Build protobuf 2.6 static library for iOS, base on BennettSmith's work

.gitignore

protobuf
protobuf-2.6.1
protobuf-master

README.md

Google Protobuf 2.6.1 - Mac OS X and iOS Support

The script in this gist will help you buid the Google Protobuf library for use with Mac OS X and iOS. Other methods (such as homebrew or direct compilation) have issues that prevent their use. The libraries built by this script are universal and support all iOS device architectures including the simluator.

Get the Script

The easiest way to use this script is to simply clone the gist onto your machine using the following command:

$ git clone https://gist.github.com/4bc676dfec649843af1e.git build-protobuf

Prepare enviroment

make sure automake, libtool, and pkgconfig are ready:

brew install automake
brew install libtool
brew install pkgconfig

Performing the Build

The script will automatically download the tarball from Google Code, so all you need to do is run the script.

$ cd build-protobuf
$ ./build-protobuf.sh

Results

Build results are found in a folder called protobuf. This folder contains bin, include and lib folders.

Integration with Xcode

Create a build rule in your Xcode project with the following settings.

Process *Source files with names matching:* `*.proto`
Using *Custom script:*

cd ${INPUT_FILE_DIR}
${SRCROOT}/Google/protobuf/bin/protoc --proto_path=${INPUT_FILE_DIR} ${INPUT_FILE_PATH} --cpp_out=${DERIVED_FILE_DIR}

Output Files
$(DERIVED_FILE_DIR)/$(INPUT_FILE_BASE).pb.cc
$(DERIVED_FILE_DIR)/$(INPUT_FILE_BASE).pb.h

Depending on where you choose to install the protobuf build, you will need to adjust the path to protoc.

Import to XCode

• add protobuf/include/**.h and protobuf/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a into xcode project
• change project C++ Language Dialect to C++11 [-std=c++11]
• change project C++ Runtime Types to libc++ (LLVM C++ standard library with C++11 support

Workaround TYPE_BOOL error in XCode

• add #undef TYPE_BOOL line on top of protobuf/include/google/protobuf/wire_format_light.h

....omit...
#ifndef GOOGLE_PROTOBUF_WIRE_FORMAT_LITE_H__
#define GOOGLE_PROTOBUF_WIRE_FORMAT_LITE_H__

#undef TYPE_BOOL

#include <string>
#include <google/protobuf/stubs/common.h>
....omit...

Change logs

• update Mac SDK to 10.10
• update to protobuf 2.6.1 (include new download url)
• min iOS SDK down to 6.0

build-protobuf.sh

#!/bin/bash

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "# Preparing to build Google Protobuf"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

# The results will be stored relative to the location
# where you stored this script, **not** relative to
# the location of the protobuf git repo.
PREFIX=`pwd`/protobuf
if [ -d ${PREFIX} ]
then
    rm -rf "${PREFIX}"
fi
mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/platform"

# A "YES" value will build the latest code from GitHub on the master branch.
# A "NO" value will use the 2.6.0 tarball downloaded from googlecode.com.
USE_GIT_MASTER=NO

PROTOBUF_GIT_URL=https://github.com/google/protobuf.git
PROTOBUF_GIT_DIRNAME=protobuf
PROTOBUF_VERSION=2.6.1
PROTOBUF_RELEASE_URL=https://github.com/google/protobuf/releases/download/$PROTOBUF_VERSION/protobuf-$PROTOBUF_VERSION.tar.gz
PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME=protobuf-${PROTOBUF_VERSION}

BUILD_MACOSX_X86_64=YES

BUILD_I386_IOSSIM=YES
BUILD_X86_64_IOSSIM=YES

BUILD_IOS_ARMV7=YES
BUILD_IOS_ARMV7S=YES
BUILD_IOS_ARM64=YES

PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR=/tmp/protobuf

DARWIN=darwin`uname -r`

XCODEDIR=`xcode-select --print-path`
IOS_SDK_VERSION=`xcrun --sdk iphoneos --show-sdk-version`
MIN_SDK_VERSION=6.0

