How to set C++ environment variable in Linux ubuntu?

Question

I just installed Ubuntu on my Virtualbox on Windows.

I was trying to install cmake and the installation guide in the cmake website asked me to do the following steps

./bootstrap
make
make install

But when I just did the ./bootstrap command I get the following list of errors, can anyone suggest me how I can set the C++ compiler on my system. As I just installed Ubuntu perhaps the C++ is not set currently.

Kindly help.

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CMake 2.8.1, Copyright 2000-2009 Kitware, Inc.
C compiler on this system is: cc

Error when bootstrapping CMake:
Cannot find appropriate C++ compiler on this system.
Please specify one using environment variable CXX.
See cmake_bootstrap.log for compilers attempted.

Log of errors: /home/vikboy/Downloads/cmake-2.8.1/Bootstrap.cmk/cmake_bootstrap.log

Answer 1

Install the build-essential packages via apt.

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Answer 2

You are doing it completely wrong. NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER install anything from source code, unless you are a Linux guru (in which case, you wouldn't ask this type of question).

Always use the package manager. In Ubuntu its the commandline apt-get with the synaptic graphic frontend.