How do I install the cmake files into /usr/share/cmake?

[hamishmb]

Hi there,

Recently I've been working on a Cygwin package for pybind11, and I have found that pip automatically installs the cmake files inti .../site-packages/pybind11/share/cmake instead of /usr/cmake.

Is there a way I can change this behaviour, or do I just need to manually copy those files?

Hamish

[Azaucifer]

You don't need to manually copy the files from site-packages.

pybind11's Python package intentionally keeps its CMake config under the Python environment. If you want a global installation, pybind11 provides the global extra:

pip install "pybind11[global]"

This installs the headers and CMake files into the environment's standard locations (for example, /usr/local/include/pybind11 and /usr/local/share/cmake/pybind11).

For a Cygwin package specifically targeting /usr/share/cmake, though, I would handle the relocation in the Cygwin packaging/install step rather than changing pip's normal site-packages layout. The CMake files themselves are intended to be found with:

find_package(pybind11 CONFIG REQUIRED)

and pybind11 also supports explicitly pointing CMake at the installed config with pybind11_DIR or CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH.

So I wouldn't recommend manually copying individual files; either use the [global] install for a normal global Python environment, or have the Cygwin package install stage place the package's CMake files under /usr/share/cmake/pybind11.

See also the current pybind11 installation and CMake documentation:
https://pybind11.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installing.html
https://pybind11.readthedocs.io/en/stable/cmake/