curl: configure failure with +universal variant: cannot check for file existence when cross compiling

[keybounce]

Attempting to install curl +universal on a 10.5.8 PPC machine results in an error: cannot check for /dev/urandom when compiling universal.

Attempting to use the -d flag before "install" results in a different error message.

[keybounce]

Error message when compiled without the -d flag

[keybounce]

Cc Me!

[keybounce]

So it turns out that even trying to recompile it without the -d flag now gives the same error, in the same place. The first time, it did configuration for PPC, and then failed to configure for i386. Now, it won't configure for either.

Cleaning and try again ...

[keybounce]

Failed compile with -d flag

[keybounce]

Alright, there's the complete debug output this time.

I cannot uncheck "leave as new".

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Has duplicate #24087.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Michael Gersten provided the following additional feedback by email:

Alright, the configure file for curl has this:

 dnl Check for user-specified random device
 AC_ARG_WITH(random,
 AC_HELP_STRING([--with-random=FILE],
                [read randomness from FILE (default=/dev/urandom)]),
     [ RANDOM_FILE="$withval" ],
     [
         dnl Check for random device
         AC_CHECK_FILE("/dev/urandom", [ RANDOM_FILE="/dev/urandom"] )
     ]
 )
 if test -n "$RANDOM_FILE" && test X"$RANDOM_FILE" != Xno ; then
         AC_SUBST(RANDOM_FILE)
         AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(RANDOM_FILE, "$RANDOM_FILE",
         [a suitable file to read random data from])
 fi

This is the only place where AC_CHECK_FILE is used, and this is what triggers the cross compile warning.

I don't know autoconf. Is there some way to specify that the default file is "/dev/urandom" without having to test for its existence? Technically, a file check should fail any time the destination is a different operating system, not a different target for the same operating system, so the AC_CHECK_FILE test is failing in error.

(Heck, a change from one OS version to another might move a file, and invalidate a test like this.)

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to keybounce@…:

I don't know autoconf. Is there some way to specify that the default file is "/dev/urandom" without having to test for its existence?

I think there probably is. I have not been able to test this however because I am encountering a different configure error on my PowerPC system.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

You should just need to pass --with-random=/dev/urandom to configure to make it use this value and thus skip the check.

[keybounce]

Some more checking shows that this uses cmake.

Kleiman-ibook:curl-7.20.0 michael$ egrep urandom CMake*
CMakeLists.txt:find_file(RANDOM_FILE urandom /dev)

Produces in configure.ac

Kleiman-ibook:curl-7.20.0 michael$ egrep urandom configure.ac 
                 [read randomness from FILE (default=/dev/urandom)]),
          AC_CHECK_FILE("/dev/urandom", [ RANDOM_FILE="/dev/urandom"] )

Which produces in configure, at line 19790, a test and error message.

It is easy enough to modify configure to not report the error, and just continue. But I don't know how to modify the source (cmake) to avoid generating the error test.

You should just need to pass --with-random=/dev/urandom to configure to make it use this value and thus skip the check.

But how do you get the port command to do this automatically during a build?

[keybounce]

Cc Me!

[keybounce]

Actually, that doesn't suffice.

Error: Target org.macports.destroot returned: /opt/local/bin/curl-config differs in /opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_net_curl/work/destroot-powerpc and /opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_net_curl/work/destroot-intel and cannot be merged

How different are these two files?

