Unable to build the C++ hellowold grpc server

[Brad Taylor]

I have attempted to follow the instructions on building the example and it fails.  I have a system wide cmake installed which is a bit older, so I installed the latest according to instructions.  After installing I do a version

/var/lzlabs.d/Downloads/cmake/bin/cmake --version
cmake version 3.30.3

CMake suite maintained and supported by Kitware (kitware.com/cmake).

I  export MY_INSTALL_DIR=/var/lzlabs.d/Downloads/grpc/grpc

cd examples/cpp/helloworld/

mkdir -p cmake/build

pushd cmake/build

/var/lzlabs.d//Downloads/cmake/bin/cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$MY_INSTALL_DIR ../..

....get ... 

CMake Warning:
  Ignoring extra path from command line:

   "../.."

make -j 4
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.

What am I doing wrong?

[Peter Schow]

Hi Brad,

First, you'll likely get more help if you supply some basic details, like OS, OS version, which shell you're using, etc.

Before trying to build the examples, did you successfully build gRPC itself? 

https://grpc.io/docs/languages/cpp/quickstart/

 

[Brad Taylor]

Oracle Linux Server release 9.5

GNU bash, version 5.1.8(1)-release (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu)  

I did not build grpc, but instead installed from an Rpm in the el9 repositories
dnf into grpce*
Name         : grpc             Verrsion   : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-cli        Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-cpp      Version   : 1.46.7   Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-data     Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-devel    Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-doc        Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

Name         : grpc-plugins  Version    : 1.46.7 Release      : 10.el9

[Peter Schow]

On Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 9:41 AM Brad Taylor <cbrad...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Oracle Linux Server release 9.5
> GNU bash, version 5.1.8(1)-release (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu)  
> I did not build grpc, but instead installed from an Rpm in the el9 repositories
> dnf into grpce*

> Name         : grpc             Version   : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9

> Name         : grpc-cli        Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9
> Name         : grpc-cpp      Version   : 1.46.7   Release      : 10.el9
> Name         : grpc-data     Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9
> Name         : grpc-devel    Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9
> Name         : grpc-doc        Version    : 1.46.7  Release      : 10.el9
> Name         : grpc-plugins  Version    : 1.46.7 Release      : 10.el9

A couple of things:

gRPC 1.46.7 is 2+ years old

And the c++ example you are trying to build assumes that grpc and protobuf have been built/installed with cmake.  

See:  grpc/examples/cpp/cmake/common.cmake

# cmake build file for C++ route_guide example.
# Assumes protobuf and gRPC have been installed using cmake.

The easiest and most straightforward path to take is simply build grpc (and friends) yourself instead of

relying on ancient OS packages.

It's all here:

https://grpc.io/docs/languages/cpp/quickstart/

[Brad Taylor]

Unfortunately I can not do that without permission as we use RPMs for distribution to our customers.  I have gotten a bit further, but the cmake from the line command can not find the package protobuf.  In our product make system it can.  I will dig further into that and see if I can find the secret to getting cmake to find the package.

ty for your input