Bundle update fails on ffi - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm attempting to do a bundle update on my rails application but I get the following error:
Installing ffi (1.0.11) with native extensions Unfortunately, a fatal error has occurred. Please report this error to the Bundler issue tracker at https://github.com/carlhuda/bundler/issues so that we can fix it. Thanks!
/Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:552:in `rescue in block in build_extensions': ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension. (Gem::Installer::ExtensionBuildError)
/Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for ffi.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/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/bin/ruby
--with-ffi_c-dir
--without-ffi_c-dir
--with-ffi_c-include
--without-ffi_c-include=${ffi_c-dir}/include
--with-ffi_c-lib
--without-ffi_c-lib=${ffi_c-dir}/lib
--with-libffi-config
--without-libffi-config
--with-pkg-config
--without-pkg-config
/Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:381:in `try_do': The compiler failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError)
You have to install development tools first.
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:506:in `try_cpp'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:931:in `block in have_header'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:790:in `block in checking_for'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:284:in `block (2 levels) in postpone'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:284:in `block in postpone'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `postpone'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:789:in `checking_for'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:930:in `have_header'
from extconf.rb:9:in `<main>'
Gem files will remain installed in /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ffi-1.0.11 for inspection.
Results logged to /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ffi-1.0.11/ext/ffi_c/gem_make.out
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:530:in `block in build_extensions'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:505:in `each'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:505:in `build_extensions'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:180:in `install'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/source.rb:90:in `block in install'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/rubygems_integration.rb:82:in `preserve_paths'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/source.rb:89:in `install'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:73:in `block in install_gem_from_spec'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/rubygems_integration.rb:97:in `with_build_args'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:72:in `install_gem_from_spec'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:56:in `block in run'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:55:in `run'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:12:in `install'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/cli.rb:271:in `update'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/task.rb:22:in `run'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/invocation.rb:118:in `invoke_task'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor.rb:263:in `dispatch'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/base.rb:386:in `start'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.1.0/bin/bundle:13:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/bin/bundle:19:in `load'
from /Users/Kyle/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/bin/bundle:19:in `<main>'
Any ideas?

Answer 1

I ran into a problem similar to this yesterday.
I was able to resolve it using these steps:
https://github.com/carlhuda/bundler/blob/1-0-stable/ISSUES.md
Essentially, there was a problem with my bundle and clearing things out and rebuilding things from scratch resolved it.
The steps are repeated here:
# remove user-specific gems and git repos
rm -rf ~/.bundle/ ~/.gem/
# remove system-wide git repos and git checkouts
rm -rf $GEM_HOME/bundler/ $GEM_HOME/cache/bundler/
# remove project-specific settings and git repos
rm -rf .bundle/
# remove project-specific cached .gem files
rm -rf vendor/cache/
# remove the saved resolve of the Gemfile
rm -rf Gemfile.lock
# try to install one more time
bundle install
Although, given the message in the output text:
You have to install development tools first.
That makes me think you just may not have installed the Apple Xcode Developer Tools. Have you checked that? (I believe they're available in the Mac App Store.)

Answer 2

For Xcode 5 and later:
$ xcode-select --install
to install the Command Line Tools.

Answer 3

Once installed gcc-4.2 from brew, you need to create symlink of it:
ln -s /usr/bin/gcc /usr/bin/gcc-4.2

Answer 4

For me I just didn't have gcc installed, solve in Ubuntu by:
sudo apt install build-essential

Answer 5

Just in case try to run
sudo /usr/bin/gcc
You'll probably see license agreement, so scroll thgough it, type "agree" and try to install gem again.

Answer 6

Please note:
If you have recently updated Xcode, you may just need to open Xcode and accept the latest agreement.
I had the same issue and had recently installed an update to Xcode (v6.1) and solved it with these steps:
open Xcode
accept new agreement
rerun bundle update

Answer 7

Installing "Command Line Tools" via Xcode did the trick.
If you have Xcode 4.5 open Preferences > Downloads > Select Components tab and click Install next to Command Line Tools.
Although I installed from Xcode, you can also download the package without it from Apple's Developer Downloads and searching for "Command Line Tools".

Answer 8

I had to accept the Xcode User licence:
Running sudo xcrun cc should bring up the cli version of the Xcode
license agreement. Another option is to open Xcode.app and agree in
the GUI.
Possibly caused by updating OSX.
http://blog.tomhennigan.co.uk/post/62238548037/agreeing-to-the-xcode-license-from-the-command

Answer 9

Mac OSx 10.10.2 yosemite
CC=/usr/bin/i686-apple-darwin11-llvm-gcc-4.2 gem install ffi
and thats it -check that you have 4.2 compiler in /usr/bin that you can hook into
ls /usr/bin|grep gcc|grep 4.2
You do not have to wipe out all of your local gems or override symlinks to do this - its a waste of time and will likely create more problems then it solves.
please note, your bin path may be different if you needed to install via brew
brew install apple-gcc42

Answer 10

Also method:
export SDKROOT=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.9.sdk
bundle update
ffi.h is to be found in ${SDKROOT}/usr/include/ffi/ffi.h.

Answer 11

Ubuntu Trusty LTS 14.04
Needed to switch from ruby 2.2.1 to 2.3.0 to support newer gem versions in Rails app.
Solution:
rvm get stable
rvm remove 2.3.0
rvm install 2.3.0
bundle install