Installing the Free Pascal Compiler

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Warning-icon.png

Warning: If you are intending to also install Lazarus, please ignore these instructions and instead refer to Installing Lazarus as Lazarus includes the Free Pascal Compiler and Libraries.


Overview

There are a number of ways to install the Free Pascal Compiler and its libraries on your system. The current version and trunk, and sometimes beta and release candidates, are available direct from the FPC website (tar, exe, rpm, dmg. pkg files). In addition, versions of FPC are provided (including rpm and deb files) from the Lazarus download site. Linux users can almost certainly find FPC in their distribution's repositories but may find that it is outdated.

It is possible to build FPC from source, typically each release needs to be built with the previous release. It is possible to install FPC in the application space (often requiring root or administrator access) or in a your own user space. These things depend on your particular operating system.

There is an extensive discussion of how to install and build Free Pascal compilers available here http://www.stack.nl/~marcov/buildfaq.pdf - it may be a little too detailed for some users, but it is very comprehensive.

Linux

FPC Binary Packages

With the recent release of FPC 3.2.0, only a few distributions will have the new FPC compiler in its repositories. You can do one of -

FPC Tar Balls

Another option is installing from a tar, an easy and possibly even more useful model. These tars are available for a wide range of Unix like systems. You need to download the appropriate binary tar for your OS and CPU and you may also need the source files, common for all OS/CPU. You install FPC this way in your own space, not as root.

Here is a series of commands, not a script, that will install FPC on a 64 bit Linux system. It could be scripted but would would need sanity and error checking. Note that I like to install things like this in my $HOME/bin directory, if you prefer having it in $HOME, it is even easier, I am sure you can see the differences.

Light bulb  Note: A tar install does not resolve dependencies, if they are not already present, first install binutils, make, gcc. 
cd
mkdir -p bin/FPC/Tars
mkdir bin/FPC/SRC
mkdir bin/FPC/fpc-3.2.0
cd bin/FPC/Tars
# download src and compiler tars, change for different CPU (or Mac ?) 
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/Source/3.2.0/fpc-3.2.0.source.tar.gz
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/Linux/3.2.0/fpc-3.2.0-x86_64-linux.tar
tar xf fpc-3.2.0-x86_64-linux.tar
cd fpc-3.2.0-x86_64-linux
./install.sh
# when asked where to install, enter $HOME/bin/FPC/fpc-3.2.0, accept all defaults after that.

cd ../../SRC
tar xzf ../Tars/fpc-3.2.0.source.tar.gz

# Set a path to where the compiler is, add line at end of .bashrc, if you don't use bash, adjust ! 
echo "PATH=\"\$HOME/bin/FPC/fpc-3.2.0/bin\":\"\$PATH\"" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# trivial test
cd 
fpc -iV
Light bulb  Note: The second wget above assumes you are working with an amd64 (AMD or Intel) type machine, other platforms require a different tar ball. For example, for a Raspberry Pi, you would use - 
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/Linux/3.2.0/fpc-3.2.0.arm-linux.tar
which has the armhf 32bit compiler. Incidentally, the Raspberry Pi may need you to increase swap space to at least a Gig if you plan to later build any large applications with FPC.

FPC sources

The FPC source files are stored in a Subversion (SVN) repository (https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/trunk) and mirrored in a Git repository (git://github.com/graemeg/freepascal.git). The repository keeps track of all the changes by developers in the source tree. Once you have the sources, please see Installing from source under BSD/Linux for instructions on how to install them.

Update from the source repository using SVN or Git

The SVN or Git repository has been made accessible for everyone, with read-only access. This means that you can directly access the code, and you will have really the last-minute sources available. It is also a method which requires less bandwidth once you have done the first download (checkout in SVN lingo; clone in Git lingo).

Getting the source

First, you need to have an SVN or Git client installed. Use your package manager, install a tool like TortoiseSVN on Windows, or look at the Subversion web site or the Git webs site for more details and client downloads.

Using command line svn: change directory (cd) to the parent directory of your development area, eg To retrieve the full source repository for the first time into an fpc subdirectory under your home directory, type: 

cd ~
svn checkout http://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/trunk fpc

Note: FreeBSD includes the svnlite client in the base system which you can use instead of installing the full Subversion svn client.

Using command line git: change directory (cd) to the parent directory of your development area, eg To retrieve the full source repository for the first time into an fpc subdirectory under your home directory, type: 

cd ~
git clone git://github.com/graemeg/freepascal.git fpc

To update the sources which were downloaded (checked out/cloned) above:

Using svn: 

cd ~
svn cleanup --remove-unversioned
svn update fpc

Using git: 

cd ~
git clean -f -d
git pull

Getting a separate branch

If the current trunk version is in a state of rapid change and unsuitable for much use unless you want to work on the compiler itself, you can stay on a version that is updated with fixes. To do this, you have to find out a stable branch that you want to track instead of the default trunk development version.