MACOSX_PLATFORM=${XCODEDIR}/Platforms/MacOSX.platform
MACOSX_SYSROOT=${MACOSX_PLATFORM}/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.10.sdk

IPHONEOS_PLATFORM=`xcrun --sdk iphoneos --show-sdk-platform-path`
IPHONEOS_SYSROOT=`xcrun --sdk iphoneos --show-sdk-path`

IPHONESIMULATOR_PLATFORM=`xcrun --sdk iphonesimulator --show-sdk-platform-path`
IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT=`xcrun --sdk iphonesimulator --show-sdk-path`

# Uncomment if you want to see more information about each invocation
# of clang as the builds proceed.
# CLANG_VERBOSE="--verbose"

CC=clang
CXX=clang

CFLAGS="${CLANG_VERBOSE} -DNDEBUG -g -O0 -pipe -fPIC -fcxx-exceptions"
CXXFLAGS="${CLANG_VERBOSE} ${CFLAGS} -std=c++11 -stdlib=libc++"

LDFLAGS="-stdlib=libc++"
LIBS="-lc++ -lc++abi"

echo "PREFIX ..................... ${PREFIX}"
echo "USE_GIT_MASTER ............. ${USE_GIT_MASTER}"
echo "PROTOBUF_GIT_URL ........... ${PROTOBUF_GIT_URL}"
echo "PROTOBUF_GIT_DIRNAME ....... ${PROTOBUF_GIT_DIRNAME}"
echo "PROTOBUF_VERSION ........... ${PROTOBUF_VERSION}"
echo "PROTOBUF_RELEASE_URL ....... ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_URL}"
echo "PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME ... ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}"
echo "BUILD_MACOSX_X86_64 ........ ${BUILD_MACOSX_X86_64}"
echo "BUILD_I386_IOSSIM .......... ${BUILD_I386_IOSSIM}"
echo "BUILD_X86_64_IOSSIM ........ ${BUILD_X86_64_IOSSIM}"
echo "BUILD_IOS_ARMV7 ............ ${BUILD_IOS_ARMV7}"
echo "BUILD_IOS_ARMV7S ........... ${BUILD_IOS_ARMV7S}"
echo "BUILD_IOS_ARM64 ............ ${BUILD_IOS_ARM64}"
echo "PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR ........... ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}"
echo "DARWIN ..................... ${DARWIN}"
echo "XCODEDIR ................... ${XCODEDIR}"
echo "IOS_SDK_VERSION ............ ${IOS_SDK_VERSION}"
echo "MIN_SDK_VERSION ............ ${MIN_SDK_VERSION}"
echo "MACOSX_PLATFORM ............ ${MACOSX_PLATFORM}"
echo "MACOSX_SYSROOT ............. ${MACOSX_SYSROOT}"
echo "IPHONEOS_PLATFORM .......... ${IPHONEOS_PLATFORM}"
echo "IPHONEOS_SYSROOT ........... ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}"
echo "IPHONESIMULATOR_PLATFORM ... ${IPHONESIMULATOR_PLATFORM}"
echo "IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT .... ${IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT}"
echo "CC ......................... ${CC}"
echo "CFLAGS ..................... ${CFLAGS}"
echo "CXX ........................ ${CXX}"
echo "CXXFLAGS ................... ${CXXFLAGS}"
echo "LDFLAGS .................... ${LDFLAGS}"
echo "LIBS ....................... ${LIBS}"

while true; do
    read -p "Proceed with build? (y/n) " yn
    case $yn in
        [Yy]* ) break;;
        [Nn]* ) exit;;
        * ) echo "Please answer yes or no.";;
    esac
done

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "# Fetch Google Protobuf"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

