Error to install Nokogiri on OSX 10.9 Maverick?

Question

I upgraded my OSX (Lion) to Mavericks and I can't install Nokogiri for my projects.

I already install XCode 5.0.1, Command Line Tools (using xcode-select --install), and already installed libxml2 from Homebrew and I am still having problems.

The error is:

Gem::Installer::ExtensionBuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for libxml/parser.h... *** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of
necessary libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more
details.  You may need configuration options.

Provided configuration options:
    --with-opt-dir
    --with-opt-include
    --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include
    --with-opt-lib
    --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib
    --with-make-prog
    --without-make-prog
    --srcdir=.
    --curdir
    --ruby=/Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/bin/ruby
    --with-zlib-dir
    --without-zlib-dir
    --with-zlib-include
    --without-zlib-include=${zlib-dir}/include
    --with-zlib-lib
    --without-zlib-lib=${zlib-dir}/lib
    --with-iconv-dir
    --without-iconv-dir
    --with-iconv-include
    --without-iconv-include=${iconv-dir}/include
    --with-iconv-lib
    --without-iconv-lib=${iconv-dir}/lib
    --with-xml2-dir
    --without-xml2-dir
    --with-xml2-include
    --without-xml2-include=${xml2-dir}/include
    --with-xml2-lib
    --without-xml2-lib=${xml2-dir}/lib
    --with-xslt-dir
    --without-xslt-dir
    --with-xslt-include
    --without-xslt-include=${xslt-dir}/include
    --with-xslt-lib
    --without-xslt-lib=${xslt-dir}/lib
    --with-libxslt-config
    --without-libxslt-config
    --with-pkg-config
    --without-pkg-config
    --with-libxml-2.0-config
    --without-libxml-2.0-config
    --with-libiconv-config
    --without-libiconv-config
/Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:368:in `try_do': The complier failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError)
You have to install development tools first.
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:452:in `try_cpp'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:853:in `block in find_header'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:693:in `block in checking_for'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block (2 levels) in postpone'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block in postpone'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:276:in `postpone'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:692:in `checking_for'
    from /Users/ericcamalionte/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p320/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:852:in `find_header'
    from extconf.rb:116:in `<main>'


Gem files will remain installed in /Users/ericcamalionte/Locaweb/code/dns-panel/vendor/bundle/ruby/1.9.1/gems/nokogiri-1.5.9 for inspection.
Results logged to /Users/ericcamalionte/Locaweb/code/dns-panel/vendor/bundle/ruby/1.9.1/gems/nokogiri-1.5.9/ext/nokogiri/gem_make.out
An error occured while installing nokogiri (1.5.9), and Bundler cannot continue.
Make sure that `gem install nokogiri -v '1.5.9'` succeeds before bundling.

I installed libxml2, libxslt and libiconv from Homebrew, and set the params to install Nokogiri, but don't work too.

I can't find what's wrong in my enviroment, can you help me?

Answer 1

I had this same error on a fresh Mavericks install. After having a lapse of judgement I renamed my Xcode app bundle to Xcode 5.0.1.app.

Apparently the Nokogiri installation script does not quote its paths and so the space in the file name caused all sorts or troubles. It wasn't until I tried brew install libxml2 that the error became obvious.

Lesson learned: spaces in file names are evil.

Answer 2

Check your Commandline tools version. Set up your machine to use the Xcode 5.0.X command line tools, then run:

gem install nokogiri

Answer 3

for windows you can also try local installation:

1. download the appropriate gem based on your environment.

2. go to the directory where you saved the gem file.

3. gem install --local nokogiri-1.6.3.1-x86-mingw32.gem

if not worked you may check if you have zlib and mingw or proper c compiler installed.

Answer 4

For people using MacPorts, make sure you have installed libxml2 via MacPorts. Then type:

bundle config build.nokogiri --use-system-libraries
bundle install

This should do the trick, worked for me without using full paths.

Answer 5

The error message gives a clue here: The compiler failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError)

xcode-select --install # not sure if this is required  
brew install apple-gcc42  
gem install nokogiri  

You also might need to brew install and link these:

libxml2 libxslt

Answer 6

For me the error was that that gcc (4.2.1, installed from Homebrew) was complaining that:

-E, -S, -save-temps and -M options are not allowed with multiple -arch flags

I solved the issue by forcing x86_64 only:

ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install nokogiri