How To Install Autconf Archive After Downloading The Tar File

Contents

Compiling things on Ubuntu the Easy Style
1. Step 1: Prep your arrangement for edifice packages
2. Step 2: Getting the software you want
3. Footstep 3: Resolving Dependencies.
4. Step four: Build and install.
5. Attachments
6. Links
7. Comments

Compiling things on Ubuntu the Easy Mode

Let's say y'all are a moderately experienced Linux user, and yous want to install an application off the Cyberspace but information technology doesn't take a nice package that works on your system. (If it does take a package, install it following the instructions on InstallingSoftware.)

A lot of users, even quite experienced ones, accept issues with going from the tarball to the installed program because they just do non know the fairly easy steps required to get the chore done. Simply it's just piece of cake if you lot already know how to do information technology! And so, here's a quick guide well-nigh how to install stuff from developer sites.

Step ane: Prep your organization for building packages

By default, Ubuntu does non come with the tools required. You demand to install the package build-essential for making the packet and checkinstall for putting it into your bundle manager. These tin can exist found on the install CD or in the repositories, searching in Synaptic Package Manager or the command-line apt-get:

          sudo apt-become install build-essential checkinstall

And since you may desire to get code from some projects with no released version, you should install advisable version management software.

          sudo apt-go install cvs subversion git-core mercurial

You should then build a mutual directory for yourself where you'll be edifice these packages. Nosotros recommend creating /usr/local/src, but really you tin can put it anywhere yous want. Make sure this directory is writable by your primary user account, by running

          sudo chown $USER /usr/local/src

and, merely to exist safe

          sudo chmod u+rwx /usr/local/src

After you've washed this, yous're ready up to start getting the programs you demand.

Step 2: Getting the software y'all want

Well-nigh of the software you'll generally want comes from released tarballs. These are only compressed archives with extensions like .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 — they are just similar .nothing files on Windows or .sit on MacOS X, if that analogy helps y'all. If the program you desire to install comes in this grade, you should move it into the /usr/local/src directory we made in Footstep one and extract information technology by right-clicking on the file and selecting Excerpt Here, or by using the command line: If your tarball is a .gz, extract the files with the command:

          tar -xzvf tarballname.tar.gz

and for bz2 the like command:

          tar -xjvf tarballname.tar.bz2

In the rare case of getting a programme from a cvs or subversion repository, the developers volition mostly provide instructions on how to do this on their website. If you lot already installed the packages listed on Pace 1, you lot just demand to modify to your /usr/local/src directory (cd /usr/local/src) and run the commands that are listed. The procedure will vary from program to program, so I can't assist you here, but with the given packages the instructions they provide should piece of work smoothly.

Notation: If y'all downloaded from source such as Git, SVN, or any other source repository then it is probable that the ./configure files accept not withal been generated. You may be able to run the command

          autogen.sh

from within the downloaded files tiptop directory. This control relies on automake and autoconf programs and will automatically build the configuration files and run the ./configure control. Later this step y'all can resume the later directions past running the control

          make

Step three: Resolving Dependencies.

One nice thing about mod Linux distributions is they take care of dependencies for the user. That is to say, if you desire to install a program, the apt program volition make certain it installs all needed libraries and other dependent programs so installing a program is never more difficult than but specifying what you need and information technology does the rest. Unfortunately with tarballs this is not the case, and yous'll have to practise it manually. It'southward this phase that trips up fifty-fifty some fairly experienced users who ofttimes give up in frustration for not existence able to figure out what they demand to get.

Y'all probably want to read about the possibilities and limitations of auto-apt first, which will endeavor to take care of dependency issues automatically. The following instructions are for fulfilling dependencies manually:

To prepare, install the package apt-file, and then run sudo apt-file update. This volition download a list of all the available packages and all of the files those packages comprise, which as you might await tin can be a very large list. Information technology will not provide any feedback while it loads, and then just expect.

