Build the AWS SDK for C++ on Windows

To build the SDK from source

1. Install CMake (minimum version 3.13) and the relevant build tools for your platform. It is recommended to add cmake to your PATH. To check your version of CMake, open a command prompt and run command cmake --version

2. In a command prompt, navigate to a folder where you want to store the SDK.

3. Get the latest source code.

   Version 1.11 uses git submodules to wrap external dependencies. This includes the CRT libraries described in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide.

   Download or clone the SDK source from aws/aws-sdk-cpp on GitHub:

   • Clone with Git: HTTPS

     git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-cpp

   • Clone with Git: SSH

     git clone --recurse-submodules git@github.com:aws/aws-sdk-cpp.git

4. We recommend you store the generated build files outside of the SDK source directory. Create a new directory to store the build files in and navigate to that folder.

   mkdir sdk_build
   cd sdk_build
   

5. Generate the build files by running cmake. Specify on the cmake command line whether to build a Debug or Release version. Choose Debug throughout this procedure to run a debug configuration of your application code. Choose Release throughout this procedure to run a release configuration of your application code. For Windows, the SDK install location is typically \Program Files (x86)\aws-cpp-sdk-all\. Command syntax:

   {path to cmake if not in PATH} {path to source location of aws-sdk-cpp} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=[Debug | Release] -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH={path to install destination}

   For more ways to modify the build output, see CMake Parameters.

   To generate the build files, do one of the following:

   • Generate build files (all AWS services): To build the entire SDK, run cmake, specifying whether to build a Debug or Release version. For example:

     cmake "..\aws-sdk-cpp" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:\Program Files (x86)\aws-cpp-sdk-all"

   • Generate build files (subset AWS services): To build only a particular service or services package(s) for the SDK, add the CMake BUILD_ONLY parameter. The following example builds only the Amazon S3 service package:

     cmake ..\aws-sdk-cpp -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DBUILD_ONLY="s3" -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:\Program Files (x86)\aws-cpp-sdk-all"

   • Generate build files (with curl): After completing the curl prerequisites, three additional cmake command line options are required to include curl support in the SDK: FORCE_CURL, CURL_INCLUDE_DIR, and CURL_LIBRARY. For example:

     cmake ..\aws-sdk-cpp -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DFORCE_CURL=ON -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR='C:/curl/include'
           -DCURL_LIBRARY='C:/curl/lib/libcurl.dll.a' -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:\Program Files (x86)\aws-cpp-sdk-all"

   Note

   If you get an error Failed to build third-party libraries, check your version of CMake by running cmake --version. You must use CMake minimum version 3.13.

6. Build the SDK binaries. If you’re building the entire SDK, this step can take one hour or longer. Command syntax:

   {path to cmake if not in PATH} --build . --config=[Debug | Release]

   cmake --build . --config=Debug

   Note

   If you encounter the error The code execution cannot proceed ... dll not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.", retry the cmake command again.

7. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges to install the SDK in the location specified earlier using the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH parameter. Command syntax:

   {path to cmake if not in PATH} --install . --config=[Debug | Release]

   cmake --install . --config=Debug