The example below shows how you can track the fixes_3_2 version; of course replace as needed depending on what branch you want to track.

This example keeps the fixes in another directory under your home directory - it wouldn't make sense to put two versions of the source in one directory...

Using svn: 

cd ~
svn checkout http://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/branches/fixes_3_2 fpc_fixes_3_2

Update as usual: 

cd ~
svn cleanup --remove-unversioned
svn update fpc_fixes_3_2

Note: There is no Git repository for fixes_3_2.

Documentation sources

The documentation sources are in a separate repository called fpcdocs, so the command to get them is: 

cd ~
svn checkout http://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpcdocs/trunk fpcdocs

If you want to learn more about subversion, read this excellent Subversion book which is also available online in different formats for free.

For more information, see the Free Pascal website.

FreeBSD

Light bulb  Note: If you wish to also install Lazarus, you can omit installing FPC with the steps below as the Lazarus port will install it for you. See Installing Lazarus on FreeBSD.

Installing from the ports collection

The FreeBSD ports collection has FPC v3.2.0 version in /usr/ports/lang/fpc. FPC is scattered over 105(!) packages. The FPC source is now installed by default; it previously needed to be copied and uncompressed from /usr/ports/distfiles/freepascal.

This must be done as root. 

# cd /usr/ports/lang/fpc && make install && make clean

Once FPC is installed you can check if it's working by simply running as a normal user: 

$ fpc test

which should produce output similar to this: 

 Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.0 [2020/11/14] for x86_64
 Copyright (c) 1993-2020 by Florian Klaempfl and others
 Target OS: FreeBSD for x86-64
 Compiling test
 Fatal: Cannot open file "test"
 Fatal: Compilation aborted
 Error: /usr/local/bin/ppcx64 returned an error exitcode

To fix a linking issue (as of FreeBSD 12.2, 29 Dec 2020), you must also install the GNU devel/binutils if not already installed and then use a symbolic-link from /usr/local/bin/ld.bfd to /bin/ld.bfd.

Installing from tar

Select the appropriate 32 bit/64 bit tar file based on your system. For x86_64 64-bit FreeBSD, download from x86_64. For i386 32-bit FreeBSD, download from i386.

To install Free Pascal from a terminal: 

$ fetch ftp://ftp.freepascal.org/pub/fpc/dist/3.2.0/x86_64-freebsd/fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-freebsd11.tar
$ tar -xf fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-freebsd11.tar
$ cd fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-freebsd
$ bash install.sh

Replace the desired Free Pascal version (3.0.4, 3.2.0 or 3.3.1) and architecture (x86_64 or i386) as required.

If you want to install the Free Pascal Compiler globally, for example in /usr/local, run the install.sh script as root. install.sh script uses bash shell syntax. If you get Bad substitution error, make sure you run script with bash.

If you are on FreeBSD 12 or newer, the default linker is the lld. This may cause problems if you have code that uses, for example, the cthreads unit as in the following program: 

uses cthreads;
begin
    writeln('hello'); 
end.

The executable generated for this program will cause a segmentation fault when run. To fix this issue, you need to install the GNU linker: 

root# pkg install binutils

and add a symbolic-link from /usr/local/bin/ld.bfd to /bin/ld.bfd.

OpenBSD

Installing from tar

Select the appropriate 32 bit/64 bit tar file based on your system. For x86_64 64-bit OpenBSD, download from x86_64. For i386 32-bit OpenBSD, download from i386.

To install Free Pascal from a terminal: 

$ wget ftp://ftp.freepascal.org/pub/fpc/dist/3.2.0/x86_64-openbsd/fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-openbsd.tar
$ tar -xf fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-openbsd.tar
$ cd fpc-3.2.0.x86_64-openbsd
$ bash install.sh

Replace the desired Free Pascal version (3.0.4, 3.2.0 or 3.3.1) and architecture (x86_64 or i386) as required.

If you want to install the Free Pascal Compiler globally, for example in /usr/local, run the install.sh script as root. install.sh script uses bash shell syntax. If you get Bad subtitution error, make sure you run script with bash. OpenBSD uses ksh as default shell. You need to install bash manually.

Installing from source on BSD/Linux

Effectively, you need:

1. A file with all FPC sources (https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/Source/3.2.0/fpc-3.2.0.source.tar.gz).

