Before you begin

Depending on how you obtained the CDT, you might have also received a toolchain with a built-in CDT integration. However, if you downloaded the CDT from the Eclipse web site, then you will require a toolchain before you can build and debug any projects.

The standard CDT supports integration with both GNU (GCC) and LLVM (Clang) toolchains. If you require a toolchain to build software for your development host, these are the best choices to get started.

Each platform that runs the CDT requires different steps to acquire these toolchains.

Microsoft Windows

For Windows, MinGW and Cygwin are the two main platform choices for acquiring the GNU and LLVM toolchains. It is important to understand the difference between them. Cygwin produces executables that use the Cygwin POSIX runtime. Note that this runtime is GPL licensed. MinGW produces native Windows executables that do not require a separate runtime.

  • For MinGW, it is recommended to use the MSYS2 software distribution. The CDT will automatically detect tools that are installed using the MSYS2 package manager. Download and run the latest MSYS2 installer by following instructions on the MSYS2 Getting Started page. When you reach the UCRT64 environment prompt, use the following commands to install individual tools:

    Tool Installation command Notes

    clang

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-clang

    Provides the LLVM with Clang toolchain

    clangd

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-clang-tools-extra

    Required by the C/C++ Editor (LSP)

    cmake

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake

    Required for building CMake projects

    gcc

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc

    Provides the MinGW GCC toolchain

    gdb

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gdb

    Required for local C/C++ Application debugging using GDB (recommended)

    lldb-mi

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-lldb-mi

    Required for local C/C++ Application debugging using LLDB (experimental)

    make

    pacman -S make

    Required for building Managed Build projects

    ninja

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ninja

    Required for building CMake projects

  • Cygwin can be installed from the Cygwin site at https://www.cygwin.com. You need to manually select the gcc, gdb, and make packages to install the toolchain. Note that there is a known issue with running recent versions of Cygwin gdb under the CDT.

  • The Windows SDK provides the Visual C++ compiler and header files and libraries required to create Windows applications. The CDT Visual C++ build integration will find these files based on where you installed the SDK. No other setup is required.
    Note: For this release, the integration should be considered beta quality. It is not recommended for production use.

Linux

All Linux distributions include the GNU toolchain. They may not, however, be installed by default. For instructions about installing the GNU toolchain for Linux, see the instructions for your particular distribution.

In the case of Debian-based Linux distributions, use the following commands to install individual tools:

Tool Installation command Notes

clang

apt install clang

Provides the LLVM with Clang toolchain

clangd

apt install clangd

Required by the C/C++ Editor (LSP)

cmake

apt install cmake

Required for building CMake projects

gcc

apt install build-essential

Provides the Linux GCC toolchain

gdb

apt install gdb

Required for local C/C++ Application debugging

make

apt install make

Required for building Managed Build projects

ninja

apt install ninja-build

Required for building CMake projects

In the case of Red Hat-based Linux distributions, use the following commands to install individual tools:

Tool Installation command Notes

clang

dnf install clang

Provides the LLVM with Clang toolchain

clangd

dnf install clang-tools-extra

Required by the C/C++ Editor (LSP)

cmake

dnf install cmake

Required for building CMake projects

gcc

dnf groupinstall "Development Tools"

Provides the Linux GCC toolchain

gdb

dnf install gdb

Required for local C/C++ Application debugging

make

dnf install make

Required for building Managed Build projects

ninja

dnf install ninja-build

Required for building CMake projects

macOS

The CDT supports the LLVM with Clang toolchain provided by the Xcode Command Line Tools. It is recommended to use the Homebrew software distribution for any additional tools. The CDT will automatically detect tools that are installed using the Homebrew package manager. Install Homebrew by following instructions on the Homebrew home page. Then use the following commands at a Terminal prompt to install individual tools:

Tool Installation command Notes

cmake

brew install cmake

Required for building CMake projects

lldb-mi

brew install --HEAD cdt-project/tools/lldb-mi

Required for local C/C++ Application debugging on Apple silicon

ninja

brew install ninja

Required for building CMake projects

Other Platforms

The GNU toolchain is supported on all platforms that the CDT supports. For instructions about installing the GNU toolchain on your platform, see your platform vendor.

Related reference

Related tasks

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