Node:autoreconf Invocation, Previous:autoconf Invocation, Up:Making configure Scripts

Using autoreconf to Update configure Scripts

Installing the various components of the GNU Build System can be tedious: running gettextize, automake etc. in each directory. It may be needed either because some tools such as automake have been updated on your system, or because some of the sources such as configure.ac have been updated, or finally, simply in order to install the GNU Build System in a fresh tree.

It runs autoconf, autoheader, aclocal, automake, libtoolize, and gettextize (when appropriate) repeatedly to update the GNU Build System in specified directories, and their subdirectories (see Subdirectories). By default, it only remakes those files that are older than their sources.

If you install a new version of some tools, you can make autoreconf remake all of the files by giving it the --force option.

See Automatic Remaking, for Makefile rules to automatically remake configure scripts when their source files change. That method handles the timestamps of configuration header templates properly, but does not pass --autoconf-dir=dir or --localdir=dir.

autoreconf accepts the following options:

--help

-h

Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

--version

-V

Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

--verbose

Print the name of each directory where autoreconf runs autoconf (and autoheader, if appropriate).

--debug

-d

Don't remove the temporary files.

--force

-f

Remake even configure scripts and configuration headers that are newer than their input files (configure.ac and, if present, aclocal.m4).

--install

-i

Copy missing auxiliary files. This option is similar to the option --add-missing in automake.

--symlink

-s

Instead of copying missing auxiliary files, install symbolic links.

--include=dir

-I dir

Also look for input files in dir. Multiple invocations accumulate. Directories are browsed from last to first.