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@v1.4.0
    with:
      version: 1.4.357.0
      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:

• 1.4.357.0

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).

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