gcc-4.8 can't compile test program? [duplicate] - c++

Question

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g++: error trying to exec 'cc1plus': execvp: No such file or directory
(5 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
I've installed gcc-4.8 on Ubuntu 16.04 to build a C++11 program. I have a CMakeList.txt file that worked well on OS X with Clang and GCC 4.8 built from Macports.
I started by setting CXX=/usr/bin/gcc-4.8 and then CMake fails with the following error:
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is unknown
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/gcc-4.8
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/gcc-4.8 -- broken
CMake Error at /usr/share/cmake-3.5/Modules/CMakeTestCXXCompiler.cmake:54 (message):
The C++ compiler "/usr/bin/gcc-4.8" is not able to compile a simple test
program.
It fails with the following output:
Change Dir: /home/ruipacheco/databaseclient/cpp/ninja/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp
Run Build Command:"/usr/bin/make" "cmTC_5df0c/fast"
/usr/bin/make -f CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/build.make
CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/build
make[1]: Entering directory
'/home/ruipacheco/databaseclient/cpp/ninja/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
Building CXX object CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/testCXXCompiler.cxx.o
/usr/bin/gcc-4.8 -o CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/testCXXCompiler.cxx.o -c
/home/ruipacheco/databaseclient/cpp/ninja/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/testCXXCompiler.cxx
gcc-4.8: error trying to exec 'cc1plus': execvp: No such file or directory
CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/build.make:65: recipe for target
'CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/testCXXCompiler.cxx.o' failed
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/cmTC_5df0c.dir/testCXXCompiler.cxx.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory
'/home/ruipacheco/databaseclient/cpp/ninja/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
Makefile:126: recipe for target 'cmTC_5df0c/fast' failed
make: *** [cmTC_5df0c/fast] Error 2
CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:6 (project)
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
Again, I know gcc-4.8 is capable of building C++11 programs and I've managed to make this CMakeLists.txt file work with gcc 4.8 on OSX so what could I be missing?

Answer 1

"gcc-4.8" is a C compiler, not a C++ compiler. You should set the CXX variable to "g++-4.8" or "g++" or some other C++ compiler executable.