[BUG] Compiling using CMake and Visual Studio on Windows cannot find C compiler

[nishbo]

Description

I have installed Visual Studio 2022 (17), Android Studio, separate cmake (not from VS), NDK, and I am trying to compile a simple project as well as some of my code. When I run cmake in cmd with
-DCMAKE_ANDROID_NDK=C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087, it runs fine, albeit showing a warning from cmake that it can only make libraries using VisualStudio's Android:

cmake ^
    -A ARM  ^
    -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Android  ^
    -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=31  ^
    -DCMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI=arm64-v8a   ^
    -DCMAKE_ANDROID_NDK=C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087  ..

When I try to run using toolchain:

cmake  ^
    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087/build/cmake/android.toolchain.cmake ^
    -DANDROID_ABI=arm64-v8a ^
    -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Android  ^
    -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=31  ..

It breaks with the following error:

-- Building for: Visual Studio 17 2022
CMake Deprecation Warning at CMakeLists.txt:1 (cmake_minimum_required):
  Compatibility with CMake < 3.5 will be removed from a future version of
  CMake.

  Update the VERSION argument <min> value or use a ...<max> suffix to tell
  CMake that the project does not need compatibility with older versions.


-- The C compiler identification is unknown
-- The CXX compiler identification is unknown
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - failed
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe - broken
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.29/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:67 (message):
  The C compiler

    "C:/programs/Android/sdk/ndk/28.0.12674087/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:

    Change Dir: 'C:/Repositories/Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample/bin/CMakeFiles/CMakeScratch/TryCompile-2s3wlz'

    Run Build Command(s): "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/MSBuild/Current/Bin/amd64/MSBuild.exe" cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=x64 /p:VisualStudioVersion=17.0 /v:n
    MSBuild version 17.12.12+1cce77968 for .NET Framework
    Build started 2024-12-16 17:05:55.