2. A starting (bootstrap) FPC compiler. An FPC release can always be built by the previously released FPC version, and FPC trunk can always be built by the current FPC release. You can download a bootstrap Free Pascal Compiler or use your distribution's package management/software system to install one.

FPC build process:

  • Fetch necessary files (starting compiler), FPC source file or source svn directory
  • If using FPC source files: extract/de-tgz in work directory,
  • Build: enter work/fpc/ and run:
# Linux use:   
export MAKE=`which make` ; echo $MAKE 
# FreeBSD use (default csh, or tcsh):
set MAKE=`which gmake` ; echo $MAKE
# FreeBSD use (bash):
export MAKE=`which gmake` ; echo $MAKE
$MAKE all OPT='-gl' FPC=/path/to/startingcompiler-name-ppcx64
# $MAKE is make on Linux and gmake on BSD 
# /path/to/ can be omitted when ppc386 (32 bit) or ppcx64 (64 bit) is in the path
  • Install FPC. Again in work/fpc, run
$MAKE install FPC=compiler/ppcx64 PREFIX=$THEPREFIX
#replace the FPC=compiler/ppcx64 (or ppc386 for 32 bit) with the relevant compiler if not on Intel x86
#THEPREFIX= usually is /usr/local or just /usr, but eg on NetBSD it is /usr/pkg for ports)
  • Create a symlink:
ln -s $THEPREFIX/lib/fpc/3.2.0/ppcx64 $THEPREFIX/bin/ppcx64
  • Install sources:
$MAKE install sourceinstall PREFIX=$THEPREFIX
  • Create a symlink for default FPC source path:
ln -sf $THEPREFIX/share/src/3.2.0/fpc /usr/share/fpcsrc
  • Set up fpc.cfg configuration file:
$THEPREFIX/lib/fpc/3.2.0/samplecfg $THEPREFIX/lib/fpc/3.2.0 $ETCDIR
  • Optionally test to see if ppcx64 -i (or whatever compiler your architecture uses) gives output, else give a warning that user needs to add $PREFIX/bin to the current path. Try to compile a program with ppcx64 -viwn, and see if that gives errors.

Notes:

  • If you need fpcmake package lists, you need to generate or supply them yourself, (in the port, or in an extra archive) either way, do a dummy install to /tmp/pack and determine the files installed with 
    find . >ll
  • $THEPREFIX and $ETCDIR should be user configurable. Otherwise local installs aren't possible.
  • BSDHIER=1 on all make commands forces BSD hierarchy conventions.

Windows

Installing an FPC release with the Windows installer

By far the easiest way to get a working installation of the Free Pascal Compiler is to download and run the appropriate self-extracting Windows installer from the official SourceForge repository for FPC 3.2.0 - this release contains the current versions of the Free Pascal Compiler and the Free Pascal libraries. The Windows installer packages install very easily, and should work 'out-of-the-box'. You will be taken through a typical Windows installation wizard to install the FPC binaries and Free Pascal libraries:

  • Choose an installation location for FPC (suggested C:\FPC\3.2.0)
  • Choose installation type (recommended Full Installation)
  • Choose file associations, configuration file creation etc
  • Install
  • View README

Installing from source

Installing from source with a command line Subversion (svn) client is not for novices, since you also need a working bootstrap compiler to be able to compile the Free Pascal Compiler from source. Instructions for obtaining a bootstrap compiler are included below.

Obtaining the source with a command line svn client

The easiest way to get the Free Pascal Compiler source is by using a Subversion (svn) client. The exact commands may vary between svn clients; the commands given below are for the command line Subversion client downloadable from SourceForge - win32svn.

Source for a release version of FPC

First create a directory in which you'd like to keep the source. Any normal user can do this. Create a directory for FPC (eg C:\Source) by typing the following at a command prompt: 

C:\Users\you> cd \
C:\> mkdir Source
C:\> cd Source

Now type issue the following command at a command prompt: 

C:\Source> svn checkout https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/tags/release_3_2_0 fpc-3.2.0

Wait while the Subversion repository is downloaded to the fpc-3.2.0 directory in your newly created Source directory. This can take a while... have a look at the helpful Free Pascal Forums while you wait :-) You may also like to read the excellent How to use the Forum Wiki article which explains how to get answers to pesky questions quickly. New Forum users are always welcome.

Source for a non-release version of FPC

There are two current non-release branches of the Free Pascal Compiler: the development (trunk) branch and the Fixes 3.2.0 branch which includes additional fixes to the released 3.2.0 version. Developers, and those who like living on the bleeding edge and testing new features and fixes, will choose the development version; more normal users, who wish to use a stable branch with some additional fixes since the latest release version, will choose the Fixes branch. The instructions below cover both these branches.

