Installing libiconv on Ubuntu Linux

Category:

Tutorials > Libraries > Libiconv > Installation

This short tutorial shows you how to install libiconv on Ubuntu Linux Server. The process is very simple. For this tutorial, I'll be installing libiconv version 1.11. Linux kernel is 2.6.15-26-powerpc. I have used a Mac Mini (powerpc/ppc architecture). GCC version number is 4.0.3. Your configuration may be different from mine but the installation steps below should work fine for most configurations with little or no change at all (including other Linux distributions and even unixes e.g. MacOS X).

libiconv:

"libiconv is for you if your application needs to support multiple character encodings, but that support lacks from your system."

Before starting, please check to see if there is a latest version available to download. Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/ to find out about the available versions. IMPORTANT: See "Configuring Ubuntu Linux After Installation" to install the development tools required to compile and install libiconv from source code.

Steps to download, compile, and install are as follows. Note: Replace 1.11 with your version number:

Downloading libiconv:
Run the command below,
wget http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/libiconv/libiconv-1.11.tar.gz
Extracting files from the downloaded package:

tar -xvzf libiconv-1.11.tar.gz
Now, enter the directory where the package is extracted.
cd libiconv-1.11

Configuring libiconv Library:

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/libiconv
Replace "/usr/local/libiconv" above with the directory path where you want to copy the files and folders. Note: check for any error message.
Compiling libiconv:

make

Note: check for any error message.
Installing libiconv:

As root (for privileges on destination directory), run the following.
With sudo,
sudo make install
Without sudo,
make install

Note: check for any error messages.

That’s it. Library has bee successfully installed.

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