autoconf: Basic Installation
1
1 16.1 Basic Installation
1 =======================
1
1 Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
1 configure, build, and install this package. The following
1 more-detailed instructions are generic; see the `README' file for
1 instructions specific to this package. More recommendations for GNU
11 packages can be found in ⇒Makefile Conventions
(standards)Makefile Conventions.
1
1 The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
1 various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
1 those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package.
1 It may also create one or more `.h' files containing system-dependent
1 definitions. Finally, it creates a shell script `config.status' that
1 you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration, and a
1 file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
1 debugging `configure').
1
1 It can also use an optional file (typically called `config.cache'
1 and enabled with `--cache-file=config.cache' or simply `-C') that saves
1 the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring. Caching is
1 disabled by default to prevent problems with accidental use of stale
1 cache files.
1
1 If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, please try
1 to figure out how `configure' could check whether to do them, and mail
1 diffs or instructions to the address given in the `README' so they can
1 be considered for the next release. If you are using the cache, and at
1 some point `config.cache' contains results you don't want to keep, you
1 may remove or edit it.
1
1 The file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') is used to create
1 `configure' by a program called `autoconf'. You need `configure.ac' if
1 you want to change it or regenerate `configure' using a newer version
1 of `autoconf'.
1
1 The simplest way to compile this package is:
1
1 1. `cd' to the directory containing the package's source code and type
1 `./configure' to configure the package for your system.
1
1 Running `configure' might take a while. While running, it prints
1 some messages telling which features it is checking for.
1
1 2. Type `make' to compile the package.
1
1 3. Optionally, type `make check' to run any self-tests that come with
1 the package, generally using the just-built uninstalled binaries.
1
1 4. Type `make install' to install the programs and any data files and
1 documentation. When installing into a prefix owned by root, it is
1 recommended that the package be configured and built as a regular
1 user, and only the `make install' phase executed with root
1 privileges.
1
1 5. Optionally, type `make installcheck' to repeat any self-tests, but
1 this time using the binaries in their final installed location.
1 This target does not install anything. Running this target as a
1 regular user, particularly if the prior `make install' required
1 root privileges, verifies that the installation completed
1 correctly.
1
1 6. You can remove the program binaries and object files from the
1 source code directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the
1 files that `configure' created (so you can compile the package for
1 a different kind of computer), type `make distclean'. There is
1 also a `make maintainer-clean' target, but that is intended mainly
1 for the package's developers. If you use it, you may have to get
1 all sorts of other programs in order to regenerate files that came
1 with the distribution.
1
1 7. Often, you can also type `make uninstall' to remove the installed
1 files again. In practice, not all packages have tested that
1 uninstallation works correctly, even though it is required by the
1 GNU Coding Standards.
1
1 8. Some packages, particularly those that use Automake, provide `make
1 distcheck', which can by used by developers to test that all other
1 targets like `make install' and `make uninstall' work correctly.
1 This target is generally not run by end users.
1