diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 09cbf150373ac1f9496792d65907bd648f8c4240..3e92d6eef8a916ecfd980b47d22a596b5b8a5ecc 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,17 @@ project( tnl )
 
 set( tnlVersion "0.1" )
 
+# declare all custom build options
+option(OFFLINE_BUILD "Offline build (i.e. without downloading libraries such as pybind11)" OFF)
+option(WITH_MIC "Build with MIC support" OFF)
+option(WITH_CUDA "Build with CUDA support" ON)
+set(WITH_CUDA_ARCH "auto" CACHE STRING "Build for these CUDA architectures")
+option(WITH_OPENMP "Build with OpenMP support" ON)
+option(WITH_TESTS "Build tests" ON)
+option(WITH_COVERAGE "Enable code coverage reports from unit tests" OFF)
+option(WITH_EXAMPLES "Compile the 'examples' directory" ON)
+option(WITH_TEMPLATES_INSTANTIATION "Enable explicit template instantiation" OFF)
+
 # install paths relative to the cmake's prefix
 set( TNL_TARGET_INCLUDE_DIRECTORY "include/TNL" )
 set( TNL_TARGET_DATA_DIRECTORY "share/TNL" )
@@ -65,15 +76,15 @@ if( CXX_COMPILER_NAME MATCHES "icpc" )
    #####
    #  Ckeck for MIC 
    #
-   if( WITH_MIC STREQUAL "yes" )
-       message( "Compile MIC support..."    )
-       set( MIC_CXX_FLAGS "-DHAVE_MIC")
-       # build all tests with MIC support
-       set( CXX_TESTS_FLAGS ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} -DHAVE_MIC )
-       set( WITH_CUDA "no")
+   if( ${WITH_MIC} )
+      message( "Enabled MIC support." )
+      set( MIC_CXX_FLAGS "-DHAVE_MIC")
+      # build all tests with MIC support
+      set( CXX_TESTS_FLAGS ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} -DHAVE_MIC )
+      set( WITH_CUDA OFF CACHE BOOL "Build with CUDA support" )
    else()
-       set( MIC_CXX_FLAGS "")
-   endif( )	
+      set( MIC_CXX_FLAGS "")
+   endif()
 endif()
 
 # force colorized output in continuous integration
@@ -89,13 +100,13 @@ endif()
 #####
 # Check for CUDA
 #
-if( WITH_CUDA STREQUAL "yes" )
+if( ${WITH_CUDA} )
     find_package( CUDA )
     if( CUDA_FOUND )
         set( BUILD_CUDA TRUE)
         set(CUDA_ATTACH_VS_BUILD_RULE_TO_CUDA_FILE OFF)
         set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ON)
-        set(CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION ON)        
+        set(CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION ON)
         # Use the CUDA_HOST_COMPILER environment variable if the user specified it.
         if( NOT $ENV{CUDA_HOST_COMPILER} STREQUAL "" )
             message( "-- Setting CUDA_HOST_COMPILER to '$ENV{CUDA_HOST_COMPILER}'" )
@@ -160,34 +171,15 @@ if( WITH_CUDA STREQUAL "yes" )
         set( CUDA_NVCC_FLAGS ${CUDA_NVCC_FLAGS} ; ${CUDA_ARCH} -D_FORCE_INLINES )
         # TODO: this is necessary only due to a bug in cmake
         set( CUDA_ADD_LIBRARY_OPTIONS -shared )
-
-        ####
-        # Check for CUSPARSE
-        #
-        if( NOT WITH_CUSPARSE STREQUAL "no" )
-           find_path( CUSPARSE_INCLUDE_DIR cusparse.h
-                      /usr/local/cuda/include                   
-                      ${CUDA_INCLUDE_DIR}  
-                      DOC "CUSPARSE headers." )
-           if( ${CUSPARSE_INCLUDE_DIR} STREQUAL "CUSPARSE_INCLUDE_DIR-NOTFOUND" )
-               message( "CUSPARSE not found." )
-               set( HAVE_CUSPARSE "//#define HAVE_CUSPARSE 1" )
-           else()      
-               message( "CUSPARSE found. -- ${CUSPARSE_INCLUDE_DIR}" )
-               set( HAVE_CUSPARSE "#define HAVE_CUSPARSE 1" )
-               cuda_include_directories( ${CUSPARSE_INCLUDE_DIR} )
-               set( CUSPARSE_LIBRARY "${CUDA_cusparse_LIBRARY}" )
-           endif()            
-        endif( NOT WITH_CUSPARSE STREQUAL "no" )        
-    endif( CUDA_FOUND )
-endif( WITH_CUDA STREQUAL "yes" )
+    endif()
+endif()
 
