Build configuration

TinyCC provides extensive configuration options to customize the compiler for different platforms, targets, and use cases.

Configuration script

The configure script detects your system and sets appropriate defaults:

./configure [options]
make
sudo make install

Run ./configure --help to see all available options.

Installation paths

Customize where TinyCC is installed:

Set installation prefix

# Install to /usr/local (default)
./configure --prefix=/usr/local

# Install to custom location
./configure --prefix=/opt/tcc

# Install to user directory
./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local

Configure specific directories

./configure \
  --prefix=/usr \
  --exec-prefix=/usr \
  --bindir=/usr/bin \
  --libdir=/usr/lib \
  --includedir=/usr/include \
  --mandir=/usr/share/man \
  --infodir=/usr/share/info

Set TCC directory

The TCC directory contains headers, libraries, and runtime files:

# Default: PREFIX/lib/tcc
./configure --tccdir=/usr/lib/tcc

# Custom location
./configure --tccdir=/opt/tcc/lib

Compiler selection

Configure which compiler builds TinyCC:

# Use GCC (default on Linux)
./configure --cc=gcc

# Use Clang
./configure --cc=clang

# Bootstrap: use TCC to compile TCC
./configure --cc=tcc

Additional compiler flags

# Add custom CFLAGS
./configure --extra-cflags="-O3 -march=native"

# Add custom LDFLAGS
./configure --extra-ldflags="-static"

# Add extra libraries
./configure --extra-libs="-lmylib"

Target configuration

Cross-compilation setup

Configure TinyCC for cross-compilation:

# Enable cross-compiler builds
./configure --enable-cross

# Specify target CPU
./configure --cpu=arm64

# Specify target OS
./configure --targetos=Darwin

# Set cross-compilation prefix
./configure --cross-prefix=aarch64-linux-gnu-

Platform-specific examples

./configure \
  --cpu=arm64 \
  --cross-prefix=aarch64-linux-gnu- \
  --enable-cross

./configure \
  --targetos=WIN32 \
  --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32-

./configure \
  --cpu=arm64 \
  --targetos=Android \
  --prefix=/data/data/com.termux/files/usr

./configure \
  --cpu=x86_64 \
  --targetos=Darwin

Library configuration

System paths

Specify system include and library paths:

./configure \
  --sysroot=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf \
  --sysincludepaths=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf/include \
  --libpaths=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf/lib \
  --crtprefix=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf/lib

Use colon-separated paths for multiple directories: --libpaths=/lib:/usr/lib:/opt/lib

ELF interpreter

Set the dynamic linker path:

# Standard Linux
./configure --elfinterp=/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2

# musl libc
./configure --elfinterp=/lib/ld-musl-x86_64.so.1

# FreeBSD
./configure --elfinterp=/libexec/ld-elf.so.1

Triplet configuration

Set the system library triplet:

# x86_64 Linux
./configure --triplet=x86_64-linux-gnu

# ARM hard float
./configure --triplet=arm-linux-gnueabihf

# ARM64 Linux
./configure --triplet=aarch64-linux-gnu

Feature configuration

Debug features

# Enable backtrace support (default)
./configure

# Disable backtrace support
./configure --config-backtrace=no

# Enable bounds checking (default)
./configure

# Disable bounds checking
./configure --config-bcheck=no

# Use DWARF debug info (version 2-5)
./configure --config-dwarf=4
./configure --config-dwarf=5

# Use STABS (default)
./configure

# Build TCC with debug symbols
./configure --debug

Library options

# Use libgcc instead of libtcc1.a
./configure --with-libgcc

# Use mmap for executable memory (with SELinux)
./configure --with-selinux

# Build as static library (Windows default)
./configure --enable-static

# Build as shared library (Unix default)
./configure --disable-static

# Disable rpath in shared library
./configure --disable-rpath

Platform-specific options

# Force old Mach-O format (macOS ≤ 10)
./configure --config-new_macho=no

# Use new Mach-O format (macOS ≥ 11)
./configure --config-new_macho=yes

# Enable code signing
./configure --config-codesign=yes

# Use new ELF DTAGs (DT_RUNPATH instead of DT_RPATH)
./configure --config-new_dtags=yes

# Generate position-independent executables
./configure --config-pie

# Configure for uClibc
./configure --config-uClibc

# Configure for musl libc
./configure --config-musl

Build options

Control the build process:

Build targets

# Build native compiler only
make

# Build cross-compilers
make cross

# Build specific cross-compiler
make cross-x86_64
make cross-arm64

# Build documentation
make doc

# Build everything
make all

Build flags

# Build from single source file (faster, smaller)
make ONE_SOURCE=yes

# Build from separate object files (default)
make ONE_SOURCE=no

# Silent build
make SILENT=yes

# Verbose build
make SILENT=no

Runtime configuration

TCC switches

Set default switches passed to TCC:

# Add default switches
./configure --tcc-switches="-Wl,-rpath=/opt/lib"

# Multiple switches
./configure --tcc-switches="-I/opt/include -L/opt/lib"

Environment variables

TCC respects these environment variables:

