# Install automake with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Tool for generating GNU Standards-compliant Makefiles. Version 1.18.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install automake.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:automake
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install automake
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install automake
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/automake/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add automake
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: automake from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install automake
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: automake from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install automake
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: automake from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#automake
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: automake from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S automake
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: automake from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install automake
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: automake from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:automake
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.18.1
- **Source summary:** Tool for generating GNU Standards-compliant Makefiles
- **Homepage:** <https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-18T14:23:12Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- aclocal (alias)
- aclocal-1.18 (alias)
- automake (alias)
- automake-1.18 (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.18.1
## Project history and usage

GNU Automake is one of the core GNU Autotools. It generates portable, GNU Standards-oriented Makefile.in files from maintainer-written Makefile.am input, sitting between Autoconf's configure scripts and make's build execution.

### Project history

Automake was written to reduce the burden of maintaining large, portable Makefile.in templates by hand. Its official manual history credits the early project to Tom Tromey and describes Automake as part of the GNU build system alongside Autoconf and Libtool.

The Automake manual frames the package around Makefile.am files, configure.ac, GNU Coding Standards conventions, and generated Makefile.in output. Over time it absorbed a large catalog of conventions for recursive builds, installed programs, libraries, tests, distribution tarballs, Texinfo, gettext, and portability checks.

Because Automake generates files consumed by configure and make, it became a maintainer-side tool in many projects: release tarballs often include generated Makefile.in files so end users do not need Automake, while developers building from VCS do.

### Adoption history

Automake's adoption is tied to the spread of Autotools as the default build machinery for GNU packages and many non-GNU Unix projects. The batch input lists Automake in Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE, reflecting how standard it is in development environments.

For package managers, Automake is both a direct package and a build dependency. Formulae and distro recipes often need specific automake/aclocal versions when regenerating build files, especially for projects that ship old Autotools metadata.

### How it is used

Maintainers write Makefile.am files and a configure.ac script, run aclocal and automake as part of the autoreconf/bootstrap flow, and ship or build from generated Makefile.in files. Users normally encounter automake indirectly through autoreconf, ./configure, and make.

The official curation correctly treats Makefile.am and configure.ac as the package's relevant configuration/build-input files; Automake has no credentials file.

### Why package nerds care

Automake is historically important because it standardized a huge amount of portable Unix build behavior into generated makefiles. Package nerds care because Autotools failures often reduce to Automake version expectations, missing m4 macros, stale generated files, or distribution tarball rules.

It is also a compatibility artifact: even projects migrating to Meson, CMake, or language-native build systems may carry old Automake releases in package histories and bootstrap scripts.

### Timeline

- 1990s: Automake emerges in the GNU build-system ecosystem to generate Makefile.in files from Makefile.am.
- 2000s: Automake becomes a normal dependency for maintainers building GNU and Unix projects from source control.
- 2020s: Automake remains packaged broadly as part of standard developer-tool stacks.

### Related projects

- GNU Autoconf generates configure scripts that pair with Automake-generated Makefile.in files.
- GNU Libtool handles portable library-building concerns commonly used with Automake.
- autoreconf orchestrates regeneration of Autotools files and often invokes aclocal and automake.

### Sources

- <https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/automake.git>
- <https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/>
- <https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/automake.html>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: Makefile.am, configure.ac
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - automake - 1:1.17-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: automake from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Tool for generating GNU Standards-compliant Makefiles | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/
- Nix - automake: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: automake from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
- Ubuntu apt - automake - 1:1.16.5-1.3ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: automake from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Tool for generating GNU Standards-compliant Makefiles | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/
- apk - automake - 1.18.1-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: automake from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | GNU tool for automatically creating Makefiles | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake
- apk - automake-doc - 1.18.1-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: automake-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | GNU tool for automatically creating Makefiles (documentation) | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake
- dnf - automake - 1.18.1-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: automake from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A GNU tool for automatically creating Makefiles | http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/
- pacman - automake - 1.18.1-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: automake from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz | A GNU tool for automatically creating Makefiles | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake
- zypper - automake - 1.18.1-1.4: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: automake from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | A Program for Automatically Generating GNU-Style Makefile.in Files | https://www.gnu.org/software/automake
- MacPorts - automake: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/automake/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/automake.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/automake.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph