This Script builds OpenSSL, nghttp2 and cURL/libcurl for MacOS (x86_64, arm64), Mac Catalyst (x86_64, arm64), iOS (armv7, armv7s, arm64 and arm64e), iOS Simulator (x86_64, arm64), tvOS (arm64) and tvOS Simulator (x86_64). It includes patching for tvOS to not use fork() and adds HTTP2 support via nghttp2.

• 17-Mar-2024: Updated tvOS build script to work with XCode 15.3 and added --without-libpsl for cURL due to on-by-default policy (see cURL blog). TODO: Get a static build of libpsl for cross-compile.
• 19-Jul-2023: Added OpenSSL 3.0.x (LTS) Support and removed EOL bitcode for builds going forward.
• 13-Feb-2021: Update now builds XCFrameworks which supports all platforms and targets for easy import into your projects.
• 16-Jan-2021: Updated build scripts to allow user defined minimum macOS, iOS, tvOS and catalyst target build versions.
• 02-Jan-2021: Apple Silicon [Beta]: The script now builds OpenSSL, nghttp2 and libcurl libraries for MacOS arm64 targets, including iOS Simulator and Mac Catalyst. Script runs on Apple Silicon arm64 and Intel x86_64 build hosts. Not complete: tvOS Simulator.
• 14-Sep-2020: Mac Catalyst: This now optionally builds libraries for Mac Catalyst

The build.sh script calls the three build scripts below (openssl, nghttp and curl) which download the specified release version, configure and build the libraries and binaries.

The build script accepts several arguments to adjust versions and toggle features:

  ./build.sh [-o <OpenSSL version>] [-c <curl version>] [-n <nghttp2 version>] [-d] [-e] [-3] [-x] [-h] [...]

         -o <version>   Build OpenSSL version (default 3.0.9)
         -c <version>   Build curl version (default 8.1.2)
         -n <version>   Build nghttp2 version (default 1.55.1)
         -d             Compile without HTTP2 support
         -e             Compile with OpenSSL engine support
         -b             Compile without bitcode
         -m             Compile Mac Catalyst library
         -u <version>   Mac Catalyst iOS min target version (default 15.0)
         -3             Compile with SSLv3
         -s <version>   iOS min target version (default 8.0)
         -t <version>   tvOS min target version (default 9.0)
         -i <version>   macOS 86_64 min target version (default 11.6.6)
         -a <version>   macOS arm64 min target version (default 11.6.6)
         -x             No color output
         -h             Show usage

OpenSSL Engine Note: By default, the OpenSSL source disables ENGINE support for iOS builds. To force this active use this and the static engine support will be included: ./build.sh -e

Mac Catalyst Note: Static libraries can be built for Mac Catalyst. This often requires that you specify an recent Mac Catalyst iOS target version (e.g. 15.0). To build Catalyst binaries use the -m switch and specify the iOS target with -u: ./build.sh -m -u 15.0

Minimum macOS, iOS and tvOS target build versions are set by default in the build scripts or can be specified using command line arguments indicated above. Apple Silicon arm64 macOS targets will need to be 11.0 or higher.

1. Clone this Repo
2. Run the build script
3. Libraries and Binaries will be in the ./archive folder

git clone https://github.com/jasonacox/Build-OpenSSL-cURL.git
cd Build-OpenSSL-cURL
./build.sh

Default versions are specified in the build.sh script but you can specify the version you want to build via the command line, e.g.:

./build.sh -o 1.1.1g -c 7.72.0 -n 1.41.0

# Use -m to build for Mac Catalyst as well
./build.sh -o 1.1.1g -c 7.72.0 -n 1.41.0 -m

You can update the default version by editing this section in the build.sh script:

################################################
# EDIT this section to Select Default Versions #
################################################

OPENSSL="3.0.9"         # https://www.openssl.org/source/
LIBCURL="8.1.2"        # https://curl.haxx.se/download.html
NGHTTP2="1.55.1"        # https://nghttp2.org/

################################################

The build script requires:

• Xcode 10 or higher (12+ recommended)
• Xcode Command Line Tools
• pkg-config tool for nghttp2 (or brew to auto-install)

The openssl-build.sh script creates separate bitcode enabled target libraries for:

• MacOS - OS X (x86-64, arm64)
• iOS - iPhone (armv7, armv7s, arm64 and arm64e) and iPhoneSimulator (i386, x86-64, arm64)
• tvOS - AppleTVOS (arm64) and AppleTVSimulator (x86-64)

