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Using Registries

The latest version of this documentation is available on GitHub.

There are two parts to using registries; this documents the use side of the relationship. In order to learn more about creating registries for others to use, please read this documentation.

Table of Contents

vcpkg-configuration.json

From a high level perspective, everything that a project needs to define about registries is contained in the vcpkg configuration file. In classic mode, the configuration file lies in the vcpkg root; for manifest mode, the file must exist next to the project's vcpkg.json file. This file is named vcpkg-configuration.json, and it's a simple top-level object file.

Registry Objects

Registries are defined in JSON as objects. They must contain at least the "kind" and "baseline" fields, and additionally the different kinds of registry will have their own way of defining where the registry can be found:

  • git registries require the "repository" field
  • filesystem registries require the "path" field
  • built-in registries do not require a field, since there is only one built-in registry.

Registry Objects: "kind"

The "kind" field must be a string:

  • For git registries: "git"
  • For filesystem registries: "filesystem"
  • For the builtin registry: "builtin"

Registry Objects: "baseline"

The "baseline" field must be a string. It defines a minimum version for all packages coming from this registry configuration.

For Git Registries and for the Builtin Registry, it should be a 40-character git commit sha in the registry's repository that contains a versions/baseline.json.

For Filesystem Registries, it can be any valid baseline string that the registry defines.

Registry Objects: "repository"

This should be a string, of any repository format that git understands:

  • "https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg"
  • "git@github.com:microsoft/vcpkg"
  • "/dev/vcpkg-registry"

Registry Objects: "path"

This should be a path; it can be either absolute or relative; relative paths will be based at the directory the vcpkg-configuration.json lives in.

Registry Objects: "packages"

With exception of the default registry and artifacts registries. All registries must declare the packages they provide using the "packages" array.

Each entry in the array must be:

  • a package name, or
  • a package prefix.

Package names may contain only lowercase letters, digits, and -. Package names cannot start or end with -.

Package prefixes must follow these rules:

  • Use the wildcard character: *
    • * matches zero or more port name characters (lowercase letters, digits, and -).
  • Contain only one wildcard (*)
  • The wildcard (*) must be the last character in the pattern.
  • All characters before the wildcard * must be valid port name characters.

Examples of valid patterns:

  • *: Matches all port names
  • b*: Matches ports that start with the letter b
  • boost-*: Matches ports that start with the prefix boost-

Examples of invalid patterns:

  • *a (* must be the last character in the prefix)
  • a** (only one * is allowed)
  • a+ (+ is not a valid wildcard)
  • a? (? is not a valid wildcard)

See package name resolution for more details.

Configuration: "default-registry"

The default registry is used as a fallback when resolving package names, if no other registry matches the package name, the default registry will be selected. Users can set the default registry to null, in which case, if no other registry matches a package name the install will fail.

The default registry is either a registry object without a "packages" array (since it will automatically match any non-resolved package names) or null.

If vcpkg-configuration.json does not declare a "default-registry", vcpkg will automatically set the default registry to the "builtin-registry".

The "builtin-registry" is the local instance of https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg. This is necessary so that a manifest with no explicit registry configuration can resolve port names in the official vcpkg catalog. The "builtin-baseline" property in vcpkg.json can be used to set the baseline for the "builtin-registry".

Configuration: "registries"

The "registries" field is used to define additional port and/or artifact registries.

Port registries are also required to declare a list of packages they provide using the "packages" array.

Using additional port registries also requires that a baseline is provided for the default registry or that the default registry is set to null. If using the "builtin-registry" you can set the baseline using the "builtin-baseline" field in vcpkg.json.

Configuration: "overlay-ports"

An array of port overlay paths.

Each path in the array must point to etiher:

  • a particular port directory (a directory containing vcpkg.json and portfile.cmake), or
  • a directory containing port directories. Relative paths are resolved relative to the vcpkg-configuration.json file. Absolute paths can be used but are discouraged.

Configuration: "overlay-triplets"

An array of triplet overlay paths.

Each path in the array must point to a directory of triplet files (see triplets documentation). Relative paths are resolved relative to the vcpkg-configuration.json file. Absolute paths can be used but are discouraged.

Example Configuration File

Let's assume that you have mirrored https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg at https://git.example.com/vcpkg: this will be your default registry. Additionally, you want to use North Wind Trader's registry for their beison and beicode libraries, as well as configure overlay ports and overlay triplets from your custom directories. The following vcpkg-configuration.json will work:

{
  "default-registry": {
    "kind": "git",
    "repository": "https://internal/mirror/of/github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg",
    "baseline": "eefee7408133f3a0fef711ef9c6a3677b7e06fd7"
  },
  "registries": [
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/northwindtraders/vcpkg-registry",
      "baseline": "dacf4de488094a384ca2c202b923ccc097956e0c",
      "packages": [ "beicode", "beison" ]
    }
  ],
  "overlay-ports": [ "./team-ports",
                     "c:/project/my-ports/fmt",
                     "./custom-ports"
   ],
  "overlay-triplets": [ "./my-triplets" ]
}

Package Name Resolution

Package name resolution in vcpkg is designed to be predictable and easy to understand. Given a vcpkg-configuration.json file, it should be simple to tell which registry will provide any given port name.

