Add Erlang 17.0 post

_posts/2014-04-12-installing-erlang-17-0-using-kerl.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Installing Erlang 17.0 On Mac OS X
+description: "Short description of how to install Erlang/OTP 17.0 using kerl on Mac OS X."
+date: 2014-04-12 20:15:00 CEST
+category: posts
+tags: [erlang, programming, english]
+image:
+  feature: header/abstract-8.jpg
+  credit: dargadgetz
+  creditlink: http://www.dargadgetz.com/ios-7-abstract-wallpaper-pack-for-iphone-5-and-ipod-touch-retina/
+comments: true
+share: true
+---
+
+It's been a few days since [Erlang/OTP 17.0](http://www.erlang.org/news/73) has been released. Installing 64 Bit Erlang (with [Observer](http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/observer.html) support) on Mac OS X has always been a bit tricky, but with 17.0 it has gotten significantly easier.
+
+First you need to install/get some prerequisites:
+
+* [Command Line Tools for Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/downloads) or [Xcode](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835)
+* [Homebrew](http://brew.sh)
+* [kerl](https://github.com/spawngrid/kerl)
+
+After you've gotten these three, we start by installing *wxWidgets*. It's required in order to use the Observer GUI.
+
+{% highlight bash %}
+brew install wxmac
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+Compiling *wxWidgets* might take some time. After it's done, you should create a `~/.kerlrc` file. It's basically a configuration file for *kerl*, which will be used for every Erlang version you compile. You can find the list of available options in the [*kerl* readme](https://github.com/spawngrid/kerl#tuning). Mine looks like this:
+
+{% highlight bash linenos %}
+CPPFLAGS="-march=native -mtune=native -O3 -g"
+KERL_CONFIGURE_OPTIONS="--disable-debug --without-javac --enable-shared-zlib --enable-dynamic-ssl-lib --enable-smp-support --enable-threads --enable-hipe --enable-kernel-poll --enable-darwin-64bit --with-wx"
+KERL_DEFAULT_INSTALL_DIR="$KERL_BASE_DIR/installs"
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+We can now move on to actually installing Erlang/OTP 17.0.
+
+{% highlight bash %}
+kerl update releases
+kerl build 17.0 17.0
+kerl install 17.0 17.0
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+After the installation is finished, *kerl* will output instructions on how to enable a specific Erlang version globally. In general, you will put something like the following in your `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bash_profile`:
+
+{% highlight bash %}
+source $HOME/.kerl/installs/17.0/activate
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+The following `alias` makes it easier to start the Observer from a terminal. The only command you have to remember is `erlobserver`.
+
+{% highlight bash %}
+alias erlobserver='erl -sname observer -run observer -detached'
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+{% image posts/installing-erlang-17-0-using-kerl-1.png %}