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Cargo can't find installed Gtk libraries
+5
−0
I'm trying to build a Rust program that uses Gtk4, specifically riff, but I think any Rust program that depends on Gtk4 will reproduce this error. However, Cargo keeps complaining that various Gtk-related libraries don't exist. Here is the output of the compiler:
Compiling openssl-sys v0.9.109
Compiling glib-sys v0.20.10
Compiling gobject-sys v0.20.10
Compiling gio-sys v0.20.10
Compiling glib-sys v0.21.1
Compiling gobject-sys v0.21.1
warning: [email protected]:
error: failed to run custom build command for `glib-sys v0.20.10`
Caused by:
process didn't exit successfully: `/home/user/.local/share/riff/target/release/build/glib-sys-4792b6431b7a0065/build-script-build` (exit status: 1)
--- stdout
cargo:rerun-if-changed=/home/user/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f/glib-sys-0.20.10/Cargo.toml
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=GLIB_2.0_NO_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:warning=
pkg-config exited with status code 1
> PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_CFLAGS=1 pkg-config --libs --cflags glib-2.0 'glib-2.0 >= 2.82'
The system library `glib-2.0` required by crate `glib-sys` was not found.
The file `glib-2.0.pc` needs to be installed and the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable must contain its parent directory.
PKG_CONFIG_PATH contains the following:
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
HINT: you may need to install a package such as glib-2.0, glib-2.0-dev or glib-2.0-devel.
warning: build failed, waiting for other jobs to finish...
warning: [email protected]:
error: failed to run custom build command for `gobject-sys v0.20.10`
Caused by:
process didn't exit successfully: `/home/user/.local/share/riff/target/release/build/gobject-sys-6bd21c007fde8ecd/build-script-build` (exit status: 1)
--- stdout
cargo:rerun-if-changed=/home/user/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f/gobject-sys-0.20.10/Cargo.toml
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=GOBJECT_2.0_NO_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:warning=
pkg-config exited with status code 1
> PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_CFLAGS=1 pkg-config --libs --cflags gobject-2.0 'gobject-2.0 >= 2.82'
The system library `gobject-2.0` required by crate `gobject-sys` was not found.
The file `gobject-2.0.pc` needs to be installed and the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable must contain its parent directory.
PKG_CONFIG_PATH contains the following:
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
HINT: you may need to install a package such as gobject-2.0, gobject-2.0-dev or gobject-2.0-devel.
warning: [email protected]:
error: failed to run custom build command for `gio-sys v0.20.10`
Caused by:
process didn't exit successfully: `/home/user/.local/share/riff/target/release/build/gio-sys-2bcfe94ddf82bd0d/build-script-build` (exit status: 1)
--- stdout
cargo:rerun-if-changed=/home/user/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f/gio-sys-0.20.10/Cargo.toml
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=GIO_2.0_NO_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_PATH
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
cargo:warning=
pkg-config exited with status code 1
> PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_CFLAGS=1 pkg-config --libs --cflags gio-2.0 'gio-2.0 >= 2.82'
The system library `gio-2.0` required by crate `gio-sys` was not found.
The file `gio-2.0.pc` needs to be installed and the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable must contain its parent directory.
PKG_CONFIG_PATH contains the following:
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
HINT: you may need to install a package such as gio-2.0, gio-2.0-dev or gio-2.0-devel.
However, even though I've added the directory containing these files to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable and installed what seems like every Gtk library known to mankind, it still throws these errors.
This is a problem I come across once every year or so, when I get back into Rust Gtk development, but by the time it happens again, I've long forgotten how I solved it before.
This is the output when I run ls /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig/. You can see that some of the very libraries Cargo is complaining about are in this directory.
alsa.pc gdk-pixbuf-xlib-2.0.pc gstreamer-gl-prototypes-1.0.pc gudev-1.0.pc libmpg123.pc orc-0.4.pc sqlite3.pc
atk-bridge-2.0.pc gdk-wayland-3.0.pc gstreamer-gl-wayland-1.0.pc harfbuzz-cairo.pc libout123.pc orc-test-0.4.pc tbb.pc
atk.pc gdk-x11-3.0.pc gstreamer-gl-x11-1.0.pc harfbuzz-gobject.pc libpcre2-16.pc pangocairo.pc uuid.pc
atspi-2.pc geoclue-2.0.pc gstreamer-insertbin-1.0.pc harfbuzz-icu.pc libpcre2-32.pc pangofc.pc vorbisenc.pc
blkid.pc gio-2.0.pc gstreamer-mpegts-1.0.pc harfbuzz.pc libpcre2-8.pc pangoft2.pc vorbisfile.pc
cairo-fc.pc giomm-2.4.pc gstreamer-mse-1.0.pc harfbuzz-subset.pc libpcre2-posix.pc pangomm-2.48.pc vorbis.pc
cairo-ft.pc giomm-2.68.pc gstreamer-net-1.0.pc ibus-1.0.pc libpng16.pc pangoot.pc vulkan.pc
cairo-gobject.pc gio-qt.pc gstreamer-pbutils-1.0.pc ice.pc libpng.pc pango.pc wayland-client.pc
cairomm-1.16.pc gio-unix-2.0.pc gstreamer-photography-1.0.pc icu-i18n.pc libpulse-mainloop-glib.pc pangoxft.pc wayland-cursor.pc
cairomm-ft-1.16.pc glesv1_cm.pc gstreamer-play-1.0.pc icu-io.pc libpulse.pc pciaccess.pc wayland-egl.pc
cairomm-pdf-1.16.pc glesv2.pc gstreamer-player-1.0.pc icu-uc.pc libpulse-simple.pc pixman-1.pc wayland-server.pc
cairomm-png-1.16.pc glib-2.0.pc gstreamer-plugins-bad-1.0.pc Imath.pc libraw1394.pc pthread-stubs.pc x11.pc
cairomm-ps-1.16.pc glibmm-2.4.pc gstreamer-plugins-base-1.0.pc jack.pc libselinux.pc PyImath.pc x11-xcb.pc
cairomm-svg-1.16.pc glibmm-2.68.pc gstreamer-plugins-good-1.0.pc jsoncpp.pc libsepol.pc python-3.12-embed.pc xau.pc
cairomm-xlib-1.16.pc gl.pc gstreamer-riff-1.0.pc Lerc.pc libsharpyuv.pc python-3.12.pc xcb.pc
cairomm-xlib-xrender-1.16.pc glx.pc gstreamer-rtp-1.0.pc libavcodec.pc libssl.pc python3-embed.pc xcb-render.pc
cairo.pc gmodule-2.0.pc gstreamer-rtsp-1.0.pc libavformat.pc libswresample.pc python3.pc xcb-shape.pc
cairo-pdf.pc gmodule-export-2.0.pc gstreamer-sctp-1.0.pc libavutil.pc libswscale.pc Qt6Concurrent.pc xcb-shm.pc
cairo-png.pc gmodule-no-export-2.0.pc gstreamer-sdp-1.0.pc libbrotlicommon.pc libsyn123.pc Qt6Core.pc xcb-xfixes.pc
cairo-ps.pc gmp.pc gstreamer-tag-1.0.pc libbrotlidec.pc libthai.pc Qt6DBus.pc xcomposite.pc
cairo-script-interpreter.pc gmpxx.pc gstreamer-transcoder-1.0.pc libbrotlienc.pc libtiff-4.pc Qt6Gui.pc xcursor.pc
cairo-script.pc gobject-2.0.pc gstreamer-va-1.0.pc libcrypto.pc libudev.pc Qt6Network.pc xdamage.pc
cairo-svg.pc gobject-introspection-1.0.pc gstreamer-video-1.0.pc libcrypt.pc libunwind-coredump.pc Qt6OpenGL.pc xdmcp.pc
cairo-tee.pc gobject-introspection-no-export-1.0.pc gstreamer-vulkan-1.0.pc libcurl.pc libunwind-generic.pc Qt6OpenGLWidgets.pc xext.pc
cairo-xcb.pc graphene-1.0.pc gstreamer-vulkan-wayland-1.0.pc libdc1394-2.pc libunwind.pc Qt6Platform.pc xfixes.pc
