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Forum Update on Monday, May 27th 2025

What is the correct approach to install Qt SDK in Ubuntu?

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  • C Offline
    C Offline
    CroCo
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    I've just installed Ubuntu and started installing Qt 5.10 from the installer
    qt-unified-linux-x64-3.0.2-online.run
    The Qt Creator works just fine but I couldn't make qmake to run from the terminal because I'm not acquainted with setting environment variables in Linux. I've searched and tried several methods but still qmake is not found. I've installed one version of Qt which is 5.10 but running qtchooser -list-versions yields this

    4
    5
    default
    qt4-x86_64-linux-gnu
    qt4
    qt5-x86_64-linux-gnu
    qt5
    

    I didn't install Qt4 why it is there?

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • mrjjM Offline
      mrjjM Offline
      mrjj
      Lifetime Qt Champion
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      Hi
      did you install compiler and tools?
      https://www.ics.com/blog/getting-started-qt-and-qt-creator-linux

      C 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • mrjjM mrjj

        Hi
        did you install compiler and tools?
        https://www.ics.com/blog/getting-started-qt-and-qt-creator-linux

        C Offline
        C Offline
        CroCo
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        @mrjj yes I did. also, I came across this page when I was searching. Qt Creator is working fine but I couldn't manage to run qmake from the terminal. The environment variables are not set properly.

        aha_1980A 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • C CroCo

          @mrjj yes I did. also, I came across this page when I was searching. Qt Creator is working fine but I couldn't manage to run qmake from the terminal. The environment variables are not set properly.

          aha_1980A Offline
          aha_1980A Offline
          aha_1980
          Lifetime Qt Champion
          wrote on last edited by aha_1980
          #4

          @CroCo

          If you install Qt with the Qt installer, no environment variables are changed. qtchooser is for the Qt versions contained in Ubuntus software repositories.

          So either call qmake with full path (e.g. /opt/Qt/5.9.2/gcc_64/bin/qmake for me) or add this path to your PATH environment variable (e.g. by adding this path in your ~/.bashrc:

          export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/your/qmake
          

          Regards

          Qt has to stay free or it will die.

          C 1 Reply Last reply
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          • aha_1980A aha_1980

            @CroCo

            If you install Qt with the Qt installer, no environment variables are changed. qtchooser is for the Qt versions contained in Ubuntus software repositories.

            So either call qmake with full path (e.g. /opt/Qt/5.9.2/gcc_64/bin/qmake for me) or add this path to your PATH environment variable (e.g. by adding this path in your ~/.bashrc:

            export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/your/qmake
            

            Regards

            C Offline
            C Offline
            CroCo
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @aha_1980 running export ... yields this error

            qmake: could not exec '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt4/bin/qmake': No such file or directory

            It seems to me there is a default location that the shell searches in but I'm not able to modify it.

            aha_1980A 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • C Offline
              C Offline
              ckvsoft
              wrote on last edited by ckvsoft
              #6

              Do you have a special reason why you do not install QT from the Ubuntu repository?

              have you try sudo apt-get install qt5-qmake

              C 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • C CroCo

                @aha_1980 running export ... yields this error

                qmake: could not exec '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt4/bin/qmake': No such file or directory

                It seems to me there is a default location that the shell searches in but I'm not able to modify it.

                aha_1980A Offline
                aha_1980A Offline
                aha_1980
                Lifetime Qt Champion
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                @CroCo:

                @aha_1980 running export ... yields this error

                That is because of:

                $ ll /usr/bin/qmake
                lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Dez  9  2015 /usr/bin/qmake -> qtchooser*
                

                So either call qmake with the full path or (hacky) delete /usr/bin/qmake.

                Qt has to stay free or it will die.

                C 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • aha_1980A aha_1980

                  @CroCo:

                  @aha_1980 running export ... yields this error

                  That is because of:

                  $ ll /usr/bin/qmake
                  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Dez  9  2015 /usr/bin/qmake -> qtchooser*
                  

                  So either call qmake with the full path or (hacky) delete /usr/bin/qmake.

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  CroCo
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  @aha_1980 so is it Ok to copy qmake 5.10 inside that folder? I don't want to delete it since some system's files may use Qt4. I don't want to mess with it.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • SGaistS Offline
                    SGaistS Offline
                    SGaist
                    Lifetime Qt Champion
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    Hi,

                    No, use the full path to the version of qmake you want to use.

                    Interested in AI ? www.idiap.ch
                    Please read the Qt Code of Conduct - https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                    2
                    • SGaistS SGaist

                      Hi,

                      No, use the full path to the version of qmake you want to use.

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      CroCo
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      @SGaist so adding environment variable is not an option here, Right?

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • C ckvsoft

                        Do you have a special reason why you do not install QT from the Ubuntu repository?

                        have you try sudo apt-get install qt5-qmake

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        CroCo
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        @ckvsoft good question. Actually, I though the version in the repository is not the latest that is why I'v chosen the suggested tool in Qt download page. Not to mention that in Qt website, there is no mention to download the library from the repository. I maybe wrong regarding whether the repository doesn't include the latest version.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • SGaistS Offline
                          SGaistS Offline
                          SGaist
                          Lifetime Qt Champion
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          It could be but you'd have to keep it up to date with each new release of Qt.

                          Unless you plan to develop with only one version of Qt, I'd recommend sticking with the use of the full path. That way you know for sure the version you are currently calling.

                          An alternative if you really want to avoid the full path is to use a symbolic link and call it something like qmake-5.10.

                          Interested in AI ? www.idiap.ch
                          Please read the Qt Code of Conduct - https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

                          1 Reply Last reply
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