Re: error: installing './INSTALL'; error while making link: File exists

[Dan Kegel]

I don't know what you're trying to make, but you could
try cleaning the directory to remove stale symlinks first...
or unpacking the source tarball into a clean directory
and building there.

Here's the code you're probably hitting, fwiw:

```
          # Install the missing file.  Symlink if we
          # can, copy if we must.  Note: delete the file
          # first, in case it is a dangling symlink.
          $message = "installing '$fullfile'";
 ...
          # Windows Perl will hang if we try to delete a
          # file that doesn't exist.
          unlink ($fullfile) if -f $fullfile;
          if ($symlink_exists && ! $copy_missing)
            {
              if (! symlink ("$libdir/$file", $fullfile)
                  || ! -e $fullfile)
                {
                  $suppress = 0;
                  $trailer = "; error while making link: $!";
                }
            }
          elsif (system ('cp', "$libdir/$file", $fullfile))
            {
              $suppress = 0;
              $trailer = "\n    error while copying";
            }
- Dan

On Sat, Aug 31, 2019 at 5:17 PM Bruce Korb <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Googling doesn't get me any answers and I cannot rebuild until
> autoreconf is gotten working.
> The embedded autoreconf step that fails is automake. I have no idea at
> all what the message is really trying to say. Help, please?
>
> $ automake --add-missing --no-force
> Makefile.am: error: installing './INSTALL'; error while making link: File 
> exists
> doc/Makefile.am:71: warning: call gen_man,gnu-pw-mgr,opts.def:
> non-POSIX variable
> name
> doc/Makefile.am:71: (probably a GNU make extension)
> doc/Makefile.am:80: warning: call gen_man,sort-pw-cfg,sort-opts.def:
> non-POSIX va
> riable name
> doc/Makefile.am:80: (probably a GNU make extension)
> doc/Makefile.am:90: warning: call check_exe,gnu-pw-mgr : non-POSIX variable 
> name
> doc/Makefile.am:90: (probably a GNU make extension)
> doc/Makefile.am:91: warning: call gen_invoke,gnu-pw-mgr,opts.def :
> non-POSIX vari
> able name
> doc/Makefile.am:91: (probably a GNU make extension)
> doc/Makefile.am:101: warning: call check_exe,sort-pw-cfg : non-POSIX
> variable nam
> e
> doc/Makefile.am:101: (probably a GNU make extension)
> doc/Makefile.am:102: warning: call
> gen_invoke,sort-pw-cfg,sort-opts.def : non-POS
> IX variable name
> doc/Makefile.am:102: (probably a GNU make extension)
>
>