Packaging With CPack

Let's learn how to configure automatic installation; we can use the CPack tool to provide our users with prebuilt artifacts.

We'll cover the following

Package Generators
CPack tool: Usage
Try it yourself

Building projects from a source has its benefits, but it can take a long time and introduce a lot of complexity. This isn't the best experience for end users who just want to use the package, especially if they aren't developers themselves. A much more convenient form of software distribution is to use binary packages that contain compiled artifacts and other static files that are needed by the runtime. CMake supports generating multiple kinds of such packages through a command-line tool called cpack.

Package Generators

The following table lists the available package generators:

Get hands-on with 1400+ tech skills courses.

Introduction to the Course

First Steps with CMake

The CMake Language

Setting Up Our First CMake Project

Working with Targets

Compiling C++ Sources with CMake

Linking with CMake

Modern CMake for C++ Exam 1

Managing Dependencies with CMake

Testing Frameworks

Program Analysis Tools

Generating Documentation

Installing and Packaging

Creating Our Professional Project

Conclusion

Appendix

Packaging With CPack

Package Generators