What files did `make install` copy, and where?

Question

Is there a way to get a list of filenames/paths that make install copies to the filesystem? Some packages come with a MANIFEST file, but not the ones that I am

Answer 1

The most fool-proof way is to use chroot: have "make install" run inside a chroot jail; compute a list of the files that you had before the installation, and compare that to the list of files after the installation.

Many installations will support either a --prefix configuration option, and/or a DESTDIR environment variable. You can use those for a lighter-wait version of chroot (trusting that the installation will fail if it tries to write to a location outside these if you run installation as a fairly unprivileged user).

Another approach is to replace the install program. Many packages support an INSTALL environment variable that, well, is the install program to use; there are tracing versions of install around.