cmake/Help/variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME.rst

CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME
-----------------

The name of the operating system for which CMake is to build.
See the :variable:`CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION` variable for the OS version.

When run in :option:`cmake -P` script mode, CMake sets
:variable:`CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME` but does not set ``CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME`` by
default, since it's not building anything.

System Name for Host Builds
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

``CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME`` is by default set to the same value as the
:variable:`CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME` variable so that the build
targets the host system.

System Name for Cross Compiling
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

``CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME`` may be set explicitly when first configuring a new build
tree in order to enable :ref:`cross compiling <Cross Compiling Toolchain>`.
In this case the :variable:`CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION` variable must also be
set explicitly.

System Names Known to CMake
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The following is a list of possible values, each associated with corresponding
operating systems or environments.

Apple Platforms
"""""""""""""""

``Darwin``
  Apple stationary operating systems (macOS, OS X, etc.)

``iOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.14

  Apple mobile phone operating system

``tvOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.14

  Apple TV operating system

``visionOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.28

  Apple mixed reality operating system

``watchOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.14

  Apple watch operating system

UNIX Platforms
""""""""""""""

``ADSP``
  Analog Devices Audio Digital Signal Processing

``AIX``
  IBM Unix operating system

``Android``
  .. versionadded:: 3.1

  Android operating system

``ARTOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.4

  Operating system for microcontrollers

``BeOS``
  Operating system for personal computers (discontinued)

``BlueGeneL``
  Blue Gene/L static environment

``BlueGeneP-dynamic``
  Blue Gene/P dynamic environment

``BlueGeneP-static``
  Blue Gene/P static environment

``BlueGeneQ-dynamic``
  .. versionadded:: 3.3

  Blue Gene/Q dynamic environment

``BlueGeneQ-static``
  .. versionadded:: 3.3

  Blue Gene/Q static environment

``BSDOS``
  BSD operating system (discontinued)

``Catamount``
  Operating system for Cray XT series

``CrayLinuxEnvironment``
  .. versionadded:: 3.5

  Cray Linux Environment

``DragonFly``
  BSD-derived operating system

``eCos``
  Real-time embedded operating system

``Emscripten``
  .. versionadded:: 4.2

  Compiler toolchain to WebAssembly.

``Euros``
  .. versionadded:: 3.4

  Real-time operating system for embedded devices

``FreeBSD``
  FreeBSD operating system

``Fuchsia``
  .. versionadded:: 3.8

  Operating system by Google based on the Zircon kernel

``Generic-ADSP``
  Generic ADSP (Audio DSP) environment

``Generic-ELF``
  .. versionadded:: 3.23

  Generic ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) environment

``Generic``
  Some platforms, e.g. bare metal embedded devices

``GHS-MULTI``
  .. versionadded:: 3.3

  Green Hills Software MULTI environment

``GNU``
  GNU/Hurd-based operating system

``Haiku``
  Unix operating system inspired by BeOS

``HP-UX``
  Hewlett Packard Unix (discontinued)

``Linux``
  All Linux-based distributions

``MirBSD``
  MirOS BSD operating system

``MP-RAS``
  MP-RAS UNIX operating system

``NetBSD``
  NetBSD operating systems

``OHOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.30

  OpenHarmony family of operating systems (e.g., HarmonyOS)

  Toolchain file can set this value when targeting OpenHarmony operating
  systems.

``OpenBSD``
  OpenBSD operating systems

``OpenVMS``
  OpenVMS operating system by HP

``OS2``
  .. versionadded:: 3.18

  OS/2 operating system

``OSF1``
  Compaq Tru64 UNIX (formerly DEC OSF/1, Digital Unix) (discontinued)

``QNX``
  Unix-like operating system by BlackBerry

``RISCos``
  RISC OS operating system

``SCO_SV``
  SCO OpenServer 5

``SerenityOS``
  .. versionadded:: 3.25

  Unix-like operating system

``SINIX``
  SINIX operating system

``SunOS``
  Oracle Solaris and all illumos operating systems

``syllable``
  Syllable operating system

``Tru64``
  Compaq Tru64 UNIX (formerly DEC OSF/1) operating system

``ULTRIX``
  Unix operating system (discontinued)

``UNIX_SV``
  SCO UnixWare (pre release 7)

``UnixWare``
  SCO UnixWare 7

``WASI``
  .. versionadded:: 3.31

  WebAssembly System Interface

``Xenix``
  SCO Xenix Unix operating system (discontinued)

Windows Platforms
"""""""""""""""""

``CYGWIN``
  Cygwin environment for Windows

  Cygwin's ``cmake`` package (``/usr/bin/cmake``) uses system name ``CYGWIN``.
  A non-cygwin CMake on Windows (e.g. ``$PROGRAMFILES/CMake/bin/cmake``)
  uses system name ``Windows`` even when it runs under a Cygwin environment.

``DOS``
  MS-DOS or compatible

``Midipix``
  .. versionadded:: 3.10

  POSIX-compatible layer for Windows

``MSYS``
  MSYS environment (MSYSTEM=MSYS)

  MSYS2's ``msys/cmake`` package (``/usr/bin/cmake``) works only under
  ``MSYSTEM=MSYS`` environments, with system name ``MSYS``.  Under other
  environments like ``MSYSTEM=MINGW64``, use another package such
  as ``mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-cmake`` (``/mingw64/bin/cmake``),
  which targets ``MSYSTEM=MINGW64`` with system name ``Windows``.

``Windows``
  Windows stationary operating systems

``WindowsCE``
  Windows Embedded Compact

``WindowsKernelModeDriver``
  .. versionadded:: 4.1

  Windows Kernel-Mode Driver

  When building drivers for Kernel-Mode Driver Framework on Windows, toolchain
  file can set this value. See also the :variable:`CMAKE_WINDOWS_KMDF_VERSION`
  variable.

``WindowsPhone``
  .. versionadded:: 3.1

  Windows mobile phone operating system

``WindowsStore``
  .. versionadded:: 3.1

  Universal Windows Platform applications

Removed Platforms
"""""""""""""""""

The following platforms were once supported by CMake and got removed either due
to platform's EOL, or other incompatibilities:

``kFreeBSD``
  .. versionchanged:: 4.1
    Removed from CMake.

  FreeBSD kernel with a GNU userland