CPack — CMake 4.4.0 Documentation

# CPack

This module configures generators for binary installers and source packages.

Load this module in a CMake project with:

    include(CPack)

## Introduction

The CPack module generates the configuration files `CPackConfig.cmake` and `CPackSourceConfig.cmake`. They are intended for use in a subsequent run of the `cpack` program where they steer the generation of installers or/and source packages.

Depending on the CMake generator, the CPack module may also add two new build targets, `package` and `package_source`. See the packaging targets section below for details.

The generated binary installers will contain all files that have been installed via CMake's `install()` command (and the deprecated commands `install_files()`, `install_programs()`, and `install_targets()`). Note that the `DESTINATION` option of the `install()` command must be a relative path; otherwise installed files are ignored by CPack.

Certain kinds of binary installers can be configured such that users can select individual application components to install. See the `CPackComponent` module for further details.

Source packages (configured through `CPackSourceConfig.cmake` and generated by the `CPack Archive Generator`) will contain all source files in the project directory except those specified in `CPACK_SOURCE_IGNORE_FILES`.

## CPack Generators

The `CPACK_GENERATOR` variable has different meanings in different contexts. In a `CMakeLists.txt` file, `CPACK_GENERATOR` is a list of generators: and when `cpack` is run with no other arguments, it will iterate over that list and produce one package for each generator. In a `CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE`, `CPACK_GENERATOR` is a string naming a single generator. If you need per-cpack-generator logic to control other cpack settings, then you need a `CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE`. If set, the `CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE` is included automatically on a per-generator basis. It only need contain overrides.

Here's how it works:

- `cpack` runs

- it includes `CPackConfig.cmake`

- it iterates over the generators given by the `-G` command line option, or if no such option was specified, over the list of generators given by the `CPACK_GENERATOR` variable set in the `CPackConfig.cmake` input file.

- foreach generator, it then

  - sets `CPACK_GENERATOR` to the one currently being iterated

  - includes the `CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE`

  - produces the package for that generator

This is the key: For each generator listed in `CPACK_GENERATOR` in `CPackConfig.cmake`, cpack will reset `CPACK_GENERATOR` internally to the one currently being used and then include the `CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE`.

For a list of available generators, see `cpack-generators(7)`.

## Targets package and package_source

If CMake is run with the Makefile, Ninja, or Xcode generator, then `include(CPack)` generates a target `package`. This makes it possible to build a binary installer from CMake, Make, or Ninja: Instead of `cpack`, one may call `cmake --build . --target package` or `make package` or `ninja package`. The VS generator creates an uppercase target `PACKAGE`.

If CMake is run with the Makefile or Ninja generator, then `include(CPack)` also generates a target `package_source`. To build a source package, instead of `cpack -G TGZ --config CPackSourceConfig.cmake` one may call `cmake --build . --target package_source`, `make package_source`, or `ninja package_source`.

## Variables common to all CPack Generators

Before including this CPack module in your `CMakeLists.txt` file, there are a variety of variables that can be set to customize the resulting installers. The most commonly-used variables are:

CPACK_PACKAGE_NAME

  The name of the package (or application). If not specified, it defaults to the project name.

CPACK_PACKAGE_VENDOR

  The name of the package vendor. (e.g., "Kitware"). The default is "Humanity".

CPACK_PACKAGE_DIRECTORY

  The directory in which CPack is doing its packaging. If it is not set then this will default (internally) to the build dir. This variable may be defined in a CPack config file or from the `cpack` command line option `-B`. If set, the command line option overrides the value found in the config file.

CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR

  Package major version. This variable will always be set, but its default value depends on whether or not version details were given to the `project()` command in the top level CMakeLists.txt file. If version details were given, the default value will be `CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR`. If no version details were given, a default version of 0.1.1 will be assumed, leading to `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR` having a default value of 0.

CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR

  Package minor version. The default value is determined based on whether or not version details were given to the `project()` command in the top level CMakeLists.txt file. If version details were given, the default value will be `CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR`, but if no minor version component was specified then `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR` will be left unset. If no project version was given at all, a default version of 0.1.1 will be assumed, leading to `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR` having a default value of 1.

CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH

  Package patch version. The default value is determined based on whether or not version details were given to the `project()` command in the top level CMakeLists.txt file. If version details were given, the default value will be `CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH`, but if no patch version component was specified then `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH` will be left unset. If no project version was given at all, a default version of 0.1.1 will be assumed, leading to `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH` having a default value of 1.

CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION

  A description of the project, used in places such as the introduction screen of CPack-generated Windows installers. If not set, the value of this variable is populated from the file named by `CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION_FILE`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION_FILE

  A text file used to describe the project when `CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION` is not explicitly set. The default value for `CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION_FILE` points to a built-in template file `Templates/CPack.GenericDescription.txt`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION_SUMMARY

  Short description of the project (only a few words). If the `CMAKE_PROJECT_DESCRIPTION` variable is set, it is used as the default value, otherwise the default will be a string generated by CMake based on `CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_HOMEPAGE_URL

  Project homepage URL. The default value is taken from the `CMAKE_PROJECT_HOMEPAGE_URL` variable, which is set by the top level `project()` command, or else the default will be empty if no URL was provided to `project()`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_FILE_NAME

  The name of the package file to generate, not including the extension. For example, `cmake-2.6.1-Linux-i686`. The default value is:

      ${CPACK_PACKAGE_NAME}-${CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION}-${CPACK_SYSTEM_NAME}

CPACK_PACKAGE_INSTALL_DIRECTORY

  Installation directory on the target system. This may be used by some CPack generators like NSIS to create an installation directory e.g., "CMake 2.5" below the installation prefix. All installed elements will be put inside this directory.

CPACK_PACKAGE_ICON

  A branding image that will be displayed inside the installer (used by GUI installers).

CPACK_PACKAGE_CHECKSUM

  Added in version 3.7.

  One or multiple algorithms that will be used to generate additional files with the checksum of the package. The output file names will be:

      ${CPACK_PACKAGE_FILE_NAME}.${CPACK_PACKAGE_CHECKSUM}

  Supported algorithms are those listed by the string(<HASH>) command.

  Changed in version 4.2: The variable accepts a list of algorithms.

CPACK_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE

  CPack-time project CPack configuration file. This file is included at cpack time, once per generator after CPack has set `CPACK_GENERATOR` to the actual generator being used. It allows per-generator setting of `CPACK_*` variables at cpack time.

CPACK_RESOURCE_FILE_LICENSE

  License to be embedded in the installer. It will typically be displayed to the user by the produced installer (often with an explicit "Accept" button, for graphical installers) prior to installation. This license file is NOT added to the installed files but is used by some CPack generators like NSIS. If you want to use UTF-8 characters, the file needs to be encoded in UTF-8 BOM. If you want to install a license file (may be the same as this one) along with your project, you must add an appropriate CMake `install()` command in your `CMakeLists.txt`.

CPACK_RESOURCE_FILE_README

  ReadMe file to be embedded in the installer. It typically describes in some detail the purpose of the project during the installation. Not all CPack generators use this file.

CPACK_RESOURCE_FILE_WELCOME

  Welcome file to be embedded in the installer. It welcomes users to this installer. Typically used in the graphical installers on Windows and Mac OS X.

CPACK_MONOLITHIC_INSTALL

  Disables the component-based installation mechanism. When set, the component specification is ignored and all installed items are put in a single "MONOLITHIC" package. Some CPack generators do monolithic packaging by default and may be asked to do component packaging by setting `CPACK_<GENNAME>_COMPONENT_INSTALL` to `TRUE`.

CPACK_GENERATOR

  List of CPack generators to use. If not specified, CPack will create a set of options following the naming pattern `CPACK_BINARY_<GENNAME>` (e.g. `CPACK_BINARY_NSIS`) allowing the user to enable/disable individual generators. If the `-G` option is given on the `cpack` command line, it will override this variable and any `CPACK_BINARY_<GENNAME>` options.

