script
Install Erlang with asdf on m1 MacBook
I have asdf installed with the all the dependencies mentioned on the site. I am able to successfully installed and use different versions of elixir, but when it comes to Erlang I am unable to install any version with asdf. I tried 21.x and also 22.x versions. I have latest Erlang version installed with brew and it’s working. I got the below error when I try to install any version.
asdf install erlang 22.0
Downloading kerl...
asdf_22.0 is not a kerl-managed Erlang/OTP installation
No build named asdf_22.0
Downloading OTP-22.0.tar.gz to /Users/weiswise/.asdf/plugins/erlang/kerl-home/archives...
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 120 100 120 0 0 200 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 200
100 52.2M 0 52.2M 0 0 1495k 0 --:--:-- 0:00:35 --:--:-- 1568k
Extracting source code
Building Erlang/OTP 22.0 (asdf_22.0), please wait...
Configure failed.
checking size of int... 0
checking size of long... 0
checking size of long long... 0
checking size of __int64... 0
checking size of __int128_t... 0
checking whether byte ordering is bigendian... no
checking whether double word ordering is middle-endian... yes
configure: error: cannot build emulator since no thread library was found
ERROR: /Users/weiswise/.asdf/plugins/erlang/kerl-home/builds/asdf_22.0/otp_src_22.0/erts/configure failed!
./configure: line 343: kill: (-60536) - No such process
I think Erlang 21.x and 22.x are not supported on apple silicon Macs, at least not all the versions that’s why it’s not installing.
I tried with version 23.3.4 stable build and asdf is able to install it successfully.
I tried with 22.3.4.19 stable build and asdf is also able to install it without any issue.
For this issue
./configure: line 343: kill: (-60536) - No such process
add the below line in your bash or zsh file.
CFLAGS="-O2 -g"
Also add this line in the bash or zsh
KERL_CONFIGURE_OPTIONS="--disable-debug --without-javac"
So, asdf is working fine, the only issue is arm base architecture of MacBook.
I am leaving the post here, so that anyone in the future can get help from here.
Thank you.
Most Liked
moogle19
Erlang/OTP 22.3.4.2 doesn’t work with M1 Macs.
If it is an option, you can use OTP >= 22.3.4.16.
The Apple Silicon build was fixed in that release.
Ivor
Changing from 24.1.7 to 24.3.4 resolved my issue. Ventura + M1. Observer is working as well.
7stud
I’ve also got an M1 MacBook running Monterey 12.3.1, and a couple days ago I successfully installed Erlang 24.3.4 with wxWidgets using asdf. I did struggle for a couple of days trying to solve some wxWidgets issues, and I posted an issue on github about my problems:
When I first attempted the install, I was running Monterey 12.2.1, and I stupidly agreed to a system update, which bumped me up to Monterey 12.3.1, and the next day I tried some things to correct the wxWidgets problems, and suddenly the install worked.
Even though the initial output poined to some issues with wxWidgets, I think erlang 24.3.4 installed successfully on the first go:
...
...
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION (See: /Users/7stud/.asdf/plugins/erlang/kerl-home/builds/asdf_24.3.4/otp_build_24.3.4.log)
* crypto : Using OpenSSL 3.0 is not yet recommended for production code.
* wx : wxWidgets was not compiled with --enable-webview or wxWebView developer package is not installed, wxWebView will NOT be available
* wxWidgets must be installed on your system.
* Please check that wx-config is in path, the directory
* where wxWidgets libraries are installed (returned by
* 'wx-config --libs' or 'wx-config --static --libs' command)
* is in LD_LIBRARY_PATH or equivalent variable and
* wxWidgets version is 3.0.2 or above.
Erlang/OTP 24.3.4 (asdf_24.3.4) has been successfully built
Cleaning up compilation products for
Cleaned up compilation products for under /Users/7stud/.asdf/plugins/erlang/kerl-home/builds
bapti
Thanks a million, this solved my issue, once I bumped up my version then I had no further problems 
sridhar
FYI, I was able to backport fixes to an older version (22.0.7) and create OTP binaries on my M1 machine with that (if anyone’s interested). I don’t think you can do it with kerl/asdf but directly from source is possible Commits · smocherla-brex/otp · GitHub
If anyone’s interested, these are the steps
export PATH=$PATH:<path/to/wx-install>/bin
cd $OTP_SOURCE_DIR`Preformatted text`
# Ensure we have autoconf version 2.69, latest Mac has 2.71 which does not work with OTP 22.0.7
./otp_build autoconf
# To deal with error described here https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-erlang/issues/164#issuecomment-695103295
export CFLAGS="-O2 -Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration"
./configure --with-ssl=$(brew --prefix openssl@1.1) --without-javac --disable-debug --enable-m64-build --prefix=~/repos/otp-22.0.7-fork-release
make
make install
# this has the pre-built binaries we need.
cd ~/repos/otp-22.0.7-fork-release/lib/erlang/
Popular in Questions
Other popular topics
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Enabling companies to succeed by building software people love.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Our Sponsors
Build Elixir applications with speed and confidence.
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.
Producing high quality Elixir screencasts since 2017.
The deployment platform built for Elixir: PaaS ease, VPS control.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"