# Asterisk Project : Checking Asterisk Requirements

Added by malcolmd , edited by rnewton on Aug 07, 2013

Now it's time to compile and install Asterisk. Let's change to the directory which contains the Asterisk source code.

    [root@server dahdi-linux-complete-2.X.Y+2.X.Y]# cd /usr/local/src/asterisk-1.8.X.Y

Next, we'll run a command called ./configure, which will perform a number of checks on the operating system, and get the Asterisk code ready to compile on this particular server.

    [root@server asterisk-1.8.X.Y]# ./configure

This will run for a couple of minutes, and warn you of any missing system libraries or other dependencies.

If you have missing dependencies then you should install them now and then run configure again to make sure they are recognized. A helpful way to install most of the dependencies you need is to use the install_prereq script included in the contrib/scripts/ directory of your Asterisk source. It's quite straightforward to use, but may not work on all systems. Run the script with no arguments to see the usage help.

Upon completion of ./configure, you should see a message that looks similar to the one shown below. (Obviously, your host CPU type may be different than the below.)

                    .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$=..
                  .$7$7..        .7$$7:.
                .$7$7..           .7$$7:.
              .$$:.                 ,$7.7
            .$7.     7$$$$           .$$77
         ..$$.       $$$$$            .$$$7
        ..7$   .?.   $$$$$   .?.       7$$$.
       $.$.   .$$$7. $$$$7 .7$$$.      .$$$.
     .777.   .$$$$$$77$$$77$$$$$7.      $$$,
     $$$~      .7$$$$$$$$$$$$$7.       .$$$.
    .$$7          .7$$$$$$$7:          ?$$$.
    $$$          ?7$$$$$$$$$$I        .$$$7
    $$$       .7$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$      :$$$.
    $$$       $$$$$$7$$$$$$$$$$$$    .$$$.
    $$$        $$$   7$$$7  .$$$    .$$$.
    $$$$             $$$$7         .$$$.
    7$$$7            7$$$$        7$$$
     $$$$$                        $$$
      $$$$7.                       $$  (TM)
       $$$$$$$.           .7$$$$$$  $$
         $$$$$$$$$$$$7$$$$$$$$$.$$$$$$
           $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

    configure: Package configured for:&nbsp;
    configure: OS type &nbsp;: linux-gnu
    configure: Host CPU : x86_64
    configure: build-cpu:vendor:os: x86_64 : unknown : linux-gnu :
    configure: host-cpu:vendor:os: x86_64 : unknown : linux-gnu :

Cached Data
The ./configure command caches certain data to speed things up if it's invoked multiple times. To clear all the cached data, you can use the following command to completely clear out any cached data from the Asterisk build system.

    [root@server asterisk-1.8.X.Y]# make distclean