# MKL and libm compile notes: macOS

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [February 20, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024 "2019-02-20T21:48:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Egwene_al_Vere)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/1 "2019-02-20T21:48:15Z")

</div>

Just compiled julia with mkl and libm on macOS, ran some tests and it looks to be working fine. It took a while and the info I found online are in various places (mainly from this [github issue](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/issues/15133) and the [the intel documentation](https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/julia-with-intel-mkl-for-improved-performance)), so here’s the steps in one place for easy reference:

- mkl: [Accelerate Fast Math with Intel® oneAPI Math Kernel Library](https://software.intel.com/en-us/mkl)
- libm: not included in mkl for mac, it’s in Compilers Redistributable Libraries: [Intel® C++ and Fortran Compilers Redistributable Libraries by Version](https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-compilers-redistributable-libraries-by-version)  
(I used [Parallel Studio XE 2019 (All Editions)], c++ compiler)

Then, basically the steps listed in [the intel documentation](https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/julia-with-intel-mkl-for-improved-performance):

1. clone the julia git repo to a local folder:  
`git clone https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia.git`

2. check out the latest version, e.g. `git checkout v1.1.0`

3. modify `Make.inc` to use mkl and libm:

change `USE_INTEL_MKL` from 0 to 1 for mkl  
change `USE_INTEL_LIBM` from 0 to 1 for libm

The default intel mkl install does not have the `intel64` subfolder, so change that too:  
`MKLLIB := $(MKLROOT)/lib/intel64`  
to  
`MKLLIB := $(MKLROOT)/lib/`  
for libm,  
`LIBM := -L$(MKLROOT)/../compiler/lib/intel64 -limf`  
to  
`LIBM := -L$(MKLROOT)/../compiler/lib/ -limf`

git diff:

```julia
diff --git a/Make.inc b/Make.inc
index e9cb241198..870464aecf 100644
--- a/Make.inc
+++ b/Make.inc
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ USE_LLVM_SHLIB := 1
 
 ## Settings for various Intel tools
 # Set to 1 to use MKL
-USE_INTEL_MKL ?= 0
+USE_INTEL_MKL ?= 1
 # Set to 1 to use Intel LIBM
-USE_INTEL_LIBM ?= 0
+USE_INTEL_LIBM ?= 1
 # Set to 1 to enable profiling with Intel VTune Amplifier
 USE_INTEL_JITEVENTS ?= 0
 # Set to 1 to use Intel C, C++, and FORTRAN compilers
@@ -1083,14 +1083,14 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(USE_INTEL_LIBM), 1)
 USE_SYSTEM_LIBM := 1
-LIBM := -L$(MKLROOT)/../compiler/lib/intel64 -limf
+LIBM := -L$(MKLROOT)/../compiler/lib/ -limf
 LIBMNAME := libimf
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(USE_INTEL_MKL), 1)
 ifeq ($(USE_BLAS64), 1)
 export MKL_INTERFACE_LAYER := ILP64
-MKLLIB := $(MKLROOT)/lib/intel64
+MKLLIB := $(MKLROOT)/lib/
 else
 MKLLIB := $(MKLROOT)/lib/ia32
 endif

```

Note that the compilers redistributable libraries by default installs to `~\intel\redist`, so further copy/symlink is needed for libm. libm has references to libintlc so need to symlink/copy that too (also, writing to /opt/ so need sudo):

```julia
sudo ln -s ~/intel/redist/compilers_and_libraries_2019.2.184/mac/compiler/lib/libimf.dylib /opt/intel/lib/libimf.dylib
sudo ln -s ~/intel/redist/compilers_and_libraries_2019.2.184/mac/compiler/lib/libintlc.dylib /opt/intel/lib/libintlc.dylib

```

change `compilers_and_libraries_2019.2.184` to the installed version if different.

1. Now run the build, will take a while.

cd to the git repo cloned and

`source /opt/intel/mkl/bin/mklvars.sh intel64 ilp64`  
then `make`

1. The source statement above setup the env variable but julia may need further sym links, from the cloned git repo directory, do

```julia
ln -s /opt/intel/mkl/lib/libmkl_rt.dylib usr/lib/julia/libmkl_rt.dylib
ln -s /opt/intel/lib/libimf.dylib usr/lib/julia/libimf.dylib 
ln -s /opt/intel/lib/libintlc.dylib usr/lib/julia/libintlc.dylib

```

Note the lack of `/` in front of usr: it symlinks to the usr folder in the current directory (cloned julia repo directory), not the /usr/ folder on root

