How to fix Ubuntu ./configure error: lua not found

Problem:

When you run ./configure while trying to build some software, you see an error message like

checking for lua >= 5.1... no
configure: error: lua not found

Solution

Install a recent Lua version including the development files. First try:

sudo apt -y install liblua5.4-dev

if that package can’t be found, try

sudo apt -y install liblua5.3-dev

and go on trying liblua5.2-dev, liblua5.1-dev or liblua5.0-dev. Which version will work depends on your Ubuntu version.