Gem::Ext::BuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension on mac. unable to install racc

Question

Installing racc 1.5.2 with native extensions
Gem::Ext::BuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/racc-1.5.2/ext/racc/cparse   

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby -I

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0 -r

./siteconf20210323-1013-1j708gz.rb extconf.rb

checking for rb_ary_subseq()... *** 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=/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/$(RUBY_BASE_NAME)

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:467:in `try_do': The compiler failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError)

You have to install development tools first.

from/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:546:in `block in try_link0'

from/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/tmpdir.rb:93:in`mktmpdir'

from/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:543:in`try_link0'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:570:in`try_link'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:782:in`try_func'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:1069:in`block in have_func'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:959:in`block in checking_for'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:361:in`block (2 levels) in postpone'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:331:in`open'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:361:in`block in postpone'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:331:in`open'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:357:in`postpone'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:958:in`checking_for'

from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0/mkmf.rb:1068:in`have_func'

from extconf.rb:6:in `'

To see why this extension failed to compile, please check the mkmf.log which can be found here:

/Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/extensions/universal-darwin-19/2.6.0/racc-1.5.2/mkmf.log

extconf failed, exit code 1

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/racc-1.5.2 for inspection.

Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/extensions/universal-darwin-19/2.6.0/racc-1.5.2/gem_make.out

An error occurred while installing racc (1.5.2), and Bundler cannot continue.

Make sure that gem install racc -v '1.5.2' --source 'https://rubygems.org/'succeeds before bundling.

In Gemfile: rails was resolved to 6.1.3, which depends on actioncable was resolved to 6.1.3, which depends on actionpack was resolved to 6.1.3, which depends on actionview was resolved to 6.1.3, which depends on rails-dom-testing was resolved to 2.0.3, which depends on nokogiri was resolved to 1.11.2, which depends on racc

Answer 1

The gem racc has the following dependencies:

 *  Ruby 1.8.x or later.
(*) make and C compiler.

See: Gem documentation

So my guess is that either one of those are not correctly installed on your machine.

1. Does ruby -v work?
2. Does make -v work?
3. Does gcc -v work?

To install ruby, you might want to look into rbenv (https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv) To install make and gcc, simply run:

xcode-select --install