How to setup googletest on Linux in the year 2012?

Here's what I did and you can adjust as necessary. I downloaded gtest-1.6.0.zip (from the releases page) on my Linux box into ~/Downloads which typed out fully is /home/me/Downloads/

Unzip the contents of gtest-1.6.0.zip into ~/Downloads/gtest-1.6.0/

cd /home/me/Downloadsunzip gtest-1.6.0.zip

Build the gtest library because it's something you need to "include" in your test executable.Compile the object file gtest-all.o:

g++ -Igtest-1.6.0/include -Igtest-1.6.0 -c gtest-1.6.0/src/gtest-all.cc

Then build the library archive libgtest.a:

ar -rv libgtest.a gtest-all.o

Now you can create your test.cc file in ~/Downloads. Here is an example test file that I used to make sure it compiles.

#include "gtest/gtest.h"TEST(blahTest, blah1) {    EXPECT_EQ(1, 1);}int main (int argc, char** argv) {    ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);    int returnValue;    //Do whatever setup here you will need for your tests here    //    //    returnValue =  RUN_ALL_TESTS();    //Do Your teardown here if required    //    //    return returnValue;}

To compile your own test and run it:

g++ -I/home/me/Downloads/gtest-1.6.0/include -pthread test.cc libgtest.a -o test_executable

Then to execute it:

./test_executable

And it should run fine. Modify as necessary from there.

These instructions get the testing framework working for the Debug configuration.

Get Google C++ Testing Framework

1.Download the latest gtest framework

2.Unzip to C:\gtest

Build the Framework Libraries

1.Open C:\gtest\msvc\gtest.sln in Visual Studio

2.Set Configuration to "Debug"

3.Build Solution

Create and Configure Your Test Project

1.Create a new solution and choose the template Visual C++ > Win32 > Win32 Console Application

2.Right click the newly created project and choose Properties

3.Change Configuration to Debug.

4.Configuration Properties > C/C++ > General > Additional Include Directories: Add C:\gtest\include

5.Configuration Properties > C/C++ > Code Generation > Runtime Library: If your code links to a runtime DLL, choose Multi-threaded Debug DLL (/MDd). If not, choose Multi-threaded Debug (/MTd).

6.Configuration Properties > Linker > General > Additional Library Directories: Add C:\gtest\msvc\gtest\Debug

7.Configuration Properties > Linker > Input > Additional Dependencies: Add gtestd.lib

Verifying Everything Works

1.Open the cpp in your Test Project containing the main() function.

2.Paste the following code:

#include "stdafx.h"#include <iostream>#include "gtest/gtest.h"    TEST(sample_test_case, sample_test)    {        EXPECT_EQ(1, 1);    }    int main(int argc, char** argv)     {         testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);         RUN_ALL_TESTS();         std::getchar(); // keep console window open until Return keystroke    }

1.Debug > Start Debugging

If this works you should see the console window open with your test results.

An addendum to James C's answer:

Note that building the library using gtest-1.6.0/src/gtest-all.cc will require you to provide with a main method yourself. If you want to avoid that altogether and use the default implementation of the main method provided by Googletest, build your library including gtest_main.cc.

That is:

g++ -Igtest-1.6.0/include -Igtest-1.6.0 -c gtest-1.6.0/src/gtest-all.cc gtest-1.6.0/src/gtest_main.cc                                                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ar -rv libgtest_main.a gtest_main.o gtest-all.o                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Also, keep in mind that implementing your own main method is not the recommended way of defining the SetUp and TearDown behaviours; you should be using fixtures instead. Check the Googletest documentation on the topic.