lite-build

name	lite-build
description	Build configuration, CMake options, cross-compilation and packaging. Use when building MindSpore Lite, configuring CMake, cross-compiling for ARM/iOS/MCU, packaging release archives, or troubleshooting build errors.
paths	["build.sh","build.bat","scripts/build/**","mindspore-lite/CMakeLists.txt","cmake/**"]

MindSpore Lite Build Configuration and Compilation

Build Entry Point

build.sh (Linux/macOS) / build.bat (Windows)
  -> scripts/build/build_lite.sh
       -> CMake (mindspore-lite/CMakeLists.txt)
            -> cmake/package_lite.cmake (packaging)

Quick Build Commands

# End-side ARM64 (most common)
bash build.sh -I arm64 -j8

# End-side ARM32
bash build.sh -I arm32 -j8

# x86 debug build
bash build.sh -I x86_64 -j8

# Cloud-side inference (ExtendRT)
bash build.sh -I x86_64 -e cpu -a x64 -j8

# iOS
bash build.sh -I arm64 -T ios -j8

# Micro Cortex-M (IoT bare metal)
bash build.sh -I cortex-m -j8

CMake Options Reference

Options defined in mindspore-lite/CMakeLists.txt, set via build.sh flags or passed directly.

Basic Options

CMake Variable	Default	Description
MSLITE_ENABLE_SSE	ON (x86)	Enable SSE instruction set
MSLITE_ENABLE_AVX	ON (x86)	Enable AVX instruction set
MSLITE_ENABLE_AVX512	OFF	Enable AVX-512
MSLITE_ENABLE_FP16	ON (ARM)	Enable FP16 operators
MSLITE_ENABLE_INT8	ON	Enable INT8 quantization operators
MSLITE_ENABLE_CONTROL_FLOW	ON	Support control flow operators (If/While)
MSLITE_ENABLE_DYNAMIC_THREAD	OFF	Dynamic thread scheduling
MSLITE_ENABLE_WEIGHT_DECODE	ON	Quantized weight decoding

Device-side (LiteRT) Options

CMake Variable	Default	Description
MSLITE_ENABLE_GPU_OPENCL	OFF	OpenCL GPU backend
MSLITE_ENABLE_GPU_VULKAN	OFF	Vulkan GPU backend
MSLITE_ENABLE_GPU_TENSORRT	OFF	TensorRT GPU backend
MSLITE_ENABLE_NPU	OFF	HiSilicon NPU delegate
MSLITE_ENABLE_COREML	OFF	Apple CoreML delegate
MSLITE_ENABLE_TRAIN	OFF	Device-side training support
MSLITE_ENABLE_MICRO	OFF	Micro code generation
MSLITE_ENABLE_RISCV	OFF	RISC-V support

Cloud-side (ExtendRT) Options

CMake Variable	Default	Description
MSLITE_ENABLE_CLOUD_INFERENCE	OFF	Cloud-side inference (ExtendRT)
MSLITE_ENABLE_ACL	OFF	Ascend ACL backend
MSLITE_ENABLE_ACL_TDT	OFF	Ascend TDT data transfer
MSLITE_ENABLE_SHARED_MUTEX	ON	Shared mutex (cloud-side concurrency)
MSLITE_ENABLE_WEIGHT_SHARE	OFF	Multi-model weight sharing
MSLITE_ENABLE_AUTO_PARALLEL	OFF	Automatic parallel inference
MSLITE_ENABLE_CLOUD_FUSION_INFERENCE	OFF	Cloud-side fusion inference

Debug Options

CMake Variable	Default	Description
MSLITE_ENABLE_TESTCASES	OFF	Compile UT test cases
MSLITE_ENABLE_DEBUG	OFF	Debug mode (-g, no optimization)
MSLITE_ENABLE_PROFILE	OFF	Performance profiling

Cross-compilation Configuration

Android NDK

export ANDROID_NDK=/path/to/android-ndk-r21e
bash build.sh -I arm64 -j8   # ARM64
bash build.sh -I arm32 -j8   # ARM32

NDK r21e+ required, r25c recommended. Version mismatch is the most common build failure cause.

iOS

bash build.sh -I arm64 -T ios -j8        # Device
bash build.sh -I x86_64 -T ios -j8       # Simulator

Uses cmake/lite_ios.cmake toolchain file.

ARM Linux (aarch64)

bash build.sh -I arm64 -e cpu -a aarch64 -j8

Incremental Build Acceleration

ccache

export CCACHE_DIR=/path/to/ccache
export CMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache
export CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache

ninja (alternative to make)

cmake -G Ninja .. && ninja -j8

ninja's incremental build detection is more precise than make.

Clearing CMake Cache

rm -rf build/CMakeCache.txt   # Reconfigure only
rm -rf build/                  # Full cleanup

Packaging Output

Packaging logic in cmake/package_lite.cmake (~961 lines).

Output Package Structure

mindspore-lite-{version}-{os}-{arch}.tar.gz
  runtime/
    include/api/          # C++ API headers
    include/c_api/        # C API headers
    lib/libmindspore-lite.so
    third_party/
  tools/
    converter/            # Model conversion tool
    benchmark/            # Performance benchmark tool
    cropper/              # Library cropping tool
  micro/                  # Micro code generation (if enabled)

Package Naming

Scenario	Package Name Template
Android ARM64	mindspore-lite-{version}-android-aarch64.tar.gz
Android ARM32	mindspore-lite-{version}-android-armv7.tar.gz
Linux x86_64	mindspore-lite-{version}-linux-x64.tar.gz
Windows x86_64	mindspore-lite-{version}-win-x64.zip
Cloud Linux x86_64	mindspore-lite-{version}-linux-x64.tar.gz
Cloud Linux ARM64	mindspore-lite-{version}-linux-aarch64.tar.gz

Common Build Errors

Error	Solution
Could not find Protobuf	Install protobuf 3.x or use auto-download in cmake/external_libs/
protobuf version mismatch 3.x vs 4.x	MindSpore Lite requires protobuf 3.x; specify path: cmake -DPROTOBUF_INCLUDE_DIR=...
android-ndk-rXX does not support XXX	Use NDK r21e+, check ANDROID_NDK env var
FlatBuffers version mismatch	Use third_party/flatbuffers/ bundled version

Build Script Reference

File	Purpose
build.sh	Main build entry point
build.bat	Windows build entry point
scripts/build/build_lite.sh	Lite build orchestration
scripts/build/default_options.sh	Default build configuration
scripts/build/option_proc_lite.sh	Lite option processing
scripts/build/process_options.sh	Command line argument parsing
scripts/build/usage.sh	Help information