# Building modules against installed ITK

**URL:** <https://discourse.itk.org/t/building-modules-against-installed-itk/2608>\
**Category:** Engineering\
**Created:** [January 11, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/building-modules-against-installed-itk/2608 "2020-01-11T15:07:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dcthomp](https://discourse.itk.org/user_avatar/discourse.itk.org/dcthomp/32/1185_2.png) [@dcthomp](https://discourse.itk.org/u/dcthomp)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/building-modules-against-installed-itk/2608/1 "2020-01-11T15:07:02Z")

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Hi all,

I would like to build ITKVtkGlue against an installed ITK (so I can link to a VTK built by ParaView as part of a superbuild). I get an error saying this is unsupported, however, [Ben Boeckel says that could lead to rpath issues](https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmb/cmb-superbuild/merge_requests/590#note_679303). Is there a chance that ITK could support module builds against install trees?

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**Author:** ![matt.mccormick](https://discourse.itk.org/user_avatar/discourse.itk.org/matt.mccormick/32/7_2.png) [@matt.mccormick](https://discourse.itk.org/u/matt.mccormick)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/building-modules-against-installed-itk/2608/2 "2020-01-11T22:49:57Z")

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Hello David!

Welcome to the ITK community! ☀

> I would like to build ITKVtkGlue against an installed ITK

Cool! An updates version of this module that can be built externally can be found here:

> **[GitHub - InsightSoftwareConsortium/ITKVtkGlue: This module contains classes...](https://github.com/InsightSoftwareConsortium/ITKVtkGlue/)**
>
> This module contains classes that bridge ITK image processing and VTK visualization pipelines. - GitHub - InsightSoftwareConsortium/ITKVtkGlue: This module contains classes that bridge ITK image pr...

> so I can link to a VTK built by ParaView as part of a superbuild

I wonder if something can be done with the VTK build produced by ParaView to improve this situation. This has been discussed many times in the past – at least previously, it was difficult or not possible to build against ParaView’s VTK.

> I get an error saying this is unsupported, however, Ben Boeckel says that could lead to rpath issues 1.

If the VTK tree is an install tree, rpath issues are unlikely.

> Is there a chance that ITK could support module builds against install trees?

This is something we would like to do, but it is a large effort that we do not currently have the resources for.