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# FAQ

So that this doesn't become repetitive: for the reasons behind the answers
below, see the [Build overview](build_overview.md) page. The goal of the answers
here is to be as helpful and concise as possible.

## What version of GHC is used when I run something like `stack ghci`?

The version of GHC, as well as which packages can be installed, are
specified by the _resolver_. This may be something like `lts-8.12`,
which is from the
[Long Term Support (LTS) Haskell](https://github.com/fpco/lts-haskell/)
project. The [user guide](GUIDE.md) discusses resolvers in more
detail.

Which resolver is used is determined by finding the relevant
`stack.yaml` configuration file for the directory you're running the
command from. This essentially works by:

1. Check for a `STACK_YAML` environment variable or the `--stack-yaml`
   command line argument
2. If none present, check for a `stack.yaml` file in the current
   directory or any parents
3. If no `stack.yaml` was found, use the _implicit global_

The implicit global is a shared project used whenever you're outside
of another project. It's a sort of "mutable shared state" that you
should be aware of when working with Stack. The most recent request
when working with the implicit global is how to move to a more recent
LTS snapshot. You can do this by running the following from outside of
a project:

    stack config set resolver lts

## Where is stack installed and will it interfere with `ghc` (etc) I already have installed?

Stack itself is installed in normal system locations based on the mechanism you
used (see the [Install and upgrade](install_and_upgrade.md) page). Stack
installs the Stackage libraries in `~/.stack` and any project libraries or
extra dependencies in a `.stack-work` directory within each project's
directory. None of this should affect any existing Haskell tools at all.

## What is the relationship between stack and cabal?

* Cabal-the-library is used by stack to build your Haskell code. See the
  [Architecture: Plan Execution](architecture.md#plan-execution) section for
  more detail, including how the Cabal version is chosen.
* A .cabal file is provided for each package, and defines all package-level
  metadata just like it does in the cabal-install world: modules, executables,
  test suites, etc. No change at all on this front.
* A stack.yaml file references 1 or more packages, and provides information on
  where dependencies come from.
* `stack build` currently initializes a stack.yaml from the existing .cabal
  file. Project initialization is something that is still being discussed and
  there may be more options here for new projects in the future (see issue
  [253](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/253))

For detail on the differences between a `stack.yaml` and Cabal package file, see
[stack.yaml vs cabal package file](stack_yaml_vs_cabal_package_file.md).

## I need to use a different version of a package than what is provided by the LTS Haskell snapshot I'm using, what should I do?

You can make tweaks to a snapshot by modifying the `extra-deps` configuration value in your `stack.yaml` file, e.g.:

```yaml
resolver: lts-2.9
packages:
- '.'
extra-deps:
- text-1.2.1.1
```

## I need to use a package (or version of a package) that is not available on hackage, what should I do?

Add it to the
[`extra-deps`](yaml_configuration.md#extra-deps) list in your project's
`stack.yaml`, specifying the package's source code location relative to the
directory where your `stack.yaml` file lives, e.g.

```yaml
resolver: lts-2.10
packages:
- '.'
extra-deps:
- third-party/proprietary-dep
- github-version-of/conduit
- patched/diagrams
```

The above example specifies that the `proprietary-dep` package is found in the
project's `third-party` folder, that the `conduit` package is found in the
project's `github-version-of` folder, and that the `diagrams` package is found
in the project's `patched` folder. This autodetects changes and reinstalls the
package.

To install packages directly from a Git repository, use e.g.:

```yaml
extra-deps:
  - git: https://github.com/githubuser/reponame.git
    commit: somecommitID
```

## What is the meaning of the arguments given to stack build, test, etc?

Those are the targets of the build, and can have one of three formats:

* A package name (e.g., `my-package`) will mean that the `my-package` package
  must be built
* A package identifier (e.g., `my-package-1.2.3`), which includes a specific
  version. This is useful for passing to `stack install` for getting a specific
  version from upstream
* A directory (e.g., `./my-package`) for including a local directory's package,
  including any packages in subdirectories

## I need to modify an upstream package, how should I do it?

Typically, you will want to get the source for the package and then add it to
your `packages` list in stack.yaml. (See the previous question.)
`stack unpack` is one approach for getting the source.
Another would be to add the upstream package as a submodule to your
project.