The apt-file program has some interesting functions, the ii most useful are apt-file search which searches for a particular file name, and apt-file list which lists all the files in a given bundle. (Two explanations: 1 two)

To check the dependencies of your program, change into the directory you created in step two (cd /usr/local/src). Extracting the tarball or downloading from cvs/subversion will have made a sub-directory under /usr/local/src that contains the source code. This newly-created directory will contain a file chosen "configure", which is a script to make sure that the plan can be compiled on your calculator. To run information technology, run the control ./configure This control will check to encounter if yous've got all the programs needed to install the programme — in most cases you will non, and it volition error out with a bulletin about needing a program.

If you lot run ./configure without any options, you will use the default settings for the programme. Almost programs accept a range of settings that yous can enable or disable, if you are interested in this check the README and INSTALL files found in the directory after decompressing the tar file. You can bank check the developer documentation and in many cases ./configure --assist will list some of the key configurations you can practice. A very common options is to use ./configure --prefix=/usr which will install your application into /usr instead of /usr/local equally my instructions practise.

If this happens, the last line of output volition be something like

          configure: error: Library requirements (gobbletygook) not met, blah blah blah stuff we don't intendance well-nigh

But right in a higher place that it will listing a filename that information technology cannot find (often a filename ending in ".pc", for instance). What yous demand to do so is to run

          apt-file search missingfilename.pc

which will tell you which Ubuntu package the missing file is in. You can so simply install the package using

          sudo apt-get install requiredpackage

Then endeavour running ./configure again, and meet if information technology works. If you lot get to a bunch of text that finishes with config.condition: creating Makefile followed by no obvious mistake messages, you're ready for the next steps.

Step 4: Build and install.

If you got this far, you've done the hardest part already. Now all you demand to do is run the command

          make

which does the bodily edifice (compiling) of the program.

If it'due south a large program or if you've got a very slow figurer, go and get a cup of coffee or something. If you have a multi-core processor you can as well gear up the variable CONCURRENCY_LEVEL to the number of processors/cores you lot have to speed things up a footling.

When its done, install the program. You probably want to use

          sudo checkinstall

which puts the programme in the parcel manager for make clean, easy removal afterward. This replaces the erstwhile sudo make install command. Run into the complete documentation at CheckInstall.

Notation: If checkinstall fails you may need to run the command like

          sudo checkinstall --fstrans=0

Which should allow the install to complete successfully. Bugs: 78455 & 599163

So the final stage of the installation volition run. It shouldn't take long. When finished, if y'all used checkinstall, the programme volition appear in Synaptic Package Manager. If you used sudo make install, your application volition exist installed to /usr/local/bin and you should be able to run information technology from there without bug.

If this all seems way as well hard for you, don't fret. Y'all're using Ubuntu after all, and it has all of the programs that you actually need to become your work done already packaged for y'all. If there isn't a package out there, the odds are that you actually don't demand the program and within a few months someone will take packaged it for y'all. The only programs you actually need to build and compile similar this are programs that are new and perhaps not withal stable or ready for your desktop. If you remember this procedure is likewise hard, well mayhap you ought to reconsider why you want to do this and simply wait a few months for the next stable release. But information technology tin can be a good learning feel for y'all.

If your desired packet is quite important and you lot think it deserves to be in Ubuntu properly, peradventure contact the Masters of the Universe and see if they tin can do the hard work for you — if they bundle something, anyone can install information technology without having to go through this procedure. But if y'all tin become through all this, you're well on your fashion to becoming an expert Linux user — yous'd be surprised how easy all this seems afterward yous've washed it just a few times. Proficient luck!

Like shooting fish in a barrel meaning "easier than tearing your hair out so screaming most how much Linux sucks while running effectually the room". Not actually piece of cake.

Attachments

The process described in this page tin exist performed without typing terminal commands, using the attached application. Download the package kludge_tarball_installer_v0.10.tar, extract it to your user folder, and see the README file.

Links

For a more than advanced withal not so piece of cake Howto, take a look at CompilingSoftware.

The "easy" tutorial should exist the default one (at CompilingSoftware), and the "advanced" tutorial should be at a name like CompilingSoftwareAdvanced. The target audience for a certificate similar this is people who have never done any of this stuff before. Make the default certificate as piece of cake to use equally possible.
Would it be ameliorate to change the group of /usr/local/src/ to admin and give them rwx privleages? Since anyone adding and removing software should exist in the admin group.

*Would be nice to see an example tar ball included in the post. Would get in easy for someone to exam the steps.