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1 | Installing the GNU C Library |
2 | **************************** | |
41aa20c2 | 3 | |
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4 | Before you do anything else, you should read the FAQ at |
5 | `http://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/FAQ'. It answers common questions | |
41aa20c2 | 6 | and describes problems you may experience with compilation and |
6a3951a0 | 7 | installation. |
41aa20c2 | 8 | |
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9 | Features can be added to the GNU C Library via "add-on" bundles. |
10 | These are separate tar files, which you unpack into the top level of | |
11 | the source tree. Then you give `configure' the `--enable-add-ons' | |
12 | option to activate them, and they will be compiled into the library. | |
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13 | |
14 | You will need recent versions of several GNU tools: definitely GCC | |
fe959e1e | 15 | and GNU Make, and possibly others. *Note Tools for Compilation::, |
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16 | below. |
17 | ||
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18 | Configuring and compiling the GNU C Library |
19 | =========================================== | |
00c1176b | 20 | |
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21 | The GNU C Library cannot be compiled in the source directory. You must |
22 | build it in a separate build directory. For example, if you have | |
23 | unpacked the GNU C Library sources in `/src/gnu/glibc-VERSION', create | |
24 | a directory `/src/gnu/glibc-build' to put the object files in. This | |
25 | allows removing the whole build directory in case an error occurs, | |
26 | which is the safest way to get a fresh start and should always be done. | |
00c1176b | 27 | |
6736e93b | 28 | From your object directory, run the shell script `configure' located |
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29 | at the top level of the source tree. In the scenario above, you'd type |
30 | ||
f1e86fca | 31 | $ ../glibc-VERSION/configure ARGS... |
00c1176b | 32 | |
3858bf28 | 33 | Please note that even though you're building in a separate build |
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34 | directory, the compilation may need to create or modify files and |
35 | directories in the source directory. | |
f05f5ca3 | 36 | |
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37 | `configure' takes many options, but the only one that is usually |
38 | mandatory is `--prefix'. This option tells `configure' where you want | |
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39 | the GNU C Library installed. This defaults to `/usr/local', but the |
40 | normal setting to install as the standard system library is | |
41 | `--prefix=/usr' for GNU/Linux systems and `--prefix=' (an empty prefix) | |
42 | for GNU/Hurd systems. | |
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43 | |
44 | It may also be useful to set the CC and CFLAGS variables in the | |
45 | environment when running `configure'. CC selects the C compiler that | |
46 | will be used, and CFLAGS sets optimization options for the compiler. | |
47 | ||
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48 | The following list describes all of the available options for |
49 | `configure': | |
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50 | |
51 | `--prefix=DIRECTORY' | |
52 | Install machine-independent data files in subdirectories of | |
53 | `DIRECTORY'. The default is to install in `/usr/local'. | |
54 | ||
55 | `--exec-prefix=DIRECTORY' | |
56 | Install the library and other machine-dependent files in | |
57 | subdirectories of `DIRECTORY'. The default is to the `--prefix' | |
bd952512 | 58 | directory if that option is specified, or `/usr/local' otherwise. |
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59 | |
60 | `--with-headers=DIRECTORY' | |
61 | Look for kernel header files in DIRECTORY, not `/usr/include'. | |
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62 | The GNU C Library needs information from the kernel's header files |
63 | describing the interface to the kernel. The GNU C Library will | |
64 | normally look in `/usr/include' for them, but if you specify this | |
65 | option, it will look in DIRECTORY instead. | |
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66 | |
67 | This option is primarily of use on a system where the headers in | |
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68 | `/usr/include' come from an older version of the GNU C Library. |
69 | Conflicts can occasionally happen in this case. You can also use | |
70 | this option if you want to compile the GNU C Library with a newer | |
71 | set of kernel headers than the ones found in `/usr/include'. | |
41aa20c2 | 72 | |
00c1176b | 73 | `--enable-add-ons[=LIST]' |
3858bf28 | 74 | Specify add-on packages to include in the build. If this option is |
bd952512 | 75 | specified with no list, it enables all the add-on packages it |
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76 | finds in the main source directory; this is the default behavior. |
77 | You may specify an explicit list of add-ons to use in LIST, | |
78 | separated by spaces or commas (if you use spaces, remember to | |
79 | quote them from the shell). Each add-on in LIST can be an | |
80 | absolute directory name or can be a directory name relative to the | |
81 | main source directory, or relative to the build directory (that | |
82 | is, the current working directory). For example, | |
f1e86fca | 83 | `--enable-add-ons=nptl,../glibc-libidn-VERSION'. |
41aa20c2 | 84 | |
d2830ba4 | 85 | `--enable-kernel=VERSION' |
90d1d40b | 86 | This option is currently only useful on GNU/Linux systems. The |
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87 | VERSION parameter should have the form X.Y.Z and describes the |
88 | smallest version of the Linux kernel the generated library is | |
89 | expected to support. The higher the VERSION number is, the less | |
90 | compatibility code is added, and the faster the code gets. | |
91 | ||
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92 | `--with-binutils=DIRECTORY' |
93 | Use the binutils (assembler and linker) in `DIRECTORY', not the | |
6736e93b | 94 | ones the C compiler would default to. You can use this option if |
41aa20c2 | 95 | the default binutils on your system cannot deal with all the |
1f77f049 | 96 | constructs in the GNU C Library. In that case, `configure' will |
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97 | detect the problem and suppress these constructs, so that the |
98 | library will still be usable, but functionality may be lost--for | |
99 | example, you can't build a shared libc with old binutils. | |
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100 | |
101 | `--without-fp' | |
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102 | Use this option if your computer lacks hardware floating-point |
103 | support and your operating system does not emulate an FPU. | |
104 | ||
41aa20c2 | 105 | `--disable-shared' |
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106 | Don't build shared libraries even if it is possible. Not all |
107 | systems support shared libraries; you need ELF support and | |
108 | (currently) the GNU linker. | |
41aa20c2 | 109 | |
41aa20c2 | 110 | `--disable-profile' |
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111 | Don't build libraries with profiling information. You may want to |
112 | use this option if you don't plan to do profiling. | |
41aa20c2 | 113 | |
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114 | `--disable-versioning' |
115 | Don't compile the shared libraries with symbol version information. | |
bd952512 | 116 | Doing this will make the resulting library incompatible with old |
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117 | binaries, so it's not recommended. |
118 | ||
119 | `--enable-static-nss' | |
120 | Compile static versions of the NSS (Name Service Switch) libraries. | |
121 | This is not recommended because it defeats the purpose of NSS; a | |
122 | program linked statically with the NSS libraries cannot be | |
123 | dynamically reconfigured to use a different name database. | |
124 | ||
8d4b5a8a | 125 | `--without-tls' |
6736e93b | 126 | By default the C library is built with support for thread-local |
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127 | storage if the used tools support it. By using `--without-tls' |
128 | this can be prevented though there generally is no reason since it | |
129 | creates compatibility problems. | |
130 | ||
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131 | `--enable-hardcoded-path-in-tests' |
132 | By default, dynamic tests are linked to run with the installed C | |
133 | library. This option hardcodes the newly built C library path in | |
134 | dynamic tests so that they can be invoked directly. | |
135 | ||
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136 | `--build=BUILD-SYSTEM' |
137 | `--host=HOST-SYSTEM' | |
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138 | These options are for cross-compiling. If you specify both |
139 | options and BUILD-SYSTEM is different from HOST-SYSTEM, `configure' | |
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140 | will prepare to cross-compile the GNU C Library from BUILD-SYSTEM |
141 | to be used on HOST-SYSTEM. You'll probably need the | |
142 | `--with-headers' option too, and you may have to override | |
143 | CONFIGURE's selection of the compiler and/or binutils. | |
00c1176b | 144 | |
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145 | If you only specify `--host', `configure' will prepare for a |
146 | native compile but use what you specify instead of guessing what | |
147 | your system is. This is most useful to change the CPU submodel. | |
148 | For example, if `configure' guesses your machine as | |
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149 | `i686-pc-linux-gnu' but you want to compile a library for 586es, |
150 | give `--host=i586-pc-linux-gnu' or just `--host=i586-linux' and add | |
151 | the appropriate compiler flags (`-mcpu=i586' will do the trick) to | |
ad1b5f19 | 152 | CFLAGS. |
1792d4db | 153 | |
6736e93b | 154 | If you specify just `--build', `configure' will get confused. |
41aa20c2 | 155 | |
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156 | `--with-pkgversion=VERSION' |
157 | Specify a description, possibly including a build number or build | |
158 | date, of the binaries being built, to be included in `--version' | |
159 | output from programs installed with the GNU C Library. For | |
160 | example, `--with-pkgversion='FooBar GNU/Linux glibc build 123''. | |
161 | The default value is `GNU libc'. | |
162 | ||
163 | `--with-bugurl=URL' | |
164 | Specify the URL that users should visit if they wish to report a | |
165 | bug, to be included in `--help' output from programs installed with | |
166 | the GNU C Library. The default value refers to the main | |
167 | bug-reporting information for the GNU C Library. | |
168 | ||
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169 | To build the library and related programs, type `make'. This will |
170 | produce a lot of output, some of which may look like errors from `make' | |
00c1176b | 171 | but isn't. Look for error messages from `make' containing `***'. |
6736e93b | 172 | Those indicate that something is seriously wrong. |
41aa20c2 | 173 | |
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174 | The compilation process can take a long time, depending on the |
175 | configuration and the speed of your machine. Some complex modules may | |
176 | take a very long time to compile, as much as several minutes on slower | |
177 | machines. Do not panic if the compiler appears to hang. | |
00c1176b | 178 | |
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179 | If you want to run a parallel make, simply pass the `-j' option with |
180 | an appropriate numeric parameter to `make'. You need a recent GNU | |
181 | `make' version, though. | |
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182 | |
183 | To build and run test programs which exercise some of the library | |
184 | facilities, type `make check'. If it does not complete successfully, | |
185 | do not use the built library, and report a bug after verifying that the | |
186 | problem is not already known. *Note Reporting Bugs::, for instructions | |
187 | on reporting bugs. Note that some of the tests assume they are not | |
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188 | being run by `root'. We recommend you compile and test the GNU C |
189 | Library as an unprivileged user. | |
41aa20c2 | 190 | |
8d4b5a8a | 191 | Before reporting bugs make sure there is no problem with your system. |
6736e93b | 192 | The tests (and later installation) use some pre-existing files of the |
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193 | system such as `/etc/passwd', `/etc/nsswitch.conf' and others. These |
194 | files must all contain correct and sensible content. | |
195 | ||
41aa20c2 | 196 | To format the `GNU C Library Reference Manual' for printing, type |
1792d4db | 197 | `make dvi'. You need a working TeX installation to do this. The |
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198 | distribution builds the on-line formatted version of the manual, as |
199 | Info files, as part of the build process. You can build them manually | |
200 | with `make info'. | |
1792d4db | 201 | |
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202 | The library has a number of special-purpose configuration parameters |
203 | which you can find in `Makeconfig'. These can be overwritten with the | |
204 | file `configparms'. To change them, create a `configparms' in your | |
205 | build directory and add values as appropriate for your system. The | |
206 | file is included and parsed by `make' and has to follow the conventions | |
207 | for makefiles. | |
208 | ||
1f77f049 | 209 | It is easy to configure the GNU C Library for cross-compilation by |
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210 | setting a few variables in `configparms'. Set `CC' to the |
211 | cross-compiler for the target you configured the library for; it is | |
212 | important to use this same `CC' value when running `configure', like | |
213 | this: `CC=TARGET-gcc configure TARGET'. Set `BUILD_CC' to the compiler | |
