Install autoreconf on OS X v10.7 (Lion)?

Question

I'm attempting to re-install Ruby 1.9.3 with a patch that will allow me to use ruby-debug.

When following the instructions and running

rvm reinstall 1.9.3 --patch debug --force-autoconf

It runs through and after applying the patch spits out:

rvm requires autoreconf to install the selected ruby interpreter however autoreconf was not found in the PATH.

Unfortunately, googling around for how to install autoreconf on OS X v10.7 (Lion) (or much information about it at all) seems to be a dead end.

You don't have to patch 1.9.3 to use ruby-debug—see [this question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8087610/ruby-debug-with-ruby-1-9-3). — Andrew Marshall, Mar 06 '12 at 00:01
other thing is you most likely used `command line tools` which is missing `auto*` tools, and provides only LLVM compiler - no real GCC, that will be a problem when compiling ruby-1.9.3-p0 or lower versions — mpapis, Mar 06 '12 at 01:05

score 366 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:07

366

If you are using Homebrew, try

brew install automake

Which should also install autoconf and allow rvm to finish installing.

edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:07

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 20 '12 at 06:58

foz

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`brew` isn't included with OSX, but you can get it here: http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/ – RobM Apr 25 '12 at 11:45
I think this moved, I required: `brew install autoconf` – Xavier Shay Feb 14 '15 at 19:20
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libtool also needed, brew install libtool without it you will get configure.ac:14: error: possibly undefined macro: AC_PROG_LIBTOOL – MKo Nov 17 '15 at 09:44
To install homebrew, just visit http://brew.sh/, or https://github.com/Homebrew/brew – DawnSong Aug 23 '16 at 09:37
Just did this, `autoconf` is installed as a dependency of `automake` cc: @XavierShay – rohitpaulk May 04 '17 at 03:36

score 43 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:09

43

If you want to do this using MacPorts instead of Homebrew, you can do:

sudo port install automake autoconf libtool

I had the same problem and this solved it for me.

edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:09

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 29 '12 at 00:43

patr1ck

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This didn't seem to add autoconf to my path. – Erik Jan 15 '14 at 18:12
Hey Erik, are you sure macports is setup correctly? Can you see /opt/local/bin and related directories in your path? – patr1ck Jan 15 '14 at 22:37
In case someone has problem with libtool and glibtool, this is the way it has been ported in macports: https://lists.macosforge.org/pipermail/macports-users/2009-October/017432.html – Kyr Nov 09 '15 at 15:59

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:14

9

If you're using brew, then the autoreconf utility is part of the autoconf package, so install it via:

brew install autoconf

If the problem persists, consider either reinstall or link it again. Use locate autoreconf to find out where it is.

Also check if /usr/local/bin/autoreconf exists (and is linked into the right place), and you've the /usr/local/bin path added in your /etc/paths file.

edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:14

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 06 '15 at 22:11

kenorb

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score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:12

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By downloading the .pkg file from MacPorts and installing it, it does the trick for me.

edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:12

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 13 '14 at 05:19

Inder Kumar Rathore

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score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:16

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I had a similar problem, but because Homebrew moved away from the Cellar directory, but for some reasons binaries of this package were still there.

I reinstalled autoconf with the following command and autoreconf is in the right PATH now: brew reinstall autoconf

edited Apr 11 '19 at 16:16

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 22 '18 at 14:49

Tom

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score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 06 '15 at 21:02

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I solved my autoreconf problem adding the path to my shell:

sudo pico /etc/paths

then I added the line

/sw/bin

where I found the autoreconf and autoconf files and saved everything.

Since then I can use autoreconf without any problems.

edited Jun 06 '15 at 21:02

kenorb

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answered Jul 13 '13 at 20:38

Jara Schnyder

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I don't see to have a /sw/bin on my osx machine. Would you mind explaining where that came from? – Joshua D. Boyd Mar 23 '16 at 06:43

Install autoreconf on OS X v10.7 (Lion)?

6 Answers6

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