Install Autoconf and Automake on OS X Mountain Lion

cltools.sh

#!/bin/sh

##
# Install autoconf, automake and libtool smoothly on Mac OS X.
# Newer versions of these libraries are available and may work better on OS X
#
# This script is originally from http://jsdelfino.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/autoconf-and-automake-on-mac-os-x.html
#

export build=~/devtools # or wherever you'd like to build
mkdir -p $build

##
# Autoconf
# http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/autoconf

cd $build
curl -OL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/autoconf/autoconf-2.68.tar.gz
tar xzf autoconf-2.68.tar.gz
cd autoconf-2.68
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin

##
# Automake
# http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake

cd $build
curl -OL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake/automake-1.11.tar.gz
tar xzf automake-1.11.tar.gz
cd automake-1.11
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install

##
# Libtool
# http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool

cd $build
curl -OL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool/libtool-2.4.tar.gz
tar xzf libtool-2.4.tar.gz
cd libtool-2.4
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install

echo "Installation complete."

You could use this code to get always the latest version.

curl -OL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/autoconf/autoconf-latest.tar.gz
tar xzf autoconf-latest.tar.gz
cd autoconf-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
cd ..
rm -r autoconf-*

On line 24, /usr/local/bin should be appended to $PATH.

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin

Thank you! this is pretty useful

Great job

thanks a lot.

Worked like a charm, thank you.

Nowadays you can use Homebrew for this

brew install autoconf automake

Listen to dylanholmes! watch out for PATH clobbering!

Add the following under your mkdir call:

# see: http://superuser.com/a/39995/482140
pathadd() {
    if [ -d "$1" ] && [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$1:"* ]]; then
        PATH="${PATH:+"$PATH:"}$1"
    fi
}

and then change export PATH=/usr/local/bin to pathadd "/usr/local/bin" then it will then only add the new path to the existing path if not already part of it.

Fixed the issue with PATH clobbering, sorry about that.

I haven't updated version numbers. Please check the index pages (remove the file name from the URL) for the latest versions to ensure better compatibility with your OS X version.

Alternatively, use Homebrew, as suggested by @dideler (it's probably a better solution, anyway).

Improvement

# Install autotools, including autoconf, automake and libtool on Mac OS X.
BUILD_DIR=autotools # or wherever you'd like to build

# Get the latest version of automake and libtool because they have no latest symbol link.
AUTOMAKE_VERSION=$(curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake | grep -E "automake.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $2}' | sed 's/automake-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort | tail -n 1)
LIBTOOL_VERSION=$(curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool | grep -E "libtool.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $2}' | sed 's/libtool-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort | tail -n 1)

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR
cd $BUILD_DIR

# Autoconf
echo "Installing the latest autoconf..."
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/autoconf/autoconf-latest.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd autoconf-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
[ $? -eq 0 ] && AUTOCONF_ERROR=0 && cd .. && rm -rf autoconf-*

# Automake
echo "Installing automake-${AUTOMAKE_VERSION}..."
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake/automake-${AUTOMAKE_VERSION}.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd automake-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
[ $? -eq 0 ] && AUTOMAKE_ERROR=0 && cd .. && rm -rf automake-*

# Libtool
echo "Installing libtool-${LIBTOOL_VERSION}"
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool/libtool-${LIBTOOL_VERSION}.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd libtool-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
[ $? -eq 0 ] && LIBTOOL_ERROR=0 && cd .. && rm -rf libtool-*

if [ $AUTOCONF_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Autoconf error."
fi

if [ $AUTOMAKE_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Automake error."
fi

if [ $LIBTOOL_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Libtool error."
fi

[ $AUTOCONF_ERROR -eq 0 ] && [ $AUTOMAKE_ERROR -eq 0 ] && [ $LIBTOOL_ERROR -eq 0 ] && echo "Installation complete." && cd .. && cp rmdir $BUILD_DIR

function add_path () {
    [[ ":${PATH}:" =~ .*:$1:.* ]] || PATH="${PATH:+${PATH}:}$1"
}

Works in bash. May need adjustment for other shells.

@hainesc: I like your script. However, it seems that now the URL added icons, so the AUTOMAKE_VERSION and AUTOTOOL_VERSION variables are wrong:

>curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake | grep -E "automake.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $2}' | sed 's/automake-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort | tail -n 1
/icons/compressed.gif

Changing the awk argument from $2 to $6 fixes this

>curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake | grep -E "automake.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $6}' | sed 's/automake-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort | tail -n 1
1.9.6

This returns 1.9.6 but the latest version has two digits, so I modified the sort with this tip, so this parsing works:

>curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake | grep -E "automake.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $6}' | sed 's/automake-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort -f -t . -k 1,1 -k 2,2n -k 3,3n -k 4,4n | tail -n 1
1.16.1

With the version number set at "/icons/compressed.gif", the installation fails and AUTOMAKE_ERROR and LIBTOOL_ERROR are empty, which removes the left-hand side in this comparison:

[ $AUTOMAKE_ERROR -ne 0 ];
-bash: [: -ne: unary operator expected

I added an else condition and placed the change of directory and removal of the temporary directory outside the condition, so they are always executed.

Here is my revision of hainesc's code:

# Install autotools, including autoconf, automake and libtool on Mac OS X.
BUILD_DIR=~/autotools # or wherever you'd like to build

# Get the latest version of automake and libtool because they have no latest symbol link.
AUTOMAKE_VERSION=$(curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake | grep -E "automake.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $6}' | sed 's/automake-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort -f -t . -k 1,1 -k 2,2n -k 3,3n -k 4,4n | tail -n 1)
LIBTOOL_VERSION=$(curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool | grep -E "libtool.*tar.gz" | grep -vE "sig|asc" | awk -F \" '{print $6}' | sed 's/libtool-//g' | sed 's/.tar.gz//g' | sort | tail -n 1)

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR
cd $BUILD_DIR

# Autoconf
echo "Installing the latest autoconf..."
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/autoconf/autoconf-latest.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd autoconf-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
	AUTOCONF_ERROR=0
else
	AUTOCONF_ERROR=1
fi
cd .. && rm -rf autoconf-*


# Automake
echo "Installing automake-${AUTOMAKE_VERSION}..."
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake/automake-${AUTOMAKE_VERSION}.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd automake-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
	AUTOMAKE_ERROR=0
else
	AUTOMAKE_ERROR=1
fi
cd .. && rm -rf automake-*

# Libtool
echo "Installing libtool-${LIBTOOL_VERSION}"
curl -fL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool/libtool-${LIBTOOL_VERSION}.tar.gz | tar xzf -
cd libtool-*
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make && sudo make install
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
	LIBTOOL_ERROR=0
else
	LIBTOOL_ERROR=1
fi
cd .. && rm -rf libtool-*

if [ $AUTOCONF_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Autoconf error."
fi

if [ $AUTOMAKE_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Automake error."
fi

if [ $LIBTOOL_ERROR -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Libtool error."
fi

[ $AUTOCONF_ERROR -eq 0 ] && [ $AUTOMAKE_ERROR -eq 0 ] && [ $LIBTOOL_ERROR -eq 0 ] && echo "Installation complete." && cd .. && cp rmdir $BUILD_DIR