6736e93b | 214 | to use for programs run on the build system as part of compiling the |
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215 | library. You may need to set `AR' to cross-compiling versions of `ar' |
216 | if the native tools are not configured to work with object files for | |
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217 | the target you configured for. When cross-compiling the GNU C Library, |
218 | it may be tested using `make check | |
219 | test-wrapper="SRCDIR/scripts/cross-test-ssh.sh HOSTNAME"', where SRCDIR | |
220 | is the absolute directory name for the main source directory and | |
221 | HOSTNAME is the host name of a system that can run the newly built | |
222 | binaries of the GNU C Library. The source and build directories must | |
223 | be visible at the same locations on both the build system and HOSTNAME. | |
c0389ee4 | 224 | |
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225 | In general, when testing the GNU C Library, `test-wrapper' may be set |
226 | to the name and arguments of any program to run newly built binaries. | |
227 | This program must preserve the arguments to the binary being run, its | |
228 | working directory, all environment variables set as part of testing and | |
229 | the standard input, output and error file descriptors. If | |
230 | `TEST-WRAPPER env' will not work to run a program with environment | |
231 | variables set, then `test-wrapper-env' must be set to a program that | |
232 | runs a newly built program with environment variable assignments in | |
233 | effect, those assignments being specified as `VAR=VALUE' before the | |
234 | name of the program to be run. | |
235 | ||
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236 | Installing the C Library |
237 | ======================== | |
41aa20c2 | 238 | |
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239 | To install the library and its header files, and the Info files of the |
240 | manual, type `env LANGUAGE=C LC_ALL=C make install'. This will build | |
241 | things, if necessary, before installing them; however, you should still | |
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242 | compile everything first. If you are installing the GNU C Library as |
243 | your primary C library, we recommend that you shut the system down to | |
244 | single-user mode first, and reboot afterward. This minimizes the risk | |
245 | of breaking things when the library changes out from underneath. | |
1792d4db | 246 | |
02c4bbad | 247 | `make install' will do the entire job of upgrading from a previous |
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248 | installation of the GNU C Library version 2.x. There may sometimes be |
249 | headers left behind from the previous installation, but those are | |
250 | generally harmless. If you want to avoid leaving headers behind you | |
251 | can do things in the following order. | |
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252 | |
253 | You must first build the library (`make'), optionally check it | |
254 | (`make check'), switch the include directories and then install (`make | |
255 | install'). The steps must be done in this order. Not moving the | |
256 | directory before install will result in an unusable mixture of header | |
257 | files from both libraries, but configuring, building, and checking the | |
258 | library requires the ability to compile and run programs against the old | |
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259 | library. The new `/usr/include', after switching the include |
260 | directories and before installing the library should contain the Linux | |
261 | headers, but nothing else. If you do this, you will need to restore | |
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262 | any headers from libraries other than the GNU C Library yourself after |
263 | installing the library. | |
c0389ee4 | 264 | |
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265 | You can install the GNU C Library somewhere other than where you |
266 | configured it to go by setting the `install_root' variable on the | |
267 | command line for `make install'. The value of this variable is | |
268 | prepended to all the paths for installation. This is useful when | |
269 | setting up a chroot environment or preparing a binary distribution. | |
270 | The directory should be specified with an absolute file name. | |
1792d4db | 271 | |
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272 | The GNU C Library includes a daemon called `nscd', which you may or |
273 | may not want to run. `nscd' caches name service lookups; it can | |
274 | dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as | |
275 | well. | |
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276 | |
