# Building opentelemetry-cpp

[CMake](https://cmake.org/) and [Bazel](https://bazel.build) are the official
build systems for opentelemetry-cpp.

## Dependencies

You can link OpenTelemetry C++ SDK with libraries provided in
[dependencies.md](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/blob/main/docs/dependencies.md)
(complete list of libraries with versions used in our CI can be found
[here](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/blob/main/third_party_release)).

## Build instructions using CMake

### Prerequisites for CMake

- A supported platform (e.g. Windows, macOS or Linux). Refer to [Platforms
  Supported](./README.md#supported-development-platforms) for more information.
- A compatible C++ compiler supporting at least C++11. Major compilers are
  supported. Refer to [Supported Compilers](./README.md#supported-c-versions)
  for more information.
- [Git](https://git-scm.com/) for fetching opentelemetry-cpp source code from
  repository. To install Git, consult the [Set up
  Git](https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git/) guide on GitHub.
- [CMake](https://cmake.org/) for building opentelemetry-cpp API, SDK with their
  unittests. We use CMake version 3.15.2 in our build system. To install CMake,
  consult the [Installing CMake](https://cmake.org/install/) guide.
- [GoogleTest](https://github.com/google/googletest) framework to build and run
  the unittests. Refer to
  [third_party_release](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/blob/main/third_party_release#L5)
  for version of GoogleTest used in CI. To install GoogleTest, consult the
  [GoogleTest Build
  Instructions](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/master/googletest/README.md#generic-build-instructions).
- [Google Benchmark](https://github.com/google/benchmark) framework to build and
  run benchmark tests. Refer to
  [third_party_release](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/blob/main/third_party_release#L4)
  for version of Benchmark used in CI. To install Benchmark, consult the
  [GoogleBenchmark Build
  Instructions](https://github.com/google/benchmark#installation).
- Apart from above core requirements, the Exporters and Propagators have their
  build dependencies which are not covered here. E.g, Otlp Exporter needs
  grpc/protobuf library, Zipkin exporter needs nlohmann-json and libcurl, ETW
  exporter need nlohmann-json to build. This is covered in the build
  instructions for each of these components.

### Building as standalone CMake Project

1. Getting the opentelementry-cpp source:

   ```console
   # Change to the directory where you want to create the code repository
   $ cd ~
   $ mkdir source && cd source
   $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp
   Cloning into 'opentelemetry-cpp'...
   ...
   Resolving deltas: 100% (3225/3225), done.
   $
   ```

2. Navigate to the repository cloned above, and create the `CMake` build
   configuration.

   ```console
   $ cd opentelemetry-cpp
   $ mkdir build && cd build
   $ cmake ..
   -- The C compiler identification is GNU 9.3.0
   -- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 9.3.0
   ...
   -- Configuring done
   -- Generating done
   -- Build files have been written to: /home/<user>/source/opentelemetry-cpp/build
   $
   ```

   Some of the available cmake build variables we can use during cmake
   configuration:

   - `-DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON` : Please note that with default
     configuration, the code is compiled without `-fpic` option, so it is not
     suitable for inclusion in shared libraries. To enable the code for
     inclusion in shared libraries, this variable is used.
   - `-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON` : To build shared libraries for the targets.
      Please refer to note [below](#building-shared-libs-for-windows) for
      Windows DLL support
   - `-DWITH_OTLP=ON` : To enable building Otlp exporter.
   - `-DWITH_PROMETHEUS=ON` : To enable building prometheus exporter.

3. Once build configuration is created, build the CMake targets - this includes
   building SDKs, and building unittests for API and SDK. Note that since API is
   header only library, no separate build is triggered for it.

   ```console
   $ cmake --build . --target all
   Scanning dependencies of target timestamp_test
   [  0%] Building CXX object api/test/core/CMakeFiles/timestamp_test.dir/timestamp_test.cc.o
   [  1%] Linking CXX executable timestamp_test
   ...
   Scanning dependencies of target w3c_tracecontext_test
   [ 99%] Building CXX object ext/test/w3c_tracecontext_test/CMakeFiles/w3c_tracecontext_test.dir/main.cc.o
   [100%] Linking CXX executable w3c_tracecontext_test
   [100%] Built target w3c_tracecontext_test
   $
   ```

4. Once CMake tests are built, run them with `ctest` command

   ```console
   $ ctest
   Test project /tmp/opentelemetry-cpp/build
        Start   1: trace.SystemTimestampTest.Construction
   ...
        Start 380: ext.http.urlparser.UrlParserTests.BasicTests
   ...
   100% tests passed, 0 tests failed out of 380
   $
   ```

5. Optionally install the header files for API, and generated targets and header
   files for SDK at custom/default install location.

