Обсуждение: Unable to compile postgresql-18.1

On 2026-01-02 19:23 +0100, Ibrahim Shaame wrote:
> I have tried to compile from source postgresql-18.1 but it fails and I get
> the following error:
>
> gcc: fatal error: cannot read spec file ‘./specs’: Is a directory
> compilation terminated.
> make[2]: *** [<builtin>: isolationtester.o] Error 1
> make[2]: Leaving directory
> '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src/test/isolation'
> make[1]: *** [Makefile:42: all-test/isolation-recurse] Error 2
> make[1]: Leaving directory '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src'
> make: *** [GNUmakefile:11: all-src-recurse] Error 2
>
> Last compilation of postgresql-18.0 worked perfectly without issue and on
> the same laptop
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am on : Slackware64 Linux 15.0 (Current)
> Acer E5-771 laptop

What are exact build commands you've executed?

Could be that LIBRARY_PATH contains an empty path.  For example, I can
reproduce it with:

        export LIBRARY_PATH=
        make clean world-bin

--
Erik Wienhold

Hello Erik,

Thank you for the response. As for LIBRARY_PATH, I have always manually compiled postgresql and I don't explicitly mention the LIBRARY_PATH directory. That's why I am surprised why this time with this subversion doesn't work just as it worked in the last version.

Thanks

Ibrahim

On Sun, Jan 18, 2026 at 7:29 PM Erik Wienhold <ewie@ewie.name> wrote:

On 2026-01-02 19:23 +0100, Ibrahim Shaame wrote:
> I have tried to compile from source postgresql-18.1 but it fails and I get
> the following error:
>
> gcc: fatal error: cannot read spec file ‘./specs’: Is a directory
> compilation terminated.
> make[2]: *** [<builtin>: isolationtester.o] Error 1
> make[2]: Leaving directory
> '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src/test/isolation'
> make[1]: *** [Makefile:42: all-test/isolation-recurse] Error 2
> make[1]: Leaving directory '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src'
> make: *** [GNUmakefile:11: all-src-recurse] Error 2
>
> Last compilation of postgresql-18.0 worked perfectly without issue and on
> the same laptop
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am on : Slackware64 Linux 15.0 (Current)
> Acer E5-771 laptop

What are exact build commands you've executed?

Could be that LIBRARY_PATH contains an empty path.  For example, I can
reproduce it with:

        export LIBRARY_PATH=
        make clean world-bin

--
Erik Wienhold

As already requested, please answer following questions with lots of details;

What are exact build commands you've executed?

Le 21/01/2026 à 09:52, Ibrahim Shaame a écrit :

I have manually directed the LD_LIBRARY_PATH to /usr/lib64 but I get the same error message.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Ibrahim Shaame

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 9:49 AM Ibrahim Shaame <ishaame@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Erik,

Thank you for the response. As for LIBRARY_PATH, I have always manually compiled postgresql and I don't explicitly mention the LIBRARY_PATH directory. That's why I am surprised why this time with this subversion doesn't work just as it worked in the last version.

Thanks

Ibrahim

On Sun, Jan 18, 2026 at 7:29 PM Erik Wienhold <ewie@ewie.name> wrote:

On 2026-01-02 19:23 +0100, Ibrahim Shaame wrote:
> I have tried to compile from source postgresql-18.1 but it fails and I get
> the following error:
>
> gcc: fatal error: cannot read spec file ‘./specs’: Is a directory
> compilation terminated.
> make[2]: *** [<builtin>: isolationtester.o] Error 1
> make[2]: Leaving directory
> '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src/test/isolation'
> make[1]: *** [Makefile:42: all-test/isolation-recurse] Error 2
> make[1]: Leaving directory '/data/dwnlds/dwnld_slack/postgresql-18.1/src'
> make: *** [GNUmakefile:11: all-src-recurse] Error 2
>
> Last compilation of postgresql-18.0 worked perfectly without issue and on
> the same laptop
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am on : Slackware64 Linux 15.0 (Current)
> Acer E5-771 laptop

What are exact build commands you've executed?

Could be that LIBRARY_PATH contains an empty path.  For example, I can
reproduce it with:

        export LIBRARY_PATH=
        make clean world-bin

--
Erik Wienhold

Ibrahim Shaame <ishaame@gmail.com> writes:
> Thank you for the response. As for LIBRARY_PATH, I have always manually
> compiled postgresql and I don't explicitly mention the LIBRARY_PATH
> directory. That's why I am surprised why this time with this subversion
> doesn't work just as it worked in the last version.

There is nothing in that area that we changed between 18.0 and 18.1;
moreover, if we had broken something like that, it's highly unlikely
that nobody but you would have noticed.  You need to look at what
changed in your build environment.

gcc seems to be getting confused by the fact that src/test/isolation
contains a subdirectory named "specs", but that's been there for
years.  The most likely explanation is that some environment variable
is causing gcc to look in the current directory for its spec file
(although I don't see any documentation of such a variable in the
gcc manual).  It's also plausible I guess that you have a corrupted
gcc installation.

                        regards, tom lane

Ibrahim Shaame <ishaame@gmail.com> writes:
> Thank you for the response. As for LIBRARY_PATH, I have always manually
> compiled postgresql and I don't explicitly mention the LIBRARY_PATH
> directory. That's why I am surprised why this time with this subversion
> doesn't work just as it worked in the last version.

There is nothing in that area that we changed between 18.0 and 18.1;
moreover, if we had broken something like that, it's highly unlikely
that nobody but you would have noticed.  You need to look at what
changed in your build environment.

gcc seems to be getting confused by the fact that src/test/isolation
contains a subdirectory named "specs", but that's been there for
years.  The most likely explanation is that some environment variable
is causing gcc to look in the current directory for its spec file
(although I don't see any documentation of such a variable in the
gcc manual).  It's also plausible I guess that you have a corrupted
gcc installation.

                        regards, tom lane