IBM® XL C/C++ for Linux Community Edition (on little endian distributions) was made available last month on Dec 15 and is a highly advanced optimizing compiler for selected Linux distributions. It is a no-charge, fully functional product for developers who do not require official IBM support. Although the Community Edition does not supply official IBM support, you can provide feedback at the XL on POWER C/C++ Community Edition forum: http://ibm.biz/xlcpp-linux-ce.
Read the announcement blog for more details on what's new in V13.1.6.
Download and install
After you have access to IBM POWER8 or POWER9 hardware, obtain the latest version of the Community Edition in any of the following 3 ways:
1. apt-get/yum/zypper Linux repositories
If you have a POWER server running in little endian mode with internet access, use the public apt-get, yum, and zypper repositories to install by entering a few shell commands. Packages are signed with the key name IBM XL Compilers <compinfo@ca.ibm.com>, fingerprint 70DC1778 B690906E B9EAD019 4B19F6F5 0761C815.
2. IBM developerWorks website tarball
If your little endian POWER server is not connected to the internet, use a computer with internet access to open the following URL:
To install the Community Edition, un-tar, then run 'install':
tar -xf IBM_XL_C_CPP_V13.1.5.1_LINUX_COMMUNITY.tar.gz
./install
3. Docker image
If you have a POWER server running in little endian mode with internet access, and have Docker set up, the easiest and fastest way to get up and running is to use our Docker image. This image is also useful as a C/C++ build environment for continuous integration pipelines.
You can find the XL C/C++ for Linux, Community Edition Docker image, as well as the details how to run it at:
For the details how this image was built, see:
Note 1: Our Docker images recently moved from pcc64le to ibmcom; more details here.
Note 2: Only the latest version of the Community Edition is made available at these locations. The previous XL C/C++ for Linux Community Edition (V13.1.5) is now no longer available at these locations, and V13.1.6 will no longer be available at these locations if it is superseded by a newer release.
The developerWorks Connections platform will be sunset on December 31, 2019. On January 1, 2020, this blog will no longer be available. More details available on our FAQ.