How to install TBB from source on Linux and make it work

Question

I would like to know how to install TBB from source and make it work on a Linux system. I have had some problems when it comes using it, problems that don't appear if I install TBB via the package manager.

In the TBB webpage, there are some guidelines on how about to do this, like setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH and CPATH variables, or sourcing the tbbvars.sh file. Even if I do that, when I try to compile an example g++ says that tbb is not found.

So my question is, is there an easy way to setup everything (compile the source code, what variables should I set...) in order to use TBB?

Thanks.

NOTE: The library version number when this question was asked was 2 (if I recall correctly). I have personally tested the solution up to version 4.1, but I think it should work too for current version 4.2 (update 3) since the building method remains the same.

Varini

What did you try already? Is there any documentation for TBB? And most important: What is TBB? Can you be more specific? – Zusman

@Zusman You can move your mouse over the tag and find out what TBB is – Correct

./configure; make; sudo make install – Mccusker

Worth noting that in Ubuntu 19.10, it all works after one sudo apt install: stackoverflow.com/questions/51031060/… – Whydah

Answer 1

I have come with the solution. I'll post it here so it will help others with this topic.

1. Download the latest stable source code and uncompress it, i.e in ~/tbbsrc

2. Inside, type make. It should start compiling the tbb library and the memory allocators.

3. The headers are in ~/tbbsrc/include

4. Inside ~/tbbsrc/build will be two new folders, one for the release version and the other for the debug version. Those folders are named like architecture_ldVersion_g++Version_kernelVersion.

5. I recommend setting some variables, for example in your ~/.bashrc file, like:

TBB_INSTALL_DIR = $HOME/tbbsrc
TBB_INCLUDE = $TBB_INSTALL_DIR/include
TBB_LIBRARY_RELEASE = $TBB_INSTALL_DIR/build/RELEASE_FOLDER
TBB_LIBRARY_DEBUG = $TBB_INSTALL_DIR/build/DEBUG_FOLDER

6. Let's try a simple example:

// main.cpp
#include "tbb/task_scheduler_init.h"

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
    // tbb::task_scheduler_init init(tbb::task_scheduler_init::automatic);
    // implicit tbb::task_sheduler_init::automatic
    tbb::task_scheduler_init init;
    return 0;
}

7. To compile, for example, with the release version:

g++ main.cpp -I$TBB_INCLUDE -Wl,-rpath,$TBB_LIBRARY_RELEASE -L$TBB_LIBRARY_RELEASE -ltbb

Note: with -Wl,-rpath,$TBB_LIBRARY_RELEASE, we are telling the dynamic linker where to find libtbb.so

8. And that should work fine!

Best regards!

Installation for Apple clang 5.1: [thanks to rwols for the info]

Instead of typing make, type make compiler=clang or make compiler=clang stdlib=libc++

Varini

Yeah. Thats why you have to pass it with -Wl, so the linker "recognize it". This was tested both in Ubuntu and Windows with g++ 4.4 and g++ 4.7. I haven't tested it with newer versions. – Varini

but isn't -W1 an option just providing info for warning? I did not write that option so I am curious... :) – Eager

Or... wait it is not W1 but Wl... l as "linker"!!! Yeah! Understood!!! Sorry and thank you very much – Eager

lol. It's tricky eh? I also have problems telling them apart :D – Varini

When you're on Apple clang version 5.1, instead of typing make, type make compiler=clang or make compiler=clang stdlib=libc++. – Teamster

@Teamster Thanks for the info. I'll update the answer accordingly. – Varini

It's strange that make install isn't supported. – Insinuation

Answer 2

https://github.com/wjakob/tbb seems to be the way to go.

git clone https://github.com/wjakob/tbb.git
cd tbb/build
cmake ..
make -j
sudo make install

Strom

Thanks! Much easier than Intel's git distribution, which has no install. I suggest also running "make test" though, just in case. – Vulgarism

This installed, but my runtime then expects to find libtbb.so.2 which is missing. – Tangency

I fixed the missing file by adding the following line to /etc/ld.so.conf: /opt/intel/openvino_2021.1.110/deployment_tools/inference_engine/external/tbb/lib/ and then calling ldconfig. – Tangency