CMake cannot find Boost on pybind11 package

[marcmgame]

I am trying to use Boost on a pybind11 package, but GitHub actions fail because CMake cannot find Boost. Here is the .yml file. How can tell CMake where to find Boost for a Python package?

[MarkusJx]

Can you please provide the logs of your workflow run?

[marcmgame]

Here are the relevant part of the .yml file to build the wheels

      - name: Install boost on Windows
        uses: MarkusJx/install-boost@v2.1.0
        id: install-boost-windows
        with:
          boost_version: 1.78.0
          platform_version: 2019
          toolset: msvc
        if: runner.os == 'Windows'

      - name: Install boost on Linux
        uses: MarkusJx/install-boost@v2.1.0
        id: install-boost-linux
        with:
          boost_version: 1.80.0
          platform_version: 22.04
          toolset: gcc
          arch: x86
        if: runner.os == 'Linux'

      - name: Build wheels
        uses: pypa/cibuildwheel@v2.11.4
        env:
          CIBW_BUILD: cp${{ matrix.python }}-*
          # CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: x86_64 arm64
          CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: x86_64
          CIBW_ARCHS_LINUX: x86_64 # auto aarch64

Here are the relevant parts of the error message in Windows:

        CMake Error at C:/Users/runneradmin/AppData/Local/Temp/pip-build-env-yovyy69h/overlay/Lib/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:230 (message):
          Could NOT find Boost (missing: Boost_INCLUDE_DIR regex date_time system
          filesystem thread graph program_options)
        Call Stack (most recent call first):
          C:/Users/runneradmin/AppData/Local/Temp/pip-build-env-yovyy69h/overlay/Lib/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:600 (_FPHSA_FAILURE_MESSAGE)
          C:/Users/runneradmin/AppData/Local/Temp/pip-build-env-yovyy69h/overlay/Lib/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2392 (find_package_handle_standard_args)
          CMakeLists.txt:23 (find_package)

and on Linux

        CMake Error at /tmp/pip-build-env-x_cqsjq7/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:230 (message):
          Could NOT find Boost (missing: Boost_INCLUDE_DIR regex date_time system
          filesystem thread graph program_options)
        Call Stack (most recent call first):
          /tmp/pip-build-env-x_cqsjq7/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:600 (_FPHSA_FAILURE_MESSAGE)
          /tmp/pip-build-env-x_cqsjq7/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/cmake/data/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2392 (find_package_handle_standard_args)
          CMakeLists.txt:23 (find_package)

The problem seems to be that BOOST_ROOT is empty and so CMake cannot find Boost.

Here is a link to the repo where I think you can see the full logs. Please look at the logs of the latest run.

[MarkusJx]

If that still doesn't work, try setting the include and library directories:

env:
  Boost_INCLUDE_DIR: ${{steps.install-boost.outputs.BOOST_ROOT}}/include
  Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS: ${{steps.install-boost.outputs.BOOST_ROOT}}/lib

[marcmgame]

I should have mentioned that I tried that before and it still does not work. See the updated workflow file and the logs on the repo. I still get the same error messages.

[MarkusJx]

I've looked at your workflow file@57f7ab and the resulting workflow run and there are a few things I've noticed:

1. You are not using the latest version of install-boost, consider upgrading to version 2.4.4
2. The include directories are not passed properly to the build step. This is because you are using different ids for the boost install steps for each OS. Try setting the id for all install steps to the same one (e.g. install-boost), or even better, use a matrix for configuring install-boost, like in the test workflow of install-boost. By using a matrix configuration, you'll only ever need one configuration for install-boost. This allows you to use a consistent id for the step across different OS configurations.

[marcmgame]

Thank you! I correct those mistakes and now things are working on Windows and MacOS. However it is still not working on Linux. I guess it may be because cibuildwheels runs on a container on Linux. Do you know how to get it to work in Linux with cibuildwheels? Is there a way to use install Boost in the container?

[MarkusJx]

If you are working with docker containers, mounting the directories where boost is installed (via ${{steps.install-boost.outputs.BOOST_ROOT}}) would work, but it'll be a lot easier to install boost using the package manager which comes with your OS, like apt or apk.