How to link Boost library with CMake (on a cluster if boost is in non-standard location)? - c++

Question

I have a strange problem, when I try to build a simple Boost test program on a cluster.
On my machine, everything works just fine.
First the example:
//main.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include "boost/program_options.hpp"
namespace po = boost::program_options;
int main( int argc , char* argv[] ) {
po::options_description desc("Allowed options");
desc.add_options()
("help", "produce help message")
("greet", po::value<std::string>()->default_value("World"), "the greeting")
;
po::variables_map vm;
po::store(po::parse_command_line(argc, argv, desc), vm);
std::cout << "Hello, " << vm["greet"].as<std::string>() << "!" << std::endl;
return 0;
}
And the CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(boost_test)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11")
find_package(Boost COMPONENTS program_options)
set(SOURCE_FILES main.cpp)
if(Boost_FOUND)
add_executable(boost_test ${SOURCE_FILES})
target_include_directories(boost_test PRIVATE ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
target_link_libraries(boost_test PRIVATE ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
endif(Boost_FOUND)
I use cmake like
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" /path/to/code
make
The error I get is a undefined reference error during linking:
Linking CXX executable boost_test
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `main':
main.cpp:(.text+0x6d): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::options_description::options_description(std::string const&, unsigned int, unsigned int)'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::variables_map::operator[](std::string const&) const':
main.cpp:(.text._ZNK5boost15program_options13variables_mapixERKSs[_ZNK5boost15program_options13variables_mapixERKSs]+0x1f): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::abstract_variables_map::operator[](std::string const&) const'
and so on ...
So I thought that maybe the installation of boost is not correct and I tried to write a makefile myself.
boost-test-1: ../code/main.cpp
g++ ../code/main.cpp -o boost-test-1 -lboost_program_options
boost-test-2: ../code/main.cpp
g++ ../code/main.cpp -o boost-test-2 /some/fancy/cluster/path/certainly/non/standard/Boost/lib/libboost_program_options.so
Both ways to build the program work fine. But what cmake is doing is basically the following: first, build a object file, second link the object file and the library together and that fails.
boost-test-3: ../code/main.cpp
/usr/bin/c++ -I/some/fancy/cluster/path/certainly/non/standard/Boost/include -std=c++11 -o main.cpp.o -c ../code/main.cpp
/usr/bin/c++ -std=c++11 main.cpp.o -o boost-test-3 /some/fancy/cluster/path/certainly/non/standard/Boost/lib/libboost_program_options.so
As already mentioned, on my computer all described ways to build the program work, but on the cluster, the cmake way unfortunately fails. The problem is that I have another larger project that uses cmake and I am looking for a way to build it on that particular cluster.
Do you have any idea what could cause the problem and how to solve it?
Thank you!
Update: This is the whole output of the build process. I shortened the paths to cmake and boost to "path/to/cmake" and "path/to/boost" to make it shorter and better readable, but it is the same long path as described above.
$ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" ../code/
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 4.8.5
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 4.8.5
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Boost version: 1.61.0
-- Found the following Boost libraries:
-- program_options
-- Boost include directories (Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS): /path/to/Boost/include
-- Link directories for Boost libraries (Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS): /path/to/Boost/lib
-- Boost component libraries to be linked (Boost_LIBRARIES): /path/to/Boost/lib/libboost_program_options.so
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/test/build
$ make VERBOSE=1
/path/to/CMake/bin/cmake -H/home/test/code -B/home/test/build --check-build-system CMakeFiles/Makefile.cmake 0
/path/to/CMake/bin/cmake -E cmake_progress_start /home/test/build/CMakeFiles /home/test/build/CMakeFiles/progress.marks
make -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 all
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/test/build'
make -f CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/depend
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/test/build'
cd /home/test/build && /path/to/CMake/bin/cmake -E cmake_depends "Unix Makefiles" /home/test/code /home/test/code /home/test/build /home/test/build /home/test/build/CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/DependInfo.cmake --color=
Dependee "/home/test/build/CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/DependInfo.cmake" is newer than depender "/home/test/build/CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/depend.internal".
