Failure to build native extension

Question

I am new to rails and attempting to switch my default DB to Postgres from SQLite3. I have encountered an error. I am using gem install pg and getting this error error: Error installing pg: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension. I am using Mavericks OSX and Ruby 1.9.3, Rails 3.2.12, and PG 9.3 –The goal is to deploy a sample app to heroku (which doesnt seem to support SQLite.

Steps I have tried:

link 1: Installing PG gem on OS X - failure to build native extension

link 2(heroku instructions): https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/sqlite3

EDITED TO INCLUDE SPECIFIC ERROR MESSAGE BELOW:

HEAD https://rubygems.org/latest_specs.4.8.gz
302 Moved Temporarily
HEAD https://s3.amazonaws.com/production.s3.rubygems.org/latest_specs.4.8.gz
304 Not Modified
HEAD https://rubygems.org/specs.4.8.gz
302 Moved Temporarily
HEAD https://s3.amazonaws.com/production.s3.rubygems.org/specs.4.8.gz
304 Not Modified
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/.gemtest
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/BSDL
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ChangeLog
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/Contributors.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/History.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/LICENSE
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/Manifest.txt
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/POSTGRES
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/README-OS_X.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/README-Windows.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/README.ja.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/README.rdoc
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/Rakefile
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/Rakefile.cross
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/errorcodes.def
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/errorcodes.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/errorcodes.txt
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/extconf.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/gvl_wrappers.c
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/gvl_wrappers.h
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/pg.c
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/pg.h
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/pg_connection.c
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/pg_errors.c
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/pg_result.c
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/vc/pg.sln
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/vc/pg_18/pg.vcproj
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/vc/pg_19/pg_19.vcproj
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/lib/pg.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/lib/pg/connection.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/lib/pg/constants.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/lib/pg/exceptions.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/lib/pg/result.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/array_insert.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/async_api.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/async_copyto.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/async_mixed.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/check_conn.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/copyfrom.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/copyto.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/cursor.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/disk_usage_report.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/issue-119.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/losample.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/minimal-testcase.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/notify_wait.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/pg_statistics.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/replication_monitor.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/test_binary_values.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/wal_shipper.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/sample/warehouse_partitions.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/data/expected_trace.out
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/data/random_binary_data
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/lib/helpers.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/pg/connection_spec.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/pg/result_spec.rb
/usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/gems/pg-0.17.0/spec/pg_spec.rb
Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for pg_config... yes
Using config values from /usr/local/bin/pg_config
*** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of
necessary libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more
details.  You may need configuration options.

Provided configuration options:
    --with-opt-dir
    --without-opt-dir
    --with-opt-include
    --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include
    --with-opt-lib
    --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib
    --with-make-prog
    --without-make-prog
    --srcdir=.
    --curdir
    --ruby=/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/bin/ruby
    --with-pg
    --without-pg
    --with-pg-config
    --without-pg-config
    --with-pg_config
    --without-pg_config
    --with-pg-dir
    --without-pg-dir
    --with-pg-include
    --without-pg-include=${pg-dir}/include
    --with-pg-lib
    --without-pg-lib=${pg-dir}/lib
/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:381:in `try_do': The compiler failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError)
You have to install development tools first.
    from /usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:461:in `try_link0'
    from /usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:476:in `try_link'
    from extconf.rb:39:in `<main>'
ERROR:  Error installing pg:
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

    Building has failed. See above output for more information on the failure.

Gem files will remain installed in /usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/pg-0.17.0 for inspection.
Results logged to /usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/pg-0.17.0/ext/gem_make.out

What exactly are you doing? What error are you seeing? What platform (OS, Ruby version) are you using? — jonahb, Dec 16 '13 at 03:35
I am using gem install pg and getting this error error: Error installing pg: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension. I am using Mavericks OSX and Ruby 1.9.3, Rails 3.2.12, and PG 9.3 — jfalkson, Dec 16 '13 at 03:38
Have you installed XCode from Apple so that you have a native compiler? — Gene, Dec 16 '13 at 04:02
Yes I have Xcode. I had this problem in the past with another gem removed it from the gemfile to avoid the issue, but now I need Postgres , so can't simply remove it from the gem file. — jfalkson, Dec 16 '13 at 04:08

Gene · Answer 1 · 2013-12-16T04:10:59.413

1

It's trying to build the gem pg, which has C or C++ code in it, and the compilation phase is not working. Under OS X, you must install XCode or get a compiler by other means, and the shell you're using to run bundle install must have the compiler in its path. I've compiled pg many times under OS X, though I have not upgraded to Mavericks.

If you have XCode installed, the above paragraph doesn't apply. You'll get additional information on what's going wrong if you try gem install pg. Try that and post the results.

The key is "You have to install development tools first." This is a strong hint that you don't have a proper compiler. This page says XCode must be v5.01 or later.

edited Dec 16 '13 at 04:10

answered Dec 16 '13 at 04:05

Gene

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I have XCode installed, and pg installed as well, but gem install pg doesnt work for whatever reason even though I have XCode – jfalkson Dec 16 '13 at 04:10
Did you check the version? Must be 5.01 for Mavericks. The other possibility is that the path to XCode's bin has been lost in the shell you're using. Try `gcc --version` from the shell. – Gene Dec 16 '13 at 04:15
Configured with: --prefix=/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.2.1 Apple LLVM version 5.0 (clang-500.2.79) (based on LLVM 3.3svn) Target: x86_64-apple-darwin13.0.0 Thread model: posix – jfalkson Dec 16 '13 at 04:16
Does the above provide any more info? – jfalkson Dec 16 '13 at 04:16
Two things to try. Start the XCode GUI and verify you have v5.01 or better. Also try running `sudo gem install --verbose pg` to ensure permissions are not a problem and that you're getting full errors. Need those errors including the ones coming from the compiler itself. – Gene Dec 16 '13 at 04:23
I confirmed I have XCode 5.02, and have edited my original post to include the output from the command you suggested above – jfalkson Dec 16 '13 at 04:58
Check this out. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19625487/impossible-to-install-pg-gem-on-my-mac-with-mavericks Looks like a mavericks-specific bug. – Gene Dec 16 '13 at 05:07
Thanks Gene, I tried to follow the instructions in that link, but no luck. One thing I noticed is that other users' pg_config files seem to be in their application folders. My PG app is in my applications folder but my config file is in the /usr/local/bin folder. Could this be part of the issue? – jfalkson Dec 17 '13 at 01:04
Resolved, installing brew install apple-gcc42 solved the issue for me – jfalkson Dec 18 '13 at 23:57

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 19 '13 at 00:03

Thanks all for your help. The specific issue was resolved by me running the below command in terminal

brew install apple-gcc42

To clarify, I had the most recent XCode (with command line) and Mavericks, Ruby 1.9.3, Rails 3.2.12, and PG 9.3. I am unsure why that specific command worked when I already had the command line tools installed. The one change of the output of

gcc--version

was that --prefix=/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr

changes to

--prefix=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr

Again, this change worked in practice, but I am not sure why this fixed things.

Some time a couple of years ago Apple dropped `gcc` from its Xcode distribution and aliased `gcc` to their own `LLVM` and `clang`-based compiler. It's possible this broke `pg` and it still hasn't caught up. — Gene, Dec 19 '13 at 00:47

Failure to build native extension

2 Answers2