CPACK_OUTPUT_CONFIG_FILE

  The name of the CPack binary configuration file. This file is the CPack configuration generated by the CPack module for binary installers. Defaults to `CPackConfig.cmake`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_EXECUTABLES

  Lists each of the executables and associated text label to be used to create Start Menu shortcuts. For example, setting this to the list `ccmake;CMake` will create a shortcut named "CMake" that will execute the installed executable ccmake. Not all CPack generators use it (at least NSIS, Inno Setup and WIX do).

CPACK_STRIP_FILES

  List of files to be stripped. Starting with CMake 2.6.0, `CPACK_STRIP_FILES` will be a boolean variable which enables stripping of all files (a list of files evaluates to `TRUE` in CMake, so this change is compatible).

CPACK_VERBATIM_VARIABLES

  Added in version 3.4.

  If set to `TRUE`, values of variables prefixed with `CPACK_` will be escaped before being written to the configuration files, so that the cpack program receives them exactly as they were specified. If not, characters like quotes and backslashes can cause parsing errors or alter the value received by the cpack program. Defaults to `FALSE` for backwards compatibility.

CPACK_THREADS

  Added in version 3.20.

  Number of threads to use when performing parallelized operations, such as compressing the installer package.

  Some compression methods used by CPack generators such as Debian or Archive may take advantage of multiple CPU cores to speed up compression. `CPACK_THREADS` can be set to specify how many threads will be used for compression.

  A positive integer can be used to specify an exact desired thread count.

  When given a negative integer CPack will use the absolute value as the upper limit but may choose a lower value based on the available hardware concurrency.

  Given 0 CPack will try to use all available CPU cores.

  By default `CPACK_THREADS` is set to `1`.

  The following compression methods may take advantage of multiple cores:

  `xz`

    Supported if CMake is built with a `liblzma` that supports parallel compression.

    Added in version 3.21: Official CMake binaries available on `cmake.org` now ship with a `liblzma` that supports parallel compression. Older versions did not.

  `zstd`

    Added in version 3.24.

    Supported if CMake is built with libarchive 3.6 or higher. Official CMake binaries available on `cmake.org` support it.

  Other compression methods ignore this value and use only one thread.

CPACK_COMPRESSION_LEVEL

  Added in version 4.3.

  Select the compression level to use when it's applicable, such as compressing the installer package.

  Some compression methods used by CPack generators such as Debian or Archive may take advantage of different compression levels. The accepted values are in the range `0` to `9`. If you select the `zstd` compression method, you can select the compression level between `0` and `19`, except the `zip` archive format.

  By default `CPACK_COMPRESSION_LEVEL` is set to `0`, which selects the default compression level. It is selected automatically by the archive library backend and not directly set by CMake itself. The default compression level may vary between archive formats, platforms, etc.

## Variables for Source Package Generators

The following CPack variables are specific to source packages, and will not affect binary packages:

CPACK_SOURCE_PACKAGE_FILE_NAME

  The name of the source package. For example `cmake-2.6.1`.

CPACK_SOURCE_STRIP_FILES

  List of files in the source tree that will be stripped. Starting with CMake 2.6.0, `CPACK_SOURCE_STRIP_FILES` will be a boolean variable which enables stripping of all files (a list of files evaluates to `TRUE` in CMake, so this change is compatible).

CPACK_SOURCE_GENERATOR

  List of generators used for the source packages. As with `CPACK_GENERATOR`, if this is not specified then CPack will create a set of options (e.g. `CPACK_SOURCE_ZIP`) allowing users to select which packages will be generated.

CPACK_SOURCE_OUTPUT_CONFIG_FILE

  The name of the CPack source configuration file. This file is the CPack configuration generated by the CPack module for source installers. Defaults to `CPackSourceConfig.cmake`.

CPACK_SOURCE_IGNORE_FILES

  Pattern of files in the source tree that won't be packaged when building a source package. This is a list of regular expression patterns (that must be properly escaped), e.g., `/CVS/;/\\.svn/;\\.swp$;\\.#;/#;.*~;cscope.*`

## Variables for Advanced Use

The following variables are for advanced uses of CPack:

CPACK_CMAKE_GENERATOR

  What CMake generator should be used if the project is a CMake project. Defaults to the value of `CMAKE_GENERATOR`. Few users will want to change this setting.

