cmake - osx/mac - openssl brew

The cause of this issue is a bug in CMake -- it does not use alternate pkg-config paths correctly.

According to the merge request attached to the bug, the fix should be in cmake 3.17.0 (to be released in Feb 2020).

Otherwise, use this work-around. Hard coding it in your CMakeLists.txt will make things bad for people who use MacPorts instead of Homebrew.


ok got it working :)

brew upgrade openssl
brew link --force openssl
pkg-config --modversion openssl
#1.0.2

removed the cmake build folder and rerun the cmake .. and the above macro now finds the 1.0.2 libssl :)


As of late 2016 this works for me:

In CMakeLists.txt:

find_package(openssl REQUIRED)

Run cmake like this:

cmake -DOPENSSL_ROOT_DIR=/usr/local/opt/openssl .

Jonathan is right. The MacOS system open ssl is considered insecure. Here is what works for me

  1. Install or upgrade openssl via brew

  2. Add these to your CMakefile. Instead of hard coding you might choose to use a command line parameter or environment variable

    include_directories(BEFORE /usr/local/Cellar/openssl/1.0.2p/include) find_library(OPENSSL_LIB ssl PATHS /usr/local/Cellar/openssl/1.0.2p/lib NO_DEFAULT_PATH) find_library(CRYPTO_LIB crypto PATHS /usr/local/Cellar/openssl/1.0.2p/lib NO_DEFAULT_PATH)

To find the OpenSSL directory use the following command:

brew list openssl