Absolutely, I’ve done this countless times to skip the agonizing full LLVM build—here’s a step-by-step guide tailored exactly to your needs:

Key CMake Configuration #

The secret to building only what you need lies in LLVM’s CMake options that let you cherry-pick components and disable unnecessary bloat. Here’s the exact workflow to follow:

First, create a separate build directory (always keep builds isolated from source code to avoid clutter):

mkdir llvm-build && cd llvm-build

Then run the CMake configure command (adjust the ../llvm path to match your LLVM source directory location):

cmake -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD=Native \
  -DLLVM_BUILD_COMPONENTS="Analysis;Core;ExecutionEngine;InstCombine;Object;RuntimeDyld;ScalarOpts;Support;MC;MCDisassembler;MCJIT" \
  -DLLVM_BUILD_TOOLS=OFF \
  -DLLVM_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF \
  -DLLVM_BUILD_TESTS=OFF \
  -DLLVM_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=OFF \
  ../llvm

Breakdown of Each Option #

• -G Ninja: Uses the Ninja build system instead of Make—it’s way faster for large projects like LLVM, so this is a must-have for cutting build time.
• -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release: Builds optimized, production-ready binaries (reduces both build time and output size compared to Debug mode).
• -DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD=Native: Only builds support for your current machine’s architecture (no wasted time on ARM, MIPS, or other architectures you don’t need).
• -DLLVM_BUILD_COMPONENTS: This is where you list your target components. I mapped your requested names to LLVM’s official identifiers (e.g., mc becomes MC, mcdisassembler becomes MCDisassembler).
• The final four OFF flags: Disable tools, examples, tests, and benchmarks—all non-essential extras that add hours to full builds.

Start the Build #

Once configured, kick off the build with:

ninja

If you prefer using Make instead of Ninja, replace -G Ninja with your default generator and run make -j$(nproc) to use all your CPU cores for faster compiling.

Extra Tips #

• If you want to install the built libraries/headers to a specific location, add -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/your/preferred/path to the CMake command, then run ninja install after the build finishes.
• LLVM’s CMake automatically handles hidden dependencies between components, so you don’t have to manually track or add required libraries.
• If you ever need to adjust your component list, just re-run the CMake command with the updated LLVM_BUILD_COMPONENTS value and rebuild.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者ClubberLang