QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR

Prefix-relative subdirectory for deploying runtime binaries on some target platforms.

This variable is defined by the script named by QT_DEPLOY_SUPPORT. It should only be used as part of deployment during installation or a post-build rule.

This variable was introduced in Qt 6.3.

Projects should use QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR in their deploy scripts to avoid hard-coding a particular directory in which to deploy the following types of binaries:

• Executables on all platforms.
• DLLs on Windows.

QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR defaults to the value of ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR} (usually bin), which is provided by CMake's GNUInstallDirs module. To change the value of QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR, ensure that the project sets CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR before the Core package is found.

The QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR path is relative to QT_DEPLOY_PREFIX.

This variable is not meaningful when deploying into a macOS app bundle and should not be used for that scenario.

Example

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16...3.22)
project(MyThings)

find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Core)
qt_standard_project_setup()

qt_add_executable(MyApp main.cpp)

set_target_properties(MyApp PROPERTIES
    WIN32_EXECUTABLE TRUE
    MACOSX_BUNDLE TRUE
)

# App bundles on macOS have an .app suffix
if(APPLE)
    set(executable_path "$<TARGET_FILE_NAME:MyApp>.app")
else()
    set(executable_path "\${QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR}/$<TARGET_FILE_NAME:MyApp>")
endif()

# Helper app, not necessarily built as part of this project.
qt_add_executable(HelperApp helper.cpp)
set(helper_app_path "\${QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR}/$<TARGET_FILE_NAME:HelperApp>")

# The following script must only be executed at install time
set(deploy_script "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/deploy_MyApp.cmake")

file(GENERATE OUTPUT ${deploy_script} CONTENT "
# Including the file pointed to by QT_DEPLOY_SUPPORT ensures the generated
# deployment script has access to qt_deploy_runtime_dependencies()
include(\"${QT_DEPLOY_SUPPORT}\")
qt_deploy_runtime_dependencies(
    EXECUTABLE \"${executable_path}\"
    ADDITIONAL_EXECUTABLES \"${helper_app_path}\"
    GENERATE_QT_CONF
    VERBOSE
)")

# Omitting RUNTIME DESTINATION will install a non-bundle target to CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR,
# which coincides with the default value of QT_DEPLOY_BIN_DIR used above, './bin'.
# Installing macOS bundles always requires an explicit BUNDLE DESTINATION option.
install(TARGETS MyApp HelperApp    # Install to CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX/bin/MyApp.exe
                                   #                           and ./binHelperApp.exe
        BUNDLE  DESTINATION .      # Install to CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX/MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp
)
install(SCRIPT ${deploy_script})    # Add its runtime dependencies