Creating a simple CUDA with CMake C++ project

Assuming you have downloaded and installed the right version of the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit for your NVIDIA GPU card, the next step is to create your awesome C++ CUDA project. In this post, I will illustrate how to create a simple Hello World project using CMake on Ubuntu. 

1. In a folder, create a CUDA C++ file, e.g. hello.cu. Type in the following code as shown in the snippet below.
   
   Note: the main function simply calls an empty CUDA mykernel consisting of 1 block and 1 thread per block function. Then it prints out a hello message.
   
   
2. Next, create a CMakeLists.txt file. Type in the following code as shown.
   
   Note: The CMakeLists.txt simply tells CMake to use C++ and CUDA languages and then defines the executable and its source.
   
   
   
3. Create a build directory. Then change directory into the build directory and run the cmake command.
   
   $ mkdir build
   $ cd build
   $ cmake ..
   
   The processing messages appear.
   
   
   
4. Now compile the project with the make command.
   
   $ make
   
   
   
   
   
5. Finally, run the hello executable.
   
   $ ./hello
   
   The message "Hello CUDA!" is printed to the screen.
   

The sample project can be downloaded from the Github repository at https://gitlab.com/dominoc925/hello-cuda-cmake

CUDA11.2.props not found in Visual Studio Community 2019

While trying out the NVIDIA CUDA development sample solutions in Visual Studio Community 2019, I encountered error messages about some CUDA11.2.props files not found. An example is shown in the screen shot below.

The solution to this is simple: simply do the following:

1. Using the Windows Explorer, browse to the location of the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit e.g. C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v11.2\extras\visual_studio_integration\MSBuildExtensions\.
   
   
   
   
2. Select and copy all the files inside the folder: CUDA 11.2.props, CUDA 11.2.targets, CUDA 11.2.xml, and Nvda.Build.CudaTasks.v11.2.dll.
   
   
3. Browse to the folder C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160\BuildCustomizations\.
   
   
   
4. Paste the copied CUDA files inside.
   
   
   
   
   

Now, when compiling the CUDA sample solutions, the error messages no longer appear, as shown below.