By default, the OpenSSL source disables ENGINE support for iOS builds. To force this active use build.sh -e

The tvOS build has fork() disable as the AppleTV tvOS does not support fork().

|____lib
   |____libcrypto.a
   |____libssl.a

NOTE: This script allows building the OpenSSL 3.0.x and 1.1.1 series libraries. The OpenSSL 1.1.1 series is supported until 11th September 2023. All older versions (including 1.1.0, 1.0.2, 1.0.0 and 0.9.8) are now out of support and should not be used. Users of these older versions are encouraged to upgrade to 3.0 as soon as possible.

The nghttp2-build.sh script builds the nghttp2 libraries used by libcurl for the HTTP2 protocol.

• MacOS - OS X (x86-64, arm64)
• iOS - iPhone (armv7, armv7s, arm64 and arm64e) and iPhoneSimulator (i386, x86-64, arm64)
• tvOS - AppleTVOS (arm64) and AppleTVSimulator (x86-64)

Edit build.sh to change the default version of nghttp2 that will be downloaded and built or specify the version on the command line.

build.sh -n 1.40.0 

Include the relevant library into your project. The pkg-config tool is required. The build script tests for this and will attempt to install if it is missing. Rename the appropriate file to libnghttp2.a:

|____lib
   |____libnghttp2_iOS.a
   |____libnghttp2_iOS-simulator.a
   |____libnghttp2_iOS-fat.a    <-- Contains both iOS and iOS-simulator binaries
   |____libnghttp2_Mac.a
   |____libnghttp2_tvOS.a
   |____libnghttp2_Catalyst.a

DISABLE HTTP2: The nghttp2 build can be disabled by using:

build.sh -d

The libcurl-build.sh script create separate bitcode enabled targets libraries for:

• MacOS - OS X (x86-64, arm64)
• iOS - iPhone (armv7, armv7s, arm64 and arm64e) and iPhoneSimulator (i386, x86-64, arm64)
• tvOS - AppleTVOS (arm64) and AppleTVSimulator (x86-64)

The curl build uses --with-ssl pointing to the above OpenSSL builds and --with-nghttp2 pointing to the above nghttp2 builds.. Edit build.sh to change the version of cURL that will be downloaded and built or specify the version on the command line.

build.sh -c 7.68.0 

Include the relevant library into your project. Rename the appropriate file to libcurl.a:

|____lib
   |____libcurl_iOS.a            <-- Contains iOS (armv7, armv7s, arm64 and arm64e) libraries
   |____libcurl_iOS-simulator.a  <-- Contains iOS-simulator (x86_64, arm64) libraries
   |____libcurl_iOS-fat.a        <-- Contains iOS and iOS-simulator (x86_64) libraries
   |____libcurl_Mac.a            <-- Contains MacOS (x86_64, arm64) libraries
   |____libcurl_tvOS.a           <-- Contains tvOS (arm64) and tvOS-simulator (x86_64) libraries
   |____libcurl_Catalyst.a       <-- Contains Mac Catalyst (x86_64, arm64) libraries

NOTE: By default, this script only builds bitcode versions. To build non-bitcode versions:

build.sh -b

Xcode7.1b or later is required for the tvOS SDK.

To include the OpenSSL and libcurl libraries in your Xcode projects, import the appropriate libraries for your project from:

• Curl - curl/lib [rename to libcurl.a]
• OpenSSL - openssl/Mac/lib, openssl/iOS/lib, openssl/tvOS/lib
• nghttp2 (HTTP2) - nghttp2/lib [rename to libnghttp2.a]

See the example 'iOS Test App'.

1. Clone this Repo

2. Run build.sh

3. Headers, libraries and XCFrameworks are stored in the archives folder.

4. Copy the headers to your project.

5. Import appropriate "libssl.a", "libcrypto.a", "libcurl.a", "libnghttp2.a", or alternatively, you can copy the appropriate xcframework folder into your Xcode project.

6. Reference Headers, "Headers/openssl", "Headers/curl".

7. Specifying the flag "-lz" in "Other Linker Flags" (OTHER_LDFLAGS) setting in the "Linking" section in the Build settings of the target.