 
 ####
 # Check for OpenMP
 #
-if( OPENMP_FOUND AND WITH_OPENMP STREQUAL "yes" )
-   message( "Compiler supports OpenMP." )
+if( OPENMP_FOUND AND ${WITH_OPENMP} )
+   message( "Enabled OpenMP support." )
    set( CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DHAVE_OPENMP ${OpenMP_CXX_FLAGS}" )
 endif()
 
@@ -271,17 +263,17 @@ else()
     set( HAVE_SYS_IOCTL_H "#define HAVE_SYS_IOCTL_H 1" )
 endif()
 
-if( WITH_TESTS STREQUAL "yes" )
+if( ${WITH_TESTS} )
    enable_testing()
 
    # build gtest libs
    include( BuildGtest )
 
-   if( WITH_COVERAGE STREQUAL "yes" AND CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug" )
+   if( ${WITH_COVERAGE} AND CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug" )
       # enable code coverage reports
       include( UseCodeCoverage )
    endif()
-endif( WITH_TESTS STREQUAL "yes" )
+endif()
 
 #if( BUILD_MPI )
 #   FIND_PATH( PETSC_INCLUDE_DIR petsc.h
@@ -311,7 +303,7 @@ endif( WITH_TESTS STREQUAL "yes" )
 ####
 # Explicit template instantiation
 #
-#if( WITH_TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION STREQUAL "yes" )
+#if( ${WITH_TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION} )
 #   AddCompilerFlag( "-DTEMPLATE_EXPLICIT_INSTANTIATION " )
 #
 #   if( INSTANTIATE_INT STREQUAL "yes" )
@@ -352,7 +344,7 @@ add_subdirectory( src )
 add_subdirectory( share )
 add_subdirectory( tests )
 
-if( WITH_EXAMPLES STREQUAL "yes" )
+if( ${WITH_EXAMPLES} )
    add_subdirectory( examples )
 endif()
 
@@ -384,6 +376,17 @@ set(CPACK_SOURCE_STRIP_FILES "Release")
 #set(CPACK_PACKAGE_EXECUTABLES "MyExecutable" "My Executable")
 INCLUDE( CPack )
 
+# Print custom build options
+message( "-- Build options:" )
+message( "   OFFLINE_BUILD=${OFFLINE_BUILD}" )
+message( "   WITH_MIC=${WITH_MIC}" )
+message( "   WITH_CUDA=${WITH_CUDA}" )
+message( "   WITH_CUDA_ARCH=${WITH_CUDA_ARCH}" )
+message( "   WITH_OPENMP=${WITH_OPENMP}" )
+message( "   WITH_TESTS=${WITH_TESTS}" )
+message( "   WITH_COVERAGE=${WITH_COVERAGE}" )
+message( "   WITH_EXAMPLES=${WITH_EXAMPLES}" )
+message( "   WITH_TEMPLATES_INSTANTIATION=${WITH_TEMPLATES_INSTANTIATION}" )
 # Print compiler options
 message( "-- Compiler options:" )
 message( "   CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS = ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" )
diff --git a/build b/build
index 305a7e5d1ab69130e561afe16046e6329736c45e..8601731d7e2fa19eb701d90a45b23b09ff4941b5 100755
--- a/build
+++ b/build
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ CMAKE="cmake"
 CMAKE_ONLY="no"
 HELP="no"
 VERBOSE=""
+OFFLINE_BUILD="no"
 
