How to link C++ program with Boost using CMake

The following is my configuration:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /usr/local/src/boost_1_46_1)
set(Boost_LIBRARY_DIR /usr/local/src/boost_1_46_1/stage/lib)
find_package(Boost COMPONENTS system filesystem REQUIRED)
include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR})
link_directories(${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR})

add_executable(main main.cpp)
target_link_libraries( main ${Boost_LIBRARIES} )

In CMake you could use find_package to find libraries you need. There usually is a FindBoost.cmake along with your CMake installation.

As far as I remember, it will be installed to /usr/share/cmake/Modules/ along with other find-scripts for common libraries. You could just check the documentation in that file for more information about how it works.

An example out of my head:

FIND_PACKAGE( Boost 1.40 COMPONENTS program_options REQUIRED )
INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES( ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR} )

ADD_EXECUTABLE( anyExecutable myMain.cpp )

TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( anyExecutable LINK_PUBLIC ${Boost_LIBRARIES} )

I hope this code helps.

• Here's the official documentation about FindBoost.cmake.
• And the actual FindBoost.cmake (hosted on GitHub)