## How do I use this with sandboxes?

Explicit sandboxing on the part of the user is not required by stack. All
builds are automatically isolated into separate package databases without any
user interaction. This ensures that you won't accidentally corrupt your
installed packages with actions taken in other projects.

## Can I run `cabal` commands inside `stack exec`?

With a recent enough version of cabal-install (>= 1.22), you can. For older
versions, due to
[haskell/cabal#1800](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/1800), this does
not work. Note that even with recent versions, for some commands you may need
this extra level of indirection:
```
$ stack exec -- cabal exec -- cabal <command>
```

However, virtually all `cabal` commands have an equivalent in stack, so this
should not be necessary. In particular, `cabal` users may be accustomed to the
`cabal run` command. In stack:
```
$ stack build && stack exec <program-name>
```
Or, if you want to install the binaries in a shared location:
```
$ stack install
$ <program-name>
```
assuming your `$PATH` has been set appropriately.

## Using custom preprocessors

If you have a custom preprocessor, for example, Ruby, you may have a
file like:

***B.erb***

``` haskell
module B where

<% (1..5).each do |i| %>
test<%= i %> :: Int
test<%= i %> = <%= i %>
<% end %>
```

To ensure that Stack picks up changes to this file for rebuilds, add
the following lines to your stack.yaml file:

```yaml
    custom-preprocessor-extensions:
    - erb

    require-stack-version: ">= 2.6.0"
```

And for backwards compatability with older versions of stack, also add
the following line to your .cabal file:

    extra-source-files:   B.erb

You could also use the [`--custom-preprocessor-extensions` flag](yaml_configuration.md#custom-preprocessor-extensions)

## I already have GHC installed, can I still use stack?

Yes. In its default configuration, stack will simply ignore any system GHC
installation and use a sandboxed GHC that it has installed itself (typically
via the `stack setup` command). You can find these sandboxed GHC installations
in `~/.stack/programs/$platform/ghc-$version/`.

If you would like stack to use your system GHC installation, use the
[`--system-ghc` flag](yaml_configuration.md#system-ghc) or run
`stack config set system-ghc --global true` to make stack check your
`PATH` for a suitable GHC by default.

Note that stack can only use a system GHC installation if its version is
compatible with the configuration of the current project, particularly the
[`resolver` setting](yaml_configuration.md#resolver).

Note that GHC installation doesn't work for all OSes, so in some cases you
will need to use `system-ghc` and install GHC yourself.

## How does stack determine what GHC to use?

In its default configuration, stack determines from the current project which
GHC version, architecture etc. it needs. It then looks in
`~/.stack/programs/$platform/ghc-$version/` for a compatible GHC, requesting
to install one via `stack setup` if none is found.

If you are using the [`--system-ghc` flag](yaml_configuration.md/#system-ghc) or
have configured `system-ghc: true` either in the project `stack.yaml`
or the global `~/.stack/config.yaml`, stack will use the first GHC that it finds
on your `PATH`, falling back on its sandboxed installations only if the found GHC
doesn't comply with the various requirements (version, architecture) that your
project needs.

See [this issue](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/420) for a
detailed discussion of stack's behavior when `system-ghc` is enabled.

## How do I upgrade to GHC 7.10.2 with stack?

If you already have a prior version of GHC use `stack --resolver ghc-7.10 setup --reinstall`.
If you don't have any GHC installed, you can skip the `--reinstall`.

## How do I get extra build tools?

stack will automatically install build tools required by your packages or their
dependencies, in particular alex and happy.

