Installing bulk_extractor
==========================

For production use, download a tested release from:

https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor/releases

Build prerequisites, supported platforms, and platform-specific guidance are
maintained in [doc/installation.md](doc/installation.md).

Release archive
---------------

The release archive includes the generated `configure` script:

    ./configure
    make
    make check
    make install

Use `./configure --prefix=/path` to select an installation prefix.  Run
`make install` with elevated privileges only when that prefix requires it.

Git checkout
------------

After cloning the repository, generate the Autotools files before configuring:

    ./bootstrap.sh
    ./configure
    make
    make check
    make install

`bootstrap.sh` requires Autotools and Python 3 and is for source checkouts; it
is not needed when building a release archive.  `make clean` removes build
products, and
`make distclean` also removes files generated by `configure`.

Windows
-------

Native Windows builds are not supported.  See `README.md` for the supported
MinGW cross-compilation workflow.