 WITH_CLANG="no"
 WITH_CUDA="yes"
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ do
         --cmake=*                        ) CMAKE="${option#*=}" ;;
         --cmake-only=*                   ) CMAKE_ONLY="${option#*=}" ;;
         --verbose                        ) VERBOSE="VERBOSE=1" ;;
+        --offline-build                  ) OFFLINE_BUILD="yes" ;;
         --help                           ) HELP="yes" ;;
         --with-clang=*                   ) WITH_CLANG="${option#*=}" ;;
         --with-mic=*                     ) WITH_MIC="${option#*=}" ;;
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ echo "Configuring ${BUILD} $TARGET ..."
 ${CMAKE} ${ROOT_DIR} \
          -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD} \
          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PREFIX} \
+         -DOFFLINE_BUILD=${OFFLINE_BUILD} \
          -DWITH_MIC=${WITH_MIC} \
          -DWITH_CUDA=${WITH_CUDA} \
          -DWITH_CUDA_ARCH=${WITH_CUDA_ARCH} \
diff --git a/cmake/Gtest.cmake.in b/cmake/Gtest.cmake.in
index 762cff74ab9f856066a69c97c24fe69bfd076f66..cdb2e45488db5c1a297d77dd0c2eae506c8f3a82 100644
--- a/cmake/Gtest.cmake.in
+++ b/cmake/Gtest.cmake.in
@@ -19,4 +19,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(googletest
   BUILD_COMMAND     ""
   INSTALL_COMMAND   ""
   TEST_COMMAND      ""
+  # Disable update of the external project in an offline build
+  # reference: https://stackoverflow.com/a/40423683
+  UPDATE_DISCONNECTED ${OFFLINE_BUILD}
 )
diff --git a/src/Python/pybind11.cmake.in b/src/Python/pybind11.cmake.in
index 18f1aeac607f719a067a8a61c1c3449cfd64687b..885e62e5e694c86020934ed7260557b1469a4899 100644
--- a/src/Python/pybind11.cmake.in
+++ b/src/Python/pybind11.cmake.in
@@ -9,4 +9,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(pybind11
   SOURCE_DIR        "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/pybind11-src"
   BINARY_DIR        "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/pybind11-build"
   CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX} -DPYBIND11_TEST=FALSE
+  # Disable update of the external project in an offline build
+  # reference: https://stackoverflow.com/a/40423683
+  UPDATE_DISCONNECTED ${OFFLINE_BUILD}
 )
diff --git a/src/TNL/Experimental/CMakeLists.txt b/src/TNL/Experimental/CMakeLists.txt
index 3cf0e802046f4e6c25aceffba997e78539e08cba..b543baec64ec4d78f1fab9d3a7ae403c4c844541 100644
--- a/src/TNL/Experimental/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/TNL/Experimental/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 add_subdirectory( Arithmetics )
-if( WITH_EXAMPLES STREQUAL "yes" )
+if( ${WITH_EXAMPLES} )
    add_subdirectory( Hamilton-Jacobi )
 endif()
diff --git a/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0.h b/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0.h
index 651f36b73fc3f8773d2063ae7d0dec53f96f82f5..cf44431849bf5732a2fd87efd664dccc0c6f5fc0 100644
--- a/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0.h
+++ b/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #include <TNL/Containers/Vector.h>
 #include <TNL/Matrices/CSR.h>
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#if defined(HAVE_CUDA) && defined(HAVE_CUSPARSE)
 #include <cusparse.h>
 #endif
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public:
 
