Conan 2.X Cheatsheet

About 1477 wordsAbout 5 min

2025-12-22

A quick reference guide for all essential Conan commands, configuration options, and common workflows. Keep this handy for daily development tasks.

Essential Commands

Installation and Setup

# Install Conan 2.X
pip install conan

# Verify installation
conan --version

# Auto-detect and create profile
conan profile detect --force

# Show current profile
conan profile show default

# List all profiles
conan profile list

Basic Project Workflow

# Install dependencies
conan install .

# Install with specific profile
conan install . --profile=myprofile

# Build project
conan build .

# Create package
conan create . mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel

# Upload package
conan upload mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel --remote=myremote

# Install specific package version
conan install package/1.0.0@user/channel

Package Management

# Search packages
conan search fmt
conan search "boost*" --remote=conancenter

# Show package information
conan show fmt/10.0.0

# Download package
conan download fmt/10.0.0 --remote=conancenter

# List installed packages
conan list "*"

# Remove package from cache
conan cache clean "mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel"

Profile Management

Create and Modify Profiles

# Create new profile
conan profile new myprofile --detect

# Create from existing profile
conan profile new gcc11-release --profile=default

# Update profile settings
conan profile update settings.compiler.version=11 myprofile

# Update profile options
conan profile update options.shared=True myprofile

# Update environment variables
conan profile update env.CC=gcc-11 myprofile

# Remove setting
conan profile update "!settings.build_type" myprofile

# Delete profile
conan profile remove myprofile

# Show profile details
conan profile show myprofile

Profile Examples

# Development profile
conan profile new dev-debug --detect
conan profile update settings.build_type=Debug dev-debug
conan profile update env.CFLAGS="-g -O0" dev-debug

# Release profile
conan profile new rel-release --detect
conan profile update settings.build_type=Release rel-release
conan profile update env.CFLAGS="-O3" rel-release

# Cross-compilation profile
conan profile new cross-arm --detect
conan profile update settings.arch=armv8 cross-arm
conan profile update env.CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc cross-arm

