CMake no longer finds static Boost libraries

boost, c++, cmake

Solution

In your debug output, it looks like `Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS` is unset, but yet you're looking for the static boost libs.

Try running CMake again but with `-DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS=ON` added to the command.

In fact, your CMakeLists.txt wraps this in another variable `USE_STATIC_BOOST`. Setting that to `ON` should have the same effect.

Problem

I am working on a large C++ project that relies on Boost. The project is built on a variety of platforms using CMake. On my Windows machine, I am using CMake 2.8.9, Visual Studio 2010 and Boost 1.50.0 (built from sources). I have been using CMake and Boost together for years without problem, with Boost versions as old as 1.33. Now, suddenly CMake no longer finds the Boost libraries. The only thing that has changed on my machine is that I recently installed Visual Studio 2012, but I don't think this has anything to do with the problem (on the other hand and as far as I remember, this is the only thing that has changed). Here is the command line I am using to invoke CMake: ``` cmake ..\src -DBOOST_ROOT=..\..\boost -DQT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE=..\..\qt-4.8.0\bin\qmake.exe ``` This used to work flawlessly, but it now outputs: ``` -- Building for: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working C compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working C compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- works -- Detecting C compiler ABI info -- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done -- Check for working CXX compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working CXX compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- works -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done CMake Error at C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1191 (message): Unable to find the requested Boost libraries. Boost version: 1.50.0 Boost include path: C:/franz/dev/boost The following Boost libraries could not be found: boost_date_time boost_filesystem boost_regex boost_system boost_thread No Boost libraries were found. You may need to 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:114 (find_package) -- Found OpenGL: opengl32 -- Looking for Q_WS_X11 -- Looking for Q_WS_X11 - not found. -- Looking for Q_WS_WIN -- Looking for Q_WS_WIN - found -- Looking for Q_WS_QWS -- Looking for Q_WS_QWS - not found. -- Looking for Q_WS_MAC -- Looking for Q_WS_MAC - not found. -- Found Qt4: C:/franz/dev/qt-4.8.0/bin/qmake.exe (found version "4.8.0") -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred! ``` Apparently, it did find my Boost installation as it reports the correct path and version number. Here is the content of `C:\franz\dev\boost\stage\lib`: ``` 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 360,294 libboost_chrono-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:19 PM 1,529,418 libboost_chrono-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 600,900 libboost_date_time-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:19 PM 2,064,420 libboost_date_time-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 5,478 libboost_exception-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:19 PM 39,634 libboost_exception-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 857,020 libboost_filesystem-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 4,289,814 libboost_filesystem-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:21 PM 5,811,696 libboost_graph-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:14 PM 14,388,384 libboost_graph-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:21 PM 406,742 libboost_iostreams-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:14 PM 1,260,032 libboost_iostreams-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:21 PM 6,886,724 libboost_locale-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:14 PM 22,056,376 libboost_locale-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:22 PM 1,395,280 libboost_math_c99-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 4,095,066 libboost_math_c99-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:23 PM 1,410,172 libboost_math_c99f-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 4,113,830 libboost_math_c99f-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:23 PM 1,376,096 libboost_math_c99l-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 4,056,498 libboost_math_c99l-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:22 PM 5,832,008 libboost_math_tr1-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 14,472,628 libboost_math_tr1-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:22 PM 6,115,696 libboost_math_tr1f-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 15,004,588 libboost_math_tr1f-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:22 PM 5,779,786 libboost_math_tr1l-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:15 PM 14,362,836 libboost_math_tr1l-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:25 PM 215,242 libboost_prg_exec_monitor-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 1,226,324 libboost_prg_exec_monitor-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:23 PM 6,425,284 libboost_program_options-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:16 PM 20,124,142 libboost_program_options-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:24 PM 5,722,808 libboost_python-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:17 PM 21,947,816 libboost_python-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:24 PM 83,144 libboost_random-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:17 PM 406,482 libboost_random-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:21 PM 10,473,946 libboost_regex-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:13 PM 34,561,778 libboost_regex-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:25 PM 11,650,480 libboost_serialization-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:17 PM 30,379,304 libboost_serialization-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:25 PM 987,732 libboost_signals-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 3,898,264 libboost_signals-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:20 PM 83,032 libboost_system-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:19 PM 415,800 libboost_system-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:25 PM 10,058,306 libboost_test_exec_monitor-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 23,818,324 libboost_test_exec_monitor-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:26 PM 847,252 libboost_thread-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 2,633,358 libboost_thread-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:26 PM 178,456 libboost_timer-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 861,732 libboost_timer-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:26 PM 10,943,274 libboost_unit_test_framework-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 26,280,564 libboost_unit_test_framework-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:26 PM 46,920,182 libboost_wave-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:19 PM 98,744,066 libboost_wave-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:25 PM 9,000,488 libboost_wserialization-vc100-mt-1_50.lib 08/18/2012 05:18 PM 20,631,532 libboost_wserialization-vc100-mt-gd-1_50.lib ``` As we can see, Boost was built as static libraries using Visual Studio 2010 (vc100) using the multithreaded runtime. Here is