Originally posted by: Nicole Trudeau
IBM® XL C/C++ for Linux is a highly advanced optimizing compiler for selected Linux distributions and is available free of charge in 2 variants: the Community Edition and trial. This blog discusses the Community Edition. For more information about the trial, see here.
Here is a comparison of the Community Edition, trial and full version:
Starting from V13.1.4, XL C/C++ for Linux Community Edition for little endian distributions, is available for download and deployment. This compiler product is a no-charge, never-expires product for developers and partners who have lightweight production requirements and do not require official IBM support. While the community edition embodies most of the core features of the fully warranted XL C/C++ for Linux compiler, it does not support optimization at level 5 for generation of the highest level of optimization nor OpenMP constructs for parallel programming. If you would like to evaluate those features, see the Trial blog.
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
Download and install
If you have not purchased IBM POWER8 hardware, you can still evaluate the XL C/C++ for Linux trial free of charge in the cloud environment SuperVessel. For more information about the trial, see the Trial blog.
If you have purchased IBM POWER8 hardware, you can obtain the latest version of the Community Edition of the little endian compiler in 3 ways:
1. Ubuntu/RHEL/CentOS/SLES apt-get/yum/zypper repositories
Download and install
If you have a POWER8 server running in little endian mode with internet access, by using the public apt-get, yum, and zypper repositories you will be able 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.
For full details about how to add these repositories on your server, and install XL C/C++ for Linux Community Edition, see http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/server/POWER/Linux/xl-compiler/eval/ppc64le/.
Evaluate the trial version
If you would like to evaluate optimization at level 5 or support for OpenMP constructs for parallel programming, it is easy to go from the Community Edition to the trial version without having to modify your repository configuration.
For full details about how to add these repositories on your server, and install the XL C/C++ for Linux trial, see http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/server/POWER/Linux/xl-compiler/eval/ppc64le/.
2. IBM developerWorks website tarball
Download and install
If your little endian POWER8 server is not connected to the internet, use a computer with internet access to open a web browser and click the Download button on the right at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/r/xlcpluslinux/ and select 'Community Edition'. Follow the prompts to download the tarball, and transfer the tarball over to your little endian POWER8 server.
To install the Community Edition, un-tar, then run 'install':
tar -xf IBM_XL_C_CPP_V13.1.4.0_LINUX_COMMUNITY.tar.gz
./install
Evaluate the trial version
If you would like to evaluate optimization at level 5 or support for OpenMP constructs for parallel programming, it is easy to go from the Community Edition to the trial version. See the Trial blog for download instructions, then run 'install'.
3. Docker image
If you have a POWER8 server running in little endian mode with internet access, and have Docker setup, 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:
https://hub.docker.com/r/ppc64le/xlc-ce/
For the details how this image was built, see:
https://github.com/IBM/xlc-community-edition-dockerfile
