GCC fatal error: stdio.h: No such file or directory

Question

I'm trying to compile a program in C on OS X 10.9 with GCC 4.9 (experimental). For some reason, I'm getting the following error at compile time:

gcc: fatal error: stdio.h: No such file or directory

I then tried a simple Hello World program:

#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, const char *argv[])
{
    printf("Hello, world!");
    return 0;
}

Again, upon running gcc -o ~/hello ~/hello.c, I got the same error. I'm using an experimental version of gcc, but it seems implausible that there would be a release which generated errors upon importing stdio. What could be causing this issue, and how can it be fixed?

Solution 1

macOS

I had this problem too (encountered through Macports compilers). Previous versions of Xcode would let you install command line tools through xcode/Preferences, but xcode5 doesn't give a command line tools option in the GUI, that so I assumed it was automatically included now. Try running this command:

xcode-select --install

If you see an error message that developer tools are already installed (and still header files can't be found), wipe out any existing one to do a fresh installation:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

Ubuntu

(as per this answer)

sudo apt-get install libc6-dev

Alpine Linux

(as per this comment)

apk add libc-dev

Solution 2

Mac OS Mojave

The accepted answer no longer works. When running the command xcode-select --install it tells you to use "Software Update" to install updates.

In this link is the updated method:

Open a Terminal and then:

cd /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/Packages/
open macOS_SDK_headers_for_macOS_10.14.pkg

This will open an installation Wizard.

Update 12/2019

After updating to Mojave 10.15.1 it seems that using xcode-select --install works as intended.

Solution 3

ubuntu users:

sudo apt-get install libc6-dev

specially ruby developers that have problem installing gem install json -v '1.8.2' on their VMs

Solution 4

I know my case is rare, but I'll still add it here for someone who troubleshoots it later. I had a Linux Kernel module target in my Makefile and I tried to compile my user space program together with the kernel module that doesn't have stdio. Making it a separate target solved the problem.

Solution 5

I had the same problem. I installed "XCode: development tools" from the app store and it fixed the problem for me.

I think this link will help: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt=12&ls=1

Credit to Yann Ramin for his advice. I think there is a better solution with links, but this was easy and fast.

Good luck!

View more solutions

Comments

[Christian Ternus]

You can see where gcc is looking for header files by doing echo "#include <bogus.h>" | gcc -v -x c - and examining the search paths.

[Jules]

Very useful command! It doesn't look like stdio.h is in any of GCC's search paths.

[Ivan]

Mavericks no longer has a base /usr/include. You need to link it into place from the XCode OS 10.9 SDK.

[p0lAris]

BTW, int main's first parameter is an int and not int *argc.

[Jules]

@YannRamin Thanks, going to try that.

[Jules]

@flippex17 Really? I thought it was argument count, and then the argument values.

[p0lAris]

Yes, it's an integer type.

[rici]

@user2615799: It is argument count. It's not pointer to argument count.

[Jules]

Alright, thanks for the clarification. @YannRamin I'm not sure how to do that, actually. I'm currently at Xcode > Preferences > Locations, but I can't find any options for library locations. Couldn't this be done by setting the $LIBRARY_PATH environment variable?

[Crowman]

No, since headers are not libraries. C_INCLUDE_PATH or the -isystem flag are what you want.

[Jules]

I tried setting C_INCLUDE_PATH (previously an empty variable) to the location of stdio.h, but the issue persists. On a possibly related note, I get no issues when I try importing stdio.h in gdb.

[Ivan]

@user2615799 Its at sudo ln -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.‌​platform/Developer/S‌​DKs/MacOSX10.9.sdk/u‌​sr/include /usr/include

[Michael]

@YannRamin Location changed, but when I fix that I get ln: /usr/include: Operation not permitted. Running as sudo!

[Sjors Provoost]

If you're using Xcode 6 beta 5, this command might fail. In that case you need to do sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app. When you're done, switch back using sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode6-Beta5.app.

[dhaupin]

Interesting. Thanks. This lib also solves some other issues. Recently, I encountered it trying to run a benchmark for petabyet.com (which uses gcc).

[Shadi]

On alpine linux I needed apk add libc-dev

[user124384]

Are you referring to just normal Xcode? Or is there some special version called "XCode: development tools"? Because I only see normal Xcode in the App Store. Granted, this is 4 years into the future from when this answer was posted.

[user124384]

Wow. Still working with Xcode 8.0 and Sierra in 2017.

[VanDavv]

Alpine guide is extremely usefull for Docker images based on alpine distro, works as wanted

[Bojan Dimovski]

Reinstalling the headers works also when upgrading to Xcode 10.2.

[Steve Siegel]

When I open macOS_SDK_headers_for_macOS_10.14.pkg, I get a scary Warning from the Installer: "This package is incompatible with this version of macOS and may fail to install." I have Mojave.

[Samshel]

@SteveSiegel what Mac OS version are you running? I upgraded to 10.15.1 and I no longer had to do this workaround. Updated my answer to reflect that.

[Ratul Hasan]

any suggestion for windows users? I am having this problem on windows

[Admin]

"updating to Mojave 10.15.1" that's incorrect. @SteveSiegel The pkg is deprecated. SDKROOT should be used. stackoverflow.com/a/63343829/10063119

[Admin]

For macOS users who're still having problems after installing CLTs stackoverflow.com/questions/63342521/…

[Jongwook Choi]

In some situations, you may need to run sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools to wipe out any existing installations before running xcode-select --install.