__NOTE__: This works when using lts or nightly resolvers, not with ghc or
custom resolvers. You can manually install build tools by running, e.g.,
`stack build alex happy`.

## How does stack choose which snapshot to use when creating a new config file?

It checks the two most recent LTS Haskell major versions and the most recent
Stackage Nightly for a snapshot that is compatible with all of the version
bounds in your .cabal file, favoring the most recent LTS. For more information,
see the snapshot auto-detection section in the architecture document.

## I'd like to use my installed packages in a different directory. How do I tell stack where to find my packages?

Set the `STACK_YAML` environment variable to point to the `stack.yaml` config
file for your project. Then you can run `stack exec`, `stack ghc`, etc., from
any directory and still use your packages.

## My tests are failing. What should I do?

Like all other targets, `stack test` runs test suites in parallel by default.
This can cause problems with test suites that depend on global resources such
as a database or binding to a fixed port number. A quick hack is to force stack
to run all test suites in sequence, using `stack test --jobs=1`. For test
suites to run in parallel developers should ensure that their test suites do
not depend on global resources (e.g. by asking the OS for a random port to bind
to) and where unavoidable, add a lock in order to serialize access to shared
resources.

## Can I get bash autocompletion?

Yes, see the [shell-autocompletion documentation](shell_autocompletion.md)

## How do I update my package index?

Users of cabal are used to running `cabal update` regularly. You can do the
same with stack by running `stack update`. But generally, it's not necessary:
if the package index is missing, or if a snapshot refers to package/version
that isn't available, stack will automatically update and then try again. If
you run into a situation where stack doesn't automatically do the update for
you, please report it as a bug.

## Isn't it dangerous to automatically update the index? Can't that corrupt build plans?

No, stack is very explicit about which packages it's going to build for you.
There are three sources of information to tell it which packages to install:
the selected snapshot, the `extra-deps` configuration value, and your local
packages. The only way to get stack to change its build plan is to modify one
of those three. Updating the index will have no impact on stack's behavior.

## I have a custom package index I'd like to use, how do I do so?

You can configure this in your stack.yaml. See [YAML configuration](yaml_configuration.md).

## How can I make sure my project builds against multiple ghc versions?

You can create multiple yaml files for your project,
one for each build plan. For example, you might set up your project directory like so:

```
myproject/
  stack-7.8.yaml
  stack-7.10.yaml
  stack.yaml --> symlink to stack-7.8.yaml
  myproject.cabal
  src/
    ...
```

When you run `stack build`, you can set the
`STACK_YAML` environment variable to indicate which build plan to use.

```
$ stack build                             # builds using the default stack.yaml
$ STACK_YAML=stack-7.10.yaml stack build  # builds using the given yaml file
```

## I heard you can use this with Docker?

Yes, stack supports using Docker with images that contain preinstalled Stackage
packages and the tools. See [Docker integration](docker_integration.md) for details.

## How do I use this with Travis CI?

See the [Travis CI instructions](travis_ci.md)

## How do I use this with Azure CI?

See the [Azure CI instructions](azure_ci.md)

## What is licensing restrictions on Windows?

Currently on Windows GHC produces binaries linked statically with [GNU Multiple
Precision Arithmetic Library](https://gmplib.org/) (GMP), which is used by
[integer-gmp](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/integer-gmp) library to
provide big integer implementation for Haskell. Contrary to the majority of
Haskell code licensed under permissive BSD3 license, GMP library is licensed
under LGPL, which means resulting binaries [have to be provided with source
code or object files](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#LGPLStaticVsDynamic).
That may or may not be acceptable for your situation. Current workaround is to
use GHC built with alternative big integer implementation called
integer-simple, which is free from LGPL limitations as it's pure Haskell and
does not use GMP.  Unfortunately it has yet to be available out of the box with
stack. See [issue #399](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/399)
for the ongoing effort and information on workarounds.

