#acl Axel Lehmann:read,write Robin Schirrmeister:read,write All:read

= Installing the Google C++ Testing Framework (gtest) =

There are two options: (A) installing from a pre-compiled package; and (B) downloading and building it manually. The first option is more comfortable but does not work anymore on newer systems, for reasons explained [[http://code.google.com/p/googletest/wiki/FAQ#Why_is_it_not_recommended_to_install_a_pre-compiled_copy_of_Goog|here]] (which you need not read or understand, just follow Option B below then).

== Option A: Installing from Ubuntu / Debian package ==

'''Step A1:''' Install the corresponding package (you need to be root or have sudo rights for this):

{{{
sudo apt-get install libgtest-dev
}}}

'''Step A2:''' Verify that the installation worked by checking the existence of the following files:

{{{
/usr/local/include/gtest/gtest.h
/usr/local/lib/libgtest.a
/usr/local/lib/libgtest.so

or

/usr/include/gtest/gtest.h
/usr/lib/libgtest.a
/usr/lib/libgtest.so
}}}

If you don't find these files resort to the manual installation described in the following section.

== Option B: Installing gtest manually ==

'''Step B1:''' Download the latest version from http://code.google.com/p/googletest, for example:

{{{
wget http://googletest.googlecode.com/files/gtest-1.6.0.zip
}}}

'''Step B2:''' Unpack the archive, change to the corresponding directory and build the code from its source:

{{{
unzip gtest-1.6.0.zip
cd gtest-1.6.0
./configure
make
}}}

'''Step B3:''' Install the files, that is, copy them to the proper systems directories (you need to be root or have sudo rights for that):

{{{
sudo make install
}}}

This step might ''fail'' for newer versions of gtest, with a message similar to the following one:

{{{
'make install' is dangerous and not supported. Instead, see README for how to integrate Google Test into your build system.
}}}

In that case, just copy the header and library files ''manually'' to the proper system files (again, you need to be root or have sudo rights for that):

{{{
sudo cp -a include/gtest /usr/local/include
sudo cp -a lib/.libs/* /usr/local/lib
}}}

After that, check that the following files exist (just like for step A2 above):

{{{
/usr/local/include/gtest/gtest.h
/usr/local/lib/libgtest.a
/usr/local/lib/libgtest.so
}}}

If the library is still not found by the compiler, you can run:
{{{
sudo ldconfig
}}}