Library only cargo install does not install library only

[sarvi]

I have a RUST cargo that builds a LD_PRELOAD library.
Most of its fuctionality is in the libtrack.so that it produces.

yet
cargo install --root /x/y/z --path ./

doesn't install the library ?

cargo build is complete, but the install fails

    Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 22.21s
bash-4.4$ cargo install --path ./ --root /ws/sarvi-sjc/localroot
error: no packages found with binaries or examples

[jschievink]

cargo install is designed only for binaries/examples, so you can't use it for this

[mbrubeck]

This thread from yesterday has some suggestions for projects that require more than cargo install offers:

Installing data files (assets) when 'cargo install' is run

I've learned that any assets required by a binary project can be installed to a specified directory using a customized build.rs file. I'd like to hear about various other alternatives as well, that the Rust community uses for this case. I found this ticket and subscribed to it: Add an install.rs that lets a file perform installation setup, as well as a permanent installation outdir I'd basically like to install data to a directory relative to the binary, like if the default installation loca…

[sarvi]

Is any of this in production. The only way I am seeing now is installing the files maually or using my own install scripts. Am I missing something.

This seems pretty basic that is missing.
Was rust never designed to build shared libraries ?

[mbrubeck]

Yeah, cargo install is a bare-bones utility, designed mainly for installing simple development tools or self-contained utilities. It can't replace the full-featured packaging and installation systems already built in to most operating systems. Application developers should typically use Cargo to build their Rust code, not to distribute or install it.