    ILU0()
    {
-#ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#if defined(HAVE_CUDA) && defined(HAVE_CUSPARSE)
       cusparseCreate( &handle );
 #endif
    }
@@ -84,14 +84,14 @@ public:
 
    ~ILU0()
    {
-#ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#if defined(HAVE_CUDA) && defined(HAVE_CUSPARSE)
       resetMatrices();
       cusparseDestroy( handle );
 #endif
    }
 
 protected:
-#ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#if defined(HAVE_CUDA) && defined(HAVE_CUSPARSE)
    Matrices::CSR< RealType, DeviceType, IndexType > A;
    Containers::Vector< RealType, DeviceType, IndexType > y;
 
diff --git a/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0_impl.h b/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0_impl.h
index 58d1c4ad8c9cee8572e05e83de81105b5a96086f..0ce43ed8b6a9598e97ad1221e5ebee10f94bfcb2 100644
--- a/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0_impl.h
+++ b/src/TNL/Solvers/Linear/Preconditioners/ILU0_impl.h
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ ILU0< double, Devices::Cuda, int >::
 update( const MatrixPointer& matrixPointer )
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#ifdef HAVE_CUSPARSE
    // TODO: only numerical factorization has to be done every time, split the rest into separate "setup" method which is called less often
    resetMatrices();
 
@@ -254,6 +255,9 @@ update( const MatrixPointer& matrixPointer )
       std::cerr << "A(" << numerical_zero << ", " << numerical_zero << ") is zero." << std::endl;
       throw 1;
    }
+#else
+   throw std::runtime_error("The program was not compiled with the CUSPARSE library. Pass -DHAVE_CUSPARSE -lcusparse to the compiler.");
+#endif
 #else
    throw Exceptions::CudaSupportMissing();
 #endif
@@ -265,6 +269,7 @@ ILU0< double, Devices::Cuda, int >::
 solve( const Vector1& b, Vector2& x ) const
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_CUDA
+#ifdef HAVE_CUSPARSE
    const int m = A.getRows();
    const int nnz = A.getValues().getSize();
 
@@ -289,6 +294,9 @@ solve( const Vector1& b, Vector2& x ) const
                           policy_U, (void*) pBuffer.getData() );
 
    return true;
+#else
+   throw std::runtime_error("The program was not compiled with the CUSPARSE library. Pass -DHAVE_CUSPARSE -lcusparse to the compiler.");
+#endif
 #else
    throw Exceptions::CudaSupportMissing();
 #endif
diff --git a/src/UnitTests/CMakeLists.txt b/src/UnitTests/CMakeLists.txt
index fb90e6ee3d41fe06dd4e0724b2356a7f046bddad..a96e178c52085ded118ee46a54e8b455ac4facbe 100644
--- a/src/UnitTests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/UnitTests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-if( WITH_TESTS STREQUAL "yes" )
+if( ${WITH_TESTS} )
 
 ADD_SUBDIRECTORY( Containers )
 ADD_SUBDIRECTORY( Matrices )
@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@ ADD_TEST( StringTest ${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH}/StringTest${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFF
 ADD_TEST( ObjectTest ${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH}/ObjectTest${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX} )
 ADD_TEST( UniquePointerTest ${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH}/UniquePointerTest${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX} )
 
-endif( WITH_TESTS STREQUAL "yes" )
+endif( ${WITH_TESTS} )
diff --git a/src/UnitTests/Meshes/CMakeLists.txt b/src/UnitTests/Meshes/CMakeLists.txt
index 97cdc0333d747c2e6162a6b9ecb115b6c91a001a..c5daaed1fa18e6d887e3a58eb51103fc8a82dac5 100644
--- a/src/UnitTests/Meshes/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/UnitTests/Meshes/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( BoundaryTagsTest
                            ${GTEST_BOTH_LIBRARIES}
                            tnl )
 
