setup-cpp

Install all the tools required for building and testing C++/C projects.

Setting up a cross-platform environment for building and testing C++/C projects is a bit tricky. Each platform has its own compilers, and each of them requires a different installation procedure. This package aims to fix this issue.

This package is designed to be modular and as minimal as possible. This will allow you to install the tools you want. It is continuously tested and supported on several configurations including Windows (11, 10, 2022, 2019), Linux (Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, ArchLinux), and macOS (10.15 and 11).

The package can be used locally or from CI services like GitHub Actions.

Features

setup-cpp can install all of these tools:

category	tools
compiler and analyzer	llvm, gcc, msvc, vcvarsall, cppcheck, clangtidy, clangformat
build system	cmake, ninja, meson, make, task
package manager	vcpkg, conan, choco, brew
cache	cppcache
documentation	doxygen, graphviz
coverage	gcovr, opencppcoverage, kcov
other	python, sevenzip

setup-cpp automatically installs the dependencies above tools if needed for the selected tool (e.g., python is required for conan).

Usage

From Terminal

You should download the executable file or the js file (if Nodejs installed), and run it with the available options.

Tip: You can automate downloading using wget, curl, or other similar tools.

Executable

Download the executable for your platform from here, and run it with the available options.

An example that installs llvm, cmake, ninja, ccache, and vcpkg:

# windows example (open shell as admin)
curl.exe -LJO "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp_windows.exe"
.\setup_cpp_windows --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true

RefreshEnv.cmd # activate cpp environment variables

# linux example
wget "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp_linux"
chmod +x setup_cpp_linux
sudo ./setup_cpp_linux --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true

source ~/.cpprc # activate cpp environment variables

# mac example
wget "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp_mac"
chmod +x setup_cpp_mac
sudo ./setup_cpp_mac --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true

source ~/.cpprc # activate cpp environment variables

NOTE: In the compiler entry, you can specify the version after - like llvm-11.0.0. For the tools, you can pass a specific version instead of true that chooses the default version

NOTE: On Unix systems, when setup-cpp is used locally or in other CI services like GitLab, the environment variables are added to ~/.cpprc. You should run source ~/.cpprc to immediately activate the environment variables. This file is automatically sourced in the next shell restart from ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile if SOURCE_CPPRC is not set to 0. To deactivate .cpprc in the next shell restart, rename/remove ~/.cpprc.

NOTE: On Unix systems, you will not need sudo if you are already a root user (e.g., in a GitLab runner or Docker).

With Nodejs

Download the setup_cpp.js file form here, and run it with the available options.

On Windows:

Open the shell as admin, download via curl, then install

# open shell as admin
curl.exe -LJO "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp.js"
node ./setup_cpp.js --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true

RefreshEnv.cmd # activate cpp environment variables

On Linux or Mac:

wget "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp.js"
sudo node ./setup_cpp.js --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true

source ~/.cpprc # activate cpp environment variables

Inside GitHub Actions

Here is a complete cross-platform example that tests llvm, gcc, and msvc. It also uses cmake, ninja, vcpkg, and cppcheck.

.github/workflows/ci.yml:

name: ci
on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master

jobs:
  Test:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os:
          - windows-2022
          - ubuntu-20.04
          - macos-11
        compiler:
          - llvm
          - gcc
          # you can specify the version after `-` like `llvm-13.0.0`.
        include:
          - os: "windows-2022"
            compiler: "msvc"
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Cache
        uses: actions/cache@v2
        with:
          path: |
            ~/vcpkg
            ./build/vcpkg_installed
            ${{ env.HOME }}/.cache/vcpkg/archives
            ${{ env.XDG_CACHE_HOME }}/vcpkg/archives
            ${{ env.LOCALAPPDATA }}\vcpkg\archives
            ${{ env.APPDATA }}\vcpkg\archives            
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.compiler }}-${{ env.BUILD_TYPE }}-${{ hashFiles('**/CMakeLists.txt') }}-${{ hashFiles('./vcpkg.json')}}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-${{ env.BUILD_TYPE }}-            

      - name: Setup Cpp
        uses: aminya/setup-cpp@v1
        with:
          compiler: ${{ matrix.compiler }}
          vcvarsall: ${{ contains(matrix.os, 'windows') }}
          cmake: true
          ninja: true
          vcpkg: true
          cppcheck: true
          clangtidy: true # instead of `true`, which chooses the default version, you can pass a specific version.
          # ...

