Installing gcc 4.8 and Linuxbrew on CentOS 6

install-gcc48-linuxbrew-centos6.md

Installing gcc 4.8 and Linuxbrew on CentOS 6

The GCC distributed with CentOS 6 is 4.4.7, which is pretty outdated. I'd like to use gcc 4.8+. Also, when trying to install Linuxbrew you run into a dependency loop where Homebrew's gcc depends on zlib, which depends on gcc. Here's how I solved the problem.

Note: Requires sudo privileges.

Resources:

• http://superuser.com/a/676337/88393: Forum response on using CERN's open Scientific Linux distribution of RHEL's developer toolset.
• http://linux.web.cern.ch/linux/devtoolset/: CERN's developer toolset installation instructions.
• https://github.com/Homebrew/linuxbrew/wiki/Standalone-Installation: Instructions for a standalone installation of Homebrew.
• https://twitter.com/sjackman: Shaun Jackman -- the hero who maintains Linuxbrew.

Upgrading gcc

First, verify which version of CentOS you're using:

$ cat /etc/centos-release
CentOS release 6.7 (Final)

Import CERN's GPG key:

sudo rpm --import http://ftp.scientificlinux.org/linux/scientific/5x/x86_64/RPM-GPG-KEYs/RPM-GPG-KEY-cern

Save repository information as /etc/yum.repos.d/slc6-devtoolset.repo on your system:

wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/slc6-devtoolset.repo http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/devtoolset/slc6-devtoolset.repo

Install:

sudo yum install devtoolset-2

Enable the environment:

scl enable devtoolset-2 bash

Test the environment:

$ gcc --version
gcc (GCC) 4.8.2 20140120 (Red Hat 4.8.2-15)
...

$ g++ --version
g++ (GCC) 4.8.2 20140120 (Red Hat 4.8.2-15)
...

$ gfortran --version
GNU Fortran (GCC) 4.8.2 20140120 (Red Hat 4.8.2-15)
...

Optional: Permanently enable scl toolchain by putting this in your .bashrc (warning: don't try to use the scl enable devtoolset-2 bash command from before in your .bashrc. This spawns a new bash shell, and if that's in your .bashrc, it creates a new shell, which loads your .bashrc, which creates a new shell, etc.)

source /opt/rh/devtoolset-2/enable

Installing Linuxbrew

Enable the SCL environment:

scl enable devtoolset-2 bash

Create symlinks to your new gcc/g++/gfortran:

ln -s $(which gcc) `brew --prefix`/bin/gcc-$(gcc -dumpversion |cut -d. -f1,2)
ln -s $(which g++) `brew --prefix`/bin/g++-$(g++ -dumpversion |cut -d. -f1,2)
ln -s $(which gfortran) `brew --prefix`/bin/gfortran-$(gfortran -dumpversion |cut -d. -f1,2)

Install Linuxbrew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/linuxbrew/go/install)"

Add these to your .bashrc, and source it:

export PATH="$HOME/.linuxbrew/bin:$PATH"
export MANPATH="$HOME/.linuxbrew/share/man:$MANPATH"
export INFOPATH="$HOME/.linuxbrew/share/info:$INFOPATH"

Test your installation:

brew install hello
brew test hello
brew remove hello

nice work

@stephenturner Thanks a lot! I upgraded gcc successfully follow your tips, but gcc go back to original version again when I log in the server using ssh again.

I did what stephenturner said:

$ cat /etc/centos-release
CentOS release 6.9 (Final)

$ sudo yum install centos-release-scl
$ sudo yum install devtoolset-3-toolchain
$ scl enable devtoolset-3 bash

$ gcc --version
gcc (GCC) 4.9.2 20150212 (Red Hat 4.9.2-6)

but when I try to cmake my package it says

bash-4.1$ cmake ..
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:28 (message):
GCC version must be at least 4.6 (for sufficient C++11 support. You have
version 4.4.7

-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

I tried running

scl enable devtoolset-3 'cmake ..'

same error.
What should I do?

Here is how I got mine working on RHEL 6.8

cd /etc/pki/rpm-gpg
wget http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/scl/RPM-GPG-KEY-cern

cd /etc/yum.repos.d
wget http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/scl/slc6-scl.repo

yum install -y devtoolset-3-gcc-c++

# switch to new gcc
source /opt/rh/devtoolset-3/enable
gcc -v

bravo!

Thanks, this is also working on CentOS 6.4
but with a small issue. For Chinese users, the repo uses "mirrorlist.centos.org"/.. as the base URL. it will be very slow, change it "mirrors.163.com" will be much faster.

@agcarlon
apparently, your old version GCC is still in the $PATH, change it. clean your package's work space and retry.

I have a related question: I'm trying to build a testing environment for multiple versions of gfortran, and would like to locally install different versions of gcc and be able to switch between them.

I do not have root or sudo access, and yum localinstall is not allowed. Brew is not installed.

I'd like to test versions 4.4 - 8.x, and would be testing the latest stable release version in each major revision.

Running CentOS release 6.9 (Final) [2.6.32-431.20.3.el6.centos.plus.x86_64]

The current version of gcc is

gcc (GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-18)

What's an effective way of doing this?

@stephenturner thank you, it's work on my centos 6.9

@tegansnyder I followed your instruction. When executing yum install -y devtoolset-3-gcc-c++, I got the following error:

Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, security, ulninfo
Setting up Install Process
slc6-scl | 2.6 kB 00:00
slc6-scl/primary_db | 1.0 MB 00:02
http://people.centos.org/tru/devtools-2/6Server/x86_64/RPMS/repodata/repomd.xml: [Errno 14] PYCURL ERROR 22 - "The requested URL returned error: 404 Not Found"
Trying other mirror.
Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: testing-devtools-2-centos-6Server. Please verify its path and try again

My centos is Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.9 (Santiago). my gcc is gcc (GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-18).
I am a novice to Linux.

Could you help me to solve this error?

Cannot import the CERN's GPG key. I use this command to instead of it:

rpm --import http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/slc6X/x86_64/RPM-GPG-KEY-cern

@stephenturner
Great!
thank you so much!

Thank you! I solve the problem.

yum install -y devtoolset-3-gcc-c++

Awesome! Thank you!!!

the rpm --import command failed with Error 404, where is the new file location?

Here is how I got mine working on RHEL 6.8

cd /etc/pki/rpm-gpg
wget http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/scl/RPM-GPG-KEY-cern

cd /etc/yum.repos.d
wget http://linuxsoft.cern.ch/cern/scl/slc6-scl.repo

yum install -y devtoolset-3-gcc-c++

# switch to new gcc
source /opt/rh/devtoolset-3/enable
gcc -v

works! really great help