Remote Management

Add and Configure Remotes

# Add remote
conan remote add mycompany https://conan.mycompany.com

# Update remote URL
conan remote update mycompany https://new-url.com

# Enable/disable remote
conan remote disable conancenter
conan remote enable conancenter

# List remotes
conan remote list

# Remove remote
conan remote remove mycompany

# Set authentication
conan remote auth mycompany --username=user --password=token

# Test remote connectivity
conan ping mycompany

# Disable SSL verification (development only)
conan remote add insecure http://server.com --insecure

Upload and Download

# Upload package
conan upload mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel --remote=myremote

# Upload with all binaries
conan upload mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel --remote=myremote --all

# Upload pattern
conan upload "mypackage/1.*" --remote=myremote

# Download package
conan download fmt/10.0.0 --remote=conancenter

# Download recipe only
conan download fmt/10.0.0 --remote=conancenter --recipe-only

Dependency Management

Advanced Install Options

# Build missing packages
conan install . --build=missing

# Build outdated packages
conan install . --build=outdated

# Build all packages from source
conan install . --build=*

# Install specific configuration
conan install . --profile=myprofile --build=missing

# Print dependency graph
conan install . --print=graph

# Show package information
conan info .

# Show only requires
conan info . --only=requires

# Show build requirements
conan info . --only=build_requires

# JSON output
conan install . --json=output.json

Version Management

# Install with version ranges
conan install "fmt/[>=10.0.0 <11.0.0]"

# Install latest version
conan install "openssl/3.*"

# Check available versions
conan search fmt --remote=conancenter

Build System Integration

CMake Integration

# Generate CMake files
conan install . --build=missing

# CMake will automatically use:
# - conan_toolchain.cmake (compiler settings)
# - fmt-config.cmake (dependency info)

# Build with CMake
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build .

Build with Different Generators

# Use Ninja generator (faster builds)
conan install . --build=missing -g Ninja

# Use Unix Makefiles
conan install . --build=missing -g UnixMakefiles

# Use Visual Studio (Windows)
conan install . --build=missing -g VisualStudio

Debugging and Diagnostics

Verbose Output

# Verbose output
conan install . --verbose

# Debug output
conan install . --debug

# Trace output (maximum details)
conan install . --trace

# Save output to file
conan install . --verbose > output.log 2>&1

Cache and Storage

# Show cache path
conan cache path

# List cache contents
conan list "*"

# Clean specific package
conan cache clean "mypackage/*"

# Clean entire cache
conan cache clean "*"

# Check cache size
du -sh ~/.conan2/

System Information

# Show Conan configuration
conan config get

# Show Conan home directory
conan config home

# Install configuration from URL
conan config install https://github.com/user/conan-config.git

# Show environment variables
env | grep CONAN

Advanced Commands

Package Creation and Testing

# Create package from source
conan create . mylib/1.0.0@user/stable

# Create with test package
conan create . mylib/1.0.0@user/stable --test-folder=test_package

# Test existing package
conan test test_package mylib/1.0.0@user/stable

# Copy packages between remotes
conan copy mylib/1.0.0@user/testing mylib/1.0.0@user/stable --remote=dev-remote --destination=prod-remote

Graph and Dependency Analysis

# Show dependency graph
conan install . --print=graph

# Generate dependency graph in DOT format
conan install . --print=graph_dot=deps.dot

# Show package dependencies
conan info mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel

# Check for conflicts
conan install . --build=missing 2>&1 | grep conflict

Custom Commands

# Export recipe (create from folder)
conan export . mylib/1.0.0@user/channel

# Export package (create from built binaries)
conan export-pkg . mylib/1.0.0@user/channel --build-folder=build

# Remove packages
conan remove mypackage/1.0.0@user/channel

# Search in specific remote
conan search fmt --remote=conancenter

# List recipe revisions
conan list mylib/1.0.0@user/channel --recipe

# List package revisions
conan list mylib/1.0.0@user/channel --packages

Environment Variables

Important Conan Environment Variables

# Conan home directory
export CONAN_USER_HOME=/path/to/custom/.conan2

# Verbose output
export CONAN_VERBOSE_TRACEBACK=1

# Print run commands
export CONAN_PRINT_RUN_COMMANDS=1

# Log to file
export CONAN_LOG_RUN_TO_FILE=1

# Disable SSL verification (development only)
export CONAN_CMAKE_SKIP_RPATH=1

# Cache directory
export CONAN_CACHE_FOLDER=/path/to/cache

# User credentials
export CONAN_USERNAME=your_username
export CONAN_PASSWORD=your_token

Configuration File Examples

Basic conanfile.py

from conan import ConanFile
from conan.tools.cmake import CMake, CMakeToolchain, CMakeDeps, cmake_layout

class MyProjectConan(ConanFile):
    name = "myproject"
    version = "1.0.0"
    license = "MIT"
    description = "My C++ project"
    topics = ("cpp", "library")

    settings = "os", "compiler", "build_type", "arch"
    options = {"shared": [True, False], "fPIC": [True, False]}
    default_options = {"shared": False, "fPIC": True}

    requires = ("fmt/10.0.0",)

    def configure(self):
        if self.options.shared:
            self.options.fPIC = False

    def layout(self):
        cmake_layout(self)

    def generate(self):
        tc = CMakeToolchain(self)
        tc.generate()

        deps = CMakeDeps(self)
        deps.generate()

    def build(self):
        cmake = CMake(self)
        cmake.configure()
        cmake.build()

    def package_info(self):
        self.cpp_info.libs = ["myproject"]

Basic conanfile.txt

[requires]
fmt/10.0.0
spdlog/1.11.0

[generators]
CMakeDeps
CMakeToolchain

[options]
fmt:header_only=False
spdlog:header_only=False

Profile Example

[settings]
os=Linux
arch=x86_64
compiler=gcc
compiler.version=11
compiler.libcxx=libstdc++11
compiler.cppstd=17
build_type=Release

