docs/meson.html

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