autotools plugin does not allow specifying a build directory different from source directory
Metadata
Current evaluation
Autotools lacks an opt-in out-of-source build directory, blocking libvirt versions that reject in-source configure; the reproducer is detailed but the issue remains untriaged.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The report provides the exact libvirt error, failing snapcraft.yaml, and command-line proof that building from a separate directory succeeds. Current craft-parts still invokes ./configure in its normal build tree and exposes no separate autotools build-directory key, but there are no maintainer comments, labels, or other evidence of maintainer triage.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
20
Complexity:
48
Confidence:
92
Actionability:
86
Issue body
I am trying to build a newer version of libvirt from source but recently there was a change made to force the build directory to be different from the source directory:
https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt/commit/f96395e78eaccffbf128336382c74b1250f04032
Which results in "configure: error: Build directory must be different from source directory" when I try to build it.
https://github.com/snapcore/snapcraft/blob/3.11/snapcraft/plugins/autotools.py#L90-L129
The relevant snapcraft.yaml part.
libvirt:
source: .
source-subdir: libvirt-6.0.0
# ...
override-build: |
rm -Rf libvirt-6.0.0
apt source libvirt
dpkg-source --before-build libvirt-6.0.0
snapcraftctl build
Without snapcraft it would look like this:
➜ libvirt git:(master) ./autogen.sh
autoreconf: Entering directory `.'
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
autoreconf: running: aclocal --force -I m4
autoreconf: configure.ac: tracing
autoreconf: running: libtoolize --copy --force
libtoolize: putting auxiliary files in AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR, 'build-aux'.
libtoolize: copying file 'build-aux/ltmain.sh'
libtoolize: putting macros in AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIRS, 'm4'.
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/libtool.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltoptions.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltsugar.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltversion.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/lt~obsolete.m4'
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoconf --force
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoheader --force
autoreconf: running: automake --add-missing --copy --force-missing
configure.ac:53: installing 'build-aux/compile'
configure.ac:51: installing 'build-aux/config.guess'
configure.ac:51: installing 'build-aux/config.sub'
configure.ac:32: installing 'build-aux/install-sh'
configure.ac:32: installing 'build-aux/missing'
examples/Makefile.am: installing 'build-aux/depcomp'
parallel-tests: installing 'build-aux/test-driver'
autoreconf: Leaving directory `.'
configure: error: Build directory must be different from source directory
In a different directory:
➜ libvirt git:(master) mkdir build
➜ libvirt git:(master) cd build
➜ build git:(master) ../autogen.sh
autoreconf: Entering directory `.'
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
autoreconf: running: aclocal --force -I m4
autoreconf: configure.ac: tracing
autoreconf: running: libtoolize --copy --force
libtoolize: putting auxiliary files in AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR, 'build-aux'.
libtoolize: copying file 'build-aux/ltmain.sh'
libtoolize: putting macros in AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIRS, 'm4'.
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/libtool.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltoptions.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltsugar.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/ltversion.m4'
libtoolize: copying file 'm4/lt~obsolete.m4'
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoconf --force
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoheader --force
autoreconf: running: automake --add-missing --copy --force-missing
configure.ac:53: installing 'build-aux/compile'
configure.ac:32: installing 'build-aux/missing'
examples/Makefile.am: installing 'build-aux/depcomp'
autoreconf: Leaving directory `.'
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
# ...
Now type 'make' to compile libvirt
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
20
Complexity:
48
Confidence:
92
Actionability:
86
|
needs triage | Autotools lacks an opt-in out-of-source build directory, blocking libvirt versions that reject in-source configure; the reproducer is detailed but the issue remains untriaged. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
43
Quick Win:
14
Complexity:
57
Confidence:
87
Actionability:
76
|
needs triage | Autotools lacks an opt-in out-of-source build directory, breaking libvirt builds that reject in-source configure; the reproducer is detailed but remains untriaged. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
32
Quick Win:
9
Complexity:
52
Confidence:
91
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Legacy v1 autotools builds were restricted to the source directory, breaking libvirt, but v2 later gained out-of-source-build support. The old report has never received maintainer triage. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
18
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft's autotools plugin builds in-source, so projects requiring an out-of-tree build dir (e.g. newer libvirt) fail configure. No maintainer response in 6+ years; v2 plugins later added out-of-tree build support, making the old v1 plugin limitation obsolete. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Unaddressed bug report from 6 years ago regarding the snapcraft autotools plugin forcing the build directory to match the source directory, causing configure errors for newer libvirt versions. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft's autotools plugin cannot specify a separate build directory, breaking out-of-source builds. The report has seen no maintainer interaction or activity for over six years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft's autotools plugin fails to support out-of-tree builds, causing configure errors for projects like libvirt that enforce it. Issue is 6 years old with no activity or maintainer response. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Related To:
craft-parts#250
(confidence 85%)
Out-of-source build infrastructure exists elsewhere in craft-parts, while the autotools plugin still reports get_out_of_source_build() as false.
Related issues
No related issues found above the similarity threshold.