CMake: Using Boost v1.69 with MSVC on Windows

Question

I'm trying to use the Boost library in my C++ project on Windows using CLion and ~~MinGW~~MSVC. I downloaded the precompiled binaries here and extracted everything to C:\local\boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3. I setup the following CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11.4)
project(BoostTesting)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)

set(BOOST_ROOT "C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3")
set(BOOST_LIBRARYDIR "C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib64-msvc-14.1")
set(BOOST_INCLUDEDIR "C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost")

set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON)
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF)
set(Boost_DEBUG ON)
set(Boost_DETAILED_FAILURE_MSG ON)
set(Boost_COMPILER "-vc141")
set(Boost_ARCHITECTURE "-x64")

find_package(Boost 1.69.0 COMPONENTS filesystem REQUIRED)

if (Boost_FOUND)
    include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
    add_executable(BoostTesting main.cpp)
    target_link_libraries(BoostTesting ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
endif ()

Using CMake's FindBoost debug mode (Boost_DEBUG) I got the following output:

C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\JetBrains\Toolbox\apps\CLion\ch-0\183.4284.104\bin\cmake\win\bin\cmake.exe -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug "-DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make.exe" "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe" "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++.exe" -G "CodeBlocks - MinGW Makefiles" D:\Cpp\BoostTesting
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 8.1.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 8.1.0
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++.exe
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/mingw-w64/x86_64-8.1.0-win32-seh-rt_v6-rev0/mingw64/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++.exe -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
CMake Warning (dev) at CMakeLists.txt:18 (find_package):
  Policy CMP0074 is not set: find_package uses <PackageName>_ROOT variables.
  Run "cmake --help-policy CMP0074" for policy details.  Use the cmake_policy
  command to set the policy and suppress this warning.

  Environment variable Boost_ROOT is set to:

    C:\local\boost_1_68_0\boost

  For compatibility, CMake is ignoring the variable.
This warning is for project developers.  Use -Wno-dev to suppress it.

-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1125 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1127 ] Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED = ON
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1129 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS = ON
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1131 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME = OFF
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1133 ] Boost_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS = 
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1135 ] Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS = 
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1203 ] Declared as CMake or Environmental Variables:
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1205 ]   BOOST_ROOT = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1207 ]   BOOST_INCLUDEDIR = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1209 ]   BOOST_LIBRARYDIR = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib64-msvc-14.1
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1211 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1286 ] Include debugging info:
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1288 ]   _boost_INCLUDE_SEARCH_DIRS = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/include;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3;PATHS;C:/boost/include;C:/boost;/sw/local/include
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1290 ]   _boost_PATH_SUFFIXES = 
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1310 ] location of version.hpp: C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost/version.hpp
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1334 ] version.hpp reveals boost 1.69.0
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1410 ] using user-specified Boost_COMPILER = -vc141
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1430 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = -mt
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1506 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = -
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1508 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = -d
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1571 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_RELEASE = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/stage/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/../lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib_boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG   = C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/stage/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/../lib;C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib
CMake Warning at C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:847 (message):
  New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported
  targets
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:963 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES)
  C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1622 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES)
  CMakeLists.txt:18 (find_package)


CMake Warning at C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:847 (message):
  New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported
  targets
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:963 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES)
  C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1622 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES)
  CMakeLists.txt:18 (find_package)


-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1760 ] Searching for FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE: libboost_filesystem-vc141-mt-1_69;libboost_filesystem-vc141-mt;libboost_filesystem-mt-1_69;libboost_filesystem-mt;libboost_filesystem
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1813 ] Searching for FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG: libboost_filesystem-vc141-mt-d-1_69;libboost_filesystem-vc141-mt-d;libboost_filesystem-mt-d-1_69;libboost_filesystem-mt-d;libboost_filesystem-mt;libboost_filesystem
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1760 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE: libboost_system-vc141-mt-1_69;libboost_system-vc141-mt;libboost_system-mt-1_69;libboost_system-mt;libboost_system
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1813 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG: libboost_system-vc141-mt-d-1_69;libboost_system-vc141-mt-d;libboost_system-mt-d-1_69;libboost_system-mt-d;libboost_system-mt;libboost_system
-- [ C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1887 ] Boost_FOUND = 1
CMake Error at C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/CLion/ch-0/183.4284.104/bin/cmake/win/share/cmake-3.12/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2048 (message):
  Unable to find the requested Boost libraries.

