How to link boost libraries properly in Linux

Question

I've been trying to go through Boost tutorials but I got stuck at linking the filesystem library.

I have Ubuntu 12.10. Installation wasn't that hard

sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev

This put all headers in /usr/local/include and compiled sources in /usr/lib/
[--headers]
[--binaries]

I wrote this program [--program]. When I tried to compiled it

 g++ -g tut1.cpp -o tut1 -lboost_system -lboost_filesystem

g++ -g -I /usr/local/include/boost/ tut1.cpp -o tut1 -L /usr/lib/libboost_filesystem.a -lboost_system -lboost_filesystem

but didn't have luck. I had the same errors.

Since I cannot put more than 2 links in the post, here are all links
http://pastebin.com/DakVFn12

Try reversing the order of the libraries in your link command. — n. m. could be an AI
– n. m. could be an AI, Commented Jun 20, 2013 at 6:37

Athan · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-20 19:48:15Z

10

I found the answer myself here:
http://www.richelbilderbeek.nl/CppLinkErrorUndefinedReferenceToBoostFilesystemDetailGet_current_path_api.htm
Looks like binaries weren't in /usr/lib but in /usr/local/lib.
So the correct command for compilation would be:

g++ -g tut1.cpp -o tut1 -L/usr/local/lib/ -lboost_filesystem

@Yuushi, that was 1 problem.

answered Jun 20, 2013 at 19:48

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4 Comments

I doubt apt-get install libboost-dev-all put stuff in /usr/local.

I don't know where you got your package, but Ubuntu 12.10's libboost-dev package just pulls in libboost1.49-dev which puts everything in /usr (including filesystem and system)

its apt-get install libboost-all-dev

How to link everything from boost?

Yuushi · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-20 06:50:00Z

4

The -L command should be the base path where the libraries are contained, not the path to a specific library. Try with -L /usr/lib/ instead.

answered Jun 20, 2013 at 6:50

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find /usr/lib -name "*boost*"