Error Installing Jekyll - Native Extension Build

65
votes

I'm having some trouble installing jekyll. Can't quite figure out how to patch the missing link. I think it's an update to Ruby, but RVM is having trouble installing alternate versions of ruby as well.

Heres the full post:

$ sudo gem install jekyll    

ERROR:  Error installing jekyll:
ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

    /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby extconf.rb
mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby at /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ruby.h


Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/fast-stemmer-1.0.1 for inspection.
Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/fast-stemmer-1.0.1/ext/gem_make.out

Does this mean I need to update the version of ruby I'm using via rvm?

25
rubymacosrubygemsinstallationjekyll
What commands specifically are you running to update RVM and then switch your ruby version? - Noah Clark
Hey Noah, I was trying $ rvm install ruby-1.9.2-p320 - Robb Schiller
It would be helpful if you gave the exact commands you issued followed by the complete output. Try to use code highlighting too. - Noah Clark
Thanks for pointing that out Noah, I added the command I issued for the jekyll install and what it output. - Robb Schiller
what does which make return? - Noah Clark

25 Answers

195
votes

Ubuntu

  1. sudo apt-get install ruby-dev
  2. gem install jekyll
11
votes

Your problem is that either you system doesn't know where make is located at or you don't have it installed. The easiest way to fix this (and probably other issues you'll run into trying to get a ruby system up and running) is to install xcode.

You can get it at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?ls=1&mt=12 for lion. Or it came on a CD with your computer for earlier versions.

If you're using Lion, please see comments below for a link to how to install developer tools on Lion.

7
votes

I had the same error on Ubuntu and this helped me sort it out.

You must have ruby-dev installed

apt-get install ruby-dev
6
votes

If you installed XCode and command line tools are still missing go to Terminal and

xcode-select --install

it will prompt you to install these tools. After that just follow SrBlanco´s answer. That solved the problem for me.

Good luck.

5
votes

Need to install "make". I am using Ubuntu 12.10. sudo apt-get install make Should work on any Debian based distro.

3
votes

Note: this problem also occurs on newer MacBook Pro models that come with Mavericks pre-installed. I updated another post with my own solution that didn't involve Xcode at all. My system had the Xcode developer tools installed when I got the machine.

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

2
votes

Install Xcode as mentioned if you don't have it installed already (https://developer.apple.com/xcode/). Plus you need the command line tools.

Open Xcode. Go to Preferences > Downloads > Install Command Line Tools

2
votes

Installing command line tools for Xcode solved the problem for me on my Mac

xcode-select --install.

2
votes
  • sudo apt-get install ruby-dev
  • sudo gem install jekyll

hope this will help, it works with me.

1
votes

I had this same exact error when trying to install Jekyll, and the following steps from this link helped me. Just in case anyone else comes across this!

http://davidensinger.com/2013/03/installing-jekyll/

1
votes

I was facing the same issue in my Fedora 22 setup. I had ruby installed but didn't have ruby-devel. Installing ruby-devel fixed the issue for me.

dnf install -y ruby-devel

For older systems:

yum install -y ruby-devel
1
votes

I followed this on Ubuntu/Linux Mint

  1. sudo apt install build-essential
  2. sudo apt install ruby-dev
  3. sudo gem install jekyll
0
votes

An addendum: You can install XCode now from the App Store on Mountain Lion. The process is transparent and pretty fast.

0
votes

I had the same problems with you.

I use Mac OS X 10.9 develop preview version, and I had installed gcc and Xcode.

But my Xcode version is 4.6.

Then I install the Xcode 5.0

After that I type sudo gem install jekyll in the terminal again. Then it works.

Wish it could help someone.

0
votes

Installing Xcode and going to perferencs > downloads > install commandline tools WORKS!

0
votes

Same problem on Debian, I had forgot to run this command:

~/.rvm/scripts/rvm
0
votes

All these answers did NOT work for me.

If you're looking for a solution on ubuntu 14.04, do this:

sudo apt-get install ruby1.9.1-dev zlib1g-dev nodejs
sudo gem install jekyll -v 2.5.3

Unfortunately, nodejs is required because of a bug in Jekyll that enforces existence of runtime JS engine even though it doesn't need one.

0
votes

For Ubuntu, this helped in my case:

apt-get install libffi-dev

A general advice is to just follow what is displayed as the reason for the error and hopefully you'll be provided with a log file in which the first line suggests which package should be installed, in my case:

To see why this extension failed to compile, please check the mkmf.log which can be found here:

  /var/lib/gems/2.3.0/extensions/x86_64-linux/2.3.0/ffi-1.9.21/mkmf.log
0
votes

MacOS

my solution to this problem

  1. install xcode
  2. type xcode-select --install in the command line
  3. type sudo gem install jekyll in the command line

PS: It is the combination of the two answers in this question.

0
votes

You are missing the ruby-dev file , just go ahead and run this command - sudo apt-get install ruby-dev

Hope this helps!!

0
votes

I had the same issue on my macOS(10.14.2), the reason may be:

Apparently with OSX el Capitan, there is a new security function that prevents you from modifying system files called Rootless.

My solution is using rvm:

  1. install ruby on Mac OS X with RVM
  2. gem install jekyll
0
votes

On windows I have this issue

I actually installed the version rubyinstaller-devkit-2.6.3-1-x64 of ruby

I have removed the ruby completely and Installed the rubyinstaller-devkit-2.5.5-1-x64

and issued the following commands on powershell 

gem install bundler
gem install jekyll

and this time no errors where found

0
votes

I had this issue and of all things, the error was occurring because I hadn't agreed to some updated terms of service in xcode. Running the following did the trick for me. Go figure. 

sudo xcodebuild -license accept
0
votes

For me, I had to upgrade homebrew and install rbenv to the latest ruby version. After that, I followed the instruction at jekyll website. My OS is Catalina 2019, I couldn't install Xcode, which is not compatible yet!

You have to set the path in your .bash_profile to make sure that it initializes the rbenv when you restart your terminal. 

export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(rbenv init -)"

then 

$ rbenv version
2.2.3 (set by /Users/mislav/.rbenv/version)
$ rbenv shell
rbenv: no shell-specific version configured

hope that help!

0
votes

Here is the (only?) reliable and simple way to install Jekyll on macOS

  1. Install UTM
  2. Install Ubuntu Server
  3. Install Jekyll using Ubuntu instructions at https://jekyllrb.com/docs/installation/ubuntu/
  4. Forward port 22 in the VM settings (22->localhost->22)
  5. Use VS Code on the macOS host
  6. Install Remote SSH
  7. Connect to USER@localhost
  8. Drag and drop the folder on Mac into VS Code (this transfers files to remote)
  9. Enable port forwarding for 4000 (bottom bar on VS Code)
  10. Work on your website
  11. Right click on your website on the file explorer and click download

If you have not done these steps, you might be delighted by:

  1. Ubuntu imports your public SSH key from GitHub
  2. VS Code magically handles file transfer in and out
  3. VS Code magically installs your VS Code extensions onto the remote server and allows file search on the remote host