  Boost version: 1.69.0

  Boost include path: C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3

  Could not find the following static Boost libraries:

          boost_filesystem

  Some (but not all) of the required Boost libraries were found.  You may
  need to install these additional Boost libraries.  Alternatively, set
  BOOST_LIBRARYDIR to the directory containing Boost libraries or BOOST_ROOT
  to the location of Boost.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:18 (find_package)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "D:/Cpp/BoostTesting/cmake-build-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".

[Failed to reload]

CMake is looking for those specific files but I noticed that the -x64 indication is not part of the searched file names. My directory only contains 64-bit libraries:

Why is the Boost_ARCHITECTURE environment variable ignored? I expect it to add the missing -x64 to the searched file names. If I manually rename the libboost_filesystem-vc141-mt*.lib files they can be found by CMake. However, if I compile and link my simple main.cpp I'm getting a linker error:

====================[ Build | BoostTesting | Debug ]============================
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\JetBrains\Toolbox\apps\CLion\ch-0\183.4284.104\bin\cmake\win\bin\cmake.exe --build D:\Cpp\BoostTesting\cmake-build-debug --target BoostTesting -- -j 4
Scanning dependencies of target BoostTesting
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/BoostTesting.dir/main.cpp.obj
[100%] Linking CXX executable BoostTesting.exe
CMakeFiles\BoostTesting.dir/objects.a(main.cpp.obj): In function `boost::filesystem::path_traits::convert(char const*, std::__cxx11::basic_string<wchar_t, std::char_traits<wchar_t>, std::allocator<wchar_t> >&)':
C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost/filesystem/path.hpp:997: undefined reference to `boost::filesystem::path::codecvt()'
C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost/filesystem/path.hpp:997: undefined reference to `boost::filesystem::path_traits::convert(char const*, char const*, std::__cxx11::basic_string<wchar_t, std::char_traits<wchar_t>, std::allocator<wchar_t> >&, std::codecvt<wchar_t, char, int> const&)'
CMakeFiles\BoostTesting.dir/objects.a(main.cpp.obj): In function `boost::filesystem::file_size(boost::filesystem::path const&)':
C:/local/boost_1_69_0_b1_rc3/boost/filesystem/operations.hpp:616: undefined reference to `boost::filesystem::detail::file_size(boost::filesystem::path const&, boost::system::error_code*)'
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
mingw32-make.exe[3]: *** [CMakeFiles\BoostTesting.dir\build.make:88: BoostTesting.exe] Error 1
mingw32-make.exe[2]: *** [CMakeFiles\Makefile2:72: CMakeFiles/BoostTesting.dir/all] Error 2
mingw32-make.exe[1]: *** [CMakeFiles\Makefile2:84: CMakeFiles/BoostTesting.dir/rule] Error 2
mingw32-make.exe: *** [Makefile:117: BoostTesting] Error 2

main.cpp source code:

#include <iostream>
#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>

using namespace boost::filesystem;

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    if (argc < 2) {
        std::cout << "Usage: tut1 path\n";
        return 1;
    }
    std::cout << argv[1] << " " << file_size(argv[1]) << '\n';
    return 0;
}

I'm pretty sure renaming the files is not the proper way of doing it. But even this way it doesn't work. What am I doing wrong and how do you properly use Boost in a simple C++ project like this one?

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 19 '18 at 12:49

3

I believe find_package(Boost ...) has failed in your case as it won't be able to find the REQUIRED filesystem library for 64-bit GCC.

