- Prerequisites - list of project external dependencies
- Unix
- Windows
- Android
- macOS
- Build targets
- Using the VSG within your own projects
- C++17 compliant compiler i.e. g++ 7.3 or later, Clang 6.0 or later, Visual Studio S2017 or later.
- Vulkan 1.1 or later. You can use Vulkan (libs and headers) installed from repositories or VulkanSDK.
- CMake 3.7 or later.
VulkanSceneGraph build requires C++ 17, CMake and vulkan as a required dependency, and has an optional dependency of glslang 14.0 or later which is used for applications that required runtime shader compilation. Latest Linux releases, such as Ubuntu 24.04, have a modern enough version of glslang out of the box so the following instructions will work out of the box, but wiht older distributions the glslang version will predate 14 and is not supported by the VulkanSceneGraph, so if you require runtime shader compilation you will need to either use the version provided by a recent VulkanSDK distribution or compile and install glslang from source.
-
Ubuntu family:
sudo apt-get install cmake-curses-gui g++ git libvulkan-dev glslang-dev glslang-tools -
Fedora:
dnf install git cmake ninja-build gcc-c++ libxcb-devel vulkan-loader-devel glslc glslang-devel -
Gentoo:
emerge dev-util/vulkan-tools
Command line instructions for default build of static library (.a) in source:
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
cmake .c
cmake --build . -j 16 -t install
Command line instructions for building shared library (.so) out of source:
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
mkdir vsg-shared-build
cd vsg-shared-build
cmake ../VulkanSceneGraph -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON
cmake --build . -j 16 -t install
Command line instructions for default build of static library (.lib) in source:
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
cmake . -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64"
After running cmake open the generated VSG.sln file and build the All target. Once built you can run the install target. If you are using the default cmake install path (in Program Files folder), ensure you have started Visual Studio as administrator otherwise the install will fail.
More detailed Windows platform instructions can be found below.
Requires Android NDK 18 and CMake 3.13 (lower CMake versions may work but have not been tested).
cmake ./ \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug" \
-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME="Android" \
-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=24 \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_STL_TYPE="c++_static" \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI=armeabi-v7a \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_NDK=/location/of/Android/sdk/ndk-bundle \
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local/android
make -j 8
make install
More detailed Android platform instructions can be found below.
On the Mac you must install Xcode from the Apple App Store. It contains C++-17 as well as tools like make and git. Don't use Xcode directly for building VSG, since the new code signing settings mess up all executables and shared libraries.
Command line instructions for default build of static library (.a) in source: Be sure to have the required software packages installed (see Linux). Get the Vulkan SDK from https://vulkan.lunarg.com. You also need glslang. The easiest way to get it is installation via the homebrew package manager (https://brew.sh). After installation of homebrew call:
brew cmake
brew glslang
brew clang-format
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
cmake .
cmake --build . -j 8
Once you have generated the build system using cmake as above, you can list the available make options using:
make help
This lists the options:
... all (the default if no target is provided)
... clean
... depend
... edit_cache
... install
... install/local
... install/strip
... list_install_components
... rebuild_cache
... build_all_h
... clang-format
... clang-format-vsg
... clobber
... cppcheck
... cppcheck-vsg
... docs
... docs-vsg
... uninstall
... uninstall-vsg
... vsg
Most of these are standard options which you can look up in CMake and make documentation, the following are ones we've added so require explanation:
# remove all files not part of the git repository - including all temporary CMake and build files.
make clobber
# run cppcheck on headers & source to generate a static analysis
make cppcheck
# run clang-format on headers & source to format to style specified by .clang-format specification
make clang-format
# generate the include/vsg/all.h from all the files that match include/vsg/*/*.h
make build_all_h
The project is currently a prototype that is undergoing continuous development so it isn't recommended to use as a base for long term software development. At this point it's available for developers who want to test the bleeding edge and provide feedback on its fitness for purpose. The following instructions assume your project uses CMake, which at this early stage in the project is the recommended route when using the VSG.