-if( BUILD_CUDA AND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} MATCHES ".*clang\\+\\+" )
+if( BUILD_CUDA )
    CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( MeshTest MeshTest.cu
                         OPTIONS ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} )
    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( MeshTest
@@ -48,27 +48,26 @@ ADD_TEST( MeshEntityTest ${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH}/MeshEntityTest${CMAKE_EXECUTA
 ## Tests with VTK
 ##
 
-find_package( VTK )
-if( VTK_FOUND )
-   include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
+#find_package( VTK )
+#if( VTK_FOUND )
+#   include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
+#
+#   AddCompilerFlag( "-DHAVE_VTK " )
+#   SET( VTK_COMMON_LIBRARIES vtkCommonCore ; vtkIOLegacy )
+#endif( VTK_FOUND )
 
-   AddCompilerFlag( "-DHAVE_VTK " )
-   SET( VTK_COMMON_LIBRARIES vtkCommonCore ; vtkIOLegacy )
-endif( VTK_FOUND )
-
-# FIXME: compilation fails with nvcc (CUDA 9.0)
-#if( BUILD_CUDA AND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} MATCHES ".*clang\\+\\+" )
-#   CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( MeshReaderTest MeshReaderTest.cu
-#                        OPTIONS ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} )
-#   TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( MeshReaderTest
-#                           ${GTEST_BOTH_LIBRARIES}
-#                           ${VTK_COMMON_LIBRARIES}
-#                           tnl )
-#else()
+if( BUILD_CUDA )
+   CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( MeshReaderTest MeshReaderTest.cu
+                        OPTIONS ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} )
+   TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( MeshReaderTest
+                           ${GTEST_BOTH_LIBRARIES}
+                           ${VTK_COMMON_LIBRARIES}
+                           tnl )
+else()
    ADD_EXECUTABLE( MeshReaderTest MeshReaderTest.cpp )
    TARGET_COMPILE_OPTIONS( MeshReaderTest PRIVATE ${CXX_TESTS_FLAGS} )
    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( MeshReaderTest
                            ${GTEST_BOTH_LIBRARIES}
                            ${VTK_COMMON_LIBRARIES}
                            tnl )
-#endif()
+endif()
diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
index 12fe883c8c50bb59fd1724a528197fc3a394cf2f..e53ba6878070e6b8f8d3b830ab8f64afcccbcf77 100644
--- a/tests/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ ADD_SUBDIRECTORY( heat-equation-benchmark )
 IF( BUILD_CUDA )
     CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( tnl-benchmark-blas tnl-benchmark-blas.cu )
     CUDA_ADD_CUBLAS_TO_TARGET( tnl-benchmark-blas )
-    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-blas tnl ${CUSPARSE_LIBRARY} )
+    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-blas tnl )
 
     CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( tnl-benchmark-spmv tnl-benchmark-spmv.cu )
-    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-spmv tnl ${CUSPARSE_LIBRARY} )
+    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-spmv tnl ${CUDA_cusparse_LIBRARY} )
 
     CUDA_ADD_EXECUTABLE( tnl-benchmark-linear-solvers tnl-benchmark-linear-solvers.cu )
-    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-linear-solvers tnl ${CUSPARSE_LIBRARY} )
+    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-linear-solvers tnl )
 ELSE()
     ADD_EXECUTABLE( tnl-benchmark-blas tnl-benchmark-blas.cpp )
     TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES( tnl-benchmark-blas tnl )
diff --git a/tnlConfig.h.in b/tnlConfig.h.in
index cb352fcf3d0fc29b6fc31d23949b883eb1ca56d3..967ce8e268db25a1be0acf9edb95f81277c3786a 100644
--- a/tnlConfig.h.in
+++ b/tnlConfig.h.in
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@
 
 @HAVE_SYS_IOCTL_H@
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CUDA
-    @HAVE_CUSPARSE@
-#endif
-
 @HAVE_DCMTK_H@
 
 @HAVE_PNG_H@