automake error: no proper invocation of AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE was found

Question

I am new in autotools, and following this tutorial. but I could not solve this errors,

   $ automake
   configure.ac: error: no proper invocation of AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE was found.
   ..
   Makefile.am: error: required file './depcomp' not found
   ..
   /usr/share/automake-1.12/am/depend2.am: error: am__fastdepCC does not appear in AM_CONDITIONAL
  ..
  /usr/share/automake-1.12/am/depend2.am: error: AMDEP does not appear in AM_CONDITIONAL
  ..

my configure.ac file is

   # -*- Autoconf -*-
   # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.

   AC_PREREQ([2.69])
   AC_INIT([FULL-PACKAGE-NAME], [VERSION], [BUG-REPORT-ADDRESS])
   AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(hello,1.0)
   AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([config.h.in])
   AM_CONFIG_HEADERS(config.h)

   # Checks for programs.
   AC_PROG_CC

   # Checks for libraries.

   # Checks for header files.
   AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/time.h])

   # Checks for typedefs, structures, and compiler characteristics.

   # Checks for library functions.
   AC_CHECK_FUNCS([gettimeofday])

   AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
   AC_OUTPUT

I checked for solution on Internet, my configure.ac looks fine, don't know what is wrong with it.

score 30 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 24 '13 at 16:15

Where did you copy&paste your configure.ac from? Whatever that site is, you should remove it from your bookmarks!

You are mixing the new AC_INIT way to indicate the package version, with the old AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE way to do the same thing. Don't do both. (Old and new refer to a switch that occurred 10 years ago.) Starting with Automake 1.13 the old way to call AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE with two arguments is no-longuer supported.

In your case, removing the AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE arguments, and correctly setting the AC_INIT arguement to reflect the name and version of your project should be enough.

See the automake manual for an up-to-date example of very simple configure.ac to start with.

Instead of calling automake yourself, just use autoreconf -vfi so that it runs all the relevant tools in the right order, and installs the missing files.

I should look for latest examples. – arslan Apr 25 '13 at 07:39 — arslan, Apr 25 '13 at 07:39

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 21 '16 at 08:50

12

You have to fix it line by line.

First, your Makefile.am required depcomp. So, you have to copy it to your folder (for this step you can run automake --add-missing so as to add missing files automatically):

cp -a /usr/share/automake-X.XX/depcomp .

Second, you have to run aclocal prior to automake:

$ aclocal

Finally, you can run automake:

$ automake
$ autoconf

edited Oct 21 '16 at 08:50

Julien Lopez

1,794
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answered Oct 21 '16 at 07:51

Narongsak Mala

333
2
9

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 29 '20 at 04:57

2

Try

autoreconf -i

autoreconf will bootstrap a project into a distributable state by adding missing files that are recommended or required.

answered Dec 29 '20 at 04:57

Javad Rahimi

39
1

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 16 '17 at 11:49

1

In my case, updating libtool from 2.2.6 to 2.4.6. ps: I use the 1.15 version of automake. Run libtoolize before running aclocal and autoheader.

answered Mar 16 '17 at 11:49

user3113626

649
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automake error: no proper invocation of AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE was found

4 Answers4