FreeBSD Port: devel/libtool15 doesn't build in 2 of my servers

[Don Lewis]

On  2 Feb, Abdullah Ibn Hamad Al-Marri wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have 2 servers, and libtool wont upgrade on both of them.
> 
> 
> configure: creating ./config.status
> config.status: creating Makefile
> config.status: creating config.h
> config.status: executing depfiles commands
> ===>  Building for libtool-1.5.22_3
> Making all in .
> CONFIG_FILES=libtoolize CONFIG_HEADERS= /bin/sh ./config.status
> config.status: creating libtoolize
> config.status: executing depfiles commands
> chmod +x libtoolize
> Making all in libltdl
> cd . && /bin/sh
> /usr/ports/devel/libtool15/work/libtool-1.5.22/libltdl/missing --run
> aclocal-1.9a
> aclocal-1.9a: not found
> WARNING: `aclocal-1.9a' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
>          you modified `acinclude.m4' or `configure.ac'.  You might want
>          to install the `Automake' and `Perl' packages.  Grab them from
>          any GNU archive site.
> cd . && /bin/sh
> /usr/ports/devel/libtool15/work/libtool-1.5.22/libltdl/missing --run
> autoheader
> /usr/local/bin/gm4:configure.ac:43: bad regular expression:
> `AS_ESCAPE([$as_me:$LINENO: WARNING: *** The top-level configure must
> select either], [`""])': Invalid range end
> /usr/local/bin/gm4:configure.ac:43: bad regular expression:
> `AS_ESCAPE([$as_me: WARNING: *** The top-level configure must select
> either], [`""])': Invalid range end
> /usr/local/bin/gm4:configure.ac:45: bad regular expression:
> `AS_ESCAPE([$as_me:$LINENO: error: *** Maybe you want to
> --enable-ltdl-install?], [`""])': Invalid range end
> /usr/local/bin/gm4:configure.ac:45: bad regular expression:
> `AS_ESCAPE([$as_me: error: *** Maybe you want to
> --enable-ltdl-install?], [`""])': Invalid range end
> configure.ac:53: error: Autoconf version 2.59c or higher is required
> aclocal.m4:387: AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE is expanded from...
> configure.ac:53: the top level
> autoheader: autom4te failed with exit status: 1
>  at /usr/local/bin/autoheader line 163
> *** Error code 1
> 
> Stop in /usr/ports/devel/libtool15/work/libtool-1.5.22/libltdl.

I just ran into this same problem.  I tracked the cause to some old
copies of the auto* tools installed under /usr/local/bin without any
version suffix.  These files were unclaimed by any currently installed
port.  The libtool build was using these older executables instead of the
newer ones with the version suffix and running into problems because the
tools were too old.  I deleted these old files and now the libtool build
succeeds.