CMake issue when Avast is running

Question

I have an issue when running CMake on Windows 10 when avast antivirus is running.

I wrote a small basic CMakeLists.txt :

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)

# set the project name
project(RayTracing)

# add the executable
add_executable(rat_tracing main.cpp)

When I run cmake -G "MSYS Makefiles" CMakeLists.txt with Avast activated I get::

-- The C compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.23/Modules/CMakeDetermineCompilerABI.cmake:49 (try_compile):
  Failed to open

    C:/Users/pc/Documents/C++/MyRayTracing/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/CMakeLists.txt

  Permission denied
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.23/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:26 (CMAKE_DETERMINE_COMPILER_ABI)
  CMakeLists.txt:4 (project)


-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - failed
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/Program Files/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.23/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:56 (try_compile):
  Failed to open

    C:/Users/pc/Documents/C++/MyRayTracing/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/CMakeLists.txt

  Permission denied
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:4 (project)


-- Check for working C compiler: C:/Program Files/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe - broken
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.23/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:69 (message):
  The C compiler

    "C:/Program Files/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:





  CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:4 (project)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "C:/Users/pc/Documents/C++/MyRayTracing/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
See also "C:/Users/pc/Documents/C++/MyRayTracing/CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log".

But when I disable Avast, everything works fine and I get :

-- The C compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/Program Files/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe - skipped
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/msys64/mingw64/bin/g++.exe - skipped
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/pc/Documents/C++/MyRayTracing

I've done some research, but no one seems to have had the same problem. The most similar cases are those where Avast thinks Cmake is a virus.

Thx.

Answer 1

While working on another small c++ project, I find a solution to this problem.

Create a small "Hello word !" program.

main.cpp

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello word ! " << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

And a small CMakeLists.txt.

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)

# set the project name
project(Tutorial)

# add the executable
add_executable(Tutorial main.cpp)

The use cmake or cmake-gui to configure and build the project.

At this point, a warning from Avast will appear. It will say that CMakeLists.txt is trying to modify a protected directory, in my case it was "C:/Users/pc/Documents/" and will ask if you allow it or not. Authorize it and it will work on any other project.