# Include paths
export C_INCLUDE_PATH="/opt/include:/usr/local/include"
export CPATH="/opt/include"

# Library paths
export LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/lib:/usr/local/lib"

# Dynamic linker override
export LD_SO="/lib/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2"

Advanced configuration

Custom configuration file

Create config-extra.mak for custom settings:

# Custom configuration for cross-compilation

# ARM64 configuration
ROOT-arm64 = /usr/aarch64-linux-gnu
CRT-arm64  = {R}/lib
LIB-arm64  = {B}:{R}/lib
INC-arm64  = {B}/include:{R}/include
DEF-arm64  += -D__linux__

# RISC-V configuration
TRIPLET-riscv64 = riscv64-linux-gnu
ROOT-riscv64 = /usr/riscv64-linux-gnu

# Custom CFLAGS for profiling build
CFLAGS_P = $(CFLAGS) -pg -static -DTCC_PROFILE

The makefile automatically includes config-extra.mak if present. Use {B} for TCC directory and {R} for sysroot.

Predefined macros

Control how TCC handles predefined macros:

# Don't compile tccdefs.h (include at runtime)
./configure --config-predefs=no

# Compile tccdefs.h into TCC (default, faster)
./configure

Configuration examples

Minimal build

Smallest possible TCC:

./configure \
  --config-backtrace=no \
  --config-bcheck=no \
  --prefix=/opt/tcc-minimal
make

Development build

For TinyCC development:

./configure \
  --debug \
  --config-dwarf=5 \
  --prefix=$HOME/.local
make

Production cross-compiler

Full-featured cross-compiler setup:

./configure \
  --prefix=/opt/tcc \
  --enable-cross \
  --config-dwarf=4 \
  --extra-cflags="-O2"
make
make cross
sudo make install

Static build

Statically linked TCC:

./configure \
  --prefix=/opt/tcc-static \
  --extra-ldflags="-static" \
  --config-libgcc=yes
make

Verifying configuration

Check configuration after running configure:

# View generated configuration
cat config.mak
cat config.h

# Test TCC version
./tcc -v

# Show TCC search paths
./tcc -vv

# Print configured directories
./tcc -print-search-dirs

Makefile targets

Available make targets:

# Build native TCC
make

# Build cross-compilers
make cross

# Build documentation
make doc

# Build specific cross-compiler
make cross-arm64

# Install everything
make install

# Install stripped binaries
make install-strip

# Uninstall
make uninstall

# Run all tests
make test

# Run specific test suite
make tests2.all
make testspp.all

# Test installed TCC
make test-install

# Clean build files
make clean

# Remove all generated files
make distclean

Build architecture

Supported build architectures

TinyCC can be built on:

i386 - 32-bit x86 (Linux, Windows)
x86_64 - 64-bit x86 (Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD)
ARM - 32-bit ARM (Linux, BSD)
ARM64 - 64-bit ARM (Linux, macOS, BSD)
RISC-V 64 - 64-bit RISC-V (Linux)

Architecture detection

The configure script auto-detects your CPU:

# Auto-detect (default)
./configure

# Override detection
./configure --cpu=x86_64
./configure --cpu=arm64
./configure --cpu=riscv64

Troubleshooting

Configuration fails

Common configuration errors:

Missing compiler: Install GCC or Clang
Missing headers: Install build-essential or development packages
Cross-compilation errors: Install cross-compiler toolchain
Permission denied: Use sudo for system-wide installation

Fixing configuration issues

# Clean configuration
make distclean

# Reconfigure with verbose output
./configure --help
./configure [options]

# Check compiler availability
which gcc
which clang

# Verify paths exist
ls -la /usr/local/include
ls -la /usr/local/lib

​Configuration script

​Installation paths

​Compiler selection

​Additional compiler flags

​Target configuration

​Cross-compilation setup

​Platform-specific examples

​Library configuration

​System paths

​ELF interpreter

​Triplet configuration

​Feature configuration

​Debug features

​Library options

​Platform-specific options

​Build options

​Build targets

​Build flags

​Runtime configuration

​TCC switches

​Environment variables

​Advanced configuration

​Custom configuration file

​Predefined macros

​Configuration examples

​Minimal build

​Development build

​Production cross-compiler

​Static build

​Verifying configuration

​Makefile targets

​Build architecture

​Supported build architectures

​Architecture detection

​Troubleshooting

​Configuration fails

​Fixing configuration issues

​See also

Configuration script

Installation paths

Compiler selection

Additional compiler flags

Target configuration

Cross-compilation setup

Platform-specific examples

Library configuration

System paths

ELF interpreter

Triplet configuration

Feature configuration

Debug features

Library options

Platform-specific options

Build options

Build targets

Build flags

Runtime configuration

TCC switches

Environment variables

Advanced configuration

Custom configuration file

Predefined macros

Configuration examples

Minimal build

Development build

Production cross-compiler

Static build

Verifying configuration

Makefile targets

Build architecture

Supported build architectures

Architecture detection

Troubleshooting

Configuration fails

Fixing configuration issues

See also