cairo-xcb-shm.pc graphene-gobject-1.0.pc gstreamer-vulkan-xcb-1.0.pc libdecor-0.pc libunwind-ptrace.pc Qt6PrintSupport.pc xft.pc
cairo-xlib.pc graphite2.pc gstreamer-wayland-1.0.pc libdeflate.pc libwebpdecoder.pc Qt6Sql.pc xinerama.pc
cairo-xlib-xrender.pc grilo-plugins-0.3.pc gstreamer-webrtc-1.0.pc libdrm_amdgpu.pc libwebpdemux.pc Qt6Svg.pc xi.pc
datrie-0.2.pc gstreamer-1.0.pc gstreamer-webrtc-nice-1.0.pc libdrm_intel.pc libwebpmux.pc Qt6SvgWidgets.pc xkbcommon.pc
dbus-1.pc gstreamer-allocators-1.0.pc gthread-2.0.pc libdrm_nouveau.pc libwebp.pc Qt6Test.pc xmu.pc
egl.pc gstreamer-analytics-1.0.pc gtk+-3.0.pc libdrm.pc libxcrypt.pc Qt6Widgets.pc xorg-wacom.pc
epoxy.pc gstreamer-app-1.0.pc gtk4-atspi.pc libdrm_radeon.pc libzstd.pc Qt6Xml.pc xrandr.pc
expat.pc gstreamer-audio-1.0.pc gtk4-broadway.pc libdw.pc luajit.pc rtaudio.pc xrender.pc
flac.pc gstreamer-bad-audio-1.0.pc gtk4.pc libelf.pc mount.pc rtmidi.pc xscrnsaver.pc
fontconfig.pc gstreamer-base-1.0.pc gtk4-unix-print.pc libevdev.pc numpy.pc samplerate.pc xt.pc
freetype2.pc gstreamer-check-1.0.pc gtk4-wayland.pc libexif.pc ogg.pc sdl2.pc xtst.pc
fribidi.pc gstreamer-codecparsers-1.0.pc gtk4-x11.pc libffi.pc openal.pc sigc++-2.0.pc xv.pc
fuse.pc gstreamer-controller-1.0.pc gtk+-broadway-3.0.pc libglvnd.pc opencv4.pc sigc++-3.0.pc xwayland.pc
gbm.pc gstreamer-cuda-1.0.pc gtkmm-4.0.pc libgphoto2.pc OpenEXR.pc sm.pc xxf86vm.pc
gdk-3.0.pc gstreamer-fft-1.0.pc gtk+-unix-print-3.0.pc libgphoto2_port.pc opengl.pc sndfile.pc z3.pc
gdk-broadway-3.0.pc gstreamer-gl-1.0.pc gtk+-wayland-3.0.pc libjpeg.pc openssl.pc sndio.pc zlib.pc
gdk-pixbuf-2.0.pc gstreamer-gl-egl-1.0.pc gtk+-x11-3.0.pc liblzma.pc opus.pc speech-dispatcher.pc
How would I go about fixing this problem? I'm using Rust 1.89.0 on Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS.
1 answer
+4
−0
Works for me
The following users marked this post as Works for me:
| User | Comment | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvester | (no comment) | Sep 3, 2025 at 17:10 |
It turns out that jmb's comment was correct; my version of gio was too old.
After being led by Virgil through the nine circles of dependency hell, I eventually just upgraded to Ubuntu 25. Unfortunately I don't remember whether I then had to manually install the newer version of gio or not, since there were lots of things I had to fix to get the new Ubuntu version working, and even then the upgrade is still a tiny bit broken in places.
The latest versions of the gtk4 Rust library require a gio version of 2.82 or newer, so you can use this command (as suggested in jmb's comment) to check whether you have the correct version:
pkg-config --libs --cflags gio-2.0 'gio-2.0 >= 2.82'
If you don't have the right version, you'll get a message something like this:
Package dependency requirement 'gio-2.0 >= 2.82' could not be satisfied.
Package 'gio-2.0' has version '2.53.1', required version is '>= 2.82'
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