When building bitcoind, I receive error "headers.h:36:20: fatal error: db_cxx.h: No such file or directory"

Question

When building bitcoind on LinuxCoin (Debian based), I receive this error

"headers.h:36:20: fatal error: db_cxx.h: No such file or directory"

following the instructions at https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/build-unix.txt

I believe the error is caused by the package "libdb4.8++-dev" being non-existant for the distro, as when attempting to "apt-get install" that, I get:

Package libdb4.8++-dev is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source

E: Package 'libdb4.8++-dev' has no installation candidate

NOTE: libdb4.8-dev and all other dependencies are already installed.

It's probably a silly mistake on my part but any help is appreciated! Thanks.

Do you have a db_cxx.h file anywhere? You can check with locate. — David Schwartz, Oct 09 '11 at 15:29
No. I used to have the db-5.1.8 version but I removed that as the readme said I needed 4.8. — Sean Chapman, Oct 09 '11 at 15:33
If you don't have libdb-devel installed, it won't compile. You can use 5.1.8, just realize your files won't be compatible with builds made with earlier versions. — David Schwartz, Oct 09 '11 at 15:53
Yeah. I've redownloaded and compiled 5.1.8 now and that's all okay but I'm getting the same error. Not sure how to tweak this makefile to include the db5.1.8 directories — Sean Chapman, Oct 09 '11 at 16:03
The makefile I am using is: http://pastebin.com/wGpPNjEb. My db-5.1.8 directories are located at /usr/local/BerkeleyDB.5.1/ — Sean Chapman, Oct 09 '11 at 16:13
@DavidSchwartz - just a small correction - I found the package is called libdb-dev — Richard Green, May 13 '13 at 12:55

score 20 · Answer 1 · answered May 01 '13 at 05:56

20

I did the following command on Ubuntu and it worked.

sudo apt-get install libdb++-dev

answered May 01 '13 at 05:56

Kieran Andrews

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2

brew install berkeley-db on Mac OS X – Felipe May 12 '14 at 07:23

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 09 '11 at 16:58

7

You need to add -I <directory> to the end of the CXX=g++ line in the Makefile. The directory should be the one that contains the db_cxx.h file from your BerkeleyDB installation. So, change:

CXX=g++

to

CXX=g++ -I /usr/local/BerkeleyDB.5.1

You may need a /include or something like that on the end of that. It depends exactly which directory holds the db_cxx.h file.

answered Oct 09 '11 at 16:58

David Schwartz

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Worked a treat with Berkeley 5.1.8, thanks. – Sean Chapman Oct 09 '11 at 17:37
Yup thanks, works a treat with Berkeley 5.1.8 – ktec Mar 10 '12 at 10:28

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 20 '12 at 09:47

5

I think you can install the libdb4.8++-dev package if you add the stable debian repo in your sources.list.

I did it on my system (debian sid), and now I can proceed to the installation. I haven't tested the full bitcoind compilation yet, though.

answered Sep 20 '12 at 09:47

grondilu

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libdb5.1++-dev also works, for those who would rather install later versions of packages. +1 thanks! – L0j1k Mar 10 '13 at 23:56

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 06 '13 at 09:58

1

it compiles nice with later versions but be carefull and do not mix up db*-dev and db*++-dev. Here you have to install the "++" version

answered Mar 06 '13 at 09:58

Tyra Misoux

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Thanks, that's what I was missing ,db++-dev instead of db-dev – Squeezle May 24 '13 at 06:01

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 15 '20 at 02:16

0

If you're building under homebrew on MacOS, install the requisite header files via

brew install berkeley-db

answered Dec 15 '20 at 02:16

jhfrontz

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 15 '13 at 00:37

Try this:

sudo apt-get install libdb5.3++-dev

The latest stable package, I used this on the new Bitcoin-Qt 8.3 patch from GIT and it compiled flawlessly, for any files that had that as an include.

Note:

If you are using gcc / g++ version 4.8 and you were looking for libdb4.8++-dev, there is a reason why you couldn't find an installation candidate.

Don't confuse the libdb5.3++-dev package with the version of the gcc / g++ compiler and linker, they're not part of the gcc / g++ but an add-on development library regardless of what version of the compiler you use.

When building bitcoind, I receive error "headers.h:36:20: fatal error: db_cxx.h: No such file or directory"

6 Answers6