[ntp:questions] Need help with Linux cross-compile build issue

[Phil Bellino]

Hello, 


I am upgrading NTP from 4.2.8p8 to 4.2.8p10 in Linux. 

Build environment, cross-compiling to ultimately run in a Linux PowerPC environment . 



I downloaded the ntp-4.2.8p10.tar.gz file and, within my build source tree, 

Uncompressed and untar’d it. As is, it configured and built successfully using the following 

Configure options with LDFLAGS and CPPFLAGS defined also. 

LDFLAGS="-L$(TOPDIR)/apps/lib" \ 

CPPFLAGS="-D$(PROJECT) -I ../../include" \ 

../configure --host=powerpc-linux-uclibc \ 

--build=i686-pc-linux-gnu --prefix=/usr \ 

--without-sntp --without-doc --with-crypto --with-yielding-select=yes \ 

--with-openssl-libdir=../../lib/ \ 

--with-openssl-incdir=../../include/openssl/ \ 

--disable-all-clocks --disable-parse-clocks --enable-gcc-hardening=no 



But, when I commit the source to our source control system (the entire source tree 

has to be retrievable and buildable from there), and try to build again, the ‘make’ 

complains that it needs to regenerate some files and cannot find ‘aclocal’ for example 

(which is true, I do not have and cannot use due to other restrictions). 



make -C mkbuild all 

make[3]: Entering directory ‘<blah>/ntp-4.2.8p10/mkbuild' 

CDPATH="${ZSH_VERSION+.}:" && cd .. && /bin/sh <snip>/ntp-4.2.8p10/sntp/libevent/build-aux/missing aclocal-1.15 -I sntp/m4 -I sntp/libevent/m4 -I sntp/libopts/m4 

<snip>/ntp-4.2.8p10/sntp/libevent/build-aux/missing : line 81: aclocal-1.15: command not found 

WARNING: 'aclocal-1.15' is missing on your system. 

You should only need it if you modified 'acinclude.m4' or 

'configure.ac' or m4 files included by 'configure.ac'. 

The 'aclocal' program is part of the GNU Automake package: 

< http://www.gnu.org/software/automake > 

It also requires GNU Autoconf, GNU m4 and Perl in order to run: 

< http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf > 

< http://www.gnu.org/software/m4/ > 

< http://www.perl.org/ > 

make[3]: *** [../aclocal.m4] Error 127 



When the build works (before commit to source control) and original timestamps on all files, I don’t see the command in bold above, 

I see this (in bold below) as the first thing done after the ‘make all’ starts. 



make -C mkbuild all 

make[3]: Entering directory ‘<snip>/ntp-4.2.8p10/mkbuild' 

Compiling with GCC now generates lots of new warnings. 



Don't be concerned. They're just warnings. 



Don't send bug reports about the warnings, either. 



Feel free to send patches that fix these warnings, though. 



cd ../html && \ 

../scripts/build/checkHtmlFileDates 

cd .. && \ 

./scripts/build/checkChangeLog 

make all-recursive 

<snip> 



I believe this may be a timestamp issue – and I actually saw another post with a similar problem, its solution was posted 

as “The short version is that cloning from git does not preserve create timestamps, so a rebuild is triggered. 

Running autoconf like you have done will fix this issue. I have also found 'touch *' to get around the issue as well.” 



I tried the ‘touch *’ offered solution but that didn’t seem to work for me. Why is it trying to build files under ‘sntp’ when 

I specifically gave the “—without-sntp” flag to the configure command? Is that part of the problem? 

I need to solve this without the use of the GNU Automake package. Is there something in the configure file or any Makefiles 

To be commented out or changed that would prevent the 

“CDPATH=….” step/command (above) from happening (assuming that’s causing the problem)? 



To be clear, I did not have these issues with 4.2.8p8, even though I followed the same configure and build steps. 

The only change for p10 was the addition of the –enable-gcc-hardening configure directive. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks. 







Phil Bellino 

Principal Software Engineer | MRV Communications Inc. 

300 Apollo Drive | Chelmsford, MA 01824 

Phone: 978-674-6870 | Fax: 978-674-6799 

www.mrv.com 










MRV Communications is a global supplier of packet and optical solutions that power the world’s largest networks. Our products combine innovative hardware with intelligent software to make networks smarter, faster and more efficient. 





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MRV Communications is a global supplier of packet and optical solutions that power the world’s largest networks. Our products combine innovative hardware with intelligent software to make networks smarter, faster and more efficient. 



The contents of this message, together with any attachments, are intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom they are addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, immediately advise the sender, delete this message and any attachments and note that any distribution, or copying of this message, or any attachment, is prohibited.