The LHC is designed to provide, at a beam energy of 7 TeV, a nominal peak luminosity of 1034 cm-2s-1 with simultaneous collisions at two high-luminosity insertions. This objective is being achieved by pushing the technology of superconducting accelerator magnets and cryogenics to its state-of-the-art limits, and by upgrading the existing CERN accelerators and infrastructures. In this paper, the parameters of the main dipole (1232 units) and quadrupole (392 units) magnets stemming from the LHC design considerations are presented and discussed. Subsequently, the R & D program undertaken at CERN and with industry, to experimentally validate magnet design assumptions, to assess the merits of design variants and to procure and commission the heavy tooling necessary for series manufacture, is described and its main difficulties and results highlighted. Finally a report is given about the procurement strategy, and the progress in manufacturing
