emacs: Why can't I install auto-complete via package-install?

Question

I am new to emacs and have never used package-install before. I am using emacs 24.4 on Windows, but I would like to do the same thing on my emacs installed ona unix server that I ssh into.

These instructions say that I can install auto-complete with M-x package-install [RET] auto-complete [RET], but when I do this I get [No match]. Why is this? How can I install it?

Answer 1

Have a look at what the instructions say with a little more context:

Install

auto-complete is available on MELPA and MELPA-STABLE

You can install auto-complete with the following command.

M-x package-install [RET] auto-complete [RET]

Before running the package-install you need to enable MELPA or MELPA stable:

Enable installation of packages from MELPA by adding an entry to package-archives after (require 'package) and before the call to package-initialize in your init.el or .emacs file:

(require 'package) ;; You might already have this line
(add-to-list 'package-archives
             '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))
(when (< emacs-major-version 24)
  ;; For important compatibility libraries like cl-lib
  (add-to-list 'package-archives '("gnu" . "http://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")))
(package-initialize) ;; You might already have this line

or to add the stable package repository, use this instead of "melpa":

(add-to-list 'package-archives
             '("melpa-stable" . "https://stable.melpa.org/packages/") t)

You might also need to run M-x package-refresh-contents before M-x package-install will work. Alternatively, run M-x package-list-packages and use the UI provided there, which refreshes contents automatically.