Invoking the Compiler from the Command Line

There are two necessary steps to invoke the Intel® C++ Compiler from the command line:

set the environment
invoke the compiler

Set the Environment Variables

Before you can operate the compiler, you must set the environment variables to specify locations for the various components. The Intel C++ Compiler installation includes shell scripts that you can "source" to set environment variables. With the default compiler installation, these scripts are:

<install-dir>/bin/iccvars.sh

<install-dir>/bin/iccvars.csh

To "source" an environment script, enter one of the following on the command line:

source <install-dir>/bin/iccvars.sh

source <install-dir>/bin/iccvars.csh

If you want the script to run automatically, add the same command to the end of your startup file.

Sample .bash_profile entry for iccvars.sh:

# set environment vars for Intel C++ compiler

source <install-dr>/bin/iccvars.sh

If you compile a program without sourcing iccvars.sh, you will see the following error when you execute the compiled program:

./a.out: error while loading shared libraries:

libimf.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Note

With some Linux distributions, if you 'source' iccvars.sh from your .bash_profile, the location of LD_LIBRARY_PATH may not be set as you would expect. It may be necessary to 'source' iccvars.sh after starting your terminal session. This affects the Intel C++ compiler (icpc) only.

Invoking the Compiler with icc or icpc

You can invoke the Intel C++ Compiler on the command line with either icc or icpc.

When you invoke the compiler with icc, the compiler builds C source files using C libraries and C include files. If you use icc with a C++ source file, it is compiled as a C++ file. Use icc to link C object files.
When you invoke the compiler with icpc the compiler builds C++ source files using C++ libraries and C++ include files. If you use icpc with a C source file, it is compiled as a C++ file. Use icpc to link C++ object files.

Command-line Syntax

When you invoke the Intel C++ Compiler with icc or icpc, use the following syntax:

{icc|icpc} [options] file1 [file2 . . .]

Argument	Description
options	Indicates one or more command-line options. The compiler recognizes one or more letters preceded by a hyphen (-). This includes linker options.
file1, file2 . . .	Indicates one or more files to be processed by the compiler. You can specify more than one file. Use a space as a delimiter for multiple files.