PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable

Question

Consider adjusting the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable if you installed software in a non-standard prefix. What does this mean ?

Answer 1

PKG_CONFIG_PATH is a environment variable which holds the path of pkg-config script. pkg-config program is used to retrieve information about installed libraries in the system.

To find the path use the command

locate pkg-config

and your results will be something like this

/usr/bin/pkg-config

To check the PKG_CONFIG_PATH value use the command echo $PKG_CONFIG_PATH

To set the PKG_CONFIG_PATH value use export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/pkgconfig

Answer 2

It means you're trying to build something from source, and it can't find all of the dependencies it needs. The pkg-config script it uses to find the development files for those libraries, outputs this message.