In this tutorial, we will show you how to install CMake on AlmaLinux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, CMake is a powerful and versatile cross-platform build system generator that has become an essential tool for many software developers. It simplifies the process of building, testing, and packaging software across different platforms and compilers.

Key Features and Capabilities

• Cross-Platform Support: CMake can generate project files for IDEs like Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode, Eclipse CDT and build scripts for MSBuild or NMake on Windows; Unix Make on Unix-like platforms such as Linux, macOS, and Cygwin; and Ninja on both Windows and Unix-like platforms.
• Build Targets: CMake supports building executables, libraries, object file libraries and pseudo-targets (including aliases). It can produce object files that can be linked against by executable binaries/libraries, enabling both static and dynamic linking configurations.
• Out-of-Source Builds: CMake can store generated files in a directory tree that is separate from the source tree. This enables multiple builds from the same source tree and simplifies file management by allowing removal of generated files by deleting a single directory tree.
• Dependency Management: CMake ensures that downstream components are re-built when their sources are changed or built. It has accurate dependencies and allows for minimal rebuilds of only the code that has changed.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the CMake on AlmaLinux 9.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: AlmaLinux 9.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• Basic knowledge of Linux command line.
• Internet connection to download necessary packages.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install CMake on AlmaLinux 9

Step 1. Update your AlmaLinux system.

First, let’s start by ensuring your system is up-to-date.

sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf install epel-release
sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel zlib-devel make

Step 2. Installing CMake on AlmaLinux 9.

• Method 1: Install CMake from Source.

By default, CMake is not available on the AlmaLinux 9 base repository. Let’s download the latest version of CMake using the following command below:

wget https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.30.0-rc4/cmake-3.30.0-rc4.tar.gz

Next, extract the archive downloaded file using the following command:

tar -zxvf cmake-3.30.0-rc4.tar.gz

After that, change the directory that was extracted:

cd cmake-3.30.0-rc4

Now, run the following command to bootstrap CMake:

sudo ./bootstrap

Finally, we compile from the source and install CMake using the following command below:

sudo make
sudo make install

After the installation completes, verify that CMake is installed correctly by checking its version:

cmake --version

• Method 2: Using Snap to Install CMake

Snap is a universal package manager that allows you to install applications in a sandboxed environment. AlmaLinux 9 supports Snap, providing an alternative way to install CMake. Follow these steps:

sudo dnf install snapd
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket

Install CMake using Snap:

sudo snap install cmake --classic

Verify the installation by checking the CMake version:

cmake --version

Congratulations! You have successfully installed CMake. Thanks for using this tutorial to install the CMake on AlmaLinux 9 system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official CMake website.