macOS

Prerequisites

Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

This provides the compiler (clang++, C++20 from Xcode ≥ 14), make, and other POSIX tools.

Homebrew

Install Homebrew if not already present:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Dependencies via Homebrew

brew install cmake bison flex pkg-config \
  readline gsl fftw hdf5 boost libyaml \
  libcerf gnuplot

Note: bison and flex are keg-only — Homebrew installs them but does not add them to PATH, to avoid overriding the versions shipped with macOS. The CMakePresets.json handles this automatically.

Build MLZ dependencies

kww and lmfit are not in Homebrew and must be built from source. Download the latest release archives:

• https://jugit.fz-juelich.de/mlz/kww/-/releases
• https://jugit.fz-juelich.de/mlz/lmfit/-/releases

Build each in order:

tar xzvf <source>.tgz
cd <source-directory>
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$(brew --prefix)
make
ctest
sudo make install

Build Frida

Clone or download the Frida source from https://jugit.fz-juelich.de/mlz/frida.

The source tree includes a CMakePresets.json for macOS. Set the Homebrew prefix, then use the preset:

export HOMEBREW_PREFIX=$(brew --prefix)
cmake --preset macos-homebrew -B build
cd build
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)

Anaconda users: deactivate the conda environment before running cmake (conda deactivate), otherwise Anaconda’s older Boost may be picked up instead of Homebrew’s.

Run the test suite:

ctest -j$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)

Only proceed if all tests pass. If any fail, run ctest -V for verbose output and report to the maintainer.

Install:

sudo make install
mkdir ~/gnew           # directory for PostScript graphics output

Troubleshooting

cmake cannot find a library

Check that the library is installed and that pkg-config can find it:

PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$(brew --prefix)/lib/pkgconfig \
  pkg-config --modversion yaml-0.1   # example for libyaml

If a library is keg-only, pass its prefix explicitly:

cmake .. \
  -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="$(brew --prefix);$(brew --prefix readline)"

Library not found at runtime

macOS uses DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH rather than LD_LIBRARY_PATH:

export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(brew --prefix)/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

Or update the dynamic linker cache after installing to /usr/local:

sudo update_dyld_shared_cache   # macOS 12 and earlier

gnuplot: libcerf.2 not found

If Frida starts but plot windows fail with Library not loaded: libcerf.2.dylib, gnuplot was compiled against an older libcerf than what is installed. Fix by reinstalling gnuplot:

brew reinstall gnuplot

If that fails due to a Qt conflict on your system, create a compatibility symlink as a workaround:

sudo ln -s "$(brew --prefix libcerf)/lib/libcerf.3.dylib" \
           "$(brew --prefix libcerf)/lib/libcerf.2.dylib"

gnuplot: no display

If gnuplot complains about no display terminal, ensure it was built with an interactive terminal. Check with:

gnuplot -e "set terminal" 2>&1 | grep -i qt

If qt is missing, reinstall: brew reinstall gnuplot.