node-gyp
is a cross-platform command-line tool written in Node.js for compiling
native addon modules for Node.js. It bundles the gyp
project used by the Chromium team and takes away the pain of dealing with the
various differences in build platforms. It is the replacement to the node-waf
program which is removed for node v0.8
. If you have a native addon for node that
still has a wscript
file, then you should definitely add a binding.gyp
file
to support the latest versions of node.
Multiple target versions of node are supported (i.e. 0.8
, 0.9
, 0.10
, ..., 1.0
,
etc.), regardless of what version of node is actually installed on your system
(node-gyp
downloads the necessary development files for the target version).
- Easy to use, consistent interface
- Same commands to build your module on every platform
- Supports multiple target versions of Node
You can install with npm
:
$ npm install -g node-gyp
You will also need to install:
- On Unix:
python
(v2.7
recommended,v3.x.x
is not supported)make
- A proper C/C++ compiler toolchain, like GCC
- On Mac OS X:
python
(v2.7
recommended,v3.x.x
is not supported) (already installed on Mac OS X)- Xcode
- You also need to install the
Command Line Tools
via Xcode. You can find this under the menuXcode -> Preferences -> Downloads
- This step will install
gcc
and the related toolchain containingmake
- You also need to install the
- On Windows:
- Python (
v2.7.3
recommended,v3.x.x
is not supported)- Make sure that you have a PYTHON environment variable, and it is set to drive:\path\to\python.exe not to a folder
- Windows XP/Vista/7:
- Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2013 (Express version works well)
- If the install fails, try uninstalling any C++ 2010 x64&x86 Redistributable that you have installed first
- If you get errors that the 64-bit compilers are not installed you may also need the compiler update for the Windows SDK 7.1
- Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2013 (Express version works well)
- Windows 7/8:
- Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2013 for Windows Desktop (Express version works well)
- All Windows Versions
- For 64-bit builds of node and native modules you will also need the Windows 7 64-bit SDK
- You may need to run one of the following commands if your build complains about WindowsSDKDir not being set, and you are sure you have already installed the SDK:
- Python (
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\bin\Setenv.cmd" /Release /x86
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\bin\Setenv.cmd" /Release /x64
If you have multiple Python versions installed, you can identify which Python
version node-gyp
uses by setting the '--python' variable:
$ node-gyp --python /path/to/python2.7
If node-gyp
is called by way of npm
and you have multiple versions of
Python installed, then you can set npm
's 'python' config key to the appropriate
value:
$ npm config set python /path/to/executable/python2.7
Note that OS X is just a flavour of Unix and so needs python
, make
, and C/C++.
An easy way to obtain these is to install XCode from Apple,
and then use it to install the command line tools (under Preferences -> Downloads).
To compile your native addon, first go to its root directory:
$ cd my_node_addon
The next step is to generate the appropriate project build files for the current
platform. Use configure
for that:
$ node-gyp configure
Note: The configure
step looks for the binding.gyp
file in the current
directory to process. See below for instructions on creating the binding.gyp
file.
Now you will have either a Makefile
(on Unix platforms) or a vcxproj
file
(on Windows) in the build/
directory. Next invoke the build
command:
$ node-gyp build
Now you have your compiled .node
bindings file! The compiled bindings end up
in build/Debug/
or build/Release/
, depending on the build mode. At this point
you can require the .node
file with Node and run your tests!
Note: To create a Debug build of the bindings file, pass the --debug
(or
-d
) switch when running either the configure
, build
or rebuild
command.
Previously when node had node-waf
you had to write a wscript
file. The
replacement for that is the binding.gyp
file, which describes the configuration
to build your module in a JSON-like format. This file gets placed in the root of
your package, alongside the package.json
file.
A barebones gyp
file appropriate for building a node addon looks like:
{
"targets": [
{
"target_name": "binding",
"sources": [ "src/binding.cc" ]
}
]
}
Some additional resources for addons and writing gyp
files:
- "Going Native" a nodeschool.io tutorial
- "Hello World" node addon example
- gyp user documentation
- gyp input format reference
- "binding.gyp" files out in the wild wiki page
node-gyp
responds to the following commands:
Command | Description |
---|---|
build |
Invokes make /msbuild.exe and builds the native addon |
clean |
Removes the build directory if it exists |
configure |
Generates project build files for the current platform |
rebuild |
Runs clean , configure and build all in a row |
install |
Installs node development header files for the given version |
list |
Lists the currently installed node development file versions |
remove |
Removes the node development header files for the given version |
(The MIT License)
Copyright (c) 2012 Nathan Rajlich <nathan@tootallnate.net>
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.