ccmake(1) CMake ccmake(1)
NAME
ccmake - CMake Curses Dialog Command-Line Reference
SYNOPSIS
ccmake [<options>] -B <path-to-build> [-S <path-to-source>]
ccmake [<options>] <path-to-source | path-to-existing-build>
DESCRIPTION
The ccmake executable is the CMake curses interface. Project
configuration settings may be specified interactively through this GUI.
Brief instructions are provided at the bottom of the terminal when the
program is running.
CMake is a cross-platform build system generator. Projects specify
their build process with platform-independent CMake listfiles included
in each directory of a source tree with the name CMakeLists.txt. Users
build a project by using CMake to generate a build system for a native
tool on their platform.
OPTIONS
-S <path-to-source>
Path to root directory of the CMake project to build.
-B <path-to-build>
Path to directory which CMake will use as the root of build
directory.
If the directory doesn't already exist CMake will make it.
-C <initial-cache>
Pre-load a script to populate the cache.
When CMake is first run in an empty build tree, it creates a
CMakeCache.txt file and populates it with customizable settings
for the project. This option may be used to specify a file from
which to load cache entries before the first pass through the
project's CMake listfiles. The loaded entries take priority
over the project's default values. The given file should be a
CMake script containing set() <#command:set> commands that use
the CACHE option, not a cache-format file.
References to CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR <#variable:CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR> and
CMAKE_BINARY_DIR <#variable:CMAKE_BINARY_DIR> within the script
evaluate to the top-level source and build tree.
-D <var>:<type>=<value>, -D <var>=<value>
Create or update a CMake CACHE entry.
When CMake is first run in an empty build tree, it creates a
CMakeCache.txt file and populates it with customizable settings
for the project. This option may be used to specify a setting
that takes priority over the project's default value. The
option may be repeated for as many CACHE entries as desired.
If the :<type> portion is given it must be one of the types
specified by the set() <#command:set> command documentation for
its CACHE signature. If the :<type> portion is omitted the
entry will be created with no type if it does not exist with a
type already. If a command in the project sets the type to PATH
or FILEPATH then the <value> will be converted to an absolute
path.
This option may also be given as a single argument:
-D<var>:<type>=<value> or -D<var>=<value>.
It's important to note that the order of -C and -D arguments is
significant. They will be carried out in the order they are
listed, with the last argument taking precedence over the
previous ones. For example, if you specify
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug, followed by a -C argument with a file
that calls:
set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
then the -C argument will take precedence, and CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE
will be set to Release. However, if the -D argument comes after
the -C argument, it will be set to Debug.
If a set(... CACHE ...) call in the -C file does not use FORCE,
and a -D argument sets the same variable, the -D argument will
take precedence regardless of order because of the nature of
non-FORCE set(... CACHE ...) calls.
-U <globbing_expr>
Remove matching entries from CMake CACHE.
This option may be used to remove one or more variables from the
CMakeCache.txt file, globbing expressions using * and ? are
supported. The option may be repeated for as many CACHE entries
as desired.
Use with care, you can make your CMakeCache.txt non-working.
-G <generator-name>
Specify a build system generator.
CMake may support multiple native build systems on certain
platforms. A generator is responsible for generating a
particular build system. Possible generator names are specified
in the cmake-generators(7) <#manual:cmake-generators(7)> manual.
If not specified, CMake checks the CMAKE_GENERATOR <#
envvar:CMAKE_GENERATOR> environment variable and otherwise falls
back to a builtin default selection.
-T <toolset-spec>
Toolset specification for the generator, if supported.
Some CMake generators support a toolset specification to tell
the native build system how to choose a compiler. See the
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET <#variable:CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET>
variable for details.
-A <platform-name>
Specify platform name if supported by generator.
Some CMake generators support a platform name to be given to the
native build system to choose a compiler or SDK. See the
CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM <#variable:CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM>
variable for details.
--toolchain <path-to-file>
Added in version 3.21.
Specify the cross compiling toolchain file, equivalent to
setting CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE <#variable:CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE>
variable. Relative paths are interpreted as relative to the
build directory, and if not found, relative to the source
directory.
--install-prefix <directory>
Added in version 3.21.
Specify the installation directory, used by the
CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX <#variable:CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX> variable.
Must be an absolute path.
-Wno-dev
Suppress developer warnings.
Suppress warnings that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files. By default this will also turn off
deprecation warnings.
-Wdev Enable developer warnings.
