macOS Big Sur Problems

General Issues

First of all, please read Migration.

Updating MacPorts Base

MacPorts must be re-installed in a version configured for macOS 11 Big Sur.

Ensure you have Xcode 12.2 or greater installed and selected (e.g. sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer), and that you have the command line tools installed (xcode-select --install). You also have to agree to the license by running sudo xcodebuild -license.

There have been reports that the -license option might not be sufficient alone, and following command might be required to agree to the license: sudo xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch

Install macOS SDK 11 manually in case of problems

Some users who upgraded from earlier versions of macOS reported, that xcode-select --install didn't gave proper results (didn't install neither Xcode, nor the SDK required) and first the installation of Xcode from AppStore and then the installation of Command-line tools for Xcode 12.2 was required from Apple Developer site, as described here: https://www.macports.org/install.php .

Symptoms that your system requires manual installation: console message about missing SDK (Warning: The macOS 11.x SDK does not appear to be installed. Ports may not build correctly. Warning: You can install it as part of the Xcode Command Line Tools package by running xcode-select --install'.`) or a message about C compiler being unable to create executables in build logs.

If xcode-select --install shows that the command-line tools are already installed, but ls /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/ did not list the desired version, you need to download the installer from Apple developer center manually ​https://developer.apple.com/download/all/?q=command%20line%20tools developer.apple.com

Rosetta 2 and build_arch

MacPorts defaults to building for the architecture that it is running as. If you have a universal MacPorts installation on an Apple Silicon Mac, and you run it from a terminal emulator that is not a native arm64 binary, MacPorts will end up being run as x86_64, and will build ports accordingly, which is often unexpected. This can be corrected by explicitly setting build_arch arm64 in macports.conf, or by using a native terminal emulator.

Rebuilding from source

Some port problems can be worked around by instructing MacPorts to build the port on your machine from source, rather than using the prebuilt version. For example, this might be the case if the version of the macOS SDK used on our build machine is different from the one on your machine. Instead of running sudo port install, try running sudo port -s install. If that fixes the problem, please report it to us so that it can be fixed properly.

Tickets for Broken Ports

#57174

cotvnc wont compile

#58480

chasen-base @2.3.3: clang: error: unknown argument: '-syslibroot'

#58883

dsniff @2.4: error: Berkeley DB with 1.85 compatibility not found

#59316

osxfuse @3.8.3: Assertion 'common_is_variable DEFAULT_SDK_10_15_ARCHITECURES' failed

#60988

php73-apache2handler @7.3.16_1: error: too few arguments to function call, expected 3, have 2

#61383

xemacs @21.4.22: *** PANIC *** Configure tests are not working - compiler is broken.

#61472

"./restore_ports.tcl myports.txt" fails on Big Sur without giving a single hint (what the problem might be, where I could look up details, ...)

#61486

fluxbox @1.3.7_1 does not compile on macOS Big Sur, Version 11.0.1, because "src/FbTk/FbTime.cc:64:10: error: redefinition of '_mono'"

#61529

moria @5.5.2_5: implicit declaration of functions

#61556

Error: Failed to build tf: command execution failed

#61602

p5-crypt-des @2.07: error: implicit declaration of function 'perl_des_expand_key' is invalid in C99

#61604

p5-authen-smb @0.91: error: implicit declaration of function 'SMB_Init' is invalid in C99

#61605

p5-digest-nilsimsa @0.06: error: implicit declaration of function 'clear' is invalid in C99

#61606

mozjs60: ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

#61610

p5-inline-python @0.5.6: error: implicit declaration of function 'initperl' is invalid in C99

#61611

p5-ipe 0.3.1: error: implicit declaration of function 'train_bntree' is invalid in C99

#61614

p5-math-longdouble @0.22: error: implicitly declaring library function 'finite'

#61615

p5-net-nfdump @1.25: error: implicit declaration of function 'ff2_lex' is invalid in C99

#61616

p5-net-rawip @0.25: Could not load the pcap library

#61617

p5-sdl @2.548: error: implicit declaration of function '_calc_offset' is invalid in C99

#61619

p5-term-gnuplot @0.903.809.60: error: implicit declaration of function 'test_term' is invalid in C99

#61631

torsocks @2.3.0: error: implicit declaration of gethostbyaddr_r is invalid in C99

#61696

transcode: error: implicit declaration of function 'audio_resample_close' is invalid in C99

#61710

gtk2-murrine @0.98.2: error: implicit declaration of function 'murrine_rc_style_register_types' is invalid in C99

#61744

bacula @9.4.4 +console_bat : does not build on macOS 11.4 (bigsur)

#61765

gwenhywfar4 @4.20.2 does not build on Big Sur

#61842

opendx @4.4.4_10: y.tab.c:1107:16: error: implicit declaration of function '_dxfcclex' is invalid in C99 [-Werror,-Wimplicit-function-declaration]

#61863

geos @3.9.0: Configuration logfiles contain indications of -Wimplicit-function-declaration

#61877

clisp @2.49.92: configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables

#61883

libgcc7 @7.5.0: build failure on macOS 11

#61972

clang-7.0, clang-8.0: error: invalid application of 'sizeof' to an incomplete type 'struct stat64'

#61973

Pallet @1.1_1: Failed to open log store at /Users/macports/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Pallet-hhxzvjfjvrmndgcreaswdfqwvhbd/Logs/Build

#62013

gtime +universal: error: redefinition of '_OSSwapInt64'

#62053

Successfully build 'Frescobaldi', but failed to run it on Big Sur

#62176

wxLua @2.8.12.3 crashes

#62200

py39-pyglet on new mac M1: import pyglet.window fails

#62304

sudosh @1.6.3: error: implicit declaration of function 'gettimeofday' is invalid in C99