To assist with setting up software to work with the VSG when you install the library a CMake package configuration file will be installed in the lib/cmake/vsg directory. Within your CMake CMakeLists.txt script to find the VSG related dependencies you'll need to add:
find_package(vsg)
To select C++17 compilation you'll need:
set_property(TARGET mytargetname PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
To link your lib/application to required dependencies you'll need:
target_link_libraries(mytargetname vsg::vsg)
This will tell CMake to set up all the appropriate include paths, libs and any definitions (such as the VSG_SHARED_LIBRARY #define that is required under Windows with shared library builds to select the correct declspec().)
For example, a bare minimum CMakeLists.txt file to compile a single file application would be:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.7)
find_package(vsg REQUIRED)
add_executable(myapp "myapp.cpp")
set_property(TARGET myapp PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
target_link_libraries(myapp vsg::vsg)
The build system provides macros that create specific cmake targets to use in your project. Examples include: Setup of common cmake variables, formatting source code, performing static code analysis, creating API documentation, cleaning up source directories, and removing installed files. Documentation of the available macros (the public ones starting with vsg_) are at https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph/blob/master/cmake/vsgMacros.cmake.
For example, a bare minimum CMakeLists.txt file adding the mentioned cmake targets would be:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.7)
find_package(vsg REQUIRED)
vsg_setup_dir_vars()
vsg_setup_build_vars()
vsg_add_target_clang_format(
FILES
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/*/*.h
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/*/*.cpp
)
vsg_add_target_cppcheck(
FILES
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/*/*.h
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/*/*.cpp
)
vsg_add_target_clobber()
vsg_add_target_docs(
FILES
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/*/*.h
)
vsg_add_target_uninstall()
add_executable(myapp "myapp.cpp")
set_property(TARGET myapp PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
target_link_libraries(myapp vsg::vsg)
Projects that install a library must generate some cmake-related files so that the library can be found by find_package(). To simplify the generation of these files, the cmake macro vsg_add_cmake_support_files() has been added.
In addition to calling the macro, it requires a template for creating the xxxConfig.cmake file, as given in the following example:
src/xxx/
CMakeLists.txt
xxxConfig.cmake.in
In the file CMakeLists.txt the call then looks like this:
vsg_add_cmake_support_files(
CONFIG_TEMPLATE xxxConfig.cmake.in
)
Hints for the structure of the template file can be found at https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-packages.7.html#creating-a-package-configuration-file.
While not the only route to installing Vulkan libs and headers on Windows the most common approach is to use the Vulkan SDK. LunarG provides a convenient installer for the Vulkan SDK and runtime on Windows.
From there download and install the Vulkan SDK (1.2.162.0 or later) and the Vulkan runtime. Once installed we need to let CMake know where to find the Vulkan SDK. The Vulkan installer should add both VK_SDK_PATH and VULKAN_SDK. If either of those are not present - add them.
VK_SDK_PATH = C:\VulkanSDK\1.2.162.0
VULKAN_SDK = C:\VulkanSDK\1.2.162.0
So now we have the Vulkan SDK installed and findable by CMake so we can go ahead and build VSG. Below are simple instructions for downloading the VSG source code, generating a Visual Studio project using CMake and finally building and installing VSG onto your system.
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
mkdir build & cd build
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64"
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A x64
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
After running CMake open the generated VSG.sln file and build the All target. Different build configs can be selected from the dropdown at the top of the window. Once built you can run the install target. If you are using the default CMake install path (in Program Files folder), ensure you have started Visual Studio as administrator otherwise the install will fail.
Alternatively, you can build from the command line with
cmake --build .
cmake --install .
As above, you must be running from an elevated shell to install to Program Files, but unlike via the VS GUI, can append --prefix Path\To\Another\Directory to the install command to specify another directory. Different build configs can be specified by appending the config argument (e.g. --config RelWithDebInfo) to the above commands and rerunning them.
It's recommended at this point that you add the VSG install path to your CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH, this will allow other CMake projects, like the vsgExamples project to find your VSG installation. CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH can be set as an environment variable on your system.
CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH = C:\Program Files\VSG
This guide describes building the VSG for Android. These steps have been completed on macOS but should be almost identical on Linux and similar on Windows. In order to build VSG for Android you'll need the following installed on your machine.
