How to Install GCC on Ubuntu 20.04
GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system developed to support various programming languages. GCC is standard compiler for most projects related to GNU and Linux, including the Linux kernel.
Installing GCC on Ubuntu
Ubuntu repositories contain build-essential package which contains the GCC compiler, g++ and make
Update an existing system by running follwing command
apt upgrade
apt install build-essential
Output:
root@vps:~# apt install build-essential
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
binutils binutils-common binutils-x86-64-linux-gnu cpp cpp-9 dpkg-dev
fakeroot g++ g++-9 gcc gcc-9 gcc-9-base libalgorithm-diff-perl
libalgorithm-diff-xs-perl libalgorithm-merge-perl libasan5 libatomic1
libbinutils libc-dev-bin libc6-dev libcc1-0 libcrypt-dev libctf-nobfd0
libctf0 libdpkg-perl libfakeroot libfile-fcntllock-perl libgcc-9-dev
If you want to install the manual page for GCC, run the below command,
apt-get install manpages-dev
After installing, to verify that GCC is successfully installed by checking gcc version,
gcc --version
Output:
root@vps:~# gcc --version
gcc (Ubuntu 9.3.0-17ubuntu1~20.04) 9.3.0
Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Compiling a Hello World Example
Create a basic C code source, eg: let's create hello world C program and open hello.c text file,
nano hello.c
Add the following code to hello.c file
// hello.c
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
printf("Hello, world!\n");
return 0;
}
compile it into an executable and execute the hello program by running following commands,
gcc hello.c -o hello
./hello
Output:
root@vps:~# ./hello
Hello, world!
root@vps:~#
Installing Multiple GCC Versions
Install and use multiple versions of GCC on Ubuntu 20.04,
Install the desired GCC and G++ versions by typing below command,
apt install gcc-8 g++-8 gcc-9 g++-9 gcc-10 g++-10
Now you have multiple versions of the GCC compiler installed, there’s a priority number that gets associated with each. The version with the highest priority will be the default system compiler.
You will have to run the commands below to set the default system compiler associating each with a priority.
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-10 100 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-10 --slave /usr/bin/gcov gcov /usr/bin/gcov-10
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-9 90 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-9 --slave /usr/bin/gcov gcov /usr/bin/gcov-9
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-8 80 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-8 --slave /usr/bin/gcov gcov /usr/bin/gcov-8
Later if you want to change the default version use the update-alternatives command
update-alternatives --config gcc
Output:
root@vps:~# update-alternatives --config gcc
There are 3 choices for the alternative gcc (providing /usr/bin/gcc).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /usr/bin/gcc-10 100 auto mode
1 /usr/bin/gcc-10 100 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/gcc-8 80 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/gcc-9 90 manual mode
Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
You will be presented with a list of all installed GCC versions on your Ubuntu system, Select your choice and press Enter.
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