conan export-pkg

$ conan export-pkg [-h] [-bf BUILD_FOLDER] [-e ENV] [-f]
                   [-if INSTALL_FOLDER] [-o OPTIONS] [-pr PROFILE]
                   [-pf PACKAGE_FOLDER] [-s SETTINGS] [-sf SOURCE_FOLDER]
                   path reference

Exports a recipe & creates a package with given files calling the package() method applied to the local folders ‘–source-folder’ and ‘–build-folder’ and creates a new package in the local cache for the specified ‘reference’ and for the specified ‘–settings’, ‘–options’ and or ‘–profile’.

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 are not declared in the conanfile.py)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -bf BUILD_FOLDER, --build-folder BUILD_FOLDER
                        Directory for the build process. Defaulted to the
                        current directory. A relative path to current
                        directory can also be specified
  -e ENV, --env ENV     Environment variables that will be set during the
                        package build, -e CXX=/usr/bin/clang++
  -f, --force           Overwrite existing package if existing
  -if INSTALL_FOLDER, --install-folder INSTALL_FOLDER
                        Directory containing the conaninfo.txt and
                        conanbuildinfo.txt files (from previous 'conan
                        install'). Defaulted to --build-folder If these files
                        are found in the specified folder and any of '-e',
                        '-o', '-pr' or '-s' arguments are used, it will raise
                        an error.
  -o OPTIONS, --options OPTIONS
                        Define options values, e.g., -o pkg:with_qt=true
  -pr PROFILE, --profile PROFILE
                        Profile for this package
  -pf PACKAGE_FOLDER, --package-folder PACKAGE_FOLDER
                        folder containing a locally created package. If a
                        value is given, it won't call the recipe 'package()'
                        method, and will run a copy of the provided folder.
  -s SETTINGS, --settings SETTINGS
                        Define settings values, e.g., -s compiler=gcc
  -sf SOURCE_FOLDER, --source-folder SOURCE_FOLDER
                        Directory containing the sources. Defaulted to the
                        conanfile's directory. A relative path to current
                        directory can also be specified

conan export-pkg executes the following methods of a conanfile.py whenever --package-folder is used:

config_options()
configure()
requirements()
package_id()

In case a package folder is not specified, this command will also execute:

package()

Note that this is not the normal or recommended flow for creating Conan packages, as packages created this way will not have a reproducible build from sources. This command should be used when:

It is not possible to build the packages from sources (only pre-built binaries available).

You are developing your package locally and want to export the built artifacts to the local cache.

The command conan new <ref> --bare will create a simple recipe that could be used in combination with the export-pkg command. Check this How to package existing binaries.

export-pkg has two different modes of operation:

Specifying --package-folder will perform a copy of the given folder, without executing the package() method. Use it if you have already created the package, for example with conan package or with cmake.install() from the build() step.
Specifying --build-folder and/or --source-folder will execute the package() method, to filter, select and arrange the layout of the artifacts.

Examples:

Create a package from a directory containing the binaries for Windows/x86/Release:

Having these files:

Release_x86/lib/libmycoollib.a
Release_x86/lib/other.a
Release_x86/include/mylib.h
Release_x86/include/other.h

Run:

$ conan new Hello/0.1 --bare  # In case you still don't have a recipe for the binaries
$ conan export-pkg . Hello/0.1@user/stable -s os=Windows -s arch=x86 -s build_type=Release --build-folder=Release_x86

Create a package from a user folder build and sources folders:

Given these files in the current folder

sources/include/mylib.h
sources/src/file.cpp
build/lib/mylib.lib
build/lib/mylib.tmp
build/file.obj

And assuming the Hello/0.1@user/stable recipe has a package() method like this:

def package(self):
    self.copy("*.h", dst="include", src="include")
    self.copy("*.lib", dst="lib", keep_path=False)

Then, the following code will create a package in the conan local cache:

$ conan export-pkg . Hello/0.1@user/stable -pr=myprofile --source-folder=sources --build-folder=build

And such package will contain just the files:

include/mylib.h
lib/mylib.lib

Building a conan package (for architecture x86) in a local directory and then send it to the local cache:

conanfile.py

from conans import ConanFile, CMake, tools

class LibConan(ConanFile):
    name = "Hello"
    version = "0.1"
    ...

    def source(self):
        self.run("git clone https://github.com/memsharded/hello.git")

    def build(self):
        cmake = CMake(self)
        cmake.configure(source_folder="hello")
        cmake.build()

    def package(self):
        self.copy("*.h", dst="include", src="include")
        self.copy("*.lib", dst="lib", keep_path=False)

First we will call conan source to get our source code in the src directory, then conan install to install the requirements and generate the info files, conan build to build the package, and finally conan export-pkg to send the binary files to a package in the local cache:

$ conan source . --source-folder src
$ conan install . --install-folder build_x86 -s arch=x86
$ conan build . --build-folder build_x86 --source-folder src
$ conan export-pkg . Hello/0.1@user/stable --build-folder build_x86

In this case, in the conan export-pkg, you don’t need to specify the -s arch=x86 or any other setting, option, or profile, because it will all the information in the --build-folder the conaninfo.txt and conanbuildinfo.txt` that have been created with conan install.