Run the command:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Chances are you will need things like gcc to actually do the building so you might as well install those as well. The build-essential package will install other tools used along with make.

Answer from Bert on askubuntu.com
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › installation guide › how-to-install-make-on-ubuntu
How to install make on Ubuntu - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - The 'make' command is a crucial tool for developers working on Linux, especially for compiling large projects with many files. Here we have learned the detailed step-by-step process to install make on Ubuntu, verify the installation, and troubleshoot common issues.
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Ubuntu Wiki
wiki.ubuntu.com › ubuntu-make
ubuntu-make - Ubuntu Wiki
December 21, 2017 - Ubuntu Make is a command line tool which allows you to download the latest version of popular developer tools on your installation, installing it alongside all of the required dependencies (which will only ask for root access if you don't have all the required dependencies installed already), enable multi-arch on your system if you are on a 64 bit machine, integrate it with the Unity launcher.
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Linux Hint
linuxhint.com › install-make-ubuntu
How to install make on Ubuntu – Linux Hint
It allows developers to use the terminal to install and collect a variety of programs. It also manages the compilation process for large projects. It reduces the amount of time required for compilation. This article explains how the “make” command works and how to install it on Ubuntu using ...
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GitHub
github.com › ubuntu › ubuntu-make
GitHub - ubuntu/ubuntu-make: Easy setup of common tools for developers on Ubuntu. · GitHub
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lyzardking/ubuntu-make sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-make
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Linux Genie
linuxgenie.net › home › how to install and use make on ubuntu 22.04
How to Install and Use make on Ubuntu 22.04 - Linux Genie
February 29, 2024 - To install make on Ubuntu 22.04, use the command “sudo apt install make”. Moreover, you can also install make and other build-essentials using the “sudo apt install build-essential‘.
Find elsewhere
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Linux Hint
linuxhint.com › install-use-make-ubuntu
How to Install and Use Make on Ubuntu 22.04 – Linux Hint
With “sudo apt install make -y”, the make command utility can be installed and used to install different packages using their source code on Ubuntu 22.04.
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iO Flood
ioflood.com › blog › install-make-command-linux
Intro to 'make' Linux Command: Installation and Usage
April 26, 2024 - For RPM-based distributions like CentOS, you would run the command sudo yum install make. # For Debian based distributions like Ubuntu sudo apt-get install make # For RPM based distributions like CentOS sudo yum install make # Output: # Reading ...
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Unixmen
unixmen.com › home › linux howto's › install ubuntu make on ubuntu 15.04 – run developer’s tools with great...
Install Ubuntu Make on Ubuntu 15.04 – Run Developer’s Tools with great ease now | Unixmen
It was originally known as “Ubuntu Developer Tools Center” but was renamed to “Ubuntu Make” later. Installing “Ubuntu Make” is easy, launch your system terminal and run following command to add its PPA information to your package manager.
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How-To Geek
howtogeek.com › home › linux › how to fix "make: command not found" error in ubuntu
How to Fix "make: command not found" Error in Ubuntu
May 5, 2023 - To install make, run the "sudo apt install make" command or, to install the standard development tools at the same time, use the "sudo apt install build-essential" command. Standard Ubuntu installs don't include the Linux make utility.
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LinuxConfig
linuxconfig.org › home › command ‘make’ not found on ubuntu 20.04 focal fossa
Install Make Command on Ubuntu 20.04 Easily
May 8, 2020 - Learn how to install the make command on Ubuntu, troubleshoot errors, and use the build-essential package. Clear, step-by-step instructions inside.
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Snapcraft
snapcraft.io › ubuntu-make
Install ubuntu-make on Linux | Snap Store
April 13, 2025 - Ubuntu Make provides a set of functionality to setup, maintain and personalize your developer environment easily. It will handle all dependencies, even those which aren't in Ubuntu itself, and install latest versions of the desired and recommended tools. . This is the latest master from ubuntu ...
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LinuxShout
linux.how2shout.com › home › how to install and use ubuntu-make for developer tools
How to install and use Ubuntu-Make for developer tools
August 1, 2022 - Steps to install and use Ubuntu-Make on Linux1. Perform a system update2. Install Ubuntu-make using SNAP3. Add PPA repository4. Install Ubuntu-Make via APT5. Use the Ubuntu-Make6. How to install the Install developers tool7.
Top answer
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Make is a general purpose workflow program, usually used for compilation. But it can be used for anything.

When you do something like "make all", the make program executes a rule named "all" from a file in current directory named "Makefile". This rule usually calls the compiler to compile some source code into binaries.

When you do "make install", the make program takes the binaries from the previous step and copies them into some appropriate locations so that they can be accessed. Unlike on Windows, installation just requires copying some libraries and executables and there is no registry requirement as such. In short, "make install" just copies compiled files into appropriate locations.

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make install does whatever the Makefile author wants it to do. Typically, by this point, it is too late to change the install directory, as it is often known earlier, during the build, so help files and configuration files can be referenced with the correct pathnames.

Many projects use the GNU Autotools to try to improve their portability among hardware and operating system differences. (Different Unix variants use slightly different headers for declarations of functions that are slightly off the usual path -- except most programs need one or another of the ones declared in different locations.)

When a project does use the Autotools, the normal mantra to install it is:

./configure
make
make install

The ./configure typically allows you to use a command line option like --prefix /opt/apache or something similar to specify a different pathname. /usr/local/ is a common default prefix. It is far easier for locally built software to live in one place and distribution-provided software to live in the "main directories": /usr/ /bin/, and so on. (Packagers are very careful to never touch files in /usr/local/ -- they know it is exclusively for system administrators.)

Anyway, the ./configure --prefix /path/to/new/prefix will set a variable in the Makefile that is available when compiling the program, modifying the manual pages so they point to the correct locations for files, modifying configuration files, etc. So make will build the software specifically for the install location you want and make install will install it into that location.

Most programs can run even without the final make install step -- just ./program_name will often start them up. This is definitely a per-project thing -- some, like postfix, qmail, etc., are made up of many different moving pieces and rely on them all working together. Others, like ls or su might be self-contained enough to execute fine from the directory they were built in. (This is not often useful -- but sometimes very useful.)

However, not all projects use the Autotools -- they are huge, complicated, and miserable to maintain. Hand-written Makefiles are much simpler to write, and I personally think just distributing a simple Makefile with configuration variables available is a lot easier on developers and users both. (Though the ./configure ; make ; make install mantra is really easy on users when it works.)

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Huawei
support.huawei.com › enterprise › en › doc › EDOC1100212210 › f63ac109 › installing-gcc-and-make-tools-on-ubuntu
Installing GCC and make Tools on Ubuntu
September 18, 2023 - Huawei offers a wide range of products documents and networking solutions designed for enterprises, customers, partners and community users.
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GNU
gnu.org › software › make
Make - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
Make gets its knowledge of how to build your program from a file called the makefile, which lists each of the non-source files and how to compute it from other files. When you write a program, you should write a makefile for it, so that it is possible to use Make to build and install the program.