8. To use cURL, see below:

   #include <curl/curl.h>
   
   - (void)foo {    
       CURL* cURL = curl_easy_init();  
       ...  
   }
   

NOTE: You may need to edit the curlbuild.h header if you get an error similar to this: 'curl_rule_01' declared as an array with a negative size

curlbuild.h

/* The size of `long', as computed by sizeof. */
// ADD Condition for 64 Bit
#ifdef __LP64__
#define CURL_SIZEOF_LONG 8
#else
#define CURL_SIZEOF_LONG 4
#endif

You may also need to edit this section:

/* Signed integral data type used for curl_off_t. */
//#define CURL_TYPEOF_CURL_OFF_T long
//ADD Condition for 64 Bit
#define CURL_TYPEOF_CURL_OFF_T int64_t

curl/curlbuild-ios-universal.h is a universal example, tested on iOS platforms, made out of libcurl-7.50.3. Check the diff between this file and curlbuild.h before using it.

Example Xcode project "iOS Test App" is located in the example folder. This project builds an iPhone Objective C App using libcurl, openssl, and nghttp2 libraries via XCFrameworks. The app provides a simple single text field interface for URL input and produces a curl response.

The Example app project builds an iOS, iOS Simulator and Mac Catalyst target.

|
|____archive
|
|____curl
| |____libcurl-build.sh
|
|____example
| |____iOS Test App
|
|____nghttp2
| |____nghttp2-build.sh
|
|____openssl
| |____openssl-build.sh
|
|____build.sh
|____clean.sh

xcrun -sdk iphoneos lipo -info openssl/*/lib/*.a
xcrun -sdk iphoneos lipo -info nghttp2/lib/*.a
xcrun -sdk iphoneos lipo -info curl/lib/*.a

• Catalyst (Intel + Apple Silicon)

  • openssl/Catalyst/lib/libcrypto.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • openssl/Catalyst/lib/libssl.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_Catalyst.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • curl/lib/libcurl_Catalyst.a are: x86_64 arm64

• Mac (Intel + Apple Silicon)

  • openssl/Mac/lib/libcrypto.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • openssl/Mac/lib/libssl.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_Mac.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • curl/lib/libcurl_Mac.a are: x86_64 arm64

• iOS Only

  • openssl/iOS/lib/libcrypto.a are: armv7 armv7s arm64 arm64e
  • openssl/iOS/lib/libssl.a are: armv7 armv7s arm64 arm64e
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_iOS.a are: armv7 armv7s arm64 arm64e
  • curl/lib/libcurl_iOS.a are: armv7 armv7s arm64 arm64e

• iOS Simulator (Intel + Apple Silicon)

  • openssl/iOS-simulator/lib/libcrypto.a are: i386 x86_64 arm64
  • openssl/iOS-simulator/lib/libssl.a are: i386 x86_64 arm64
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_iOS-simulator.a are: i386 x86_64 arm64
  • curl/lib/libcurl_iOS-simulator.a are: i386 x86_64 arm64

• iOS + Intel Mac Simulator

  • openssl/iOS-fat/lib/libcrypto.a are: armv7 armv7s i386 x86_64 arm64 arm64e
  • openssl/iOS-fat/lib/libssl.a are: armv7 armv7s i386 x86_64 arm64 arm64e
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_iOS-fat.a are: armv7 armv7s i386 x86_64 arm64 arm64e
  • curl/lib/libcurl_iOS-fat.a are: armv7 armv7s i386 x86_64 arm64 arm64e

• tvOS + Intel Mac Simulator

  • openssl/tvOS/lib/libcrypto.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • openssl/tvOS/lib/libssl.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • nghttp2/lib/libnghttp2_tvOS.a are: x86_64 arm64
  • curl/lib/libcurl_tvOS.a are: x86_64 arm64

• Universal Mac Binaries

  • curl: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures:
    • (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
    • (for architecture arm64): Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64
  • openssl: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures:
    • (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
    • (for architecture arm64): Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64

• Consolidated OpenSSL Libraries for iOS

  • openssl/openssl-ios-armv7_armv7s_arm64_arm64e.a are: armv7 armv7s arm64 arm64e
  • openssl/openssl-ios-x86_64-simulator.a are: i386 x86_64
  • openssl/openssl-ios-x86_64-maccatalyst.a is architecture: x86_64