   ```console
   $ cmake --install . --config Debug --prefix /<install_root>/
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/lib/cmake/opentelemetry-cpp/opentelemetry-cpp-config.cmake
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/lib/cmake/opentelemetry-cpp/opentelemetry-cpp-config-version.cmake
   ...
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/include/opentelemetry//ext/zpages/static/tracez_index.h
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/include/opentelemetry//ext/zpages/static/tracez_style.h
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/include/opentelemetry//ext/zpages/threadsafe_span_data.h
   -- Installing: /<install-root>/lib/libopentelemetry_zpages.a
   $
   ```

### Incorporating into an existing CMake Project

To use the library from a CMake project, you can locate it directly with
 `find_package` and use the imported targets from generated package
 configurations. As of now, this will import targets for both API and SDK. In
 future, there may be separate packages for API and SDK which can be installed
 and imported separtely according to need.

```cmake
# CMakeLists.txt
find_package(opentelemetry-cpp CONFIG REQUIRED)
...
target_include_directories(foo PRIVATE ${OPENTELEMETRY_CPP_INCLUDE_DIRS})
target_link_libraries(foo PRIVATE ${OPENTELEMETRY_CPP_LIBRARIES})
```

## Build instructions using Bazel

NOTE: Experimental, and not supported for all the components. Make sure the
[GoogleTest](https://github.com/google/googletest) installation may fail if
there is a different version of googletest already installed in system-defined
path.

### Prerequisites for Bazel

- A supported platform (e.g. Windows, macOS or Linux). Refer to [Platforms
Supported](./README.md#supported-development-platforms) for more information.
- A compatible C++ compiler supporting at least C++11. Major compilers are
supported. Refer to [Supported Compilers](./README.md#supported-c-versions) for
more information.
- [Git](https://git-scm.com/) for fetching opentelemetry-cpp source code from
repository. To install Git, consult the [Set up
Git](https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git/) guide on GitHub.
- [Bazel](https://www.bazel.build/) for building opentelemetry-cpp API, SDK with
their unittests. We use 3.7.2 in our build system.

To install Bazel, consult the [Installing
Bazel](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/3.7.0/install.html) guide.

### Building as standalone Bazel Project

1. Getting the opentelementry-cpp source:

   ```console
   # Change to the directory where you want to create the code repository
   $ cd ~
   $ mkdir source && cd source
   $ git clone https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp
   Cloning into 'opentelemetry-cpp'...
   ...
   Resolving deltas: 100% (3225/3225), done.
   $
   ```

2. Navigate to the repository cloned above, download the dependencies and build
   the source code:

   ```console
   $ cd opentelemtry-cpp
   $ bazel build //...
   bazel build -- //... -//exporters/otlp/... -//exporters/prometheus/...
   Extracting Bazel installation...
   Starting local Bazel server and connecting to it...
   INFO: Analyzed 121 targets (98 packages loaded, 3815 targets configured).
   INFO: Found 121 targets...
   INFO: From Compiling sdk/src/trace/tracer_context.cc:
   ...

   ```

3. Once Bazel tests are built, run them with `bazel test //...` command

   ```console
   $ bazel test //...
   ..
   $
   ```

4. The build artifacts will be located under `bazel-bin`

### Incorporating into an existing Bazel Project

- WORKSPACE file:

```console
http_archive(
    name = "io_opentelemetry_cpp",
    sha256 = "<sha256>",
    strip_prefix = "opentelemetry-cpp-1.0.1",
    urls = [
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.1.tar.gz"
    ],
)

# Load OpenTelemetry dependencies after load.
load("@io_opentelemetry_cpp//bazel:repository.bzl", "opentelemetry_cpp_deps")

opentelemetry_cpp_deps()

# Load gRPC dependencies after load.
load("@com_github_grpc_grpc//bazel:grpc_deps.bzl", "grpc_deps")

grpc_deps()

# Load extra gRPC dependencies due to https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/20511
load("@com_github_grpc_grpc//bazel:grpc_extra_deps.bzl", "grpc_extra_deps")

grpc_extra_deps()

```

- Component level BUILD file:

```console
cc_library(
   name = "<name>"
   ...
   deps = [
      "@io_opentelemetry_cpp//api",
      "@io_opentelemetry_cpp//exporters/otlp:otlp_exporter",
      "@io_opentelemetry_cpp//sdk/src/trace",
      ...
   ],
   ...
)
```

## Building shared libs for Windows

Windows DLL build is not supported. There are some constraints on how C++ DLLs
work on Windows, specifically we can't safely allocate memory in one DLL and
free it in another. For now, OpenTelemetry C++ targets need to be statically
linked into the Windows applications.

## Using Package Managers

If you are using [Conan](https://www.conan.io/) to manage your dependencies, add
[`opentelemetry-cpp/x.y.z`](https://conan.io/center/opentelemetry-cpp) to your
`conanfile`'s requires, where `x.y.z` is the release version you want to use.
Please file issues [here](https://github.com/conan-io/conan-center-index/issues)
if you experience problems with the packages.

If you are using [vcpkg](https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg/) on your project
for external dependencies, then you can install the [opentelemetry-cpp
package](https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/tree/master/ports/opentelemetry-cpp)
with `vcpkg install opentelemetry-cpp` and follow the then displayed
descriptions. Please see the vcpkg project for any issues regarding the
packaging.

Please note, these packages are not officially provided and maintained by
OpenTelemetry C++ project, and are just listed here to consolidate all such
efforts for ease of developers.