In this article we will see how to solve autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1 error. This error is most commonly encountered when you are trying to install some package by using its source code and running ./configure to check if all the required configuration is in place. In my case, I am installing the package on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server. This could be different for you. You might be encountering this error on some other System but here we will see it for Ubuntu/Debian based Systems.

[Solved]: autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1

Also Read: [Solved]: configure: error: Boost is not available! in Linux

While this autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1 error can come due to multiple reasons but most probably it will be due to missing autoconf package or libtool library or may be both. So to resolve this error, first you need to check if autoconf is installed in your System. If it's not then you need to install it by using apt-get install autoconf command as shown below.

root@cyberithub:~# apt-get install autoconf
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
automake autotools-dev libsigsegv2 m4
Suggested packages:
autoconf-archive gnu-standards autoconf-doc libtool gettext m4-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
autoconf automake autotools-dev libsigsegv2 m4
0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 43 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,096 kB of archives.
After this operation, 4,050 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libsigsegv2 amd64 2.12-2 [13.9 kB]
Get:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 m4 amd64 1.4.18-4 [199 kB]
Get:3 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 autoconf all 2.69-11.1 [321 kB]
Get:4 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 autotools-dev all 20180224.1 [39.6 kB]
Get:5 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 automake all 1:1.16.1-4ubuntu6 [522 kB]
Fetched 1,096 kB in 1s (837 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libsigsegv2:amd64.
(Reading database ... 213396 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libsigsegv2_2.12-2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libsigsegv2:amd64 (2.12-2) ...

Once autoconf is installed, then now you need to check if libtool is installed. If it's not then you need to install it by using apt-get install libtool command as shown below. You can check more about libtool on GNU official website.

root@cyberithub:~# apt-get install libtool
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
libltdl-dev
Suggested packages:
libtool-doc gfortran | fortran95-compiler gcj-jdk
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libltdl-dev libtool
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 43 not upgraded.
Need to get 323 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2,173 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libltdl-dev amd64 2.4.6-14 [162 kB]
Get:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libtool all 2.4.6-14 [161 kB]
Fetched 323 kB in 1s (381 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libltdl-dev:amd64.
(Reading database ... 213681 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libltdl-dev_2.4.6-14_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libltdl-dev:amd64 (2.4.6-14) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libtool.
Preparing to unpack .../libtool_2.4.6-14_all.deb ...
Unpacking libtool (2.4.6-14) ...
Setting up libtool (2.4.6-14) ...
Setting up libltdl-dev:amd64 (2.4.6-14) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...

Now if you again go back and run ./configure then you will notice that configuration check is successful and status is showing as ok. But in case, if you still see the same error then it is highly recommended that you check for any local reason that might be causing this error. Hopefully this article helped you solving autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1 error. Please let me know your feedback on the comment box.