docs/meson.html

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  10 <div class="header">
  11   <h1>The Mesa 3D Graphics Library</h1>
  12 </div>
  13
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  15 <div class="content">
  16
  17 <h1>Compilation and Installation using Meson</h1>
  18
  19 <ul>
  20   <li><a href="#intro">Introduction</a></li>
  21   <li><a href="#basic">Basic Usage</a></li>
  22   <li><a href="#advanced">Advanced Usage</a></li>
  23   <li><a href="#cross-compilation">Cross-compilation and 32-bit builds</a></li>
  24 </ul>
  25
  26 <h2 id="intro">1. Introduction</h2>
  27
  28 <p>For general information about Meson see the
  29 <a href="http://mesonbuild.com/">Meson website</a>.</p>
  30
  31 <p><strong>Mesa's Meson build system is generally considered stable and ready
  32 for production.</strong></p>
  33
  34 <p>The Meson build of Mesa is tested on Linux, macOS, Cygwin and Haiku, FreeBSD,
  35 DragonflyBSD, NetBSD, and should work on OpenBSD.</p>
  36
  37 <p>If Meson is not already installed on your system, you can typically
  38 install it with your package installer.  For example:</p>
  39 <pre>
  40 sudo apt-get install meson   # Ubuntu
  41 </pre>
  42 or
  43 <pre>
  44 sudo dnf install meson   # Fedora
  45 </pre>
  46
  47 <p><strong>Mesa requires Meson >= 0.45.0 to build.</strong>
  48
  49 Some older versions of meson do not check that they are too old and will error
  50 out in odd ways.
  51 </p>
  52
  53 <p>You'll also need <a href="https://ninja-build.org/">Ninja</a>.
  54 If it's not already installed, use apt-get or dnf to install
  55 the <em>ninja-build</em> package.
  56 </p>
  57
  58 <h2 id="basic">2. Basic Usage</h2>
  59
  60 <p>
  61 The meson program is used to configure the source directory and generates
  62 either a ninja build file or Visual Studio® build files. The latter must
  63 be enabled via the <code>--backend</code> switch, as ninja is the default
  64 backend on all
  65 operating systems.
  66 </p>
  67
  68 <p>
  69 Meson only supports out-of-tree builds, and must be passed a
  70 directory to put built and generated sources into. We'll call that directory
  71 "build" here.
  72 It's recommended to create a
  73 <a href="http://mesonbuild.com/Using-multiple-build-directories.html">
  74 separate build directory</a> for each configuration you might want to use.
  75 </p>
  76
  77
  78
  79 </p>
  80
  81 <p>Basic configuration is done with:</p>
  82
  83 <pre>
  84 meson build/
  85 </pre>
  86
  87 <p>
  88 This will create the build directory.
  89 If any dependencies are missing, you can install them, or try to remove
  90 the dependency with a Meson configuration option (see below).
  91 </p>
  92
  93 <p>
  94 To review the options which Meson chose, run:
  95 </p>
  96 <pre>
  97 meson configure build/
  98 </pre>
  99
 100 <p>
 101 Meson does not currently support listing configuration options before
 102 running "meson build/" but this feature is being discussed upstream.
 103 For now, we have a <code>bin/meson-options.py</code> script that prints
 104 the options for you.
 105 If that script doesn't work for some reason, you can always look in the
 106 <a href="https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/blob/master/meson_options.txt">
 107 meson_options.txt</a> file at the root of the project.
 108 </p>
 109
 110 <p>
 111 With additional arguments <code>meson configure</code> can be used to change
 112 options for a previously configured build directory.
 113 All options passed to this command are in the form
 114 <code>-D "option"="value"</code>.
 115 For example:
 116 </p>
 117
 118 <pre>
 119 meson configure build/ -Dprefix=/tmp/install -Dglx=true
 120 </pre>
 121
 122 <p>
 123 Note that options taking lists (such as <code>platforms</code>) are
 124 <a href="http://mesonbuild.com/Build-options.html#using-build-options">a bit
 125 more complicated</a>, but the simplest form compatible with Mesa options
 126 is to use a comma to separate values (<code>-D platforms=drm,wayland</code>)
 127 and brackets to represent an empty list (<code>-D platforms=[]</code>).
 128 </p>
 129
 130 <p>
 131 Once you've run the initial <code>meson</code> command successfully you can use
 132 your configured backend to build the project in your build directory:
 133 </p>
 134
 135 <pre>
 136 ninja -C build/
 137 </pre>
 138
 139 <p>
 140 The next step is to install the Mesa libraries, drivers, etc.
 141 This also finishes up some final steps of the build process (such as creating
 142 symbolic links for drivers).  To install:
 143 </p>
 144
 145 <pre>
 146 ninja -C build/ install
 147 </pre>
 148
 149 <p>
 150 Note: autotools automatically updated translation files (used by the DRI
 151 configuration tool) as part of the build process,
 152 Meson does not do this.  Instead, you will need do this:
 153 </p>
 154 <pre>
 155 ninja -C build/ xmlpool-pot xmlpool-update-po xmlpool-gmo
 156 </pre>
 157
 158 <h2 id="advanced">3. Advanced Usage</h2>
 159
 160 <dl>
 161
 162 <dt>Installation Location</dt>
 163 <dd>
 164 <p>
 165 Meson default to installing libGL.so in your system's main lib/ directory
 166 and DRI drivers to a dri/ subdirectory.