(
    if [ -d ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR} ]
    then
        rm -rf ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
    fi

    cd `dirname ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}`

    if [ "${USE_GIT_MASTER}" == "YES" ]
    then
        git clone ${PROTOBUF_GIT_URL}
    else
        if [ -d ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME} ]
        then
            rm -rf "${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}"
        fi
        curl --location ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_URL} --output ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}.tar.gz
        tar xvf ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}.tar.gz
        mv "${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}" "${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}"
        rm ${PROTOBUF_RELEASE_DIRNAME}.tar.gz

        # Remove the version of Google Test included with the release.
        # We will replace it with version 1.7.0 in a later step.
        if [ -d "${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}/gtest" ]
        then
            rm -r "${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}/gtest"
        fi
    fi
)

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "# Fetch Google Test & Prepare the Configure Script"
echo "#   (note: This section is lifted from autogen.sh)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

(
    cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}

    # Check that we're being run from the right directory.
    if test ! -f src/google/protobuf/stubs/common.h
    then
        cat >&2 << __EOF__
Could not find source code.  Make sure you are running this script from the
root of the distribution tree.
__EOF__
        exit 1
    fi

    # Check that gtest is present. Older versions of protobuf were stored in SVN
    # and the gtest directory was setup as an SVN external.  Now, protobuf is
    # stored in GitHub and the gtest directory is not included. The commands
    # below will grab the latest version of gtest. Currently that is 1.7.0.
    if test ! -e gtest
    then
        echo "Google Test not present.  Fetching gtest-1.7.0 from the web..."
        curl --location http://googletest.googlecode.com/files/gtest-1.7.0.zip --output gtest-1.7.0.zip
        unzip gtest-1.7.0.zip
        rm gtest-1.7.0.zip
        mv gtest-1.7.0 gtest
    fi

    autoreconf -f -i -Wall,no-obsolete
    rm -rf autom4te.cache config.h.in~
)

###################################################################
# This section contains the build commands to create the native
# protobuf library for Mac OS X.  This is done first so we have
# a copy of the protoc compiler.  It will be used in all of the
# susequent iOS builds.
###################################################################

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "# x86_64 for Mac OS X"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_MACOSX_X86_64}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/x86_64-mac "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -arch x86_64" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch x86_64" "LDFLAGS=${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make check
        make install
    )
fi

PROTOC=${PREFIX}/platform/x86_64-mac/bin/protoc

###################################################################
# This section contains the build commands for each of the 
# architectures that will be included in the universal binaries.
###################################################################

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###########################"
echo "# i386 for iPhone Simulator"
echo "###########################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_I386_IOSSIM}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --build=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --host=i386-apple-${DARWIN} --with-protoc=${PROTOC} --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/i386-sim "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} -arch i386 -isysroot ${IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT}" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch i386 -isysroot ${IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT}" LDFLAGS="-arch i386 -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} ${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make install
    )
fi

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "#############################"
echo "# x86_64 for iPhone Simulator"
echo "#############################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_X86_64_IOSSIM}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --build=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --host=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --with-protoc=${PROTOC} --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/x86_64-sim "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} -arch x86_64 -isysroot ${IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT}" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch x86_64 -isysroot ${IPHONESIMULATOR_SYSROOT}" LDFLAGS="-arch x86_64 -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} ${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make install
    )
fi

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "##################"
echo "# armv7 for iPhone"
echo "##################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_IOS_ARMV7}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --build=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --host=armv7-apple-${DARWIN} --with-protoc=${PROTOC} --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/armv7-ios "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} -arch armv7 -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch armv7 -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" LDFLAGS="-arch armv7 -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} ${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make install
    )
fi

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################"
echo "# armv7s for iPhone"
echo "###################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_IOS_ARMV7S}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --build=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --host=armv7s-apple-${DARWIN} --with-protoc=${PROTOC} --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/armv7s-ios "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} -arch armv7s -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch armv7s -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" LDFLAGS="-arch armv7s -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} ${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make install
    )
fi

