ERROR: Error installing ffi: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension

Question

I am getting this error in Mac 64 bit and have xcode inatalled on machine.

Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing ffi:
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/Users/jreddy/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.8.7-p302/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for ffi.h in /usr/local/include... no
checking for rb_thread_blocking_region()... no
checking for ruby_thread_has_gvl_p()... no
checking for ruby_native_thread_p()... no
checking for rb_thread_call_with_gvl()... no
creating extconf.h
creating Makefile

make
sh: make: command not found

You have to install development tools first. Could you check if you have XCode Command Line Tools installed? by running `xcode-select --install` From here: https://github.com/ffi/ffi/issues/937#issuecomment-1073265562 — Chaki_Black, May 05 '22 at 06:48

fernandopso · Answer 1 · 2020-11-03T11:50:02.577

38

A large portion of users are landing on this answer in an attempt to update the Xcode Command Line Tools. The easiest way to achieve this is by removing the old version of the tools, and installing the new one.

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
xcode-select --install

A popup will appear and guide you through the rest of the process.

After all, if xcode is installed correctly and you still have a problem, try installing ffi like this:

gem install ffi -v '1.9.18' -- --with-cflags="-Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration"

edited Nov 03 '20 at 11:50

answered Sep 15 '20 at 16:26

fernandopso

633
6
11

`gem install ffi -v '1.9.18' -- --with-cflags="-Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration"` works for me. thank you – anjarwidi83 Sep 21 '22 at 13:36

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 12 '18 at 00:58

13

This one worked for me: brew link libffi --force

answered Feb 12 '18 at 00:58

Heriberto Magaña

882
10
11

Same. Seems like just installing `libffi` using brew is not enough. – DonKoko Mar 28 '23 at 13:18

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 03 '12 at 10:32

13

I use homebrew, so after I did brew install libffi the gem installed for me. I have Xcode 4.2 tools active (with xcode-select). I did have to close and open a new Terminal window for home-brew's install to be recognised by the gem installation. But I could only get it working with ruby 1.8.7 but not 1.9.3 (using rvm).

answered Feb 03 '12 at 10:32

Matt Connolly

9,757
2
65
61

`brew install ruby` fixed it for me, whereas `brew install libffi` did not. – scottgwald Jan 24 '16 at 15:53

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 28 '18 at 07:53

6

Another version of answer, if you install libffi using brew then still does not work. You can try do this :

$ export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/Cellar/libffi/3.2.14/lib/pkgconfig/
$ gem install ffi

answered Nov 28 '18 at 07:53

surga

1,436
21
25

3

this one helped me (other options didn't) – Artem Vasiliev Mar 01 '19 at 17:15

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

2

Updating the Command Line Tools within XCode and following these steps: https://stackoverflow.com/a/10610951/1691 did it for me

edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

Community

1
1

answered Oct 26 '12 at 16:37

olore

4,687
3
28
40

1

I didn't have to follow those extra steps - just updating XCode and running `bundle install` again did the job. Thanks! – Phil Gyford Sep 22 '14 at 07:35

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 02 '12 at 02:00

2

I am also on OS X Lion. I re-installed XCode and ffi installed successfully using bundle install.

answered Jan 02 '12 at 02:00

dignoe

1,013
11
17

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 30 '14 at 19:01

1

Updating X-code on my Mac OS-X Maverics made it work for me

answered Oct 30 '14 at 19:01

MoA

61
2

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 16 '15 at 17:18

1

I had this problem on OSX 10.10.15 with ruby-2.0.0-p481 under rvm. All i had to do was

sudo xcodebuild -license

It won't fix all cases but it might fix some

answered Oct 16 '15 at 17:18

dabobert

919
12
10

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 08 '21 at 14:25

If gem install ffi -v '1.9.21' --source 'https://rubygems.org/ did not solve the problem. Then it seems like in Mac ffi-1.19.21 is trying to using ffi_prep_closure_loc() and system-libffi which doesn’t have.

Try this temporary solution:

gem install ffi -- --disable-system-libffi

More details here: https://github.com/ffi/ffi/issues/791

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 07 '22 at 08:16

For me, it worked with this,

I had issue with React Native ios when running


bundle install

An error occurred while installing ffi (1.15.5), and Bundler cannot continue. Make sure that gem install ffi -v '1.15.5' --source 'https://rubygems.org/' succeeds before bundling.

Resolved this error by doing this.

export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/libffi/lib"
export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/libffi/include"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/libffi/lib/pkgconfig"

Where would I place the above `exports` you've listed? – alyus Jul 26 '23 at 23:01 — alyus, Jul 26 '23 at 23:01

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 05 '12 at 01:11

0

I was using ree-1.8.7-2010.02 and there was no way the install would work. Switched to ruby-1.9.2 and it worked like a charm.

answered Apr 05 '12 at 01:11

jibril

43
5

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Aug 28 '11 at 19:34

0

I had this same problem on OS X Lion and solved it by doing:

sudo port install libffi

answered Aug 28 '11 at 19:34

lightyrs

2,809
2
29
32

macports needs to be installed on the system level for it to work with `sudo`. – lightyrs Nov 19 '18 at 19:16

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 01 '23 at 15:10

To fix this, I had to add the following environment variables to my ~/.profile/~/.bash_profile:

export SDKROOT=$(xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path)
export LIBRARY_PATH="/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk/usr/lib"

Once I added those, I was able to install the ffi Gem.

Note that you may need to install/setup the Xcode SDK/libraries first via:

xcode-select --install
sudo xcodebuild -license
sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jun 05 '23 at 03:47

0

What worked for me, first:

gem install ffi -v '1.15.5' -- --with-cflags="-Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration"

Then:

gem pristine ffi --version 1.15.5

answered Jun 05 '23 at 03:47

Kaio Delphino

51
4

ERROR: Error installing ffi: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension

14 Answers14

Linked