 167 </p>
 168 <p>
 169 Developers will often want to install Mesa to a testing directory rather
 170 than the system library directory.
 171 This can be done with the --prefix option.  For example:
 172 </p>
 173 <pre>
 174 meson --prefix="${PWD}/build/install" build/
 175 </pre>
 176 <p>
 177 will put the final libraries and drivers into the build/install/
 178 directory.
 179 Then you can set LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to that location
 180 to run/test the driver.
 181 </p>
 182 <p>
 183 Meson also honors <code>DESTDIR</code> for installs.
 184 </p>
 185 </dd>
 186
 187 <dt>Compiler Options</dt>
 188 <dd>
 189 <p>Meson supports the common CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, etc. environment
 190 variables but their use is discouraged because of the many caveats
 191 in using them.
 192 </p>
 193 <p>Instead, it is recomended to use <code>-D${lang}_args</code> and
 194 <code>-D${lang}_link_args</code>. Among the benefits of these options
 195 is that they are guaranteed to persist across rebuilds and reconfigurations.
 196 </p>
 197 This example sets -fmax-errors for compiling C sources and -DMAGIC=123
 198 for C++ sources:
 199 </p>
 200 <p>
 201 <pre>
 202 meson builddir/ -Dc_args=-fmax-errors=10 -Dcpp_args=-DMAGIC=123
 203 </pre>
 204 </p>
 205 </dd>
 206
 207
 208 <dt>Compiler Specification</dt>
 209 <dd>
 210 <p>
 211 Meson supports the standard CC and CXX environment variables for
 212 changing the default compiler.  Note that Meson does not allow
 213 changing the compilers in a configured builddir so you will need
 214 to create a new build dir for a different compiler.
 215 </p>
 216 <p>
 217 This is an example of specifying the clang compilers and cleaning
 218 the build directory before reconfiguring with an extra C option:
 219 </p>
 220 <pre>
 221 CC=clang CXX=clang++ meson build-clang
 222 ninja -C build-clang
 223 ninja -C build-clang clean
 224 meson configure build -Dc_args="-Wno-typedef-redefinition"
 225 ninja -C build-clang
 226 </pre>
 227 <p>
 228 The default compilers depends on your operating system. Meson supports most of
 229 the popular compilers, a complete list is available
 230 <a href="http://mesonbuild.com/Reference-tables.html#compiler-ids">here</a>.
 231 </p>
 232 </dd>
 233
 234 <dt>LLVM</dt>
 235 <dd><p>Meson includes upstream logic to wrap llvm-config using its standard
 236 dependency interface.
 237 </p></dd>
 238
 239 <dd><p>
 240 As of meson 0.49.0 meson also has the concept of a
 241 <a href="https://mesonbuild.com/Native-environments.html">"native file"</a>,
 242 these files provide information about the native build environment (as opposed
 243 to a cross build environment). They are ini formatted and can override where to
 244 find llvm-config:
 245
 246 custom-llvm.ini
 247 <pre>
 248     [binaries]
 249     llvm-config = '/usr/local/bin/llvm/llvm-config'
 250 </pre>
 251
 252 Then configure meson:
 253
 254 <pre>
 255     meson builddir/ --native-file custom-llvm.ini
 256 </pre>
 257 </p></dd>
 258
 259 <dd><p>
 260 For selecting llvm-config for cross compiling a
 261 <a href="https://mesonbuild.com/Cross-compilation.html#defining-the-environment">"cross file"</a>
 262 should be used. It uses the same format as the native file above:
 263
 264 cross-llvm.ini
 265 <pre>
 266     [binaries]
 267     ...
 268     llvm-config = '/usr/lib/llvm-config-32'
 269 </pre>
 270
 271 Then configure meson:
 272
 273 <pre>
 274     meson builddir/ --cross-file cross-llvm.ini
 275 </pre>
 276
 277 See the <a href="#cross-compilation">Cross Compilation</a> section for more information.
 278 </dd></p>
 279
 280 <dd><p>
 281 For older versions of meson <code>$PATH</code> (or <code>%PATH%</code> on
 282 windows) will be searched for llvm-config (and llvm-config$version and
 283 llvm-config-$version), you can override this environment variable to control
 284 the search: <code>PATH=/path/with/llvm-config:$PATH meson build</code>.