## How to get a working executable on Windows?

When executing a binary after building with `stack build` (e.g. for target
"foo"), the command `foo.exe` might complain about missing runtime libraries
(whereas `stack exec foo` works).

Windows is not able to find the necessary C++ libraries from the standard
prompt because they're not in the PATH environment variable. `stack exec` works
because it's modifying PATH to include extra things.

Those libraries are shipped with GHC (and, theoretically in some cases, MSYS).
The easiest way to find them is `stack exec which`. E.g.

    >stack exec which libstdc++-6.dll
    /c/Users/Michael/AppData/Local/Programs/stack/i386-windows/ghc-7.8.4/mingw/bin/libstdc++-6.dll

A quick workaround is adding this path to the PATH environment variable or
copying the files somewhere Windows finds them (cf. https://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/7d83bc18.aspx).

Cf. issue [#425](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/425).

Another issue that may arise with building on Windows is as follows. The default
location of stack's programs folder is `%LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\stack`. If there
is a space character in the `%LOCALAPPDATA%` path this may, in some
circumstances, cause problems with building packages that make use of the GNU
project's `autoconf` package and `configure` shell script files. It may be
necessary to override the default location of stack's programs folder. See
[Non-project-specific config option, local-programs-path](yaml_configuration.md)
for more informaton.

Cf. issue [#4726](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/4726)

## Can I change stack's default temporary directory?

Stack downloads and extracts files to `$STACK_ROOT/programs` on most platforms,
which defaults to `~/.stack/programs`. On Windows `$LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\stack`
is used. If there is not enough free space in this directory, Stack may fail.
For instance, `stack setup` with a GHC installation requires roughly 1GB free.
If this is an issue, you can set `local-programs-path` in your
`~/.stack/config.yaml` to a directory on a file system with more free space.

If you use Stack with Nix integration, be aware that Nix uses a `TMPDIR`
variable, and if it is not set Nix sets it to some subdirectory of `/run`, which
on most Linuxes is a Ramdir. Nix will run the builds in `TMPDIR`, therefore if
you don't have enough RAM you will get errors about disk space. If this happens
to you, please _manually_ set `TMPDIR` before launching Stack to some directory
on the disk.

## Why doesn't stack rebuild my project when I specify `--ghc-options` on the command line?

Because GHC options often only affect optimization levels and warning behavior, stack doesn't recompile
when it detects an option change by default. This behavior can be changed though by setting the
[`rebuild-ghc-options` option](yaml_configuration.md#rebuild-ghc-options) to `true`.

To force recompilation manually, use the `--force-dirty` flag. If this still doesn't lead to a rebuild,
add the `-fforce-recomp` flag to your `--ghc-options`.

## Why doesn't stack apply my `--ghc-options` to my dependencies?

By default, stack applies command line GHC options only to local packages (these are all
the packages that are specified in the `packages` section of your `stack.yaml`).
For an explanation of this choice see [this discussion on the issue tracker](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/827#issuecomment-133263678).

If you still want to set specific GHC options for a dependency, use the [`ghc-options` option](yaml_configuration.md#ghc-options) in your
`stack.yaml` or global `~/.stack/config.yaml`.

To change the set of packages that command line GHC options apply to, use the [`apply-ghc-options` option](yaml_configuration.md#apply-ghc-options).

## stack setup on a windows system only tells me to add certain paths to the PATH variable instead of doing it

If you are using a powershell session, it is easy to automate even that step:

    $env:Path = ( stack setup | %{ $_ -replace '[^ ]+ ', ''} ), $env:Path -join ";"

## How do I reset / remove Stack (such as to do a completely fresh build)?

The first thing to remove is project-specific `.stack-work` directory within
the project's directory. Next, remove `~/.stack` directory overall. You may
have errors if you remove the latter but leave the former. Removing Stack
itself will relate to how it was installed, and if you used GHC installed
outside of Stack, that would need to be removed separately.

