How to upgrade cmake in Ubuntu

Question

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:1 (cmake_minimum_required):
  CMake 3.6.0 or higher is required.  You are running version 3.5.1
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

I know Ubuntu uses stable releases that it can support, but some repos require later versions of cmake. I want to overwrite the old cmake with the later version of cmake, but the common PPA doesn't carry the cmake I need. How can I upgrade cmake to use the needed version without conflicts with the older version?

score 151 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 04 '21 at 23:35

151

Warning -- Do not do step 2 if you have Robot Operating System (ROS) installed

Check your current version with:
```
cmake --version
```
Uninstall it with:
```
sudo apt remove cmake
```
Visit https://cmake.org/download/ and download the latest bash script.
- In my case cmake-3.6.2-Linux-x86_64.sh is sufficient.
Copy the script to /opt/.

Make the script executable:

chmod +x /opt/cmake-3.*your_version*.sh

Change to desired installation directory (to /opt/ for example)
- As of cmake 3.10.2 the installer no longer seems to install to /opt by default

Run:

sudo bash /opt/cmake-3.*your_version*.sh

You will need to press y twice.

The script installs the binary to /opt/cmake-3.*your_version* so in order to get the cmake command, make a symbolic link:
```
sudo ln -s /opt/cmake-3.*your_version*/bin/* /usr/local/bin
```
Test your results with:
```
cmake --version
```

edited Aug 04 '21 at 23:35

ignacio

165
6

answered Sep 25 '16 at 05:57

Wolf

2,997
3
19
22

8

Don't think you need to uninstall the old `cmake` because `/usr/local/bin` is ahead of `/usr/bin` in `PATH`. So once you make the symlink in your last step, the `cmake` command will call your new `cmake` instead of the old one. – edwinksl Sep 25 '16 at 06:15
Yep, but based on what I read on other forums, most users would rather avoid the potential confusion – Wolf Sep 25 '16 at 06:27
19

As observed by Matt, **IF YOU ARE A ROS USER DO NOT RUN "REMOVE CMAKE"** Running this command will remove the current cmake version but will also remove parts of your ROS distribution, breaking everything and forcing you to re-install EVERYTHING related to ROS. A warning should be added to this command, or at the very least the leading answer should include a way to update cmake, rather than remove-and-replace. – sempaiscuba Jul 28 '17 at 00:18
17

ROS... "Robot Operating System"? – user1122069 Dec 04 '17 at 01:38
I'm running this in a container by script, so would I need to pass two "y"'s into the script? Are they planning on making `cmake` able to upgrade itself? – Timothy Swan Dec 25 '17 at 20:12
11

As of cmake 3.10.2 the installer no longer seems to install to `/opt` by default but rather to the current directory, so step 6 needs to be amended accordingly by the user. – JorgeGT Feb 14 '18 at 15:15
5

i did all that but once i type cmake --version it says command Cmake not found :( – DINA TAKLIT Oct 05 '18 at 12:09
@JorgeGT, what to do in this case? I got stuck on that step! cmd gives an errors `-bash: /usr/bin/cmake: No such file or directory` when typing `cmake --version` – smerllo Sep 20 '19 at 19:46
2

@Cs20 I had to do `sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/cmake /usr/bin/cmake` on Ubuntu 16.04 for the same problem. – Kyle Falconer Oct 09 '19 at 23:17
1

and nobody explains what ROS is... – axd Nov 18 '19 at 22:25
It works for me on Windows Subsystem for Linux with CMake 3.16.4 – Matthieu H Feb 27 '20 at 18:48
5

Just in case someone else makes the same mistake : in the last step provide the **full path** of CMake binaries to the symbolic link. Otherwise bash still can't find the files. – yuqli Sep 26 '20 at 00:48
Actually, it will not be installed in /opt/ if you press "y" twice. Because the second "Y" is to confirm you want it to be installed in your home/user, inside a subfolder. So, symlink would point to there and not to /opt/ – mayid Oct 10 '20 at 19:09
1

@axd ROS is "Robot Operating System" https://www.ros.org – KansaiRobot May 21 '21 at 07:07
CMake 3.16 or higher is required. You are running version 3.5.1. Is that a joke? I am on Ubuntu 16.04 – bhordupur Jun 26 '21 at 19:46
@bhordupur No... 16 > 5. – Karu Aug 09 '21 at 01:46
1

For anybody reading down to here, I completely recommend this video on how to install the latest version of cmake in your linux system, without removing your previous version: https://youtu.be/_yFPO1ofyF0 . It works perfect, and the author of the video explains every step in detail. – jespestana Aug 26 '21 at 15:38
**Tips for doing this with no problems**: 1. use tab for completing `/opt/cm` ... `TAB`. 2. Don't forget `/` before `/usr/local/bin` – Gulzar Dec 15 '21 at 15:10
How can I automate pressing `y` twice? Trying to install in docker – Gulzar Dec 15 '21 at 15:23
@Gulzar You can install it with the flag "--skip-license " and it doesn't ask about license. – zupazt3 Jan 28 '22 at 19:10
cmake complained about not finding things when installed using this method. What worked for me was installing directly in `/usr/local/` rather than installing in `/opt/` and then creating links. The command would be `sudo bash /cmake.sh --skip-license --exclude-subdir --prefix=/usr/local` – John Apr 28 '22 at 21:42
I'm writing a Dockerfile to put cmake into it, the working directory is simply /, hence in step 8 I do `sudo ln -s /cmake-3.*your_version*/bin/* /usr/local/bin`. – kelvin hong 方 May 30 '22 at 07:55

score 58 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 03 '18 at 10:30

58

In the new version of cmake (ex: 3.9.6), to install, download tar file from https://cmake.org/download/. Extract the downloaded tar file and then:

cd $CMAKE_DOWNLOAD_PATH
./configure
make
sudo make install

edited Sep 03 '18 at 10:30

avazula

165
2
12

answered Nov 15 '17 at 13:40

ptphucbk

681
5
4

3

I like this solution because it is arguably the purest way to solve the problem. (Just build the software.) No mucking around with PPAs or anything. Thanks! – Max von Hippel Jun 01 '20 at 04:09
1

This is a self-consistent solution. It works for me. – Yuanhui Jan 20 '21 at 08:55
I did this to update to 3.17 but after sudo make install I get this CMake Error: Could not find CMAKE_ROOT !!! CMake has most likely not been installed correctly. Modules directory not found in /usr/local/share/cmake-3.16 cmake version 3.16.3 – ChumbiChubaGo May 06 '21 at 20:26
2

First had to install OpenSSL to make it work: "sudo apt-get install libssl-dev" – Matt Jan 08 '22 at 19:11

Gautier Castelain · Answer 3 · 2017-04-24T02:05:51.900

2

I would like to follow your advice Wolf, but the script don't install the prog. So i just creat the folder but doesn't show like installed when i do

 cmake --version

I find a other way peraps more easy :

sudo -E add-apt-repository -y ppa:george-edison55/cmake-3.x
sudo -E apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cmake

edited Apr 24 '17 at 02:05

answered Apr 24 '17 at 01:55

Gautier Castelain

47
3

5

I tried this and it updated from 2.x to 3.2.2, but my build script still says "CMake 3.5.1 or higher is required." Is it possible to specify the `add-apt-repository` to be an even later version than 3.x, say something like "3.5.x" ? – Timothy Swan Dec 25 '17 at 20:09
1

Tis limited to version `3.5.2-2` while current distributes support `3.10.2` – Salem F Feb 26 '20 at 14:49

How to upgrade cmake in Ubuntu

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