 285 </dd></p>
 286 </dl>
 287
 288 <dl>
 289 <dt><code>PKG_CONFIG_PATH</code></dt>
 290 <dd><p>The
 291 <code>pkg-config</code> utility is a hard requirement for configuring and
 292 building Mesa on Unix-like systems. It is used to search for external libraries
 293 on the system. This environment variable is used to control the search path for
 294 <code>pkg-config</code>. For instance, setting
 295 <code>PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/X11R6/lib/pkgconfig</code> will search for package
 296 metadata in <code>/usr/X11R6</code> before the standard directories.</p>
 297 </dd>
 298 </dl>
 299
 300 <p>
 301 One of the oddities of meson is that some options are different when passed to
 302 the <code>meson</code> than to <code>meson configure</code>. These options are
 303 passed as --option=foo to <code>meson</code>, but -Doption=foo to <code>meson
 304 configure</code>. Mesa defined options are always passed as -Doption=foo.
 305 </p>
 306
 307 <p>For those coming from autotools be aware of the following:</p>
 308
 309 <dl>
 310 <dt><code>--buildtype/-Dbuildtype</code></dt>
 311 <dd><p>This option will set the compiler debug/optimisation levels to aid
 312 debugging the Mesa libraries.</p>
 313
 314 <p>Note that in meson this defaults to <code>debugoptimized</code>, and
 315 not setting it to <code>release</code> will yield non-optimal
 316 performance and binary size. Not using <code>debug</code> may interfere
 317 with debugging as some code and validation will be optimized away.
 318 </p>
 319
 320 <p> For those wishing to pass their own optimization flags, use the <code>plain</code>
 321 buildtype, which causes meson to inject no additional compiler arguments, only
 322 those in the C/CXXFLAGS and those that mesa itself defines.</p>
 323 </dd>
 324 </dl>
 325
 326 <dl>
 327 <dt><code>-Db_ndebug</code></dt>
 328 <dd><p>This option controls assertions in meson projects. When set to <code>false</code>
 329 (the default) assertions are enabled, when set to true they are disabled. This
 330 is unrelated to the <code>buildtype</code>; setting the latter to
 331 <code>release</code> will not turn off assertions.
 332 </p>
 333 </dd>
 334 </dl>
 335
 336 <h2 id="cross-compilation">4. Cross-compilation and 32-bit builds</h2>
 337
 338 <p><a href="https://mesonbuild.com/Cross-compilation.html">Meson supports
 339 cross-compilation</a> by specifying a number of binary paths and
 340 settings in a file and passing this file to <code>meson</code> or
 341 <code>meson configure</code> with the <code>--cross-file</code>
 342 parameter.</p>
 343
 344 <p>This file can live at any location, but you can use the bare filename
 345 (without the folder path) if you put it in $XDG_DATA_HOME/meson/cross or
 346 ~/.local/share/meson/cross</p>
 347
 348 <p>Below are a few example of cross files, but keep in mind that you
 349 will likely have to alter them for your system.</p>
 350
 351 <p>
 352 Those running on ArchLinux can use the AUR-maintained packages for some
 353 of those, as they'll have the right values for your system:
 354 <ul>
 355   <li><a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/meson-cross-x86-linux-gnu">meson-cross-x86-linux-gnu</a></li>
 356   <li><a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/meson-cross-aarch64-linux-gnu">meson-cross-aarch64-linux-gnu</a></li>
 357 </ul>
 358 </p>
 359
 360 <p>
 361 32-bit build on x86 linux:
 362 <pre>
 363 [binaries]
 364 c = '/usr/bin/gcc'
 365 cpp = '/usr/bin/g++'
 366 ar = '/usr/bin/gcc-ar'
 367 strip = '/usr/bin/strip'
 368 pkgconfig = '/usr/bin/pkg-config-32'
 369 llvm-config = '/usr/bin/llvm-config32'
 370
 371 [properties]
 372 c_args = ['-m32']
 373 c_link_args = ['-m32']
 374 cpp_args = ['-m32']
 375 cpp_link_args = ['-m32']
 376
 377 [host_machine]
 378 system = 'linux'
 379 cpu_family = 'x86'
 380 cpu = 'i686'
 381 endian = 'little'
 382 </pre>
 383 </p>
 384
 385 <p>
 386 64-bit build on ARM linux:
 387 <pre>
 388 [binaries]
 389 c = '/usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc'
 390 cpp = '/usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-g++'
 391 ar = '/usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc-ar'
 392 strip = '/usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-strip'
 393 pkgconfig = '/usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-pkg-config'
 394 exe_wrapper = '/usr/bin/qemu-aarch64-static'
 395
 396 [host_machine]
 397 system = 'linux'
 398 cpu_family = 'aarch64'
 399 cpu = 'aarch64'
 400 endian = 'little'
 401 </pre>
 402 </p>
 403
 404 <p>
 405 64-bit build on x86 windows:
 406 <pre>
 407 [binaries]
 408 c = '/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc'
 409 cpp = '/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++'
 410 ar = '/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-ar'
 411 strip = '/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-strip'
 412 pkgconfig = '/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-pkg-config'
 413 exe_wrapper = 'wine'
 414
 415 [host_machine]
 416 system = 'windows'
 417 cpu_family = 'x86_64'
 418 cpu = 'i686'
 419 endian = 'little'
 420 </pre>
 421 </p>
 422
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