Enable warnings that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files. By default this will also turn on
deprecation warnings.
-Wdeprecated
Enable deprecated functionality warnings.
Enable warnings for usage of deprecated functionality, that are
meant for the author of the CMakeLists.txt files.
-Wno-deprecated
Suppress deprecated functionality warnings.
Suppress warnings for usage of deprecated functionality, that
are meant for the author of the CMakeLists.txt files.
-Werror=<what>
Treat CMake warnings as errors. <what> must be one of the
following:
dev Make developer warnings errors.
Make warnings that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files errors. By default this will also
turn on deprecated warnings as errors.
deprecated
Make deprecated macro and function warnings errors.
Make warnings for usage of deprecated macros and
functions, that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files, errors.
-Wno-error=<what>
Do not treat CMake warnings as errors. <what> must be one of the
following:
dev Make warnings that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files not errors. By default this will
also turn off deprecated warnings as errors.
deprecated
Make warnings for usage of deprecated macros and
functions, that are meant for the author of the
CMakeLists.txt files, not errors.
-version [<file>], --version [<file>], /V [<file>]
Show program name/version banner and exit. The output is
printed to a named <file> if given.
-h, -H, --help, -help, -usage, /?
Print usage information and exit.
Usage describes the basic command line interface and its
options.
--help <keyword> [<file>]
Print help for one CMake keyword.
<keyword> can be a property, variable, command, policy,
generator or module.
The relevant manual entry for <keyword> is printed in a
human-readable text format. The output is printed to a named
<file> if given.
Changed in version 3.28: Prior to CMake 3.28, this option
supported command names only.
--help-full [<file>]
Print all help manuals and exit.
All manuals are printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-manual <man> [<file>]
Print one help manual and exit.
The specified manual is printed in a human-readable text format.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-manual-list [<file>]
List help manuals available and exit.
The list contains all manuals for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-manual option followed by a manual name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-command <cmd> [<file>]
Print help for one command and exit.
The cmake-commands(7) <#manual:cmake-commands(7)> manual entry
for <cmd> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-command-list [<file>]
List commands with help available and exit.
The list contains all commands for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-command option followed by a command name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-commands [<file>]
Print cmake-commands manual and exit.
The cmake-commands(7) <#manual:cmake-commands(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-module <mod> [<file>]
Print help for one module and exit.
The cmake-modules(7) <#manual:cmake-modules(7)> manual entry for
<mod> is printed in a human-readable text format. The output is
printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-module-list [<file>]
List modules with help available and exit.
The list contains all modules for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-module option followed by a module name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-modules [<file>]
Print cmake-modules manual and exit.
The cmake-modules(7) <#manual:cmake-modules(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-policy <cmp> [<file>]
Print help for one policy and exit.
The cmake-policies(7) <#manual:cmake-policies(7)> manual entry
for <cmp> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-policy-list [<file>]
List policies with help available and exit.
The list contains all policies for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-policy option followed by a policy name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-policies [<file>]
Print cmake-policies manual and exit.
The cmake-policies(7) <#manual:cmake-policies(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-property <prop> [<file>]
Print help for one property and exit.
The cmake-properties(7) <#manual:cmake-properties(7)> manual
entries for <prop> are printed in a human-readable text format.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-property-list [<file>]
List properties with help available and exit.
The list contains all properties for which help may be obtained
by using the --help-property option followed by a property name.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-properties [<file>]
Print cmake-properties manual and exit.
The cmake-properties(7) <#manual:cmake-properties(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-variable <var> [<file>]
Print help for one variable and exit.
The cmake-variables(7) <#manual:cmake-variables(7)> manual entry
for <var> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-variable-list [<file>]
List variables with help available and exit.
The list contains all variables for which help may be obtained
by using the --help-variable option followed by a variable name.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-variables [<file>]
Print cmake-variables manual and exit.
The cmake-variables(7) <#manual:cmake-variables(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
SEE ALSO
The following resources are available to get help using CMake:
Home Page
https://cmake.org
The primary starting point for learning about CMake.
Online Documentation and Community Resources
https://cmake.org/documentation
Links to available documentation and community resources may be
found on this web page.
Discourse Forum
https://discourse.cmake.org
The Discourse Forum hosts discussion and questions about CMake.
Copyright
2000-2024 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors
3.31.10 January 26, 2026 ccmake(1)
cmake 3.31.10 - Generated Tue Jan 27 18:43:02 CST 2026