Separate build directory using xcodebuild

Question

The man page for xcodebuild reads:

Run xcodebuild from the directory containing your project (i.e. the directory containing the projectname.xcodeproj package).

I would like to keep my source directory (which is a Subversion external) clean and unmodified, and build my object files and executables to a location completely outside of the source directory.

Is there any way to build into a separate build directory from a terminal using xcodebuild like you can do with make tools or even msbuild on Windows?

score 39 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 11 '11 at 15:00

39

You can set build settings from the command line. The CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR will set the build directory. For example:

xcodebuild -project YourProject.xcodeproj -configuration Debug -target All ARCHS=x86_64 ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH=YES CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR=../some/other/dir

A reference is found on Apple's site:

Build Setting Reference

answered Feb 11 '11 at 15:00

Dave Mateer

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4

I found that I also needed to set CONFIGURATION_TEMP_DIR, and then this worked for me. – Brent Ramerth Feb 09 '13 at 21:40
2

You can just set BUILD_DIR and that will work too :D – David H. Feb 08 '16 at 18:25

score 13 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

To achieve complete separation the following build settings have to be changed (more than just CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR like accepted answer suggests), otherwise Xcode still builds some of its artifacts under its default build folder.

On my machine Xcode normally builds everything to ./Build and ./DerivedData where current directory is one of my project.

I wanted xcodebuild to build everything under Build-command-line folder so I used xcodebuild -scheme MyScheme -showBuildSettings | grep Build\/ to find all build settings that correspond to all build paths and by trial-end-error I found "the generative" build settings that are enough to redirect all build artefacts produced by xcodebuild to custom folder.

I ended up using the following command:

BUILD_DIR=./Build-command-line
DERIVED_DATA_DIR=$(BUILD_DIR)/DerivedData

xcodebuild -project MyProject.xcodeproj \
         -IDEBuildOperationMaxNumberOfConcurrentCompileTasks=`sysctl -n hw.ncpu` \
         -scheme MyScheme \
         -sdk iphonesimulator \
         -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 6S Plus,OS=latest' \
         -xcconfig command-line-build.xcconfig \
         -derivedDataPath $(DERIVED_DATA_DIR) \
         test

Where command-line-build.xcconfig is:

HERE_BUILD=$(SRCROOT)/Build-command-line
HERE_INTERMEDIATES=$(HERE_BUILD)/Intermediates

// Paths
// the following paths are enough to redirect everything to $HERE_BUILD
MODULE_CACHE_DIR    = $(HERE_BUILD)/DerivedData/ModuleCache
OBJROOT             = $(HERE_INTERMEDIATES)
SHARED_PRECOMPS_DIR = $(HERE_INTERMEDIATES)/PrecompiledHeaders
SYMROOT

Note: Make sure you use absolute paths in your xcconfig, otherwise you may have error: Xcode crashing on startup “parentPath must be nil but it is not.

I have written a post about this solution with a bit of background: xcodebuild: how to really change its build path.

P.S. Of course this information is subject to change but as of Xcode Version 7.3.1 (7D1014) it works perfectly for me.

Stanislav, you may be (the only person :) ) who knows [this one](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54024900/what-the-heck-is-xcbuilddata-and-why-are-the-build-folders-not-actually-updated) :O — Fattie, Jan 03 '19 at 15:25
I'm not 100% sure, but at least for scenarios that I personally encounter (with Xcode 13), the problem with SYMROOT, OBJROOT, SHARED_PRECOMPS_DIR and others not affected by -derivedDataPath is solved by adding -IDECustomBuildProductsPath="" and -IDECustomBuildIntermediatesPath="" to xcodebuild invocation, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/71550519/1859783 below. — Grigory Entin, Mar 20 '22 at 20:51

Guy Daher · Answer 3 · 2018-11-19T10:08:38.843

7

Xcode 10

For a Workspace if you're using CocoaPods:

xcodebuild -workspace youProject.xcworkspace -scheme yourScheme -sdk iphonesimulator -configuration Release SYMROOT=$(PWD)/build

That will put your .app in ./build/Release-iphonesimulator

edited Nov 19 '18 at 10:08

answered Nov 19 '18 at 09:53

Guy Daher

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score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 08 '16 at 09:39

In my project, setting SYMROOT turned out to be sufficient to build the project in a different location, leaving other locations untouched.

From Apple's Xcode Build Setting Reference (which I came across via another answer here, thanks!):

SYMROOT (Build Products Path)

Description: Directory path. Identifies the root of the directory hierarchy that contains product files and intermediate build files. Product and build files are placed in subdirectories of this directory.

...

Affects: BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR, CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR (...)

This setting is also mentioned a few times in the xcodebuild man page:

Available actions are:

build: Build the target in the build root (SYMROOT)...

clean: Remove build products and intermediate files from the build root (SYMROOT)....

If you want to redirect **everything** to a custom folder, at least `OBJROOT` is very important because quite a few of folders depend on it, not on `SYMROOT`. I have just checked Xcode 7.3.1 - MODULE_CACHE_DIR and SHARED_PRECOMPS_DIR are also independent of `SYMROOT`. So your answer will still build some stuff to default build directory however maybe that is enough for your task. — Stanislav Pankevich, Jun 03 '16 at 09:49

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 25 '17 at 23:05

3

You should set the SYMROOT build setting to your desired location. All of the other relevant build settings are derived from it.

answered Mar 25 '17 at 23:05

Jeremy Huddleston Sequoia

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 20 '22 at 20:46

If -derivedDataPath does not do the trick, add -IDECustomBuildProductsPath="" and -IDECustomBuildIntermediatesPath="" to xcodebuild invocation, like below:

xcodebuild -derivedDataPath /custom/path -IDECustomBuildProductsPath="" -IDECustomBuildIntermediatesPath="" ...

More info here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/71550483/1859783

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 02 '21 at 14:47

0

You can also temporarily change the working directory and run the command from there. i.e.

 (cd dir1/dir2/MyApp && xcodebuild build -workspace "MyApp.xcworkspace" -scheme "MyApp")

answered Apr 02 '21 at 14:47

Alex Nguyen

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Separate build directory using xcodebuild

7 Answers7

Xcode 10

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