How do I fix the Rust error "linker 'cc' not found" for Debian on Windows 10?

Question

I'm running Debian on Windows 10 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and installed Rust using the command:

curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh

There were no errors in the install, but when I tried to compile with rustc I got the error linker 'cc' not found.

Answer 1

The Linux Rust installer doesn't check for a compiler toolchain, but seems to assume that you've already got a C linker installed! The best solution is to install the tried-and-true gcc toolchain.

sudo apt install build-essential

If you need to target another architecture, install the appropriate toolchain and target the compilation as follows:

rustc --target=my_target_architecture -C linker=target_toolchain_linker my_rustfile.rs

Answer 2

Solution for CentOS:

yum -y install gcc

Answer 3

You have to install some dependencies

for Arch Linux sudo pacman -S base-devel

for Ubuntu sudo apt install build-essential

for Centos sudo yum install gcc

Answer 4

I ran the following 2 commands and it worked.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install build-essential

Answer 5

Solution for Solus:

sudo eopkg it -c system.devel

Answer 6

Please do an "Update and Upgrade" before installing setup tools.