[options]
*:shared=False

[tool_requires]
cmake/3.27.0

[env]
CC=gcc-11
CXX=g++-11
CFLAGS=-O3 -DNDEBUG
CXXFLAGS=-std=c++17 -O3 -DNDEBUG

[conf]
tools.cmake.cmake_layout:build_folder_vars=['settings']

Quick Workflows

New Project Setup

# 1. Create project structure
mkdir myproject && cd myproject

# 2. Create conanfile.py (see examples above)

# 3. Install dependencies
conan install . --build=missing

# 4. Build project
conan build .

# 5. Test
./build/Release/myapp

Dependency Update Workflow

# 1. Check for updates
conan install . --build=outdated

# 2. Update specific package
conan install . --build=outdated --requires=fmt/10.1.0

# 3. Test with new dependencies
conan build .

# 4. If everything works, update conanfile.py
# Update version in requires

# 5. Create new package
conan create . myproject/1.1.0@user/stable

CI/CD Integration

# CI environment setup
conan profile detect --force
conan install . --profile=ci-release --build=missing
conan build .
conan create . myproject/1.0.0@user/ci
conan upload myproject/1.0.0@user/ci --remote=ci-remote

Team Development

# Team member setup
git clone <repository>
cd project
conan install . --build=missing
conan build .

# Update dependencies
git pull origin main
conan install . --build=outdated
conan build .

Common Error Solutions

Error	Quick Fix
`conan: command not found`	`pip install conan`
`Profile not found`	`conan profile detect --force`
`Package not found`	`conan search package --remote=conancenter`
`CMake not found`	`conan install . --build=missing` (includes CMake)
`Compiler not detected`	Install GCC/Clang/Visual Studio
`Version conflict`	Check dependency graph with `--print=graph`
`Authentication failed`	Use tokens: `conan remote auth remote --username=user --password=token`
`SSL verification failed`	Update CA certificates or use `--verify-ssl=false`
`No space left on device`	`conan cache clean "*"`
`Include file not found`	Use CMakeDeps generator in conanfile.py

Performance Tips

Speed Up Builds

# Use parallel downloads
conan config set general.parallel_download=8

# Use binary cache
export CONAN_USER_HOME=/fast/ssd/.conan2

# Avoid rebuilding
conan install . --build=missing  # Don't rebuild existing packages

# Use faster generators
conan install . -g Ninja  # Faster than Makefiles

# Optimize profile
conan profile update env.CFLAGS="-O3 -DNDEBUG" release

Cache Management

# Check cache size
du -sh ~/.conan2/

# Clean old packages
conan cache clean "*"

# Move cache to faster storage
export CONAN_USER_HOME=/path/to/fast/ssd/.conan2

# Share cache between projects
export CONAN_USER_HOME=/shared/cache/.conan2

Key Points: Quick Reference

Installation: pip install conan, then conan profile detect --force
Basic workflow: conan install . → conan build . → conan create . package/version@user/channel
Profiles: Use profiles for different build configurations (--profile=name)
Dependencies: Use version ranges for flexibility (fmt/[>=10.0.0 <11.0.0])
Remotes: Manage multiple repositories (conan remote add/name/update/list)
Debugging: Use --verbose, --debug, --trace flags for detailed output
Cache: Clean with conan cache clean "*" when stuck
CMake: Conan generates all necessary CMake files automatically
CI/CD: Always use specific profiles in automated environments

This cheatsheet covers the most common Conan 2.X operations. For detailed explanations, refer to the specific sections in this guide.

VAD

ASR

TTS

llama-swap

llama.cpp

EDK2-UEFI

U-Boot

Yocto

QEMU

QNX

AUTOSAR Adaptive

MISRA C++

ASIL

ASPICE

Conan

Artifactory

Jenkins

Conan 2.X Cheatsheet