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configure Scripts
Below are instructions on how to configure a package that uses a
configure script, suitable for inclusion as an `INSTALL'
file in the package. A plain-text version of `INSTALL' which you
may use comes with Autoconf.
These are generic installation instructions.
The configure shell script attempts to guess correct values for
various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the
package. It may also create one or more `.h' files containing
system-dependent definitions. Finally, it creates a shell script
`config.status' that you can run in the future to recreate the
current configuration, and a file `config.log' containing compiler
output (useful mainly for debugging configure).
It can also use an optional file (typically called `config.cache' and enabled with @option{--cache-file=config.cache} or simply @option{-C}) that saves the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring. (Caching is disabled by default to prevent problems with accidental use of stale cache files.)
If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, please try to
figure out how configure could check whether to do them, and mail
diffs or instructions to the address given in the `README' so they
can be considered for the next release. If you are using the cache, and
at some point `config.cache' contains results you don't want to
keep, you may remove or edit it.
The file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') is used to create
`configure' by a program called autoconf. You only need
`configure.ac' if you want to change it or regenerate
`configure' using a newer version of autoconf.
The simplest way to compile this package is:
cd to the directory containing the package's source code and type
`./configure' to configure the package for your system. If you're
using csh on an old version of System V, you might need to type
`sh ./configure' instead to prevent csh from trying to
execute configure itself.
Running configure takes awhile. While running, it prints some
messages telling which features it is checking for.
configure created (so you can compile the package for a different
kind of computer), type `make distclean'. There is also a
`make maintainer-clean' target, but that is intended mainly for the
package's developers. If you use it, you may have to get all sorts of
other programs in order to regenerate files that came with the distribution.
Some systems require unusual options for compilation or linking that the
configure script does not know about. Run `./configure
--help' for details on some of the pertinent environment variables.
You can give configure initial values for variables by setting
them in the environment. You can do that on the command line like this:
./configure CC=c89 CFLAGS=-O2 LIBS=-lposix
See section Environment Variables, for more details.
You can compile the package for more than one kind of computer at the
same time, by placing the object files for each architecture in their
own directory. To do this, you must use a version of make that
supports the VPATH variable, such as GNU make. cd
to the directory where you want the object files and executables to go
and run the configure script. configure automatically
checks for the source code in the directory that configure is in
and in `..'.
If you have to use a make that does not support the VPATH
variable, you have to compile the package for one architecture at a time
in the source code directory. After you have installed the package for
one architecture, use `make distclean' before reconfiguring for
another architecture.
By default, `make install' will install the package's files in
`/usr/local/bin', `/usr/local/man', etc. You can specify an
installation prefix other than `/usr/local' by giving
configure the option @option{--prefix=path}.
You can specify separate installation prefixes for architecture-specific
files and architecture-independent files. If you give configure
the option @option{--exec-prefix=path}, the package will use
path as the prefix for installing programs and libraries.
Documentation and other data files will still use the regular prefix.
In addition, if you use an unusual directory layout you can give options like @option{--bindir=path} to specify different values for particular kinds of files. Run `configure --help' for a list of the directories you can set and what kinds of files go in them.
If the package supports it, you can cause programs to be installed with
an extra prefix or suffix on their names by giving configure the
option @option{--program-prefix=PREFIX} or
@option{--program-suffix=SUFFIX}.
Some packages pay attention to @option{--enable-feature} options
to configure, where feature indicates an optional part of
the package. They may also pay attention to
@option{--with-package} options, where package is something
like `gnu-as' or `x' (for the X Window System). The
`README' should mention any @option{--enable-} and @option{--with-}
options that the package recognizes.
For packages that use the X Window System, configure can usually
find the X include and library files automatically, but if it doesn't,
you can use the configure options @option{--x-includes=dir}
and @option{--x-libraries=dir} to specify their locations.
There may be some features configure cannot figure out
automatically, but needs to determine by the type of host the package
will run on. Usually configure can figure that out, but if it
prints a message saying it cannot guess the host type, give it the
@option{--build=type} option. type can either be a short
name for the system type, such as `sun4', or a canonical name which
has the form:
cpu-company-system
where system can have one of these forms:
os kernel-os
See the file `config.sub' for the possible values of each field. If `config.sub' isn't included in this package, then this package doesn't need to know the host type.
If you are building compiler tools for cross-compiling, you should use the @option{--target=type} option to select the type of system they will produce code for.
If you want to use a cross compiler, that generates code for a platform different from the build platform, you should specify the host platform (i.e., that on which the generated programs will eventually be run) with @option{--host=type}. In this case, you should also specify the build platform with @option{--build=type}, because, in this case, it may not be possible to guess the build platform (it sometimes involves compiling and running simple test programs, and this can't be done if the compiler is a cross compiler).
If you want to set default values for configure scripts to share,
you can create a site shell script called `config.site' that gives
default values for variables like CC, cache_file, and
prefix. configure looks for
`prefix/share/config.site' if it exists, then
`prefix/etc/config.site' if it exists. Or, you can set the
CONFIG_SITE environment variable to the location of the site
script. A warning: not all configure scripts look for a site
script.
Variables not defined in a site shell script can be set in the
environment passed to configure. However, some packages may run
configure again during the build, and the customized values of these
variables may be lost. In order to avoid this problem, you should set
them in the configure command line, using `VAR=value'. For
example:
./configure CC=/usr/local2/bin/gcc
will cause the specified gcc to be used as the C compiler (unless it is overridden in the site shell script).
configure Invocation
configure recognizes the following options to control how it
operates.
configure, and exit.
configure
script, and exit.
configure can determine that directory automatically.
configure also accepts some other, not widely useful, options.
Run `configure --help' for more details.
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