diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 81ee3989..9bc6f933 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,20 +30,28 @@ endif ()
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
 
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
-set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
+find_program(GXX_COMPILER NAMES g++)
+
+if(GXX_COMPILER)
+    message(STATUS "Found g++: ${GXX_COMPILER}")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER ${GXX_COMPILER})
+else()
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "g++ compiler not found. Please install g++ and try again.")
+endif()
 
 project(camera)
 
+set(CMAKE_GXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_GXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+set(CMAKE_GXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
+
 # Run "cmake .." from the project's build/ directory!
 #
 set(PROJECT_BASE_DIR $ENV{PWD}/../)
 
 set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/bin)
 set(LIBRARY_OUTPUT_PATH ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/lib)
-set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER /usr/bin/g++)
-set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER /usr/bin/g++)
+
 
 if (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Darwin")
     include_directories(/usr/local/include)
diff --git a/common/CMakeLists.txt b/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 8668967b..255a6561 100644
--- a/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ set(PROJECT_UTILS_DIR ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/common)
 include_directories(${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/common)
 include_directories(${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/utils)    # needed for logentry
 
-add_definitions(-Wall -ansi -O2 -Wno-variadic-macros -std=c++17 -ggdb)
-
 add_library(common STATIC
         ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/common.cpp
 )
diff --git a/emulator/CMakeLists.txt b/emulator/CMakeLists.txt
index 200a81e4..3b70881c 100644
--- a/emulator/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/emulator/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ include_directories( ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/utils
                      ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/camerad 
                      ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/common )
 
-add_definitions( -Wall -ansi -O1 -Wno-variadic-macros -std=c++17 -ggdb )
-
 if( ${INTERFACE_TYPE} STREQUAL "Archon" )
         add_definitions(-DSTA_ARCHON)
         set( EMULATOR_TARGET emulatorArchon )
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 64e9c9f4..134ab0e5 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
 set(PROJECT_TESTS_DIR ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/tests)
 
 # Find the Google Test library
-find_package(GTest REQUIRED)
+find_package(GTest)
 
 add_executable(
         run_unit_tests utility_tests.cpp) # List all unit test source files here
diff --git a/utils/CMakeLists.txt b/utils/CMakeLists.txt
index 12ecd10e..c0edac22 100644
--- a/utils/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/utils/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,10 +5,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
 
 set(PROJECT_UTILS_DIR ${PROJECT_BASE_DIR}/utils)
 
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
-
-add_definitions(-Wall -ansi -O1 -Wno-variadic-macros -std=c++17 -ggdb)
-
 add_library(utilities STATIC
         ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/utilities.cpp
         md5
@@ -24,13 +20,13 @@ add_library(network STATIC
 )
 
 add_library(md5 STATIC
-        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/md5.c
+        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/md5.cpp
 )
 
 add_executable(listener
-        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/listener.c
+        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/listener.cpp
 )
 
 add_executable(socksend
-        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/sendcmd.c
+        ${PROJECT_UTILS_DIR}/sendcmd.cpp
 )
diff --git a/utils/listener.c b/utils/listener.cpp
similarity index 98%
rename from utils/listener.c
rename to utils/listener.cpp
index 1849a311..d7125bf4 100644
--- a/utils/listener.c
+++ b/utils/listener.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// Simple listener.c program for UDP multicast
+// Simple listener.cpp program for UDP multicast
 //
 // Adapted from:
 // http://ntrg.cs.tcd.ie/undergrad/4ba2/multicast/antony/example.html
diff --git a/utils/md5.c b/utils/md5.cpp
similarity index 99%
rename from utils/md5.c
rename to utils/md5.cpp
index 822bdf35..d07dcb1d 100644
--- a/utils/md5.c
+++ b/utils/md5.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*********************************************************************
-* Filename:   md5.c
+* Filename:   md5.cpp
 * Author:     Brad Conte (brad AT bradconte.com)
 * Copyright:
 * Disclaimer: This code is presented "as is" without any guarantees.
diff --git a/utils/sendcmd.c b/utils/sendcmd.cpp
similarity index 99%
rename from utils/sendcmd.c
rename to utils/sendcmd.cpp
index 9052a873..2975cb70 100644
--- a/utils/sendcmd.c
+++ b/utils/sendcmd.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* client.c */
+
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include<sys/socket.h>
diff --git a/utils/utilities.cpp b/utils/utilities.cpp
index 042cdcba..9bdcad7b 100644
--- a/utils/utilities.cpp
+++ b/utils/utilities.cpp
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@ int compare_versions(const std::string &v1, const std::string &v2) {
 /***** md5_file *************************************************************/
 /**
  * @brief      compute the md5sum of a file
- * @details    This makes use of an external source, md5.h and md5.c
+ * @details    This makes use of an external source, md5.h and md5.cpp
  * @param[in]  filename  const reference to filename to process
  * @param[out] hash      reference to a string to contain result
  *