I've got the following configure.ac: [configure.ac] dnl Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script. AC_INIT( [foo.cpp] ) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE( [foo], [v0] ) dnl Require GNU Autoconf version 2.57 or later AC_PREREQ(2.57) AC_PROG_CXX AC_ARG_VAR([SSH], [When spawning remote processes via ssh, use the command specified in SS H]) AC_PATH_PROG(SSH, ssh) AM_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h) AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([FooConfig.h:FooConfig.h.in]) AC_OUTPUT(Makefile) [/configure.ac] And FooConfig.h.in looks like: #ifndef FOO_CONFIG_H #define FOO_CONFIG_H inline const string & getSshPath(){ static const string sshPath = "@SSH@"; return sshPath; } #endif Configure finds "/usr/bin/ssh", and SSH gets defined properly in my Makefile, but it FooConfig.h looks like this when it's generated: * FooConfig.h. Generated by configure. */ #ifndef FOO_CONFIG_H #define FOO_CONFIG_H inline const string & getSshPath(){ static const string sshPath = "@SSH@"; return sshPath; } #endif What's the missing link here? The documentation would lead me to believe that @SSH@ should be AC_SUBSTed into /usr/bin/ssh. Thanks, Dale -- Dale E. Martin, Clifton Labs, Inc. Senior Computer Engineer dmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.cliftonlabs.com pgp key available