Install GCC Compiler on Rocky Linux 8

This tutorial intends to teach you How To Install the GCC Compiler on Rocky Linux 8. Also, you will learn to test your GCC by creating a sample project.

GCC stands for “GNU Compiler Collection”. GCC is an integrated distribution of compilers for several major programming languages. These languages currently include C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Java, Fortran, and Ada.

Steps To Install GCC Compiler Collection on Rocky Linux 8

To complete this guide, you must log in to your server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. To do this, you can follow our guide on Initial Server Setup with Rocky Linux 8.

Install GCC Compiler on Rocky Linux 8

First, you need to update your local package index with the following command:

# sudo dnf update -y
# sudo dnf clean all

The GCC compiler packages are available in the package group called “Development tools“.

Development tools are the tools that are required to build applications or libraries for GNU/Linux.

You can check that you have the development tools are installed on your system, by using the command below:

sudo dnf group list

Output
Available Environment Groups:
   Server with GUI
   Server
   Workstation
   Virtualization Host
   Custom Operating System
Installed Environment Groups:
   Minimal Install
Available Groups:
   Container Management
   .NET Core Development
   RPM Development Tools
   Development Tools
   Graphical Administration Tools
   Headless Management
   Legacy UNIX Compatibility
   Network Servers
   Scientific Support
   Security Tools
   Smart Card Support
   System Tools

If the Development Tools is not listed, you will need to install it by running the following command:

sudo dnf group install "Development Tools"

Once the compiler and its package are installed, use the following command to show all information about the Development Tools:

sudo dnf group info "Development Tools"

Output
Group: Development Tools
 Description: A basic development environment.
 Mandatory Packages:
   autoconf
   automake
   binutils
   bison
   flex
   gcc
   gcc-c++
   gdb
   glibc-devel
   libtool
   make
   pkgconf
   pkgconf-m4
   pkgconf-pkg-config
   redhat-rpm-config
   rpm-build
   rpm-sign
   strace
 Default Packages:
   asciidoc
   byacc
   ctags
   diffstat
   elfutils-libelf-devel
   git
   intltool
   jna
   ltrace
   patchutils
   perl-Fedora-VSP
   perl-Sys-Syslog
   perl-generators
   pesign
   source-highlight
   systemtap
   valgrind
   valgrind-devel
 Optional Packages:
   cmake
   expect
   rpmdevtools
   rpmlint

Then, verify your GCC installation on Rocky Linux 8 by checking its version:

gcc --version

Output
gcc (GCC) 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-15)
Copyright (C) 2018 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.

To see the installation path of GCC, you can use the command below:

whereis gcc

Output
gcc: /usr/bin/gcc /usr/lib/gcc /usr/libexec/gcc /usr/share/man/man1/gcc.1.gz /usr/share/info/gcc.info.gz

Create a Sample project with GCC Compiler

At this point, you can test your GCC compiler by craeting a sample project.

First, create a file called “hello.c” in your home directory with your favorite text editor, here we use vi:

cd && sudo vi hello.c

Add the following content to the file:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
  printf("OrcaCore, Hello world!\n");
  return 0;
}

When you are done, save and close the file.

Next, compile the “hello.c” source code with the GCC compiler on Rocky Linux 8 by using the following command:

gcc hello.c -o helloworld

Then, run the executable helloword file:

./helloworld

In your output you should see:

Output
OrcaCore, Hello world!

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned to Install GCC Compiler on Rocky Linux 8 and create a test program with it.

Hope you enjoy it.

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