Install Sccache on Ubuntu 24.04

Sccache is a command line tool that speeds up the recompilation process by caching previously compiled objects. Sccache include support for C, C++, Rust, and other languages. By caching previous compilations and reusing the results when the same inputs are encountered again, Sccache significantly reduces the time needed for subsequent builds. Sccache is similar to the Ccache command line tool. This tutorial explains how to install Sccache on Ubuntu 24.04.

Install Sccache

Get the latest release version of Sccache from its official GitHub repository:

SCCACHE_VERSION=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/mozilla/sccache/releases/latest" | grep -Po '"tag_name": "v\K[0-9.]+')

Download Sccache:

wget -qO sccache.tar.gz https://github.com/mozilla/sccache/releases/latest/download/sccache-v$SCCACHE_VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz

Create a temporary directory and extract the tar.gz file contents into it:

mkdir sccache-temp

tar xf sccache.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C sccache-temp

Move the sccache command to the /usr/local/bin directory:

sudo mv sccache-temp/sccache /usr/local/bin

Set execute permission:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/sccache

The sccache command is now available system-wide for all users. Verify its version using the following command:

sccache --version

Finally, clean up by deleting the temporary directory and the downloaded file:

rm -rf sccache.tar.gz sccache-temp

Testing Sccache

To utilize Ccache, simply prepend the compilation command with ccache.

For demonstration purpose, create a main.cpp file:

nano main.cpp

Add the following lines of code:

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello world" << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

Compile code by prefixing the command with sccache like this:

sccache g++ main.cpp -o test

Uninstall Sccache

To remove Sccache, simply delete its executable file:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/sccache