MS Visual Studio

ccache supports caching the output of the Microsoft Visual Studio Compiler (MSVC) since version 4.6.

Installation

Install ccache from the download page. Alternatively, install via Chocolatey, but bear in mind that ccache then gets run via a shim executable which slows down execution somewhat.

Alternative 1: Masquerade as the compiler

Make a copy of (or link to) ccache.exe called cl.exe.

Example:

copy ccache.exe C:\some\folder\cl.exe

Then configure your IDE or build system to use C:\some\folder\cl.exe as the compiler.

If you're using Chocolatey you can copy the executable from C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\ccache\tools\ccache-*, e.g.:

copy C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\ccache\tools\ccache-4.7.4-windows-x86_64\ccache.exe C:\some\folder\cl.exe

Important: If you're using ccache installed via Chocolatey, don't copy C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\ccache.exe since that's a shim executable that can't be used with another name.

Alternative 2: Make a wrapper script

Create a wrapper file

@echo off
%~dp0\ccache.exe cl.exe %*

Then set CC and CXX to the wrapper script:

set CC=full_path_of_ccache_cl_wrapper.bat
set CXX=full_path_of_ccache_cl_wrapper.bat
: You may need set VCPKG_KEEP_ENV_VARS, see below
do your work here

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcpkg/users/config-environment#vcpkg_keep_env_vars

Usage with Visual Studio

Install ccache according to Alternative 1: Masquerade as the compiler above. Assuming the path is C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin, either:

1. Use msbuild /p:CLToolPath=C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin /p:UseMultiToolTask=true ..., or

2. Create a file called Directory.Build.props adjacent to or above your project file with the following contents:

   <Project>
     <PropertyGroup>
       <CLToolPath>C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\</CLToolPath>
     </PropertyGroup>
   
     <!-- The following will set the needed properties described in Tips above. -->
     <!-- Creation of a precompiled header will have to be disabled separately. -->
     <PropertyGroup>
       <UseMultiToolTask>true</UseMultiToolTask>            
     </PropertyGroup>
     <ItemDefinitionGroup>
       <ClCompile>
         <DebugInformationFormat>OldStyle</DebugInformationFormat>
         <ForcedIncludeFiles />
         <ObjectFileName>$(IntDir)%(FileName).obj</ObjectFileName>
         <PrecompiledHeader>NotUsing</PrecompiledHeader>
       </ClCompile>
     </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   </Project>

Using Directory.Build.props is preferable since it's possible to specify all recommended settings there.

Important:

• Ccache versions older than 4.7 require the masquerading ccache executable (renamed to cl.exe) to be outside of the system PATH. Note that Chocolatey provides an option to insert C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin (the path used in examples) into the system PATH during installation. In such cases you may use a direct ccache path, for example C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\ccache\tools\ccache-4.6.3-windows-x86_64 or upgrade to version 4.7 or later.
• /p:CLToolExe cannot be used. Always use /p:CLToolPath alone when invoking msbuild.

Other tips:

• Do not use /Zi debugging (/Z7 is okay).
  • If you use a project file, do not use DebugInformationFormat=ProgramDatabase (OldStyle is okay).
• Do not use /Yc to write pre-compiled headers (PCH).
• Do not use any forced included files (/FI).
• Compile a single file at a time by using msbuild /p:UseMultiToolTask=true.
  • If you use a project file, include %(Filename) within <ObjectFileName>.
• If using incremental builds, make sure that the cache is located within %APPDATA or %TEMP%. Visual Studio tracks compilation inputs and outputs via syscall hooks and will treat ccache's auxiliary outputs, such as statistics and temporary output files, as relevant to the build. When these files are updated or removed, Visual Studio will consider the project inputs dirty and trigger unnecessary rebuilds.

Usage with CMake

When using CMake, you can add the following CMake code to enable ccache and set the appropriate value for CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT (for this to work ensure project is either using cmake 3.25+ or CMP0141 policy is set to NEW):

find_program(ccache_exe ccache)
if(ccache_exe)
  file(COPY_FILE
    ${ccache_exe} ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/cl.exe
    ONLY_IF_DIFFERENT)

  # By default Visual Studio generators will use /Zi which is not compatible
  # with ccache, so tell Visual Studio to use /Z7 instead.
  message(STATUS "Setting MSVC debug information format to 'Embedded'")
  set(CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT "$<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:Embedded>")

  set(CMAKE_VS_GLOBALS
    "CLToolExe=cl.exe"
    "CLToolPath=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}"
    "UseMultiToolTask=true"
  )
endif()

References

• https://github.com/mbitsnbites/buildcache/blob/master/doc/usage.md
• https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/improved-parallelism-in-msbuild/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/mp-build-with-multiple-processes?view=msvc-170&viewFallbackFrom=vs-2019
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/compiler-options-listed-by-category?view=msvc-170
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild-command-line-reference?view=vs-2022