conan create

$ conan create [-h] [-j JSON] [-k] [-kb] [-ne] [-tbf TEST_BUILD_FOLDER]
               [-tf TEST_FOLDER] [-m [MANIFESTS]]
               [-mi [MANIFESTS_INTERACTIVE]] [-v [VERIFY]] [-b [BUILD]]
               [-e ENV] [-o OPTIONS] [-pr PROFILE] [-r REMOTE]
               [-s SETTINGS] [-u]
               path reference

Builds a binary package for a recipe (conanfile.py). Uses the specified configuration in a profile or in -s settings, -o options etc. If a ‘test_package’ folder (the name can be configured with -tf) is found, the command will run the consumer project to ensure that the package has been created correctly. Check ‘conan test’ command to know more about ‘test_folder’ project.

positional arguments:
  path                  Path to a folder containing a conanfile.py or to a
                        recipe file e.g., my_folder/conanfile.py
  reference             user/channel or pkg/version@user/channel (if name and
                        version not declared in conanfile.py) where the
                        package will be created

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -j JSON, --json JSON  json file path where the install information will be
                        written to
  -k, -ks, --keep-source
                        Do not remove the source folder in local cache, even
                        if the recipe changed. Use this for testing purposes
                        only
  -kb, --keep-build     Do not remove the build folder in local cache. Implies
                        --keep-source. Use this for testing purposes only
  -ne, --not-export     Do not export the conanfile.py
  -tbf TEST_BUILD_FOLDER, --test-build-folder TEST_BUILD_FOLDER
                        Working directory for the build of the test project.
  -tf TEST_FOLDER, --test-folder TEST_FOLDER
                        Alternative test folder name. By default it is
                        "test_package". Use "None" to skip the test stage
  -m [MANIFESTS], --manifests [MANIFESTS]
                        Install dependencies manifests in folder for later
                        verify. Default folder is .conan_manifests, but can be
                        changed
  -mi [MANIFESTS_INTERACTIVE], --manifests-interactive [MANIFESTS_INTERACTIVE]
                        Install dependencies manifests in folder for later
                        verify, asking user for confirmation. Default folder
                        is .conan_manifests, but can be changed
  -v [VERIFY], --verify [VERIFY]
                        Verify dependencies manifests against stored ones
  -b [BUILD], --build [BUILD]
                        Optional, use it to choose if you want to build from
                        sources: --build Build all from sources, do not use
                        binary packages. --build=never Never build, use binary
                        packages or fail if a binary package is not found.
                        --build=missing Build from code if a binary package is
                        not found. --build=outdated Build from code if the
                        binary is not built with the current recipe or when
                        missing binary package. --build=[pattern] Build always
                        these packages from source, but never build the
                        others. Allows multiple --build parameters. 'pattern'
                        is a fnmatch file pattern of a package name. Default
                        behavior: If you don't specify anything, it will be
                        similar to '--build=never', but package recipes can
                        override it with their 'build_policy' attribute in the
                        conanfile.py.
  -e ENV, --env ENV     Environment variables that will be set during the
                        package build, -e CXX=/usr/bin/clang++
  -o OPTIONS, --options OPTIONS
                        Define options values, e.g., -o Pkg:with_qt=true
  -pr PROFILE, --profile PROFILE
                        Apply the specified profile to the install command
  -r REMOTE, --remote REMOTE
                        Look in the specified remote server
  -s SETTINGS, --settings SETTINGS
                        Settings to build the package, overwriting the
                        defaults. e.g., -s compiler=gcc
  -u, --update          Check updates exist from upstream remotes

This is the recommended way to create packages.

The reference field can be:

A complete package reference: pkg/version@user/channel. In this case, the recipe doesn’t need to declare the name or the version. If the recipe declares them, they should match the provided values in the command line.
The user and channel: user/channel. The command will assume that the name and version are provided by the recipe.
The version, user and channel: version@user/channel. The recipe must provide the name, and if it does provide the version, it should match the command line one.

conan create . demo/testing is equivalent to:

$ conan export . demo/testing
$ conan install Hello/0.1@demo/testing --build=Hello
# package is created now, use test to test it
$ cd test_package
$ conan test . Hello/0.1@demo/testing

Tip

Sometimes you need to skip/disable test stage to avoid a failure while creating the package, i.e: when you are cross compiling libraries and target code cannot be executed in current host platform. In that case you can skip/disable the test package stage:

$ conan create . demo/testing --test-folder=None

conan create executes methods of a conanfile.py in the following order:

config_options()
configure()
requirements()
package_id()
build_requirements()
build_id()
system_requirements()
source()
imports()
build()
package()
package_info()

In case of installing a pre-built binary, steps from 5 to 11 will be skipped. Note that deploy() method is only used in conan install.