### Author:  [@Martin\_Stolpe](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/Martin_Stolpe)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/1 "2019-12-06T13:29:07Z")
I try to use the Intel MKL, which has some pkg-config configuration files, with CMake. When I try to link the MKL statically in my project some linker options will be stored in the `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES` property. When I use this namespaced target in the` target_link_libraries` command the linker option will be set, which causes the compilation to fail.
Is there a way to tell CMake that the linker options should be used in my project when using the namespaced target?
The CMakeLists.txt currently looks like this:
```
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(intel-fft
LANGUAGES C CXX
)
set(source_files
"main.c"
)
set(executable_name test_fft)
# the `pkg_check_modules` function is created with this call
find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
# these calls create special `PkgConfig::` variables
pkg_check_modules(INTEL_MKL
REQUIRED
IMPORTED_TARGET
mkl-static-ilp64-iomp
)
add_executable(${executable_name}
${source_files}
)
set_target_properties(${executable_name}
PROPERTIES
C_STANDARD 11
CXX_STANDARD 14
CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON
CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF
)
get_property(INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS
TARGET PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL
PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS
)
target_link_libraries(${executable_name}
PUBLIC
PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL
${INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS} # This option is needed because it sets some linker options
# ${INTEL_MKL_LDFLAGS_OTHER} <- This would also work
)
```
These are the options which are stored in `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS`:
```
-Wl,--start-group;/opt/intel/compilers_and_libraries_2019.5.281/linux/mkl/lib/intel64_lin/libmkl_intel_ilp64.a;/opt/intel/compilers_and_libraries_2019.5.281/linux/mkl/lib/intel64_lin/libmkl_intel_thread.a;/opt/intel/compilers_and_libraries_2019.5.281/linux/mkl/lib/intel64_lin/libmkl_core.a;-Wl,--end-group
```
---
### Author:  [@marc.chevrier](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/marc.chevrier)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/2 "2019-12-06T14:41:49Z")
I don’t understand your problem.
Why do you extract the `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS` property from target `PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL` to re-inject them in the command `target_link_directories`?
The command `target_link_libraries(${executable_name} PUBLIC PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL)` is enough to propagate interface link options from target `PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL` to your target.
---
### Author:  [@Martin\_Stolpe](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/Martin_Stolpe)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/3 "2019-12-07T15:47:53Z")
Unfortunately it’s not enough to just add `PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL` when I use the static library. I have to explicitly add `${INTEL_MKL_LDFLAGS_OTHER}` (which is equal to the `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS` property) to the `target_link_libraries` command, otherwise the required linker flags would not be set.
The question is if this behavior is expected or if this is perhaps a CMake bug?
---
### Author:  [@marc.chevrier](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/marc.chevrier)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/4 "2019-12-07T18:53:23Z")
I cannot reproduce your problem. Using exactly same `CMakeLists.txt` I get the expected result: no need to manually specify the link options.
What is the exact version of the `cmake` tool ?
---
### Author:  [@erk](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/erk)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/5 "2019-12-07T19:00:10Z")
As stated by @marc.chevrier it should be enough to:
`target_link_libraries(${executable_name} PUBLIC PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL)`
to drag in the necesserary `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS` from `PkgConfig::INTEL_MKL`.
but you said:
_…when I use the static library. I have to explicitly add…_
does this mean that when you use shared lib it works?
The `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS` you have shown only refer to static lib.
---
### Author:  [@Martin\_Stolpe](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/Martin_Stolpe)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/6 "2019-12-09T16:54:15Z")
Yes it works for the shared library version because the linker flags will be set in the INTERFACE\_LINK\_LIBRARIES property only. The property INTERFACE\_LINK\_OPTIONS is empty when I use the shared library.
---
### Author:  [@erk](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/erk)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/7 "2019-12-09T18:33:47Z")
@marc.chevrier did reproduce your use case (see [Usage of INTERFACE\_LINK\_LIBRARIES with namespaced targets](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/usage-of-interface-link-libraries-with-namespaced-targets/330/4)) may be you could share a non-working stripped down example with us.