# Installing GCC: Final installation

Now that GCC has been built (and optionally tested), you can install it with

    cd objdir; make install

We strongly recommend to install into a target directory where there is no previous version of GCC present.

That step completes the installation of GCC; user level binaries can be found in `prefix/bin` where prefix is the value you specified with the `--prefix` to configure (or `/usr/local` by default). (If you specified `--bindir`, that directory will be used instead; otherwise, if you specified `--exec-prefix`, `exec-prefix/bin` will be used.) Headers for the C++ and Java libraries are installed in `prefix/include`; libraries in `libdir` (normally `prefix/lib`); internal parts of the compiler in `libdir/gcc` and `libexecdir/gcc`; documentation in info format in `infodir` (normally `prefix/info`).

When installing cross-compilers, GCC's executables are not only installed into `bindir`, that is, `exec-prefix/bin`, but additionally into `exec-prefix/target-alias/bin`, if that directory exists. Typically, such tooldirs hold target-specific binutils, including assembler and linker.

Installation into a temporary staging area or into a `chroot` jail can be achieved with the command

    make DESTDIR=path-to-rootdir install

where path-to-rootdir is the absolute path of a directory relative to which all installation paths will be interpreted. Note that the directory specified by `DESTDIR` need not exist yet; it will be created if necessary.

There is a subtle point with tooldirs and `DESTDIR`: If you relocate a cross-compiler installation with e.g. `DESTDIR=rootdir`, then the directory `rootdir/exec-prefix/target-alias/bin` will be filled with duplicated GCC executables only if it already exists, it will not be created otherwise. This is regarded as a feature, not as a bug, because it gives slightly more control to the packagers using the `DESTDIR` feature.

If you built a released version of GCC using `make bootstrap` then please quickly review the build status page for your release, available from http://gcc.gnu.org/buildstat.html. If your system is not listed for the version of GCC that you built, send a note to gcc@gcc.gnu.org indicating that you successfully built and installed GCC. Include the following information:

- Output from running `srcdir/config.guess`. Do not send that file itself, just the one-line output from running it.
- The output of `gcc -v` for your newly installed `gcc`. This tells us which version of GCC you built and the options you passed to configure.
- Whether you enabled all languages or a subset of them. If you used a full distribution then this information is part of the configure options in the output of `gcc -v`, but if you downloaded the "core" compiler plus additional front ends then it isn't apparent which ones you built unless you tell us about it.
- If the build was for GNU/Linux, also include:
  - The distribution name and version (e.g., Red Hat 7.1 or Debian 2.2.3); this information should be available from `/etc/issue`.
  - The version of the Linux kernel, available from `uname --version` or `uname -a`.
  - The version of glibc you used; for RPM-based systems like Red Hat, Mandrake, and SuSE type `rpm -q glibc` to get the glibc version, and on systems like Debian and Progeny use `dpkg -l libc6`.
  For other systems, you can include similar information if you think it is relevant.
- Any other information that you think would be useful to people building GCC on the same configuration. The new entry in the build status list will include a link to the archived copy of your message.

We'd also like to know if the host/target specific installation notes didn't include your host/target information or if that information is incomplete or out of date. Send a note to gcc@gcc.gnu.org detailing how the information should be changed.

If you find a bug, please report it following the bug reporting guidelines.

If you want to print the GCC manuals, do `cd objdir; make dvi`. You will need to have `texi2dvi` (version at least 4.2) and TeX installed. This creates a number of `.dvi` files in subdirectories of `objdir`; these may be converted for printing with programs such as `dvips`. You can also buy printed manuals from the Free Software Foundation, though such manuals may not be for the most recent version of GCC.

Return to the GCC Installation page