• XCFrameworks

    |__ libcrypto.xcframework
    │   |__ ios-arm64_arm64e_armv7_armv7s
    │   |__ ios-arm64_i386_x86_64-simulator
    │   |__ tvos-arm64
    │   |__ tvos-arm64_x86_64-simulator
    |
    |__ libcurl.xcframework
    │   |__ ios-arm64_arm64e_armv7_armv7s
    │   |__ ios-arm64_i386_x86_64-simulator
    │   |__ tvos-arm64
    │   |__ tvos-arm64_x86_64-simulator
    |
    |__ libnghttp2.xcframework
    │   |__ ios-arm64_arm64e_armv7_armv7s
    │   |__ ios-arm64_i386_x86_64-simulator
    │   |__ tvos-arm64
    │   |__ tvos-arm64_x86_64-simulator
    |
    |__ libssl.xcframework
        |__ ios-arm64_arm64e_armv7_armv7s
        |__ ios-arm64_i386_x86_64-simulator
        |__ tvos-arm64
        |__ tvos-arm64_x86_64-simulator
  

The build.sh script will create an ./archive folder and store all the *.a libraries built along with the header files and a MacOS binaries for curl and openssl.

    |___libcurl-7.66.0-openssl-1.1.1d-nghttp2-1.39.2
         |
         |____cacert.pem
         |
         |____bin/
         |  |____openssl*
         |  |____curl*
         |
         |____framework/
         |
         |____lib/
         |  |____Catalyst/
         |  |____iOS/
         |  |____iOS-simulator/
         |  |____iOS-fat/        <-- Contains universal iOS and iOS-simulator binaries
         |  |____MacOS/
         |  |____tvOS/
         |
         |____include/
            |____openssl/
            |____curl/

Previous builds can be downloaded form the Github releases for this project: https://github.com/jasonacox/Build-OpenSSL-cURL/releases

The MIT License is used for this project. See LICENSE file.

• Daniel Stenberg, @bagder, author and maintainer of cURL and libcurl https://daniel.haxx.se/
• OpenSSL Software Foundation, maintainer of OpenSSL https://www.openssl.org/
• Tatsuhiro Tsujikawa, @tatsuhiro_t, author and maintainer of nghttp2 library and tools https://github.com/nghttp2/nghttp2

• Jason Cox, @jasonacox https://github.com/jasonacox/Build-OpenSSL-cURL

• Preston Jennings, @prestonj, Fixed Mac target build (was building for iOS not OSX) #2
• TosSense, @tossense, Fixed typo and add a header example of curlbuild.h #13
• Jbfitb, @jbfitb, Added armv7s to lipo for libcrypto and libssl #25
• Sammy Lan, @SammyLan, Added support for -b(disablebitcode) option #37
• Tom Peeters, @Tommy2d, Mac Catalyst build support and separated binaries for simulators #42 #45
• Foster Brereton, @fosterbrereton, Increased compilation speed using all cores #48
• Mo Farajmandi, @mofarajmandi, Added support for XCFramework and Apple Silicon tvOS Simulator #51

• Felix Schwarz, IOSPIRIT GmbH, @@felix_schwarz. https://gist.github.com/c61c0f7d9ab60f53ebb0.git
• Bochun Bai https://github.com/sinofool/build-libcurl-ios
• Stefan Arentz https://github.com/st3fan/ios-openssl
• Felix Schulze https://github.com/x2on/OpenSSL-for-iPhone/blob/master/build-libssl.sh
• James Moore https://gist.github.com/foozmeat/5154962
• Peter Steinberger, PSPDFKit GmbH, @steipete. https://gist.github.com/felix-schwarz/c61c0f7d9ab60f53ebb0

• Thanks to all of you who submit feedback and create issue tickets to help us improve the build scripts!

The AppleTVOS curl build may fail due to a macports "ar" program being picked up (it was in the path - You will see a log message about /opt/local/bin/ar failing in the curl log). A quick cleanup of the path (so that the build uses /usr/bin/ar) fixed the problem. - Thanks to Preston Jennings (prestonj) for this tip.

If the build.sh script fails during iOS build phase with an error "C Compiler cannot create executables" this is likely due to not having a clean installation of the Xcode command line tools. Launch Xcode and re-install the command line tools.

If you see "FATAL ERROR" during the nghttp2 build phase, this is likely due to not having 'pkg-config' tools installed. Install manually or install 'brew' to have the script install it for you.

If you are on a new macOS installation and wonder why the build is failing, you might need to set the correct path for the command line tools:

xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app