autoreconf(1)
Automatically update GNU Autotools configuration scripts by re-running autoconf, automake, and related tools in the correct order.
Synopsis
autoreconf [OPTION]... [DIRECTORY]...Description
autoreconf is a wrapper script that automatically runs autoconf, autoheader, automake, aclocal, libtoolize, and other related tools in the correct sequence to regenerate GNU Autotools build infrastructure. This is essential after modifying configure.ac, configure.in, or Makefile.am files.
It detects which tools are needed by examining your project's configure.ac or configure.in file, then runs only those tools with appropriate options. This saves developers from manually running each tool in the right order with correct arguments.
Typically run in the root directory of a source distribution that uses Autotools, or after checking out a project from version control where build scripts have been excluded.
Common options
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
-i, --install | Copy missing auxiliary files from system macro directories; installs missing aclocal macros and ltmain.sh |
-f, --force | Rebuild all files, even if they appear up-to-date; forces regeneration of configure and related files |
-v, --verbose | Print the name of each tool as it is executed |
-I DIR | Add DIR to the search path for autoconf macros |
--include=DIR | Same as -I DIR; allows multiple invocations |
--no-recursive | Do not run autoreconf recursively on subdirectories with configure.ac files |
--install --force | Common combination: reinstall all files and force full regeneration |
--version | Print the version of autoreconf and exit |
Examples
Install missing files and regenerate build scripts in the current directory
autoreconf -iForce regeneration and install missing auxiliary files; common after git checkout
autoreconf -ifRegenerate with missing files and search the m4 subdirectory for additional macros
autoreconf -i -I m4Show verbose output of which tools are being run and in what order
autoreconf -vRegenerate in current directory only, ignoring subdirectories with their own configure.ac
autoreconf --no-recursive -iRegenerate all build scripts if they are out of date relative to configure.ac
autoreconf