Short Notes: Installing the Latest CMake on Debian and Ubuntu

• Step 1: Remove Old Versions of CMake
• Step 2: Install Required Dependencies
• Step 3: Download and Compile the Latest CMake Version
• Step 4: Verify the Installation
• Optional: Cleanup Temporary Files
• Notes

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing the latest version of CMake on Debian-based systems, including Debian and Ubuntu. You’ll learn how to remove an existing version, meet prerequisites, compile from source, and verify the installation.

Step 1: Remove Old Versions of CMake

If you already have an older version of CMake installed, it’s a good idea to remove it to avoid conflicts. Run the following command:

sudo apt remove --purge --auto-remove cmake

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Before compiling CMake from source, ensure you have the necessary libraries installed. The libssl-dev package is particularly important to avoid compilation errors:

sudo apt install libssl-dev

Step 3: Download and Compile the Latest CMake Version

Now, download and compile the latest version of CMake. Replace the version and build variables with the desired CMake version numbers. Check https://cmake.org/files/, for the latest versions.

# Adjust the version and build as needed
version=3.29
build=9

# Create a temporary directory for the build process
mkdir ~/temp
cd ~/temp

# Download the source tarball
wget https://cmake.org/files/v$version/cmake-$version.$build.tar.gz

# Extract the tarball
tar -xzvf cmake-$version.$build.tar.gz
cd cmake-$version.$build/

# Configure and build CMake
./bootstrap
make -j$(nproc)  # Utilize all available CPU cores for faster compilation
sudo make install

This process might take some time depending on your system’s resources.

Step 4: Verify the Installation

After the installation is complete, verify that CMake is correctly installed:

cmake --version

If you encounter an error at this step but the which cmake command still shows the binary path, you may need to reset the shell’s command hash table:

hash -r

Optional: Cleanup Temporary Files

After the installation is complete, you can remove the temporary directory to free up space:

rm -rf ~/temp

Notes

1. Updating CMake: If a new version of CMake is released, repeat the process with updated version and build variables.
2. Additional Libraries: If your project requires other dependencies, ensure they are installed before building CMake.
3. Alternative Installation: If you prefer not to compile from source, consider installing CMake from a precompiled binary or a PPA (for Ubuntu users).

By following these steps, you’ll have the latest version of CMake installed and ready to use!