xcode-select active developer directory error

Question

Saw the following error when running an npm install which required node-gyp... but could be triggered by anything which requires xcode-select.

xcode-select: error: tool 'xcodebuild' requires Xcode, but active developer directory '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools' is a command line tools instance

What is the problem?

Answer 1

This problem happens when xcode-select developer directory was pointing to /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools, when a full regular Xcode was required (happens when CommandLineTools are installed after Xcode)

Solution:

1. Install Xcode (get it from https://developer.apple.com/xcode/) if you don't have it yet.
2. Accept the Terms and Conditions.
3. Ensure Xcode app is in the /Applications directory (NOT /Users/{user}/Applications).
4. Point xcode-select to the Xcode app Developer directory using the following command:
   sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Note: Make sure your Xcode app path is correct.

• Xcode: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
• Xcode-beta: /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer

Answer 2

Other solution for those who don't want to install Xcode:

1. Install Command Line Tools (if you haven't already):

   xcode-select --install

2. Change the active directory:

   sudo xcode-select -switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

This worked for me (git).

Answer 3

I was having an issue while trying to install packages using npm. I got the error: "sudo xcode-select -s /Applications//Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/"

To fix this

• I opened Xcode.
• Preferences
• Locations
• Selected the Command Lin Tools: Xcode 6.1.1

Now when installing packages with npm I no longer get errors.

Answer 4

Xcode->Preferences->Locations->command line tools

Select the option: Xcode 8.x

Answer 5

Simply run sudo xcode-select -r which should automatically reset the path.

 -r, --reset
              Unsets any user-specified developer directory, so that the developer directory will be found via the default search mechanism. This command must  be
              run with superuser permissions (see sudo(8)), and will affect all users on the system.

Answer 6

Just in case you're using xcode beta:

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-Beta.app/Contents/Developer

Answer 7

1. Download Xcode from App Store.

2. Go to Xcode preferences/Locations/CommandlineTools

   You just have to set it to the Xcode version. It automatically points to '/Application/Xcode.app'

Answer 8

Install Xcode from App Store. After installing run xcodebuild with root privileges i.e. sudo xcodebuild and accept the language. After this npm install bcrypt worked like a charm!

Answer 9

Without Xcode: create file /usr/local/bin/xcodebuild with content to cheat XcodeSelect

  #!/bin/bash
  exit 0

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/xcodebuild

Answer 10

XCode2: sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode\ 2.app/Contents/Developer

Pay attention to the "\" to escape the space

Answer 11

I had two instance of Xcode installed xcode.app and xcode-beta.app When I tried to create a build with netbeans it showed me the error "supported version of xcode and command line tools not found netbeans"

I followed the following steps:

1. "xcode-select --print-path" is equal to "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer"
2. "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform" exists
3. "xcodebuild -version" starts with "Xcode"

after 1 I found that it is pointing me to xcode-beta.app

so here is the solution which worked like a charm:

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Answer 12

I was having the same problem in high sierra. running the following command solved it npm explore npm -g -- npm install node-gyp@latest

Answer 13

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer

languoguangs-iMac:/ languoguang$ sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer
xcode-select: error: invalid argument '10.app/Contents/Developer'
Usage: xcode-select [options]

Print or change the path to the active developer directory. This directory
controls which tools are used for the Xcode command line tools (for example, 
xcodebuild) as well as the BSD development commands (such as cc and make).

Options:
  -h, --help                  print this help message and exit
  -p, --print-path            print the path of the active developer directory
  -s <path>, --switch <path>  set the path for the active developer directory
  --install                   open a dialog for installation of the command line developer tools
  -v, --version               print the xcode-select version
  -r, --reset                 reset to the default command line tools path
languoguangs-iMac:/ languoguang$ sudo xcode-select -s "/Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer"

because my Xcode name in Application is "Xcode 10",

sudo xcode-select -s "/Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer"

works.

Answer 14

Today is Jan 28, 2019 In my MAC, did two things:

[1] sudo xcode-select --install

[2] Restart the Mac

Untill I restarted the computer, I had the problem keep showing up in my Android Studio. After reboot, it was working just fine. (I did not do any switch commands as others are doing). Hope this helps.

Answer 15

if you are using xcode beta

use

sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer

instead of

sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Answer 16

I had to run this first

sudo xcode-select --reset

then

sudo xcode-select -switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

and then it worked.