🧰 Installing GDB and Make on macOS and Windows #

This guide provides detailed, step-by-step instructions to install and configure
GNU Debugger (GDB) and GNU Make on both macOS and Windows systems.

🧩 Part 1: Installation on macOS #

✅ Option 1: Using Homebrew (Recommended) #

Step 1. Install Homebrew #

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

After installation, add Homebrew to your shell:

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Step 2. Install make and gdb #

brew install make
brew install gdb

ℹ️ Note: macOS ships with Apple’s version of make.
To use GNU Make (for better compatibility), run it as gmake, or alias it:

echo "alias make=gmake" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

⚙️ Step 3. Code-signing gdb (Required by macOS Security) #

macOS requires signed binaries for debugging.
Follow these steps to create and trust a self-signed certificate.

1. Open Keychain Access #

• Press Cmd + Space → type Keychain Access → press Enter

2. Create a Certificate #

• Menu: Keychain Access → Certificate Assistant → Create a Certificate
  • Name: gdb-cert
  • Identity Type: Self Signed Root
  • Certificate Type: Code Signing
  • Check “Let me override defaults” and continue until you can select the System keychain.

3. Trust the Certificate #

• In Keychain, double-click gdb-cert
• Expand Trust → set Code Signing to Always Trust
• Close and authenticate when prompted

4. Sign the GDB binary #

codesign -s gdb-cert $(which gdb)

5. Test the Installation #

gdb --version

If no “not codesigned” error appears, setup is complete!

🧪 Step 4. Verify Installations #

make --version
gdb --version

Expected output: version numbers for both tools (GNU Make ≥ 4.x, GDB ≥ 13.x)

🪟 Part 2: Installation on Windows #

✅ Option 1: Using MinGW (Lightweight Native Toolchain) #

Step 1. Download MinGW #

• Visit https://osdn.net/projects/mingw/
• Download and run mingw-get-setup.exe

Step 2. Install Required Packages #

1. In MinGW Installation Manager:
   • Under Basic Setup, mark:
     • mingw32-base
     • mingw32-gdb
2. Menu → Installation → Apply Changes

Step 3. Add MinGW to PATH #

1. Open Start → Edit System Environment Variables
2. Environment Variables → System Variables → Path → Edit
3. Add:

   C:\MinGW\bin
   

Step 4. Verify Installation #

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell:

gcc --version
make --version
gdb --version

✅ Option 2: Using MSYS2 (Modern GNU/Linux-like Environment) #

Step 1. Install MSYS2 #

• Download from https://www.msys2.org/
• Open MSYS2 terminal and update packages:

  pacman -Syu
  

Step 2. Install Toolchain #

pacman -S --needed base-devel mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-toolchain
pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gdb

Step 3. Add to PATH #

Add:

C:\msys64\mingw64\bin

to your System PATH.

Step 4. Verify Installation #

gcc --version
make --version
gdb --version

✅ Option 3: Using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) #

If you prefer a Linux environment inside Windows:

Step 1. Install WSL + Ubuntu #

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

Step 2. Install Developer Tools #

Inside the Ubuntu terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential gdb -y

Step 3. Verify #

make --version
gdb --version

🧾 Summary Table #

🧰 Troubleshooting Tips #

✅ Verification Checklist #

• make --version works
• gdb --version works
• Code compiles with gcc
• PATH variables are correctly set

Prepared for classroom / lab setup in C programming & systems courses.