no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH on google compute engine

Question

When I try to install pycrypto on a GCE i get the error "no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH".

I use pip like this

pip install pycrypto

The GCE is a backports-debian-7-wheezy-v20131127 image. I assumed the debian image would have gcc installed, but typing 'gcc' gives 'command not found'.

Is there a way to install pycrypto without having to use gcc?

Has anyone managed to install pycrypto on GCE yet?

Answer 1

Try:

sudo apt-get install python-crypto

I'm glad it worked out

Answer 2

The default cloud images for GCE are pretty stripped down, and don't include things like compilers, etc because you don't necessarily want a compiler on your webserver.

Using apt to install pycrypto works; if you do want a compiler, use apt-get install gcc. Similarly, you may want to install x11, emacs, etc if you're using your VM for development.

Using the pycrypto package from Debian is a good idea if you want to make sure that you get security updates, so I'd recommend that over installing your own.