Inside Docker

Here is an example for using setup_cpp to make a builder image that has the Cpp tools you need.

#### Base Image
FROM ubuntu:22.04 AS base

# add setup_cpp
WORKDIR "/"
RUN apt-get update -qq
RUN apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends wget
RUN wget --no-verbose "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp_linux"
RUN chmod +x ./setup_cpp_linux

# install llvm, cmake, ninja, and ccache
RUN ./setup_cpp_linux --compiler llvm --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true --make true

CMD source ~/.cpprc
ENTRYPOINT [ "/bin/bash" ]

#### Building
FROM base AS builder
ADD ./dev/cpp_vcpkg_project /home/app
WORKDIR /home/app
RUN bash -c 'source ~/.cpprc \
    && make build'

### Running environment
# use a distroless image or ubuntu:22.04 if you wish
FROM gcr.io/distroless/cc
# copy the built binaries and their runtime dependencies
COPY --from=builder /home/app/build/my_exe/Release/ /home/app/
WORKDIR /home/app/
ENTRYPOINT ["./my_exe"]

See this folder, for some dockerfile examples.

If you want to build the ones included, then run:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp
cd ./setup-cpp
docker build -f ./dev/docker/ubuntu.dockerfile -t setup_cpp .

Where you should use the path to the dockerfile after -f.

After build, run the following to start an interactive shell in your container

docker run -it setup_cpp

Inside Docker inside GitHub Actions

You can use the docker file discussed in the previous section inside GitHub Actions like the following:

jobs:
  Docker:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os:
          - ubuntu-20.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Build
        id: docker_build
        run: |
          docker build -f ./dev/docker/debian.dockerfile -t setup_cpp .          
        env:
          ACTIONS_ALLOW_UNSECURE_COMMANDS: true

Inside GitLab pipelines

The following gives an example for setting up a C++ environment inside GitLab pipelines.

.gitlab-ci.yaml

image: ubuntu:22.04

stages:
  - test

.setup_linux: &setup_linux |
  DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

  # set time-zone
  TZ=Canada/Pacific
  ln -snf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TZ /etc/localtime && echo $TZ > /etc/timezone

  # for downloading
  apt-get update -qq
  apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl gnupg ca-certificates

  # keys used by apt
  apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32
  apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 40976EAF437D05B5
  apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1E9377A2BA9EF27F  

.setup_cpp: &setup_cpp |
  curl -LJO "https://github.com/aminya/setup-cpp/releases/download/v0.17.0/setup_cpp_linux"
  chmod +x setup_cpp_linux
  ./setup_cpp_linux --compiler $compiler --cmake true --ninja true --ccache true --vcpkg true
  source ~/.cpprc  

.test: &test |
  # Build and Test
  # ...  

test_linux_llvm:
  stage: test
  variables:
    compiler: llvm
  script:
    - *setup_linux
    - *setup_cpp
    - *test

test_linux_gcc:
  stage: test
  variables:
    compiler: gcc
  script:
    - *setup_linux
    - *setup_cpp
    - *test

Articles

Setup-Cpp on Dev.to

Usage Examples

• cpp_vcpkg_project project
• ftxui
• project_optins
• cpp-best-practices starter project
• json2cpp
• lefticus/tools
• libclang
• dpp
• d-tree-sitter

See all of the usage examples on GitHub here.