Triplet is a standard term used in cross compiling as a way to completely capture the target environment (cpu, os, compiler, runtime, etc) in a single convenient name.
In Vcpkg, we use triplets to describe self-consistent builds of library sets. This means every library will be built using the same target cpu, OS, and compiler toolchain, but also CRT linkage and preferred library type.
We currently provide many triplets by default (run vcpkg help triplet
). However, you can easily add your own by creating a new file in the triplets\
directory. The new triplet will immediately be available for use in commands, such as vcpkg install boost:x86-windows-custom
.
To change the triplet used by your project, such as to enable static linking, see our Integration Document.
Triplets contained in the triplets\community
folder are not tested by continuous integration.
These triplets contain configurations commonly requested by the community, but for which we lack the resources to properly test.
Port updates may break compatibility with community triplets, such regressions won't get caught by our testing pipelines. Because of this, community involvement is paramount!
We will gladly accept and review contributions that aim to solve issues with these triplets.
Community Triplets are enabled by default, when using a community triplet a message like the following one will be printed during a package install:
-- Using community triplet x86-uwp. This triplet configuration is not guaranteed to succeed.
-- [COMMUNITY] Loading triplet configuration from: D:\src\viromer\vcpkg\triplets\community\x86-uwp.cmake
Specifies the target machine architecture.
Valid options are x86
, x64
, arm
, and arm64
.
Specifies the desired CRT linkage (for MSVC).
Valid options are dynamic
and static
.
Specifies the preferred library linkage.
Valid options are dynamic
and static
. Note that libraries can ignore this setting if they do not support the preferred linkage type.
Specifies the target platform.
Valid options include any CMake system name, such as:
- Empty (Windows Desktop for legacy reasons)
WindowsStore
(Universal Windows Platform)Darwin
(Mac OSX)Linux
(Linux)
Specifies the target platform system version.
This field is optional and, if present, will be passed into the build as CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION
.
See also the CMake documentation for CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION
: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION.html.
Specifies an alternate CMake Toolchain file to use.
This (if set) will override all other compiler detection logic. By default, a toolchain file is selected from scripts/toolchains/
appropriate to the platform.
See also the CMake documentation for toolchain files: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.11/manual/cmake-toolchains.7.html.
Sets additional compiler flags to be used when not using VCPKG_CHAINLOAD_TOOLCHAIN_FILE
.
This option also has forms for configuration-specific and C flags:
VCPKG_CXX_FLAGS
VCPKG_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG
VCPKG_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE
VCPKG_C_FLAGS
VCPKG_C_FLAGS_DEBUG
VCPKG_C_FLAGS_RELEASE
Specifies the Visual Studio installation to use.
To select the precise combination of Visual Studio instance and toolset version, we walk through the following algorithm:
- Determine the setting for
VCPKG_VISUAL_STUDIO_PATH
from the triplet, or the environment variableVCPKG_VISUAL_STUDIO_PATH
, or consider it unset - Determine the setting for
VCPKG_PLATFORM_TOOLSET
from the triplet or consider it unset - Gather a list of all pairs of Visual Studio Instances with all toolsets available in those instances
- This is ordered first by instance type (Stable, Prerelease, Legacy) and then by toolset version (v142, v141, v140)
- Filter the list based on the settings for
VCPKG_VISUAL_STUDIO_PATH
andVCPKG_PLATFORM_TOOLSET
. - Select the best remaining option
The path should be absolute, formatted with backslashes, and have no trailing slash:
set(VCPKG_VISUAL_STUDIO_PATH "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\Preview\\Community")
Specifies the VS-based C/C++ compiler toolchain to use.
See VCPKG_VISUAL_STUDIO_PATH
for the full selection algorithm.
Valid settings:
- The Visual Studio 2019 platform toolset is
v142
. - The Visual Studio 2017 platform toolset is
v141
. - The Visual Studio 2015 platform toolset is
v140
.
Sets the install name used when building macOS dynamic libraries. Default value is @rpath
. See the CMake documentation for CMAKE_INSTALL_NAME_DIR for more information.
Sets the minimum macOS version for compiled binaries. This also changes what versions of the macOS platform SDK that CMake will search for. See the CMake documentation for CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET for more information.
Set the name or path of the macOS platform SDK that will be used by CMake. See the CMake documentation for CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT for more information.
The CMake Macro PORT
will be set when interpreting the triplet file and can be used to change settings (such as VCPKG_LIBRARY_LINKAGE
) on a per-port basis.
Example:
set(VCPKG_LIBRARY_LINKAGE static)
if(PORT MATCHES "qt5-")
set(VCPKG_LIBRARY_LINKAGE dynamic)
endif()
This will build all the qt5-*
libraries as DLLs, but every other library as a static library.
For an example in a real project, see https://github.com/Intelight/vcpkg/blob/master/triplets/x86-windows-mixed.cmake.
The default triplet when running any vcpkg command is %VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET%
or a platform-specific choice if that environment variable is undefined.
- Windows:
x86-windows
- Linux:
x64-linux
- OSX:
x64-osx
We recommend using a systematic naming scheme when creating new triplets. The Android toolchain naming scheme is a good source of inspiration: https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/standalone_toolchain.html.