Configure script: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:21, 10 December 2020

Revision as of 05:11, 4 January 2021

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One must type <code>./configure</code> rather than simply <code>configure</code> to indicate to the shell that the script is in the current directory. By default, for security reasons, [[Unix]] operating systems do not search the current directory for executables so one must give the full path explicitly to avoid an error.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.control-escape.com/linux/lx-swinstall-tar.html |title=Compiling Linux Software from Source Code |publisher=Control-Escape's Linux Help Engine |accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2010}}</ref>

Upon its completion, <code>configure</code> prints a report to <code>config.log</code>. Running <code>./configure --help</code> gives a list of command line arguments, for enabling or disabling additional features such as:

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== Generating <code>configure</code> ==

Software developers simplify the challenge of [[cross-platform]] software development by using [[GNU Autotools]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/ |title=Autoconf - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF) |publisher=GNU Operating System |accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2010}}</ref> These scripts query the system on which they run for environment settings, platform architecture, and the existence and ___location of required build and runtime dependencies. They store the gathered information in <code>configure.ac</code> or the now deprecated <code>configure.in</code> to be read by <code>configure</code> during the installation phase.

== Dependency checking ==

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== History ==

The first program to come with a configure script was [[rn (newsreader)|rn]] by [[Larry Wall]] in 1984. The script was written by hand and produced a jocular running commentary when executed. It still survives as part of the build system of the '''trn''' program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/acli/trn/blob/613a7e97aca06dd807fb225990fa804e8c744574/Configure|title= Configure script of trn |publisher=GitHub |accessdateaccess-date=10 December 2020}}</ref>

Since then, an ecosystem of programs has grown up to automate the creation of configure scripts as far as possible, of which the most common is the [[Autoconf|GNU Autoconf]] system.