CPACK_INSTALL_CMAKE_PROJECTS

  List of four values that specify what project to install. The four values are: Build directory, Project Name, Project Component, Directory. If omitted, CPack will build an installer that installs everything.

CPACK_SYSTEM_NAME

  System name, defaults to the value of `CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME`, except on Windows where it will be `win32` or `win64`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION

  Package full version, used internally. By default, this is built from `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR`, `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR`, and `CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH`.

CPACK_TOPLEVEL_TAG

  Directory for the installed files.

CPACK_INSTALL_COMMANDS

  Extra commands to install components. The environment variable `CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX` is set to the temporary install directory during execution.

CPACK_INSTALL_SCRIPTS

  Added in version 3.16.

  Extra CMake scripts executed by CPack during its local staging installation. They are executed before installing the files to be packaged. The scripts are not called by a standalone install (e.g.: `make install`). For every script, the following variables will be set: `CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR`, `CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR` and `CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX` (which is set to the staging install directory). The singular form `CMAKE_INSTALL_SCRIPT` is supported as an alternative variable for historical reasons, but its value is ignored if `CMAKE_INSTALL_SCRIPTS` is set and a warning will be issued.

  See also `CPACK_PRE_BUILD_SCRIPTS` and `CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS` which can be used to specify scripts to be executed later in the packaging process.

CPACK_PRE_BUILD_SCRIPTS

  Added in version 3.19.

  List of CMake scripts to execute after CPack has installed the files to be packaged into a staging directory and before producing the package(s) from those files. See also `CPACK_INSTALL_SCRIPTS` and `CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS`.

CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS

  Added in version 3.19.

  List of CMake scripts to execute after CPack has produced the resultant packages and before copying them back to the build directory. See also `CPACK_INSTALL_SCRIPTS`, `CPACK_PRE_BUILD_SCRIPTS` and `CPACK_PACKAGE_FILES`.

CPACK_PACKAGE_FILES

  Added in version 3.19.

  List of package files created in the staging directory, with each file provided as a full absolute path. This variable is populated by CPack just before invoking the post-build scripts listed in `CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS`. It is the preferred way for the post-build scripts to know the set of package files to operate on. Projects should not try to set this variable themselves.

CPACK_INSTALLED_DIRECTORIES

  Extra directories to install.

CPACK_PACKAGE_INSTALL_REGISTRY_KEY

  Registry key used when installing this project. This is only used by installers for Windows. The default value is based on the installation directory.

CPACK_CREATE_DESKTOP_LINKS

  List of desktop links to create. Each desktop link requires a corresponding start menu shortcut as created by `CPACK_PACKAGE_EXECUTABLES`.

CPACK_BINARY_<GENNAME>

  CPack generated options for binary generators. The `CPack.cmake` module generates (when `CPACK_GENERATOR` is not set) a set of CMake options (see CMake `option()` command) which may then be used to select the CPack generator(s) to be used when building the `package` target or when running `cpack` without the `-G` option.

CPACK_READELF_EXECUTABLE

  Added in version 3.25.

  Specify the `readelf` executable path used by CPack. The default value will be taken from the `CMAKE_READELF` variable, if set, which may be populated CMake when enabling languages. If `CMAKE_READELF` is not set, CPack will use `find_program()` to determine the `readelf` path when needed.

CPACK_OBJCOPY_EXECUTABLE

  Added in version 3.25.

  Specify the `objcopy` executable path used by CPack. The default value will be taken from the `CMAKE_OBJCOPY` variable, if set, which may be populated by CMake when enabling languages. If `CMAKE_OBJCOPY` is not set, CPack will use `find_program()` to determine the `objcopy` path when needed.

CPACK_OBJDUMP_EXECUTABLE

  Added in version 3.25.

  Specify the `objdump` executable path used by CPack. The default value will be taken from the `CMAKE_OBJDUMP` variable, which may be populated by CMake when enabling languages. If `CMAKE_OBJDUMP` is not set, CPack will use `find_program()` to determine the `objdump` path when needed.