static) is needed for static libraries. This is different with Linux and Mac OS where static libraries are built by x64-linux and x64-osx.

Using --overlay-triplets it is possible to override the default triplets to accomplish the same behavior on Linux:

x64-linux: Builds dynamic libraries,
x64-linux-static: Builds static libraries.

Step 1: Create the overlay triplets

Using the custom triplet created in the previous example, rename custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake to custom-triplets/x64-linux.cmake. Then, copy the default x64-linux triplet (which builds static libraries) in your custom-triplets folder and rename it to x64-linux-static.cmake.

~/git$ mv custom-triplets/x64-linux-dynamic.cmake custom-triplets/x64-linux.cmake
~/git$ cp vcpkg/triplets/x64-linux.cmake custom-triplets/x64-linux-static.cmake

Step 2: Use `--overlay-triplets` to override default triplets

Use the --overlay-triplets option to include the triplets in the custom-triplets directory.

~/git$ vcpkg/vcpkg install sqlite3:x64-linux --overlay-triplets=custom-triplets
The following packages will be built and installed:
    sqlite3[core]:x64-linux
Starting package 1/1: sqlite3:x64-linux
Building package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux...
-- Loading triplet configuration from: /home/victor/git/custom-triplets/x64-linux.cmake
-- Downloading https://sqlite.org/2019/sqlite-amalgamation-3280000.zip...
-- Extracting source /home/victor/git/vcpkg/downloads/sqlite-amalgamation-3280000.zip
-- Applying patch fix-arm-uwp.patch
-- Using source at /home/victor/git/vcpkg/buildtrees/sqlite3/src/3280000-6a3ff7ce92
-- Configuring x64-linux-dbg
-- Configuring x64-linux-rel
-- Building x64-linux-dbg
-- Building x64-linux-rel
-- Performing post-build validation
-- Performing post-build validation done
Building package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux... done
Installing package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux...
Installing package sqlite3[core]:x64-linux... done
Elapsed time for package sqlite3:x64-linux: 44.82 s

Total elapsed time: 44.82 s

The package sqlite3:x64-linux provides CMake targets:

    find_package(unofficial-sqlite3 CONFIG REQUIRED)
    target_link_libraries(main PRIVATE unofficial::sqlite3::sqlite3)

Note that the default triplet is masked by your custom triplet:

-- Loading triplet configuration from: /home/victor/git/custom-triplets/x64-linux.cmake

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