How do I get CLion to run an install target

Question

I\'m evaluating CLion 1.2.1 on an existing project which is already using CMake. The project is made up of a few library modules and a single executable.

I have an

Answer 1

UPDATE: As of 2018.1 EAP, build 181.3741.16, CLion supports running cmake install if your project defines install targets:

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Original Answer:

I don't think that CLion implements this feature yet. However, you can work around this limitation by adding a CMake "custom target" (using add_custom_target()) that will execute the make install command:

add_custom_target(install_${PROJECT_NAME}
                  $(MAKE) install
                  DEPENDS ${PROJECT_NAME}
                  COMMENT "Installing ${PROJECT_NAME}")

Now, all you have to do is "build" the install_YOUR_PROJECT_NAME target from the "targets" menu in CLion.

Update:

A more cross-platform technique might be the following:

add_custom_target(install_${PROJECT_NAME}
                  "${CMAKE_COMMAND}" --build "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}" --target install
                  DEPENDS ${PROJECT_NAME}
                  COMMENT "Installing ${PROJECT_NAME}")

Answer 2

@maddouri 's comment already addresses your question. Alternatively, Under Settings -> Build, Execution, Deployment -> CMake, you can also set Build Option for Debug or Release build type to something like -j 2 install. With this setting, whenever CLion builds the code, it will install your targets, too!