`--package` fails to resolve runtime dependencies when Chrono is in a user prefix and urdfdom comes from ROS

[salhus]

Summary

cmake --install fails during the packaging step when SEA-Stack is built against a Chrono installed into a user prefix, with Chrono::Chrono_parsers pulling in urdfdom from a ROS 2 installation.

The build itself succeeds completely — all 226 targets compile and link, run_seastack is produced and runs correctly (verified on the 5sa bimodal demo with VSG water surface and mooring visualization). Only the --package install step fails.

-- Installing: /home/shusain/SEA-Stack/build/install/bin/run_seastack
-- Set non-toolchain portion of runtime path of ".../bin/run_seastack" to "$ORIGIN/../lib"
CMake Error at build/cmake_install.cmake:227 (file):
  file Could not resolve runtime dependencies:

    libChrono_core.so
    liburdfdom_model.so.4.0

[FAIL] cmake --install failed

Reproduction

./scripts/unix/build.sh --clean --verbose --package --moordyn --vsg --demos

Environment:

• Ubuntu 24.04, GCC 13.3.0, CMake 3.28, Ninja
• Chrono 10.0.0 installed to ~/project-chrono_v10/install (user prefix, not a system location)
• ROS 2 Jazzy sourced (supplies urdfdom transitively via Chrono::Chrono_parsers)
• Chrono_DIR and LD_LIBRARY_PATH both set correctly; the build links fine

Dropping --package from the same command succeeds end to end.

Root cause

In the top-level CMakeLists.txt (~L631–659):

install(TARGETS run_seastack
    RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES
        POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES ${_seastack_dep_exclude}
    CONFIGURATIONS Release
    RUNTIME DESTINATION bin COMPONENT runtime
    LIBRARY DESTINATION lib COMPONENT runtime)

RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES invokes file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES), which on Linux resolves .so files using only the binary's RPATH plus default system paths. It deliberately ignores LD_LIBRARY_PATH (documented behaviour, so installs are reproducible without ambient environment).

Meanwhile apps/seastack/CMakeLists.txt (~L82) sets:

set_target_properties(run_seastack PROPERTIES INSTALL_RPATH "\$ORIGIN/../lib")

So at install time the RPATH points only at the not-yet-populated bundle directory, and neither library is findable:

Library	Actual location	Why unresolvable
libChrono_core.so	~/project-chrono_v10/install/lib/	User prefix; not in RPATH, not a system path
liburdfdom_model.so.4.0	/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/	ROS arch-specific subdir

Neither is in the system linker cache:

$ ldconfig -p | grep -E "urdfdom_model|Chrono_core"
$ find /opt/ros/jazzy /usr/lib -name "liburdfdom_model.so*" 2>/dev/null
/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liburdfdom_model.so.4.0
/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liburdfdom_model.so

Note urdfdom lives in lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/, not lib/ — appending /opt/ros/jazzy/lib alone would not fix it.

POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES currently covers ^/System/Library/, ^/usr/lib/, ^/lib/, ^/usr/libexec/, and the Python frameworks — none of which match either path.

---

Proposed implementation

Two coordinated changes in the top-level CMakeLists.txt. Both are needed: (1) makes Chrono-from-user-prefix resolvable, (2) stops ROS libraries being vendored into the release ZIP.

1. Derive the Chrono library directory and add a user-overridable search list

Before the install(TARGETS run_seastack ...) block, add:

# file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) ignores LD_LIBRARY_PATH by design, so a Chrono
# installed outside the system paths must be pointed at explicitly.
set(SEASTACK_RUNTIME_DEP_DIRS "" CACHE STRING
    "Extra directories searched when bundling runtime dependencies for the release package.")

set(_seastack_dep_dirs ${SEASTACK_RUNTIME_DEP_DIRS})
if(TARGET Chrono::Chrono_core)
    foreach(_prop IMPORTED_LOCATION_RELEASE IMPORTED_LOCATION)
        get_target_property(_chrono_core_loc Chrono::Chrono_core ${_prop})
        if(_chrono_core_loc)
            get_filename_component(_chrono_lib_dir "${_chrono_core_loc}" DIRECTORY)
            list(APPEND _seastack_dep_dirs "${_chrono_lib_dir}")
            break()
        endif()
    endforeach()
endif()
list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES _seastack_dep_dirs)

Then pass it to both the APPLE and non-APPLE install calls:

install(TARGETS run_seastack
    RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES
        DIRECTORIES ${_seastack_dep_dirs}
        POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES ${_seastack_dep_exclude}
    CONFIGURATIONS Release
    RUNTIME DESTINATION bin COMPONENT runtime
    LIBRARY DESTINATION lib COMPONENT runtime)

Unset _seastack_dep_dirs alongside the existing unset(_seastack_dep_exclude).

2. Exclude ROS from the bundle

Add to _seastack_dep_exclude:

# ROS is an external runtime requirement, not a bundled dependency. urdfdom and
# friends arrive transitively via Chrono::Chrono_parsers when Chrono is built
# with ROS support; a consumer needing those components is expected to have ROS.
"^/opt/ros/"

Rationale for the split

Chrono is SEA-Stack's own dependency and belongs in the ZIP, so it needs DIRECTORIES. ROS is a transitive dependency of an optional Chrono component and does not belong in a SEA-Stack release archive, so it should be excluded rather than located. If maintainers prefer bundling ROS too, drop change (2) and document that SEASTACK_RUNTIME_DEP_DIRS=/opt/ros/<distro>/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu must be supplied — but that would make the ZIP distro-specific.

Acceptance criteria

• ./scripts/unix/build.sh --clean --package --moordyn --vsg --demos completes without error when Chrono is installed to a non-system prefix and ROS 2 is on the environment.
• build/install/lib/ contains libChrono_core.so and the other Chrono shared libraries.
• build/install/lib/ contains no files originating from /opt/ros/.
• build/install/bin/run_seastack starts and runs a demo case when LD_LIBRARY_PATH is cleared but ROS is still installed on the system (verifies $ORIGIN/../lib resolves the bundled Chrono).
• Packaging still succeeds on a system-installed Chrono with no ROS present (no regression in the default path).
• macOS packaging path is unaffected apart from the added DIRECTORIES argument.

Workaround until fixed

Omit --package. A plain install populates the tree downstream projects consume:

./scripts/unix/build.sh --clean --verbose --moordyn --vsg --demos

Notes

• The failed --package run targets build/install/, so a separate pre-existing install tree (e.g. ~/SEA-Stack/install/) is left untouched and downstream consumers keep working.
• Configure also emits CMP0144 warnings for CHRONO_ROOT; unrelated to this failure, but present in the same log.