the output of CMake when I specify `-DBoost_DEBUG=1`: ``` -- Building for: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working C compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working C compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- works -- Detecting C compiler ABI info -- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done -- Check for working CXX compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- Check for working CXX compiler using: Visual Studio 10 -- works -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:566 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 1.56.0;1.56;1.55.0;1.55;1.54.0;1.54;1.53.0;1.53;1.52.0;1.52;1.51.0;1.51;1.50.0;1.50;1.49.0;1.49;1.48.0;1.48;1.47.0;1.47;1.46.1;1.46.0;1.46 -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:568 ] Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED = TRUE -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:570 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:572 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:574 ] Boost_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:576 ] Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:644 ] Declared as CMake or Environmental Variables: -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:646 ] BOOST_ROOT = ../../boost -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:648 ] BOOST_INCLUDEDIR = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:650 ] BOOST_LIBRARYDIR = -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:652 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 1.56.0;1.56;1.55.0;1.55;1.54.0;1.54;1.53.0;1.53;1.52.0;1.52;1.51.0;1.51;1.50.0;1.50;1.49.0;1.49;1.48.0;1.48;1.47.0;1.47;1.46.1;1.46.0;1.46 -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:705 ] Include debugging info: -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:707 ] _boost_INCLUDE_SEARCH_DIRS = ../../boost/include;../../boost;C:/boost/include;C:/boost;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost/include;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost;/sw/local/include -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:709 ] _boost_PATH_SUFFIXES = boost-1_56_0;boost_1_56_0;boost-1_56;boost_1_56;boost-1_55_0;boost_1_55_0;boost-1_55;boost_1_55;boost-1_54_0;boost_1_54_0;boost-1_54;boost_1_54;boost-1_53_0;boost_1_53_0;boost-1_53;boost_1_53;boost-1_52_0;boost_1_52_0;boost-1_52;boost_1_52;boost-1_51_0;boost_1_51_0;boost-1_51;boost_1_51;boost-1_50_0;boost_1_50_0;boost-1_50;boost_1_50;boost-1_49_0;boost_1_49_0;boost-1_49;boost_1_49;boost-1_48_0;boost_1_48_0;boost-1_48;boost_1_48;boost-1_47_0;boost_1_47_0;boost-1_47;boost_1_47;boost-1_46_1;boost_1_46_1;boost-1_46_0;boost_1_46_0;boost-1_46;boost_1_46 -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:734 ] location of version.hpp: C:/franz/dev/boost/boost/version.hpp -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:753 ] version.hpp reveals boost 1.50.0 -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:785 ] guessed _boost_COMPILER = -vc100 -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:795 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = -mt -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:838 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = - -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:840 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = -gd -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:883 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS = ../../boost/lib;../../boost/stage/lib;C:/franz/dev/boost/lib;C:/franz/dev/boost/../lib;C:/franz/dev/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost/boost_1_50_0/lib;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost/boost_1_50/lib;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost/lib;C:\Program Files (x86)/boost;/sw/local/lib -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:961 ] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_date_time-vc100-mt-1_50;boost_date_time-vc100-mt;boost_date_time-mt-1_50;boost_date_time-mt;boost_date_time -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:993 ] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_date_time-vc100-mt-gd-1_50;boost_date_time-vc100-mt-gd;boost_date_time-mt-gd-1_50;boost_date_time-mt-gd;boost_date_time-mt;boost_date_time -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:961 ] Searching for FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_filesystem-vc100-mt-1_50;boost_filesystem-vc100-mt;boost_filesystem-mt-1_50;boost_filesystem-mt;boost_filesystem -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:993 ] Searching for FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_filesystem-vc100-mt-gd-1_50;boost_filesystem-vc100-mt-gd;boost_filesystem-mt-gd-1_50;boost_filesystem-mt-gd;boost_filesystem-mt;boost_filesystem -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:961 ] Searching for REGEX_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_regex-vc100-mt-1_50;boost_regex-vc100-mt;boost_regex-mt-1_50;boost_regex-mt;boost_regex -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:993 ] Searching for REGEX_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_regex-vc100-mt-gd-1_50;boost_regex-vc100-mt-gd;boost_regex-mt-gd-1_50;boost_regex-mt-gd;boost_regex-mt;boost_regex -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:961 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_system-vc100-mt-1_50;boost_system-vc100-mt;boost_system-mt-1_50;boost_system-mt;boost_system -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:993 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_system-vc100-mt-gd-1_50;boost_system-vc100-mt-gd;boost_system-mt-gd-1_50;boost_system-mt-gd;boost_system-mt;boost_system -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:961 ] Searching for THREAD_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_thread-vc100-mt-1_50;boost_thread-vc100-mt;boost_thread-mt-1_50;boost_thread-mt;boost_thread -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:993 ] Searching for THREAD_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_thread-vc100-mt-gd-1_50;boost_thread-vc100-mt-gd;boost_thread-mt-gd-1_50;boost_thread-mt-gd;boost_thread-mt;boost_thread -- [ C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1107 ] Boost_FOUND = FALSE CMake Error at C:/Program Files (x86)/CMake 2.8/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1191 (message): Unable to find the requested Boost libraries. Boost version: 1.50.0 Boost include path: C:/franz/dev/boost The following Boost libraries could not be found: boost_date_time boost_filesystem boost_regex boost_system boost_thread No Boost libraries were found. You may need to 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:114 (find_package) -- Found OpenGL: opengl32 -- Looking for Q_WS_X11 -- Looking for Q_WS_X11 - not found. -- Looking for Q_WS_WIN -- Looking for Q_WS_WIN - found -- Looking for Q_WS_QWS -- Looking for Q_WS_QWS - not found. -- Looking for Q_WS_MAC -- Looking for Q_WS_MAC - not found. -- Found Qt4: C:/franz/dev/qt-4.8.0/bin/qmake.exe (found version "4.8.0") -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred! ``` Here is the section in the top level CMakeLists.txt file that deals with Boost: https://github.com/jupiter-jazz/appleseed/blob/95b045bf06c731cd331d68f6c2515f1acefc1b42/src/CMakeLists.txt#L100 I have also tried to specify `BOOST_LIBRARYDIR` instead of `BOOST_ROOT`, to no avail. Again, this has been working flawlessly for years on many variants of Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. I am looking for the reason why it suddently stopped working.

Original source