install-vulkan-sdk

This action automatically downloads and installs the Vulkan SDK development environment.

Usage

  - name: Install Vulkan SDK
    uses: technoir-lab/install-vulkan-sdk@v1.4.1
    with:
      version: 1.4.363.0
      components: com.lunarg.vulkan.volk # Defaults to com.lunarg.vulkan.core
      cache: true

Parameters:

• version (optional; default=latest): N.N.N.N style Vulkan SDK release number (or latest to use most recent official release).
• components (optional; default=com.lunarg.vulkan.core): space-separated list of component ids to install, e.g. com.lunarg.vulkan.core com.lunarg.vulkan.vma; com.lunarg.vulkan.core is always installed. On macOS and Windows only the listed components are installed (by default: core only). Component ids that are not available on the runner's OS are skipped. The Linux SDK is a single archive, so it always installs the full SDK.
• cache (optional; default=false): boolean indicating whether to cache the downloaded installer file between builds. The cache key includes the resolved component list, so different component sets use separate cache entries.
• quiet (optional; default=false): when using latest an Annotation is added to builds with actual SDK number; set quiet: true to silence.

SDK Revisions

Know working SDK version for windows/mac/linux:

• 1.4.363.0

Available SDK versions:

• windows.json / warm.json
• linux.json
• mac.json
• See also https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home

SDK Components

ID	OS	Description
com.lunarg.vulkan.core	All	The Vulkan SDK core (always installed): Vulkan Loader, layers, VkConfig, and essential shader development tools.
com.lunarg.vulkan.ios	macOS	Development libraries for iOS.
com.lunarg.vulkan.kosmic	macOS	KosmicKrisp (Vulkan on Metal) technical preview.
com.lunarg.vulkan.usr	macOS	System-wide installation of ICDs, layers, and SDK tools to /usr/local.
com.lunarg.vulkan.vma	macOS/Windows	Vulkan Memory Allocator header.
com.lunarg.vulkan.volk	macOS/Windows	Volk header, source, and library.
com.lunarg.vulkan.glm	macOS/Windows	GLM headers.
com.lunarg.vulkan.sdl2	macOS/Windows	SDL2 and SDL3 libraries and headers.
com.lunarg.vulkan.x64	Windows	X64 binaries for cross compiling.
com.lunarg.vulkan.arm64	Windows	ARM64 binaries for cross compiling.
com.lunarg.vulkan.debug	Windows	Shader toolchain debug symbols (64-bit).

On macOS the action runs the SDK installer as the current user. com.lunarg.vulkan.usr is the exception: it installs files outside the SDK directory, so the action runs the installer with sudo and then hands the installed SDK over to the current user.

Environment

The action sources the SDK's own environment setup script on macOS and Linux, then exports the resulting variables for every later job step:

• macOS: <VULKAN_SDK_DIR>/setup-env.sh
• Linux: <VULKAN_SDK_DIR>/<version>/setup-env.sh
• Windows: the SDK provides no setup-env.sh (the installer sets environment variables itself), so the action sets the equivalent variables directly.

Exported variables:

• VULKAN_SDK (standard variable used by cmake and other build tools; on macOS this points at the installed macOS subdirectory, and on Linux at the installed <version>/x86_64 subdirectory)
• VULKAN_SDK_VERSION
• VULKAN_SDK_PLATFORM
• PATH is extended to include VULKAN_SDK/bin (so SDK tools like glslangValidator can be used directly)
• C_INCLUDE_PATH (set to $VULKAN_SDK/include, or $VULKAN_SDK/Include on Windows) so C/C++ compilers find the SDK headers without extra -I flags
• LIBRARY_PATH (set to $VULKAN_SDK/lib, or $VULKAN_SDK/Lib on Windows) so linkers find the SDK libraries without extra -L flags
• LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Linux; from setup-env.sh, set to $VULKAN_SDK/lib/VulkanLoader/lib by default) so dynamically linked SDK libraries (e.g. the Vulkan loader) are found at run time without extra rpath flags
• DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH (macOS; from setup-env.sh, set to $VULKAN_SDK/lib) so dynamically linked SDK libraries (e.g. the Vulkan loader) are found at run time without extra rpath flags
• VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH (macOS/Linux; from setup-env.sh) so SDK layers are found
• VK_ICD_FILENAMES (macOS; from setup-env.sh) so MoltenVK is found
• VK_DRIVER_FILES (macOS; from setup-env.sh) so MoltenVK is found
• PKG_CONFIG_PATH (macOS/Linux; from setup-env.sh) so SDK .pc files are found
• CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH (Linux; from setup-env.sh) so CMake configs are found

Any pre-existing C_INCLUDE_PATH/LIBRARY_PATH/LD_LIBRARY_PATH/DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH values are preserved. On macOS/Linux setup-env.sh also preserves pre-existing PATH/PKG_CONFIG_PATH/VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH values; the SDK directories are prepended (or appended for PATH on macOS).

Caveats

Please be aware that Vulkan SDKs can use a lot of disk space; up to 2.4GB depending on the OS and components installed.

References

• Vulkan SDK
• Vulkan SDK web services API