Installing C++ Library

Install the Apache Arrow C++ library for high-performance data processing and analytics

The Apache Arrow C++ library is the foundation of the Arrow project, providing high-performance data structures and algorithms for columnar data processing.

Pre-compiled Binaries

The easiest way to install Apache Arrow C++ is to use pre-compiled binary packages.

For the most up-to-date installation instructions and packages, visit the official Apache Arrow installation page.

System Package Managers

Install Arrow C++ using your system’s package manager:

Ubuntu/Debian

# Add Apache Arrow repository
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y -V ca-certificates lsb-release wget
wget https://apache.jfrog.io/artifactory/arrow/$(lsb_release --id --short | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z')/apache-arrow-apt-source-latest-$(lsb_release --codename --short).deb
sudo apt install -y -V ./apache-arrow-apt-source-latest-$(lsb_release --codename --short).deb
sudo apt update

# Install Arrow C++
sudo apt install -y -V libarrow-dev

# Optional: Install additional Arrow libraries
sudo apt install -y -V libarrow-glib-dev  # GLib bindings
sudo apt install -y -V libarrow-dataset-dev  # Dataset API
sudo apt install -y -V libarrow-flight-dev  # Arrow Flight RPC
sudo apt install -y -V libparquet-dev  # Parquet support

Verifying Installation

After installation, verify that Arrow C++ is correctly installed:

1. Check pkg-config

   Verify the Arrow package configuration:

   pkg-config --modversion arrow
   

   This should output the installed Arrow version.

2. Check header files

   Ensure the Arrow headers are accessible:

   ls /usr/include/arrow/ # Linux
   ls /usr/local/include/arrow/ # macOS
   
3. Test with a simple program

   Create a simple C++ program to test the installation:

   test.cpp

   #include <arrow/api.h>
   #include <iostream>
   
   int main() {
       std::cout << "Arrow version: " 
                 << ARROW_VERSION_STRING << std::endl;
       return 0;
   }
   

   Compile and run:

   g++ test.cpp -o test $(pkg-config --cflags --libs arrow)
   ./test
   

Building from Source

For development or custom configurations, you can build Arrow C++ from source:

As of Arrow 23.0.0, building from source requires a C++20 compatible compiler:

• GCC 11 or later
• Clang 12 or later
• MSVC 2019 16.10 or later

1. Install dependencies

   Ubuntu/Debian

   sudo apt install -y \
       build-essential \
       cmake \
       git \
       libssl-dev \
       libcurl4-openssl-dev
   
2. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/apache/arrow.git
   cd arrow/cpp
   
3. Configure and build

   mkdir build
   cd build
   cmake .. \
       -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
       -DARROW_PARQUET=ON \
       -DARROW_DATASET=ON
   
   make -j$(nproc)
   sudo make install
   

Building from source can take significant time and resources. Pre-compiled binaries are recommended for most users.

Common Features

When installing Arrow C++, you can enable additional features:

• Parquet: Read/write Apache Parquet files
• Dataset API: Work with multi-file datasets
• Flight RPC: High-performance data transport
• Compute: Expression evaluation and aggregations
• CUDA: GPU acceleration support
• S3: Amazon S3 filesystem support
• GCS: Google Cloud Storage support

Refer to the C++ Development Documentation for detailed feature configuration.

Troubleshooting

pkg-config not finding arrow

Ensure the PKG_CONFIG_PATH includes the Arrow installation directory:

export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH

Linking errors when compiling

Make sure to include all required Arrow libraries:

g++ program.cpp -o program $(pkg-config --cflags --libs arrow arrow-dataset parquet)

Version conflicts

Remove old Arrow installations before installing a new version:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt remove libarrow-dev

# macOS
brew uninstall apache-arrow

Next Steps

Now that you have Arrow C++ installed:

• Explore the Arrow C++ Examples
• Read the C++ API Documentation
• Learn about Memory Management
• Try working with Parquet Files