#62307

gnuregex @0.12_2: error: implicit declaration of function 'free' is invalid in C99

#62388

calc @2.12.8.2_0: default install fails to build under Big Sur

#62471

kde4-kile @2.1.3_6: "replace" command not working

#62537

blueutil @2.8.0: Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64

#62567

scalapack @2.1.0 build failure due to implicit declaration

#62569

ossp-uuid @1.6.2: fatal error: 'sys/types.h' file not found

#62626

R @4.0.5 compile failure due to implicit declarations

#62632

grok @1.20110708.1_2 : implicit declaration of function 'yylex' is invalid in C99

#62636

tightvnc @1.3.10_2: implicit declaration of function 'vncDecryptPasswdFromFile2' is invalid in C99

#62701

python3_select cannot select python38-apple on macOS BigSur

#62804

emacs-devel @20210430: error: "Please include config.h first."

#62820

bmon build fails on clean bigsur

#62919

pamtester @0.1.2: error: implicitly declaring library function 'sprintf' with type 'int (char *, const char *, ...)'

#62967

oftpd @0.3.7_2 fails to build due to implicit declarations

#62998

gmt6: build failure on Apple Silicon

#63221

cctools @949.0.1+llvm10: error: implicit declaration of function 'CLS_GETINFO' is invalid in C99

#63280

xfractint @20.04p14_0: build error: implicit declaration of function 'xpopup' is invalid in C99

#63332

scotty @3.0.0_9: error: implicitly declaring library function 'memset' with type 'void *(void *, int, unsigned long)'

#63374

xfig: Cannot install xfig for the arch 'arm64' because its dependency libpng is only installed for the arch 'x86_64' and the configured universal_archs 'x86_64 i386' are not sufficient

#63452

gst @3.2.5: getopt.c:576:30: error: implicitly declaring library function 'strcmp' with type 'int (const char *, const char *)' [-Werror,-Wimplicit-function-declaration]

#63491

libopenshot: error: use of undeclared identifier 'zmq_ctx_shutdown'

#63514

android @23: Could not open /System/Library/Frameworks/QTKit.framework/Versions/A/QTKit: Error opening or reading file

#63538

xastir @2.0.8_7: error: implicit declaration of function 'XmGetDestination' is invalid in C99

#63884

mariadb-10.6 @10.6: Configuration logfiles contain indications of -Wimplicit-function-declaration

#63928

xcb @2.4_3 configure fails

#63994

emacs-app-devel: The installed libgccjit failed to compile and run a test program using the libgccjit library

#64046

py27-ngl @1.3.0b1_2: error: implicit declaration of function 'c_cssgrid' is invalid in C99

#64181

ksh @2020.0.0_1 : typeset -f crashes the shell

#64420

argyll @2.2.1_1: error: implicit declaration of function 'execvp' is invalid in C99

#65294

py39-pyqt5-scintilla @2.13.3 +debug: sip-build-3.9: '/opt/local/libexec/qt5/bin/qmake -recursive QScintilla.pro' failed returning 3

#65298

kid3 @3.9.1: included libkid3-core.dylib "seems to be referenced using a relative path"

#65302

darktable/inkscape/gimp: unable to access user files, when run via app bundle on big sur or monterey

#65459

findutils @4.9.0+universal: Failed to destroot findutils: gupdatedb differs

#65905

pango @1.50.7: error: use of undeclared identifier 'FC_VARIABLE'

#66218

ex-vi @050325_0: error: implicit declaration of function 'ioctl' is invalid in C99

#66515

cctools @949.0.1_2 does not support llvm-15

#66547

algol68g @3.0.6: error: implicitly declaring library function 'finite' with type 'int (double)'

#67051

arch @1.3.5: error: implicit declaration of function

#67127

opensmtpd @6.8.0p2_3: won't start with default config

#68095

yorick: Outdated embedded SDK path in macOS 11 binaries causes build failure of dependents

#68443

aewan @1.0.01_1: error: implicit declaration of function 'filedlg_show' is invalid in C99

#68476

cog @0.8.0: error: implicit declaration of function 'setup_setting_widget' is invalid in C99

#68530

scribus-devel: move to 1.7.x and Qt6 or introduce a new scribus-upstream

#68659

mips-elf-gcc @3.4.6_0: fails to build due to implicit declaration of abort()

#68759

agrep @2.04: implicit function declarations

#68974

gnupg2 @2.4.3.1: error: implicit declaration of function 'libusb_error_name' is invalid in C99

#69683

vfkit @v0.5.1: build failure on x86_64 Big Sur

#69767

libplacebo @6.338.2_0+opengl+vulkan build failure: std::__1::to_chars undefined

#61471

virt-manager fails to load shared library on Big Sur

#61546

avr-gdb fails to build on macOS 11 Big Sur

#61612

xorg-libx11 @1.7.0 variant +docs does not build on El Capitan, OK on Big Sur (Java problem?)

#61755

auto-multiple choice fails to build on Big Sur

#62376

texlive-bin tries to install stuff in system space even when macports is confihgured to put everything in home dir. [universal, Big Sur]

#62473

Build htcondor failed on macOS Big Sur 11.2.3

#62995

restore_ports fails during migration to macOS 11.[34] (Big Sur) with "requested variants do not match" and also complains "macOS 11 SDK does not appear to be installed"

#63090

Cannot build gcc7 on Big Sur

#63251

GILDAS build fail on Big Sur / arm64

#63513

xorg-server crashes on Big Sur 11.6

#65665

SilentKnight @1.21: broken linking on Big Sur