When resolving a port name to a registry, we prioritize as follows:

  1. Exact match
  2. Pattern match
    • Longer prefixes have higher priority, e.g.: when resolving boost, boost* > b* > *
  3. Default registry
  4. If the default registry has been set to null, emit an error

Package names have higher priority than prefixes even if they both match the same amount of characters. For example, when resolving boost: boost > boost*.

If there is a tie in priority, vcpkg will use the first registry that declares the package name or prefix. This makes the order in which registries are declared in the "registries" array important.

Example #1: Package name resolution

vcpkg-configuration.json

{
  "registries": [
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/northwindtraders/vcpkg-registry",
      "baseline": "dacf4de488094a384ca2c202b923ccc097956e0c",
      "packages": ["bei*"]
    },
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/vicroms/vcpkg-registry",
      "baseline": "dacf4de488094a384ca2c202b923ccc097956e0c",
      "packages": ["beicode", "bei*"]
    }
  ]
}

vcpkg.json

{
  "dependencies": [ 
    "beicode", 
    "beison",
    "fmt"
  ],
  "builtin-baseline": "7e7c62d863b1bf599c1d104b76cd8b74475844d4"
}

Given this configuration, each package name resolves to:

  • beicode: from registry https://github.com/vicroms/vcpkg-registry (exact match on beicode)
  • beison: from registry https://github.com/northwindtraders/vcpkg-registry (pattern match on beison and declared first in "registries" array)
  • fmt: from default registry (no matches)

Because multiple registries declare bei*, vcpkg will also emit the following warning:

Found the following problems in configuration (path/to/vcpkg-configuration.json):
$ (a configuration object): warning: Package "bei*" is duplicated.
    First declared in:
        location: $.registries[0].packages[0]
        registry: https://github.com/northwindtraders/vcpkg-registry

    The following redeclarations will be ignored:
        location: $.registries[1].packages[1]
        registry: https://github.com/vicroms/vcpkg-registry

Example #2: Overriding the default registry

There are two ways for a user to override the default registry.

One way is to use the "default-registry" object:

{
  "default-registry": {
    "kind": "git",
    "repository": "https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg",
    "baseline": "e79c0d2b5d72eb3063cf32a1f7de1a9cf19930f3"
  }
}

The other way is to set the "default-registry" object to null and use the "*" pattern in the first registry of the "registries" array.

{
  "default-registry": null,
  "registries": [
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg",
      "baseline": "e79c0d2b5d72eb3063cf32a1f7de1a9cf19930f3",
      "packages": ["*"]
    }
  ]
}

An advantage of the second form is that you can add more entries to the packages array, while the "default-registry" object doesn't allow you to define a packages array at all. This difference becomes important in cases where you need to ensure that a package comes from the default registry, like in the example below.

Example #3: Ensuring correct name resolution

Let's consider a registry that provides the Qt Framework libraries.

vcpkg-configuration.json

{
  "default-registry": {
    "kind": "git",
    "repository": "https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg",
    "baseline": "7e7c62d863b1bf599c1d104b76cd8b74475844d4"
  },
  "registries": [
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/custom-qt/custom-qt-registry",
      "baseline": "adfc4de488094a384ca2c202b923ccc097956e0c",
      "packages": ["qt*"]
    }
  ]
}

And the following project dependencies:

vcpkg.json

{
  "dependencies": [ 
    "qt5", 
    "qt-advanced-docking-system", 
    "qtkeychain" 
  ]
}

The "qt*" pattern matches all port names in vcpkg.json. But there is a problem! The ports qt-advanced-docking-system and qtkeychain are not part of the official Qt Framework libraries, and since vcpkg won't be able to find the ports in the custom registry the installation will fail.

The obvious solution is to make sure that these packages come from the default registry instead, we can accomplish that by changing the way we declare the default registry and adding qt-advanced-docking-system and qtkeychain to its "packages" array:

vcpkg-configuration.json

{
  "default-registry": null,
  "registries": [
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg",
      "baseline": "e79c0d2b5d72eb3063cf32a1f7de1a9cf19930f3",
      "packages": ["*", "qt-advanced-docking-system", "qtkeychain"]
    },
    {
      "kind": "git",
      "repository": "https://github.com/custom-qt/custom-qt-registry",
      "baseline": "adfc4de488094a384ca2c202b923ccc097956e0c",
      "packages": ["qt*"]
    }
  ]
}

Because exact matches are preferred over pattern matches, this configuration will make qt-advanced-docking-system and qtkeychain resolve to the default registry.

Overlays Resolution

Overlay ports and triplets are evaluated in this order:

  1. Overlays from the command line
  2. Overlays from vcpkg-configuration.json
  3. Overlays from the VCPKG_OVERLAY_[PORTS|TRIPLETS] environment variable.

Additionaly, each method has its own evaluation order:

  • Overlays from the command line are evaluated from left-to-right in the order each argument is passed, with each --overlay-[ports|triplets] argument adding a new overlay location.
  • Overlays from vcpkg-configuration.json are evaluated in the order of the "overlay-[ports|triplets]" array.
  • Overlays set by VCPKG_OVERLAY_[PORTS|TRIPLETS] are evaluated from left-to-right. Overlay locations are separated by an OS-specific path separator (; on Windows and : on non-Windows).

Versioning Support

Versioning with custom registries works exactly as it does in the built-in registry. You can read more about that in the versioning documentation.