Android NDK 18
CMake 3.13
The easiest way to get the Android NDK installed is via Android Studio. Follow the link below to download and install it for your OS.
Go to the 'SDK Manager' and ensure you have at least Android API level 24 installed, then go to the 'SDK Tools' tab and check the 'NDK' option. Once done click apply and Android Studio should download and install these components for you.
If you already have Android Studio and or the NDK installed, still go to the 'SDK Manager' and see if you need to update your NDK to version 18.
Take note of the 'Android SDK Location' as you'll need it when running CMake to generate our Android make files.
So now we have the Android NDK installed lets go ahead and fetch the VSG source then use CMake to generate the make files.
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
cmake ./ \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug" \
-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME="Android" \
-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=24 \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_STL_TYPE="c++_static" \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI=armeabi-v7a \
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_NDK=/location/of/Android/sdk/ndk-bundle \
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local/android
Make sure you change the -DCMAKE_ANDROID_NDK path to the path of your NDK, typically this is the 'Android SDK Location'/ndk-bundle. Also note the -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX. This is where the VSG library and header will be installed. It's useful to change this from the default to separate your Android version from your native OS version. Depending where you put it you may need to manually create the top level folder first depending on permissions.
Now we've generated the make files we can simply run
make -j 8
make install
That's it, you've built VSG for Android and installed the required headers and library files onto your machine ready to use with your project or the Android vsgExamples.
macOS does not natively support Vulkan. However the excellent MoltenVK library has been developed which translates Vulkan calls into the Metal equivalents allowing you to run Vulkan applications on macOS and iOS. This can be downloaded from the LunarG website and has been packaged in a way it's extremely similar to the other platform sdks.
Download the sdk and unpack it. There's no form of installer but you're able to place the root sdk folder anywhere on your machine. The sdk contains detailed instuctions on how to setup MoltenVK to work on your machine as well as how to redistribute your application contained in the /Documentation/getting_started_macos.md file.
As with other platforms we need the VULKAN_SDK variable which should point to your downloaded sdk folder. Specifically the macOS subfolder of the sdk. This is needed so CMake can find the sdk. Unique to macOS we also need to set environment variables pointing to a few files within the sdk. Again the getting started document in the sdk has detailed information relating to these. A quick cheat sheet is provided here, if you use a .bash_profile file in your user folder you can add the following.
export VULKAN_SDK="/path/to/your/vulkansdk/macOS"
export VK_LAYER_PATH="$VULKAN_SDK/etc/vulkan/explicit_layer.d"
export VK_ICD_FILENAMES="$VULKAN_SDK/etc/vulkan/icd.d/MoltenVK_icd.json"
export PATH="$VULKAN_SDK:$VULKAN_SDK/bin:$PATH"
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$VULKAN_SDK/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"
At this point MoltenVK applications should be able to run on your machine, as a quick test it's worth running vulkaninfo executable contained within vulkansdk/macOS/bin. If this runs and doesn't produce any errors it's a good indication the sdk is setup correctly.
So now we're ready to build VSG. With the SDK installed this is very similar to other platforms. You can simply run the following commands to clone the source and use CMake to generate an Xcode project.
git clone https://github.com/vsg-dev/VulkanSceneGraph.git
cd VulkanSceneGraph
cmake . -G "Xcode"
Once CMake has finished you can open the generated Xcode project and build the 'install' target. This will build VSG and install the headers and generated library onto your machine.
Again, as with other platforms it's useful to now set your CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH to point to the VSG library we have just installed. If you've installed to the default location you can add the following to your .bash_profile file.
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/usr/local/lib/cmake/vsg"
That's it, we've installed the MoltenVK sdk, built VSG and prepared our machine so other CMake projects can find and use the VSG library.
Important Note!
Xcode typically ignores the system environment variables, so when running a VSG application from within Xcode you may run into issues. One solution is to add the environment variables to the run scheme. This can be done by going to 'Product>Scheme>Edit Scheme>Arguments. Then add the above mentioned environment variables.