How To Force Update Meson on Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS

In this article, we will delve into the steps required to force update Meson on Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS. Meson is a popular build system designed to be user-friendly and efficient. However, keeping it updated is essential to take advantage of its latest features and improvements.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have administrative access to your Ubuntu system and that it’s updated with the latest packages. You can update your system by running the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 1: Install Meson Using pip3

The first step is to install the latest version of Meson using pip3. Pip3 is a package installer for Python3. You can install Meson with the following command:

pip3 install --user meson

This command installs the latest version of Meson in your user directory. The --user flag ensures that Meson is installed locally for the current user, not system-wide.

Step 2: Reload Your .profile

After installing Meson, you need to reload your .profile file to ensure that the changes take effect. The .profile file is a script that is executed during startup. You can reload it by running the following command:

source ~/.profile

This command reads and executes the .profile file in the current shell session.

Step 3: Update Your PATH Variable

Sometimes, even after installing the latest version of Meson, the system may still use the older version. To fix this, you can update your PATH variable to prioritize the newly installed version. The PATH variable is a list of directories that your shell searches for executable files. You can update it with the following command:

export PATH=$PATH:/home/youruser/.local/bin

Replace /home/youruser/.local/bin with the actual path to the Meson installation directory. This command adds the path to the newly installed Meson to your PATH variable.

Step 4: Check the Meson Version

To verify that the update was successful, you can check the Meson version. Run the following command:

meson --version

This command displays the version of Meson that is currently in use. If the update was successful, it should display the latest version that you installed.

Additional Solutions

If the above steps do not work, consider the following solutions:

Solution 1: Remove the Existing Meson Installation

You can remove the existing Meson installation using the following command:

sudo apt-get remove meson

Then, reinstall the new version with pip3 as explained in Step 1.

Solution 2: Locate the New Version of Meson

You can locate the new version of Meson installed in your Python environment using the whereis meson command. Then, run the located version directly without affecting the systemwide installation.

Solution 3: Create a Symbolic Link to the New Version

If the scripts still use a hardcoded path to the older version of Meson, you can create a symbolic link to the new version. Use the following command:

sudo ln -si /path/to/new/meson /usr/bin/meson

Replace /path/to/new/meson with the actual path to the new Meson executable. This command creates a symbolic link, which is a type of file that serves as a reference to another file or directory.

Conclusion

Keeping your tools updated is an essential part of system administration. This guide provided a detailed walkthrough on how to force update Meson on Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS. Remember to adapt the solutions to your specific setup and replace any placeholder paths with the correct ones. Happy coding!