## How does stack handle parallel builds? What exactly does it run in parallel?

See [issue #644](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/644) for more details.

## I get strange `ld` errors about recompiling with "-fPIC"

(Updated in January 2019)

This is related to more recent versions of Linux distributions that have GCC
with PIE enabled by default.  The continuously-updated distros like Arch, in
particular, had been in flux with this change and the upgrading
libtinfo6/ncurses6, and there were some workarounds attempted in Stack that
ended up causing trouble as these distros evolved.

GHC added official support for this setup in 8.0.2, so if you are using an
older version your best bet is to upgrade.  You may be able to work around it
for older versions by editing `~/.stack/programs/x86_64-osx/ghc-VER/lib/ghc-
VER/settings` (replace `VER` with the GHC version) and adding `-no-pie` (or
`--no-pie` in the case of Gentoo, at least as of December 2017) to the __C
compiler link flags__.

If `stack setup` complains that there is no `linuxNN-*-nopie` bindist available,
try adding `ghc-build: *` (replacing the `*` with the actual value that
precedes `-nopie`, which may be empty) to your `~/.stack/config.yaml` (this
will no longer be necessary for stack >= 1.7).

If you are experiencing this with GHC >= 8.0.2, try running `stack setup
--reinstall` if you've upgraded your Linux distribution or you set up GHC
before late December 2017.

If GHC doesn't recognize your C compiler as being able to use `-no-pie`,
this can happen even with GCC and Clang, it might be necessary to enable
this feature manually. To do this, just change
`("C compiler supports -no-pie", "NO"),` to `("C compiler supports -no-pie", "YES"),`
in the file `~/.stack/programs/x86_64-osx/ghc-VER/lib/ghc-VER/settings`.

If you are still having trouble after trying the above, check the following
for more possible workarounds:

  * [Previous version of this FAQ entry](https://docs.haskellstack.org/en/v1.6.3/faq/#i-get-strange-ld-errors-about-recompiling-with-fpic)
  * Related issues:
    [#3518](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/3518),
    [#2712](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/2712),
    [#3630](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/3630),
    [#3648](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/3648)

## Where does the output from `--ghc-options=-ddump-splices` (and other `-ddump*` options) go?

These are written to `*.dump-*` files inside the package's `.stack-work`
directory. Specifically, they will be available at
`PKG-DIR/$(stack path --dist-dir)/build/SOURCE-PATH`, where `SOURCE-PATH` is the path to the source
file, relative to the location of the `*.cabal` file. When building named
components such as test-suites, `SOURCE-PATH` will also include
`COMPONENT/COMPONENT-tmp`, where `COMPONENT` is the name of the component.

## <a name="dyld-library-path-ignored"></a>Why is DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH ignored?

If you are on Mac OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later, there is an
[upstream GHC issue](https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/11617)
which
[prevents the `DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH` environment variable from being passed to GHC](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/1161)
when System Integrity Protection (a.k.a. "rootless") is enabled. There are two
known workarounds:

 1. Known to work in all cases: [disable System Integrity Protection](http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/).  **WARNING: Disabling SIP will severely reduce the security of your system, so only do this if absolutely necessary!**
 2. Experimental: [modify GHC's shell script wrappers to use a shell outside the protected directories](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/1161#issuecomment-186690904).

## <a name="usr-bin-ar-permission-denied"></a>Why do I get a `/usr/bin/ar: permission denied` error?

If you are on OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or
later, GHC 7.8.4 is
[incompatible with System Integrity Protection (a.k.a. "rootless")](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/563).
GHC 7.10.2 includes a fix, so this only affects users of GHC 7.8.4. If you
cannot upgrade to GHC 7.10.2, you can work around it by
[disabling System Integrity Protection](http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/).  **WARNING: Disabling SIP will severely reduce the security of your system, so only do this if absolutely necessary!**

## Why is the `--` argument separator ignored in Windows PowerShell

Some versions of Windows PowerShell
[don't pass the `--` to programs](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/813).
The workaround is to quote the `"--"`, e.g.:

    stack exec "--" cabal --version

This is known to be a problem on Windows 7, but seems to be fixed on Windows 10.

