LIBTOOL(1)

📦
version 2.6.2 · 19 versions
, in arch rolling

💖 LIBTOOL(1) — the libtool era 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the User Commands corner of the manual, this is libtool and she is that girl 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

libtool — Provide generalized library-building support services

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

libtool [OPTION]... [MODE-ARG]...

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Provide generalized library-building support services.

like. that's it. that's the whole vibe. she builds libraries for you, generally 💅

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • --config — show all configuration variables
  • --debug — enable verbose shell tracing
  • -n, --dry-run — display commands without modifying any files
  • --features — display basic configuration information
  • --finish — use operation '--mode=finish'
  • --mode=MODE — use operation mode MODE
  • --no-finish — don't update shared library cache
  • --no-quiet, --no-silent — print default informational messages
  • --no-warnings — equivalent to '-Wnone'
  • --preserve-dup-deps — don't remove duplicate dependency libraries
  • --quiet, --silent — don't print informational messages
  • --reorder-cache=DIRS — reorder shared library cache for preferred DIRS
  • --tag=TAG — use configuration variables from tag TAG
  • -v, --verbose — print more informational messages than default
  • --version — print version information
  • -W, --warnings=CATEGORY — report the warnings falling in CATEGORY [all]
  • -h, --help, --help-all — print short, long, or detailed help message

⭐ Warning categories include: ⭐

  • 'all' — show all warnings
  • 'none' — turn off all the warnings
  • 'error' — warnings are treated as fatal errors
🚨 bestie heads up: if you pick 'error', a warning is fatal. not a vibe check. an actual error. periodt.

If a TAG is supplied, it must use one of the tag names below:

  • Tag Name — Language Name
    • CC — C
    • CXX — C++
    • OBJC — Objective-C
    • OBJCXX — Objective-C++
    • GCJ — Java
    • F77 — Fortran 77
    • FC — Fortran
    • GO — Go
    • RC — Windows Resource

if you do not see a tag name associated with your programming language, then you are using a compiler that libtool does not support 😭 (not me being excluded from the group chat)

MODE must be one of the following:

  • clean — remove files from the build directory
  • compile — compile a source file into a libtool object
  • execute — automatically set library path, then run a program
  • finish — complete the installation of libtool libraries
  • install — install libraries or executables
  • link — create a library or an executable
  • uninstall — remove libraries from an installed directory

MODE-ARGS vary depending on the MODE. When passed as first option, '--mode=MODE' may be abbreviated as 'MODE' or a unique abbreviation of that. 🫶 short king behavior

GNU libtool home page: <https://www.gnu.org/s/libtool/>.

When reporting a bug, please describe a test case to reproduce it and include the following information:

  • host-triplet:
    • x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
  • shell: /bin/sh
  • compiler:
    • gcc
  • compiler flags: -march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -fno-plt -fexceptions -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=3 -Wformat -Werror=format-security -fstack-clash-protection -fcf-protection -fno-omit-frame-pointer -mno-omit-leaf-frame-pointer -g -ffile-prefix-map=/build/libtool/src=/usr/src/debug/libtool -flto=auto
  • linker:
    • /usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64 (gnu? yes)
  • version:
    • libtool (GNU libtool) 2.6.2
  • automake:
    • automake (GNU automake) 1.18.1
  • autoconf:
    • autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.73

🙈 REPORTING BUGS 🙈

Report bugs to <bug-libtool@gnu.org>.

(they wanna hear from you fr fr, just bring the receipts)

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html> This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Originally written by Gordon Matzigkeit, 1996 (See AUTHORS for complete contributor listing)

👑 king behavior from 1996, we love a founding father who ate and left no crumbs

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

The full documentation for libtool is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and libtool programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info libtool

should give you access to the complete manual. iykyk 💅

and that's the whole page bestie!! this was GNU libtool 2.6.2, dated August 2026, and it lives under the name LIBTOOL(1). go build something iconic, you got this 💖✨🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from