If it does not already exist, create a directory in which you'd like to keep the FPC source (eg C:\Source). Any normal user can do this. Now type the following command at a command prompt:

For the Fixes branch of FPC 3.2.0 

C:\Source> svn checkout https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/branches/fixes_3_2_0 fpc-fixes-3.2.0

For the Development (trunk) branch of FPC 

C:\Source> svn checkout https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/trunk fpc-trunk

Hint: To download/update your local copy of the repository with subsequent changes, you need only do:

For the Fixes branch of FPC 3.2.0 

C:\> cd C:\Source\fpc-fixes-3.2.0
C:\Source\fpc-fixes-3.2.0> svn update

For the Development (trunk) branch of FPC 

C:\> cd C:\Source\fpc-trunk
C:\Source\fpc-trunk> svn update

Obtaining the source with the GUI TortoiseSVN client

The first thing you will probably need to do is download the GUI TortoiseSVN Subversion client from TortoiseSVN website Download file area if you do not already have it available.

After downloading the appropriate Windows installer and installing it, you are ready to begin. You will notice that TortoiseSVN has added a number of shortcuts to the File Explorer context menu so that you can work easily with svn without needing to use the command prompt.

Source for a release version of FPC

To download the latest release version Free Pascal Compiler source from the Subversion repository, first create the directory in which you'd like to keep the source. Any normal user can do this:

  • Open File Explorer and navigate to "Local Disk C:"
  • Choose Home > New folder in File Explorer and create a directory for the FPC source (eg C:\Source).
  • Right click in File Explorer in your newly created directory and you should see an entry for "SVN Checkout..." in the context menu, choose this entry and you will be presented with a TortoiseSVN Checkout Dialog.
  • Fill in the "URL of the Repository" field with this URL: https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/tags/release_3_2_0
  • In the "Checkout directory" field add fpc-3.2.0 to the existing C:\Source\ in the field so you end up with C:\Source\fpc-3.2.0. This is the directory which will house your local copy of the source repository.
  • Leave the other fields at their default and click OK.
  • Now you will be presented with a new dialog which shows the progress of the checkout... wait while the Subversion repository is downloaded to the fpc-3.2.0 directory in your newly created Source directory. This can take a while... have a look at the helpful Free Pascal Forums while you wait :-) You may also like to read the excellent How to use the Forum Wiki article which explains how to get answers to pesky questions quickly. New Forum users are always welcome.
Source for a non-release version of FPC

There are two current non-release branches of the Free Pascal Compiler: the development (trunk) branch and the Fixes 3.2.0 branch which includes additional fixes to the released 3.2.0 version. Developers, and those who like living on the bleeding edge and testing new features and fixes, will choose the development version; more normal users, who wish to use a stable branch with some additional fixes since the latest release version, will choose the Fixes branch. The instructions below cover both these branches.

The instructions are the same as for a release version of the Free Pascal Compiler given above, except that you will need to replace the "URL of the Repository" and "Checkout directory" fields with the appropriate values set out below:

For the Fixes branch of FPC 

 Repository URL: https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/branches/fixes_3_2_0 
 Checkout Directory: C:\Source\fpc-fixes-3.2.0

For the Development (trunk) branch of FPC 

 Repository URL: https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/trunk 
 Checkout Directory: C:\Source\fpc-trunk

Updating your local repository

To update your local copy of the repository with subsequent source changes, open File Explorer, navigate to your C:\Source and right-click on the fpc-fixes-3.2.0 or fpc-trunk directory and you should see an entry for "SVN Update" in the context menu, choose this entry and you will be presented with a TortoiseSVN Update Dialog and the update will start without you needing to do anything else. When the update finishes, click OK to exit.

Obtaining a bootstrap compiler

To obtain a bootstrap Free Pascal Compiler, download the distribution package fpc-3.2.0.i386-win32.exe and run it - it is a self-extracting installer, so just follow the instructions to install it. The installer should set the PATH environment variable as appropriate.

Then restart windows.

