Error installing pg gem on osx

Question

I am on osx 10.6.7 trying to run bundle install on a new rails 3.0.7 app and it keeps failing when trying to build the pg gem. It keeps telling me that I have need the developer tools. But as far as I can tell I have the developer tools installed.

Here is the output of xcodebuild -version

Xcode 3.2.6
Component versions: DevToolsCore-1809.0; DevToolsSupport-1806.0
BuildVersion: 10M2518

Here is the output of the failed pg gem build

/Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/bin/ruby extconf.rb --with-pg-config=/Library/PostgreSQL/8.4/bin/pg_config
Using config values from /Library/PostgreSQL/8.4/bin/pg_config
checking for libpq-fe.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
    --without-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/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/bin/ruby
    --with-pg
    --without-pg
    --with-pg-dir
    --without-pg-dir
    --with-pg-include
    --without-pg-include=${pg-dir}/include
    --with-pg-lib
    --without-pg-lib=${pg-dir}/lib
    --with-pg-config
/Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/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/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:452:in `try_cpp'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:853:in `block in find_header'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:693:in `block in checking_for'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block (2 levels) in postpone'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block in postpone'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:276:in `postpone'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:692:in `checking_for'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:852:in `find_header'
    from extconf.rb:31:in `<main>'


Gem files will remain installed in /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@rc_search/gems/pg-0.11.0 for inspection.
Results logged to /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@rc_search/gems/pg-0.11.0/ext/gem_make.out
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:486:in `block in build_extensions'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:446:in `each'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:446:in `build_extensions'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-head/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/installer.rb:198:in `install'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/source.rb:100:in `install'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:55:in `block in run'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/spec_set.rb:12:in `block in each'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/spec_set.rb:12:in `each'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/spec_set.rb:12:in `each'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:44:in `run'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/installer.rb:8:in `install'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/cli.rb:217:in `install'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/task.rb:22:in `run'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/invocation.rb:118:in `invoke_task'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor.rb:246:in `dispatch'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/lib/bundler/vendor/thor/base.rb:389:in `start'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/gems/bundler-1.0.0/bin/bundle:13:in `<top (required)>'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/bin/bundle:19:in `load'
    from /Users/bm/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-head@global/bin/bundle:19:in `<main>'

Any help would be immensely appreciated. FYI I also tried building the app with a mysql and essentially got the same stack. So I'm pretty sure I'm missing some sort of developer build tools, but I just don't know which ones. :(

Answer 1

I had the exact same problem when running bundle install in a Rails app. I installed homebrew and then ran

brew install postgresql. 

That finally installed postgres correctly and the issue was fixed for me.