Make sure you have the GCC build of Boost available as well, because now you're only showing the V++ libraries.

answered Nov 19 '18 at 12:49

rubenvb

74,642
33
187
332

There are no `GCC` compiled binaries for `Windows` and I just want to use the provided `MSVC` libraries. Isn't that possible? – BullyWiiPlaza Nov 19 '18 at 12:53
@BullyWiiPlaza I am pretty sure you need to compile boost using mingw. Thankfully its not difficult to build boost. – drescherjm Nov 19 '18 at 13:08
@BullyWiiPlaza You'll need to build it. GCC and MSVC are not ABI compatible. – rubenvb Nov 19 '18 at 13:22

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 16 '19 at 14:58

You got CMake warning

New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported targets

because that CMake version does not prepared for boost 1.69 (Maybe latest CMake does...). So CMake tries its best to recognize that version, so it still may work (see point 3 below).
@Felix Natter correctly pointed out above that Boost_ARCHITECTURE is handled only from CMake 3.13.
You can make it work without manual renaming, without GCC or MINGW, if you rebuild your boost with one of the file naming "layouts", your CMake recognizes. (From your debug log these ones:

libboost_<module name>-<toolset>[-mt]-<ABI tag>-<boost version>
libboost_<module name>-<toolset>[-mt]-<ABI tag>
libboost_<module name>[-mt]-<ABI tag>-<boost version>
libboost_<module name>[-mt]
libboost_<module name>)

Unfortunately only the system layout matches, which means you need to separate Debug and Release builds in different "lib" folders. For explanation about the "layout" parameter see here.

So rebuild boost by specifying the --layout=system parameter, and also decide the variant by specifying variant=debug or variant=release.

As a starting point, on SF you can find the build log file: https://sourceforge.net/projects/boost/files/boost-binaries/1.69.0/boost_1_69_0-64bitlog.txt/download
The last build "entry" in the file is for vc141, which is your version:
b2 -j%NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS% --without-mpi --build-type=complete toolset=msvc-14.1 address-model=64 architecture=x86 --prefix=.\ --libdir=lib64-msvc-14.1 --includedir=garbage_headers install

Go to your boost source root and do > bootstrap first. Make sure msvc-14.1 was detected.

Now build:
> b2 -a -j%NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS% --without-mpi --with-filesystem toolset=msvc-14.1 address-model=64 architecture=x86 variant=debug --layout=system --prefix=C:\boost_build\debug

Do it for Release in a different target directory. Change --prefix according to your needs. You may also specify --libdir and --includedir if the default is not good for you. Of course, probably you need to modify your CMakeList file so that it can use both the Debug and Release variants...

So the best is to use a CMake version, which recognizes boost ver 1.69, and/or get a CMake-based version of boost, which includes 1.69.

Apparently the key was to just use a newer `CMake` version. – BullyWiiPlaza Sep 24 '19 at 21:14 — BullyWiiPlaza, Sep 24 '19 at 21:14

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 14 '19 at 18:52

set(Boost_ARCHITECTURE "-x64")

only works with cmake >= 3.13 [1] [2]. If you cannot upgrade to cmake 3.13+, you can work around with:

set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ARCHITECTURE_ID, "x64")

(not sure under what conditions this is set automatically)

[1] https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.12/module/FindBoost.html [2] https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.13/module/FindBoost.html

BullyWiiPlaza · Answer 4 · 2018-11-19T21:50:37.653

It turns out it works when using the MinGW distribution with built-in Boost.

CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11.4)
project(BoostTesting)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)

if(WIN32)
    set(BOOST_ROOT "C:/MinGW")
endif ()

find_package(Boost 1.67.0 COMPONENTS filesystem REQUIRED)

if (Boost_FOUND)
    include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
    add_executable(BoostTesting main.cpp)
    target_link_libraries(BoostTesting ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
endif ()

main.cpp output:

D:\Cpp\BoostTesting\cmake-build-debug\BoostTesting.exe
Usage: tut1 path

Process finished with exit code 1

It compiled and linked successfully.

CMake: Using Boost v1.69 with MSVC on Windows

4 Answers4

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