Kleiman-ibook:work michael$ diff destroot-intel/opt/local/bin/curl-config destroot-powerpc/opt/local/bin/curl-config 
140c140
< 	  echo ${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib -lidn -lssl -lcrypto -lz 
---
> 	  echo ${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib -L/opt/local/lib -lidn -lssl -lcrypto -lssl -lcrypto -lz -lz 
142c142
< 	  echo ${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib 
---
> 	  echo ${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib -L/opt/local/lib 
147c147
< 	echo ${exec_prefix}/lib/libcurl.a -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib -lidn -lssl -lcrypto -lz 
---
> 	echo ${exec_prefix}/lib/libcurl.a -L/opt/local/lib  -L/opt/local/lib -L/opt/local/lib -lidn -lssl -lcrypto -lssl -lcrypto -lz -lz 
151c151
<       echo " '--prefix=/opt/local' '--enable-ipv6' '--without-gnutls' '--without-gssapi' '--without-libssh2' '--without-spnego' '--disable-ares' '--disable-ldap' '--disable-ldaps' '--with-libidn' '--with-zlib=/opt/local' '--disable-dependency-tracking' '--with-ssl' '--with-ca-bundle=/opt/local/share/curl/curl-ca-bundle.crt' '--host=i386-apple-darwin9.8.0' 'host_alias=i386-apple-darwin9.8.0' 'CC=/usr/bin/gcc-4.0' 'CFLAGS=-O2 ' 'LDFLAGS=-L/opt/local/lib ' 'CPPFLAGS=-I/opt/local/include'"
---
>       echo " '--prefix=/opt/local' '--enable-ipv6' '--without-gnutls' '--without-gssapi' '--without-libssh2' '--without-spnego' '--disable-ares' '--disable-ldap' '--disable-ldaps' '--with-libidn' '--with-zlib=/opt/local' '--disable-dependency-tracking' '--with-ssl' '--with-ca-bundle=/opt/local/share/curl/curl-ca-bundle.crt' 'CC=/usr/bin/gcc-4.0' 'CFLAGS=-O2 ' 'LDFLAGS=-L/opt/local/lib ' 'CPPFLAGS=-I/opt/local/include'"

Duplicates of " -L/opt/local/lib" in one, --host and host_alias in the other.

Given that the host flags will change for cross compilation, how can this possibly be resolved? The config files have to be different.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to keybounce@…:

You should just need to pass --with-random=/dev/urandom to configure to make it use this value and thus skip the check.

But how do you get the port command to do this automatically during a build?

I would need to modify the portfile to include that configure argument. I have not yet done so because I have not yet reproduced the issue nor verified that this fixes it.

Replying to keybounce@…:

Given that the host flags will change for cross compilation, how can this possibly be resolved? The config files have to be different.

This is an unrelated issue already filed as #24001; continue any discussion about this there.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Has duplicate #28862. I have still not reproduced this issue. But now that #24001 has been resolved, I will again attempt to do so.

[dpbassid@…]

On my G4 OSX 10.5.8 system, /dev is an alias that points to nothing and there is no file named "urandom" anywhere on my drive.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to dpbassid@…:

On my G4 OSX 10.5.8 system, /dev is an alias that points to nothing

That might be how it appears in the Finder (if you have configured your Finder to show hidden items), but it is in fact a directory. You can look inside it in the Terminal using a command like "ls -l /dev"

and there is no file named "urandom" anywhere on my drive.

"urandom", like everything else in /dev, is a ​device, not a regular file.

[dpbassid@…]

it is in fact a directory.

Right -- sorry I wasn't clear. Get Info shows it's an alias for a (system) directory and that it doesn't point to anything.

"urandom", like everything else in /dev, is a device, not a regular file.

Thanks for the clarification.

Just wanted to provide as many clues as possible, and those seemed potentially relevant.

[cooljeanius (Eric Gallager)]

Cc Me!

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to jmr@…:

You should just need to pass --with-random=/dev/urandom to configure to make it use this value and thus skip the check.

That would presumably have fixed it, but that became unnecessary when upstream ​changed their code in May 2011 to no longer test for that file when cross-compiling. The version of curl currently in MacPorts contains the revised code, so it no longer has this problem.

Replying to keybounce@…:

Actually, that doesn't suffice.

Duplicates of " -L/opt/local/lib" in one,

I'll handle that issue in #32287.

--host and host_alias in the other.

That was handled in #24001.