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "##################"
echo "# arm64 for iPhone"
echo "##################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

if [ "${BUILD_IOS_ARM64}" == "YES" ]
then
    (
        cd ${PROTOBUF_SRC_DIR}
        make distclean
        ./configure --build=x86_64-apple-${DARWIN} --host=arm --with-protoc=${PROTOC} --disable-shared --prefix=${PREFIX} --exec-prefix=${PREFIX}/platform/arm64-ios "CC=${CC}" "CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} -arch arm64 -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" "CXX=${CXX}" "CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS} -arch arm64 -isysroot ${IPHONEOS_SYSROOT}" LDFLAGS="-arch arm64 -miphoneos-version-min=${MIN_SDK_VERSION} ${LDFLAGS}" "LIBS=${LIBS}"
        make
        make install
    )
fi

echo "$(tput setaf 2)"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "# Create Universal Libraries and Finalize the packaging"
echo "###################################################################"
echo "$(tput sgr0)"

(
    cd ${PREFIX}/platform
    mkdir universal
    lipo x86_64-sim/lib/libprotobuf.a i386-sim/lib/libprotobuf.a arm64-ios/lib/libprotobuf.a armv7s-ios/lib/libprotobuf.a armv7-ios/lib/libprotobuf.a -create -output universal/libprotobuf.a
    lipo x86_64-sim/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a i386-sim/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a arm64-ios/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a armv7s-ios/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a armv7-ios/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a -create -output universal/libprotobuf-lite.a
)

(
    cd ${PREFIX}
    mkdir bin
    mkdir lib
    cp -r platform/x86_64-mac/bin/protoc bin
    cp -r platform/x86_64-mac/lib/* lib
    cp -r platform/universal/* lib
    rm -rf platform
    lipo -info lib/libprotobuf.a
    lipo -info lib/libprotobuf-lite.a
)

if [ "${USE_GIT_MASTER}" == "YES" ]
then
    if [ -d "${PREFIX}-master" ]
    then
        rm -rf "${PREFIX}-master"
    fi
    mv "${PREFIX}" "${PREFIX}-master"
else
    if [ -d "${PREFIX}-${PROTOBUF_VERSION}" ]
    then
        rm -rf "${PREFIX}-${PROTOBUF_VERSION}"
    fi
    mv "${PREFIX}" "${PREFIX}-${PROTOBUF_VERSION}"
fi

echo Done!

The download url should be https://github.com/google/protobuf/releases/download/v2.6.1/protobuf-2.6.1.tar.gz. Miss a v before 2.6.1

Thanks, iOS working fine, can you please add configuration for Android.

build failed with Xcode 7, i386&x86. "ld: building for iOS simulator, but linking in object file built for OSX, file 'google/protobuf/compiler/main.o' for architecture x86_64"

raymondx0818 - I had the same problem. The fix is described here: http://karp.id.au/post/xcode_7_linker_rules/ basically we need to include the -miphoneos-version-min= compiler flag when building for simulator and device. I appended it to CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS around line 219.

You also need to follow the tip described here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32622284/building-c-static-libraries-using-configure-make-with-fembed-bitcode-fails and add export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="10.4" in the same place.

Thanks!
Being all OS-X and very-new to unix-style build flows I still need little more information.

1. what is "make sure you automake, libtool, and pkgconfig are ready". I don't have any of these on my Mac, neither "brew" which prefixes your commands. Should I pre-install some build system for this in advance?
2. I'm interested in building protobuf as an OS-X dynamic Framework, that will not be installed outside the application - rather will be embedded in the App. How far is your build-script from making such a thing?
3. You change the google namespace to google_public claiming otherwise it clashes with iOS itself, which uses protobuf privately. If it does - why should this clash with my code? there are no cross-includes. Also, is this also true for OS-X? We use protobuf for cross windows-Mac-Linux project, so we don't want to mess the namespaces just for one OS build.