Dependee "/home/test/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeDirectoryInformation.cmake" is newer than depender "/home/test/build/CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/depend.internal".
Scanning dependencies of target boost_test
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/test/build'
make -f CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/build
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/test/build'
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o
/usr/bin/c++ -I/path/to/Boost/include -std=c++11 -o CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o -c /home/test/code/main.cpp
[100%] Linking CXX executable boost_test
/path/to/CMake/bin/cmake -E cmake_link_script CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/link.txt --verbose=1
/usr/bin/c++ -std=c++11 CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o -o boost_test /path/to/Boost/lib/libboost_program_options.so
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `main':
main.cpp:(.text+0x6d): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::options_description::options_description(std::string const&, unsigned int, unsigned int)'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::variables_map::operator[](std::string const&) const':
main.cpp:(.text._ZNK5boost15program_options13variables_mapixERKSs[_ZNK5boost15program_options13variables_mapixERKSs]+0x1f): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::abstract_variables_map::operator[](std::string const&) const'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::basic_command_line_parser<char>::basic_command_line_parser(int, char const* const*)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost15program_options25basic_command_line_parserIcEC2EiPKPKc[_ZN5boost15program_options25basic_command_line_parserIcEC5EiPKPKc]+0x76): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::detail::cmdline::cmdline(std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > const&)'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::basic_command_line_parser<char>::extra_parser(boost::function1<std::pair<std::string, std::string>, std::string const&>)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost15program_options25basic_command_line_parserIcE12extra_parserENS_9function1ISt4pairISsSsERKSsEE[_ZN5boost15program_options25basic_command_line_parserIcE12extra_parserENS_9function1ISt4pairISsSsERKSsEE]+0x33): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::detail::cmdline::set_additional_parser(boost::function1<std::pair<std::string, std::string>, std::string const&>)'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > boost::program_options::to_internal<std::string>(std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > const&)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost15program_options11to_internalISsEESt6vectorISsSaISsEERKS2_IT_SaIS5_EE[_ZN5boost15program_options11to_internalISsEESt6vectorISsSaISsEERKS2_IT_SaIS5_EE]+0x46): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::to_internal(std::string const&)'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o:(.rodata._ZTVN5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscEE[_ZTVN5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscEE]+0x40): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::value_semantic_codecvt_helper<char>::parse(boost::any&, std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > const&, bool) const'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::typed_value<std::string, char>::name() const':
main.cpp:(.text._ZNK5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscE4nameEv[_ZNK5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscE4nameEv]+0x32): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::arg'
CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/main.cpp.o: In function `boost::program_options::typed_value<std::string, char>::xparse(boost::any&, std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > const&) const':
main.cpp:(.text._ZNK5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscE6xparseERNS_3anyERKSt6vectorISsSaISsEE[_ZNK5boost15program_options11typed_valueISscE6xparseERNS_3anyERKSt6vectorISsSaISsEE]+0x7a): undefined reference to `boost::program_options::validate(boost::any&, std::vector<std::string, std::allocator<std::string> > const&, std::string*, int)'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[2]: *** [boost_test] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/test/build'
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/boost_test.dir/all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/test/build'
make: *** [all] Error 2

Answer 1

Thank you Amadeus, Someprogrammerdude and Tsyvarev for leading me in the right direction here :)
In fact, it was a compiler issue: The default compiler on the cluster was gcc-4.8.5, which cannot handle the latest Boost versions. Therefore, we loaded a module for gcc-5.4 but /usr/bin/gcc was still gcc-4.8.5. When we set the cxx compiler for cmake to gcc-5.4 the build process still failed, since we also use CUDA and per default the host code is not forwarded to the cxx compiler but the c compiler, which was still gcc-4.8.5. So after setting CUDA_HOST_COMPILER to CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER it works fine now.