Now, julia should be compiled and you may run it as `./julia` from the current directory (or `make install`; run with `make install -n` to see which files will be copied where). You may need to recompile some packages, such as `Pkg.build("SpecialFunctions")`.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Egwene_al_Vere)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/2 "2019-02-20T22:38:58Z")

</div>

Note, however, libm lacks certain features and `Base.runtests("math")` may complain “could not find function \_\_ldexp\_exp in library libimf”, see [here](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/use-intel-libm-1/16817)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tkoolen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tkoolen/32/1603_2.png) [@tkoolen](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tkoolen)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/3 "2019-02-20T22:59:28Z")

</div>

You shouldn’t have to edit `Make.inc`. Did the [steps provided in Julia’s `README.md`](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia#intel-mkl) not work for MKL?

Note that the `make` `?=` syntax means: set this variable if it doesn’t already have a value. So you should be able to do stuff like `USE_INTEL_MKL=1 make` (or just put `USE_INTEL_MKL=1` in `Make.user` as described in `README.md`). And `source /path/to/intel/bin/compilervars.sh intel64` should take care of setting `MKLROOT`.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Egwene_al_Vere)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/4 "2019-02-20T23:10:36Z")

</div>

Thanks! yes, `USE_INTEL_MKL = 1` can go in `Make.user`; However,

- `compilervars.sh` is now renamed to `mklvars.sh`, following the current link to intel mkl;
- it’s not about setting `$MKLROOT`: on macs, the library files live in `$(MKLROOT)/lib/` and not `$(MKLROOT)/lib/intel64`, (there are no intel64 folders in lib) therefore needs to be changed

```julia
> cd $MKLROOT/lib
> pwd
/opt/intel/compilers_and_libraries_2019.2.184/mac/mkl/lib
> ls -halt
total 2375616
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 30M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_tbb_thread.dylib
drwxr-xr-x 31 root wheel 992B Feb 20 11:35 .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 32M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_tbb_thread.a
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 6.3M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_lapack95_lp64.a
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 6.4M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_lapack95_ilp64.a
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 542K Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_blas95_lp64.a
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 545K Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_blas95_ilp64.a
drwxr-xr-x 9 root wheel 288B Feb 20 11:35 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 96B Feb 20 11:35 locale
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 11M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_mc3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 11M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_mc2.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 11M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_mc.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_avx512.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_avx2.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_vml_avx.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 25M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_sequential.dylib
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 23M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_sequential.a
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 9.7M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_rt.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 46M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_mc3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 44M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_mc.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 44M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_thread.dylib
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 44M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_thread.a
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 21M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_lp64.dylib
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 32M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_lp64.a
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 17M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_ilp64.dylib
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 28M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_intel_ilp64.a
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 64M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_core.dylib
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 442M Feb 20 11:35 libmkl_core.a
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 65M Feb 20 11:34 libmkl_avx512.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 58M Feb 20 11:34 libmkl_avx2.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 50M Feb 20 11:34 libmkl_avx.dylib

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Elrod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/elrod/32/22461_2.png) [@Elrod](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Elrod)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/5 "2019-02-21T02:04:22Z")

</div>

> [@Egwene\_al\_Vere](#):
>
> modify `Make.inc` to use mkl and libm:

You can instead specify these in a `Make.user` file.  
Also, a couple warnings:

1. MKL is incompatible with ARPACK, a dependency of packages such as Distributions and LightGraphs.
2. SpecialFunctions.jl can take advantage of openlibm, but not intellibm, for much better performance. Not as severe as the above, because SpecialFunctions will still work. It can however be many times slower.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@Egwene\_al\_Vere](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Egwene_al_Vere)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/6 "2019-02-22T03:01:36Z")

</div>

I have a follow-up work-in-progress work through [here](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/work-in-progress-getting-arpack-distributions-lightgraph-working-with-mkl/21064)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![carstenbauer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/carstenbauer/32/4981_2.png) [@carstenbauer](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/carstenbauer)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/mkl-and-libm-compile-notes-macos/21024/7 "2020-04-18T00:24:58Z")

</div>

Is this still the best “guide” for compiling Julia with MKL on macOS? I’m a bit surprised that this is still so complicated in 2020. Why haven’t, for example, these path changes been merged?

(Unfortunately, the instructions above don’t work for me, see [Building Julia with Intel MKL and Intel LIBM on macOS](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/building-julia-with-intel-mkl-and-intel-libm-on-macos/37796) )