## Does stack also install the system/C libraries that some Cabal packages depend on?

No, this is currently out of the scope of stack's target set of features.
Instead of attempting to automate the installation of 3rd party dependencies, we
have the following approaches for handling system dependencies:

* Nix and docker help make your build and execution environment deterministic
  and predictable. This way, you can install system dependencies into a
  container, and share this container with all developers.

* If you have installed some libraries into a non-standard location,
  [`extra-lib-dirs` / `extra-include-dirs`](yaml_configuration.md#extra-include-dirsextra-lib-dirs)
  to specify it.

In the future, stack might give OS specific suggestions for how to install
system libraries.

## How can I make `stack` aware of my custom SSL certificates?

### macOS

In principle, you can use the following command to add a certificate to your system certificate keychain:

    sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain <certificate>

Some users have reported issues with this approach, see
[#907](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/907) for more
information.

### Other *NIX OSs

Use the `SYSTEM_CERTIFICATE_PATH` environment variable to point at the directory
where you keep your SSL certificates.

## How do I get `verbose` output from GHC when I build with cabal?

Unfortunately `stack build` does not have an obvious equivalent to `cabal build -vN` which shows verbose output from GHC when building. The easiest workaround is to add `ghc-options: -vN` to the .cabal file or pass it via `stack build --ghc-options="-v"`.

## Does Stack support the Hpack specification?

Yes:

* If a package directory contains an Hpack `package.yaml` file, then Stack will use it to generate a `.cabal` file when building the package.
* You can run `stack init` to initialize a `stack.yaml` file regardless of whether your packages are declared with `.cabal` files or with Hpack `package.yaml` files.
* You can use the `with-hpack` configuration option to specify an Hpack executable to use instead of the Hpack bundled with Stack.

## How do I resolve linker errors when running `stack setup` or `stack build` on macOS?

This is likely to be caused by having a LLVM installation and default Apple
Clang compiler both under the `PATH`. The symptom of this issue is a linker
error "bad relocation (Invalid pointer diff)". The compiler picks up
inconsistent versions of binaries and the mysterious error occurs.

The workaround is to remove LLVM binaries from the `PATH`.

## How do I suppress `'-nopie'` warnings with `stack build` on macOS?

```
clang: warning: argument unused during compilation: '-nopie'
 [-Wunused-command-line-argument]
```

This warning is shown when compiler support of `-no-pie` is expected but unavailable.
It's possible to bypass the warning for a specific version of GHC by modifying a global setting:

```
# ~/.stack/programs/x86_64-osx/ghc-8.2.2/lib/ghc-8.2.2/settings
-- ("C compiler supports -no-pie", "YES"),
++ ("C compiler supports -no-pie", "NO"),
```

**Note that we're fixing `ghc-8.2.2` in this case; repeat for other versions as necessary.** You should apply this fix for the version of GHC that matches your resolver.

Issue [#4009](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/4009) on GitHub goes into further detail.

## How do I install ghc in stack when it fails with the error: Missing ghc bindist for "linux64-ncurses6"?

Example Error:
```
No setup information found for ghc-8.6.4 on your platform.
This probably means a GHC bindist has not yet been added for OS key 'linux64-ncurses6'.
Supported versions: ghc-7.10.3, ghc-8.0.1, ghc-8.0.2, ghc-8.2.1, ghc-8.2.2
```

Most Linux distributions have standardized on providing libtinfo.so.6 (either directly or as a symlink to libncursesw.so.6). As such, there aren't GHC 8.6.* bindists that link to libncursesw.so.6 available.

So creating a symlink to libncursesw.so.6 as libtinfo.so.6 can prevent this error (root privileges might be required).
```
ln -s /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.6 /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.6
```