How to compile boost 1.68.0 for Android using NDK r18b using Windows

Issue

I had to build a version of boost for Android using NDK r18b, I had a hardtime achieving this so I post Question+Answer here as it may help other persons.

Firstly, I tried https://github.com/moritz-wundke/Boost-for-Android, but this was unsuccessful, see How to build boost 1.69.0 for Android with NDK r18b using moritz-wundke/Boost-for-Android?.

Secondly, I tried https://github.com/dec1/Boost-for-Android, but this was unsuccessful too, see How to build boost 1.69.0 for Android with NDK r18b using dec1/Boost-for-Android?.

What are the steps to follow to achieve compilation of boost?

Solution

Actually, those scripts were designed for Linux, and they hardly work under Windows. Then, I started from scratch and could finally find the good config under Windows to achieve this. I basically checked how other libraries are compiled (I use QtCreator to deploy on Android, so the compilation window reported me how clang++ has to be invoked, so I write a user-config.jam based on that.

Here are the steps to follow to compile boost 1.68.0 for Android armeabiv7 and x86 using NDK r18b:

• Download boost 1.68.0 from boost.org: https://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_68_0.html
• Apply moritz-wundke's patch, else it won't compile (thanks by the way). Take it from here: https://github.com/moritz-wundke/Boost-for-Android/tree/master/patches
• Run bootstrap.bat (you'll need it to find a compiler, I have VS 2015 installed so it works just fine)

Then set some environment variables:

set ANDROIDNDKROOT=C:\Android\android-ndk-r18b (change this accordingly)
set NDKVER=r18b
set CLANGPATH=%ANDROIDNDKROOT%\toolchains\llvm\prebuilt\windows-x86_64\bin

Copy user-config.jam to boost folder tools/build/src:

import os ;
local AndroidNDKRoot = [ os.environ ANDROIDNDKROOT ] ;
local AndroidBinariesPath = [ os.environ CLANGPATH ] ;

using clang : armeabiv7a
:
$(AndroidBinariesPath)/clang++
:
<compileflags>-fexceptions
<compileflags>-frtti
<compileflags>-mthumb
<compileflags>-ffunction-sections
<compileflags>-funwind-tables
<compileflags>-fstack-protector-strong
<compileflags>-Wno-invalid-command-line-argument
<compileflags>-Wno-unused-command-line-argument
<compileflags>-no-canonical-prefixes
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/cxx-stl/llvm-libc++/include
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/cxx-stl/llvm-libc++abi/include
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/android/support/include
<compileflags>-DANDROID
<compileflags>-Wa,--noexecstack
<compileflags>-Wformat
<compileflags>-Werror=format-security
<compileflags>-DNDEBUG
<compileflags>-D_REENTRANT
<compileflags>-O2
<compileflags>-gcc-toolchain
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64
<compileflags>-target
<compileflags>armv7-linux-androideabi
<compileflags>-march=armv7-a
<compileflags>-mfloat-abi=softfp
<compileflags>-mfpu=vfp
<compileflags>-fno-builtin-memmove
<compileflags>-fpic
<compileflags>-DHAVE_CONFIG_H
<compileflags>-fno-integrated-as
<compileflags>--sysroot
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sysroot
<compileflags>-isystem
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sysroot/usr/include/arm-linux-androideabi
<compileflags>-D__ANDROID_API__=18
<archiver>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/arm-linux-androideabi/bin/ar
<ranlib>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/arm-linux-androideabi/bin/ranlib

;

# --------------------------------------------------------------------

using clang : x86
:
$(AndroidBinariesPath)/clang++
:
<compileflags>-fexceptions
<compileflags>-frtti
<compileflags>-mthumb
<compileflags>-ffunction-sections
<compileflags>-funwind-tables
<compileflags>-fstack-protector-strong
<compileflags>-Wno-invalid-command-line-argument
<compileflags>-Wno-unused-command-line-argument
<compileflags>-no-canonical-prefixes
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/cxx-stl/llvm-libc++/include
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/cxx-stl/llvm-libc++abi/include
<compileflags>-I$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sources/android/support/include
<compileflags>-DANDROID
<compileflags>-Wa,--noexecstack
<compileflags>-Wformat
<compileflags>-Werror=format-security
<compileflags>-DNDEBUG
<compileflags>-D_REENTRANT
<compileflags>-O2
<compileflags>-gcc-toolchain
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/x86-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64
<compileflags>-target
<compileflags>i686-linux-android
<compileflags>-march=i686
<compileflags>-mfloat-abi=softfp
<compileflags>-mfpu=vfp
<compileflags>-fno-builtin-memmove
<compileflags>-fPIC
<compileflags>-mstackrealign
<compileflags>--sysroot
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sysroot
<compileflags>-isystem
<compileflags>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/sysroot/usr/include/i686-linux-android
<compileflags>-D__ANDROID_API__=18
<archiver>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/x86-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/i686-linux-android/bin/ar
<ranlib>$(AndroidNDKRoot)/toolchains/x86-4.9/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/i686-linux-android/bin/ranlib
;

• Then, for armeabiv7-a:

  • Run bjam -q --without-math --without-context --without-coroutine --without-fiber --without-python architecture=arm --ignore-site-config -j4 target-os=android toolset=clang-armeabiv7a link=static threading=multi --layout=tagged --build-dir=build/arm/%NDKVER% --stagedir=stage_arm_%NDKVER% stage

• Then, for x86:

  • Run bjam -q --without-math --without-context --without-coroutine --without-fiber --without-python architecture=arm --ignore-site-config -j4 target-os=android toolset=clang-armeabiv7a link=static threading=multi --layout=tagged --build-dir=build/arm/%NDKVER% --stagedir=stage_arm_%NDKVER% stage

Hopefully, the same steps can be followed to compile 1.69.0 (not tested)

Answered By - jpo38