    Project "C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets).
    SetBuildDefaultEnvironmentVariables:
      ANDROID_HOME=C:\programs\Android\sdk
      ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=C:\programs\Android\sdk
      ANT_HOME=
      JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Android\jdk\jdk-8.0.302.8-hotspot\jdk8u302-b08
      NDK_ROOT=C:\programs\Android\sdk\ndk\28.0.12674087
    PrepareForBuild:
      Creating directory "cmTC_a12ff.dir\Debug\".
      Creating directory "C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\Debug\".
      Creating directory "cmTC_a12ff.dir\Debug\cmTC_a12ff.tlog\".
    InitializeBuildStatus:
      Creating "cmTC_a12ff.dir\Debug\cmTC_a12ff.tlog\unsuccessfulbuild" because "AlwaysCreate" was specified.
      Touching "cmTC_a12ff.dir\Debug\cmTC_a12ff.tlog\unsuccessfulbuild".
    ClCompile:
      C:\programs\Android\sdk\ndk\28.0.12674087\toolchains\llvm\prebuilt\windows-x86_64\bin\clang.exe -c -fdiagnostics-format=msvc --gcc-toolchain="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\x86_64-4.9\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64" -target "x86_64-none-linux-android1" --sysroot="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot" -isystem "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\include\\x86_64-linux-android" -isystem "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\lib64\\clang\\19.0.0\\include" -isystem C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\sources\\android\\support\\include -isystem "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\include" -I "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\sources\\cxx-stl\\llvm-libc++\\include" -I "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\sources\\cxx-stl\\llvm-libc++abi\\include" -I "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\include" -I "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\include\\x86_64-linux-android" -I C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\sources\\android\\support\\include -I "C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\lib64\\clang\\19.0.0\\include" -gline-tables-only -o "cmTC_a12ff.dir\\Debug\\testCCompiler.o" -Wall -O3 -fno-strict-aliasing -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-exceptions -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fstack-protector -fpic -fno-short-enums -D __ANDROID_MIN_SDK_VERSION__=1 -D NDEBUG -D ANDROID -D _FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D "CMAKE_INTDIR=\"Debug\"" -x c  -g -fdata-sections -ffunction-sections -funwind-tables -fstack-protector-strong -no-canonical-prefixes -Wformat -Werror=format-security -fno-limit-debug-info "C:\\Repositories\\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\\bin\\CMakeFiles\\CMakeScratch\\TryCompile-2s3wlz\\testCCompiler.c"
      testCCompiler.c
    Link:
      C:\programs\Android\sdk\ndk\28.0.12674087\toolchains\llvm\prebuilt\windows-x86_64\bin\clang.exe -fdiagnostics-format=msvc -o"cmTC_a12ff.dir\\Debug\\cmTC_a12ff." -Wl,-soname="cmTC_a12ff." -Wl,-rpath-link="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\lib\\x86_64-linux-android" -Wl,-rpath-link="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\lib\\x86_64-linux-android\\1" -Wl,-L"C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\lib\\x86_64-linux-android" -Wl,-L"C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot\\usr\\lib\\x86_64-linux-android\\1" -Wl,-L"C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\x86_64-4.9\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\lib\\gcc\\x86_64-linux-android\\4.9.x" -Wl,-L"C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\sources\\cxx-stl\\llvm-libc++\\libs\\x86_64" -Wl,--no-undefined --gcc-toolchain="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\x86_64-4.9\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64" -target "x86_64-none-linux-android1" --sysroot="C:\\programs\\Android\\sdk\\ndk\\28.0.12674087\\toolchains\\llvm\\prebuilt\\windows-x86_64\\sysroot" -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,noexecstack -shared  -static-libstdc++ -Wl,--build-id=sha1 -Wl,--no-undefined-version -Wl,--fatal-warnings -Wl,--no-undefined -Qunused-arguments cmTC_a12ff.dir\\Debug\\testCCompiler.o "-latomic" "-lm" -lc++_static -lc++abi -llog -landroid
      ld.lld: error: cannot open crtbegin_so.o: No such file or directory
      ld.lld: error: unable to find library -llog
      ld.lld: error: unable to find library -landroid
      ld.lld: error: cannot open crtend_so.o: No such file or directory
      clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v170\Application Type\Android\3.0\Android.Common.targets(125,5): error MSB6006: "clang.exe" exited with code 1. [C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj]
    Done Building Project "C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED.

    Build FAILED.

    "C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj" (default target) (1) ->
    (Link target) ->
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v170\Application Type\Android\3.0\Android.Common.targets(125,5): error MSB6006: "clang.exe" exited with code 1. [C:\Repositories\Android-CMake-VisualStudio-Sample\bin\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-2s3wlz\cmTC_a12ff.vcxproj]

        0 Warning(s)
        1 Error(s)

    Time Elapsed 00:00:00.30

cl and clang are definitely available, so I am confused as to why it cannot find them. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I am using a supported NDK

• I have checked and the NDK I'm using is currently supported

Affected versions

r28

[DanAlbert]

-- Building for: Visual Studio 17 2022

There's something very strange going on with your build. It appears to be trying to build for Windows, not for Android.

-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=31

I can't remember if this is still that case, but in the past, this would cause problems with the toolchain file. The correct spelling is -DANDROID_PLATFORM=android-31.

-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Android

This is also at best unnecessary. We don't test the behavior of every unexpected input, so I can't say if this would cause problems or not. I doubt it though.

We have tests that verify the toolchain's behavior on Windows and they're working fine (although they're using a somewhat old CMake, I think). My best guess is that Visual Studio has set something in your environment that's interfering with the NDK. Are you running in the visual studio command prompt, or the normal one?

[DanAlbert]

Although maybe instead of trying to solve this problem, I should just suggest https://developer.android.com/games/agde, which is the recommended way to use VS for Android. Though unless you're working in a cross-platform project that's already using VS for other platforms, really the path of least resistance to build for Android is Android Studio.