Compiling the FPC source

Before you start

  • The installation PREFIX in the instructions that follow is totally dependent on the directory in which you installed FPC. The Windows FPC installer uses a default location of C:\FPC and the FPC 3.2.0 release files are placed in C:\FPC\3.2.0. Since versions change relatively frequently, it is recommended that you just select and maintain a single PREFIX default location without any regard to FPC version numbers. A reasonable PREFIX to adopt is the one used by the Windows FPC installer (C:\FPC) but you must also make sure that the C:\FPC\bin\i386-win32\ directory is added to your path environment variable.
  • Check that the make.exe which is found first in your path environment variable is the GNU one included with your bootstrap FPC compiler. If you have a recent version of Delphi installed, watch out for its version of make being earlier in your path. It does not understand the FPC Makefile and you will receive many errors if you try to use it. You can check this by opening a command prompt and typing make -v. The result should be (or very similar):

fpc windows make.png

Instructions

  • At a command prompt, navigate to your local FPC source directory (eg C:\Source\fpc-3.2.0) by typing:
C:\> cd Source\fpc-3.2.0
  • Compile the FPC source with:
C:/Source/fpc-3.2.0> make all
  • To overwrite an existing FPC installation in, for example, C:\FPC) type:
C:/Source/fpc-3.2.0> make install PREFIX=C:\FPC
  • If you also need the crosscompiler to x86_64 type the following commands after the first make:
>make all OS_TARGET=win64 CPU_TARGET=x86_64 INSTALL_PREFIX=C:\FPC\3.2.0 PP=C:\FPC\3.2.0\bin\i386-win32\ppc386.exe DATA2INC=C:\FPC\3.2.0\bin\i386-win32\data2inc.exe

make crossinstall OS_TARGET=win64 CPU_TARGET=x86_64 INSTALL_PREFIX=C:\FPC\3.2.0 PP=C:\FPC\3.2.0\bin\i386-win32\ppc386.exe DATA2INC=C:\FPC\3.2.0\bin\i386\win32\data2inc.exe

Done!

macOS

Light bulb  Note: For installation on Apple Silicon/AArch64, please refer to Apple Silicon Support for build instructions for a native Free Pascal Compiler.


Step 1: Download Xcode

You need the Apple Developer tools, which are a part of the Xcode development environment.

Xcode 11.3.1 for use on macOS 10.14 Mojave must now be installed by downloading it from Apple Developer Connection (ADC), which requires free registration. Xcode 11.4.x for use on macOS 10.15 Catalina can be installed from the Mac App store. Note that you must first move any old Xcode versions from the Applications folder into the trash or rename the Xcode app (eg Xcode.app to Xcode_1014.app). You can select which version of Xcode to use with the command line utility xcode-select.

Older systems:

The developer tools can be installed from the original macOS installation disks or a newer copy downloaded from the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), which requires free registration. Download the Xcode file, it will end up in your Downloads directory as a zip file. Click it. It is unarchived into your Downloads directory. You may be happy with it there but maybe not. Other users will see the path to it but be unable to use it. And it is untidy there. So I moved mine and then told xcode-select where it was moved to (in a terminal) - 

mv Downloads/Xcode.app /Developer/.
sudo xcode-select -s /Developer/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Step 2: Xcode Command Line Tools

This is shown here as a separate step because it really is a separate step in addition to Step 1. Don't confuse this with the internal Xcode command line tools that the Xcode GUI will tell you are already installed. FPC cannot use those Xcode internal command line tools, so do the following (it is quick and easy)- 

sudo xcode-select --install
sudo xcodebuild -license accept

Step 3: Download FPC

Download the Free Pascal Compiler (FPC) and FPC source from the Free Pascal website. When you arrive at the download page, select a mirror and then choose the correct version for your operating system.

These binary install kits are built by the FPC developers and track formal releases. As these install kits are not code signed nor notarized by Apple, you need to either control-click on the installation package and choose "Open" or right-click on the installation package and choose "Open" in the contextual menu and confirm you want to install from an Unknown Developer.

Other macOS installation options

fpcupdeluxe

You could also consider using fpcupdeluxe to install FPC.

fink & MacPorts

Alternatively, you can use one of the package managers for macOS, fink or MacPorts, to install FPC. Their extra bonus is easy installation as well as clean removal of FPC and a huge number of other open source software packages. Fink also offers numerous Free Pascal crosscompilers for many processors and operating systems.

Testing the FPC Install

You might like to try a simple and quick test of FPC at this stage. From the command line (Mac - Open an Application > Utilities > Terminal) and copy this very short program and save it as the file helloworld.pas: 

program helloworld;
begin
	writeln('hello world !');
end.

Now compile this simple code with this command line: 

fpc helloworld.pas <enter>

It should very quickly make an executable called, you guessed it, "helloworld". Run this executable with this command: 

./helloworld <enter>

If that worked, well done!

Installing cross compilers

A cross compiler allows you to create binaries (executables) for a platform different from the platform being used for compilation. For example, working under macOS and creating executables for Win32, FreeBSD or Linux. For details on how to do this, see Cross Compiling.

See also

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