277 | One auxiliary program, `/usr/libexec/pt_chown', is installed setuid | |
278 | `root'. This program is invoked by the `grantpt' function; it sets the | |
279 | permissions on a pseudoterminal so it can be used by the calling | |
280 | process. This means programs like `xterm' and `screen' do not have to | |
281 | be setuid to get a pty. (There may be other reasons why they need | |
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282 | privileges.) If you are using a Linux kernel with the `devptsfs' or |
283 | `devfs' filesystems providing pty slaves, you don't need this program; | |
284 | otherwise you do. The source for `pt_chown' is in | |
1792d4db | 285 | `login/programs/pt_chown.c'. |
41aa20c2 | 286 | |
bd952512 | 287 | After installation you might want to configure the timezone and |
1f77f049 | 288 | locale installation of your system. The GNU C Library comes with a |
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289 | locale database which gets configured with `localedef'. For example, to |
290 | set up a German locale with name `de_DE', simply issue the command | |
291 | `localedef -i de_DE -f ISO-8859-1 de_DE'. To configure all locales | |
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292 | that are supported by the GNU C Library, you can issue from your build |
293 | directory the command `make localedata/install-locales'. | |
bd952512 | 294 | |
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295 | To configure the locally used timezone, set the `TZ' environment |
296 | variable. The script `tzselect' helps you to select the right value. | |
297 | As an example, for Germany, `tzselect' would tell you to use | |
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298 | `TZ='Europe/Berlin''. For a system wide installation (the given paths |
299 | are for an installation with `--prefix=/usr'), link the timezone file | |
300 | which is in `/usr/share/zoneinfo' to the file `/etc/localtime'. For | |
301 | Germany, you might execute `ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin | |
302 | /etc/localtime'. | |
303 | ||
c9dc3f62 RM |
304 | Recommended Tools for Compilation |
305 | ================================= | |
41aa20c2 | 306 | |
80ed68b7 | 307 | We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to |
1f77f049 | 308 | build the GNU C Library: |
41aa20c2 | 309 | |
2bbc70d5 | 310 | * GNU `make' 3.79 or newer |
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311 | |
312 | You need the latest version of GNU `make'. Modifying the GNU C | |
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313 | Library to work with other `make' programs would be so difficult |
314 | that we recommend you port GNU `make' instead. *Really.* We | |
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315 | recommend GNU `make' version 3.79. All earlier versions have |
316 | severe bugs or lack features. | |
41aa20c2 | 317 | |
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318 | * GCC 4.3 or newer, GCC 4.6 recommended |
319 | ||
320 | GCC 4.3 or higher is required; as of this writing, GCC 4.6 is the | |
1f77f049 | 321 | compiler we advise to use to build the GNU C Library. |
91ea72b7 | 322 | |
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323 | You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that use |
324 | the GNU C Library. | |
41aa20c2 | 325 | |
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326 | Check the FAQ for any special compiler issues on particular |
327 | platforms. | |
5713a71e | 328 | |
bec039bc | 329 | * GNU `binutils' 2.20 or later |
41aa20c2 | 330 | |
1f77f049 | 331 | You must use GNU `binutils' (as and ld) to build the GNU C Library. |
7a49a7d5 | 332 | No other assembler or linker has the necessary functionality at the |
bdeba135 | 333 | moment. |
41aa20c2 | 334 | |
6a3951a0 | 335 | * GNU `texinfo' 4.5 or later |
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336 | |
337 | To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you | |
338 | need this version of the `texinfo' package. Earlier versions do | |
339 | not understand all the tags used in the document, and the | |
1792d4db | 340 | installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works |
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341 | differently. |
342 | ||
4d3f34be | 343 | * GNU `awk' 3.0, or higher |
00c1176b | 344 | |
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345 | `Awk' is used in several places to generate files. `gawk' 3.0 is |
346 | known to work. | |
41aa20c2 | 347 | |
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348 | * Perl 5 |
349 | ||
350 | Perl is not required, but it is used if present to test the | |
351 | installation. We may decide to use it elsewhere in the future. | |
41aa20c2 | 352 | |
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353 | * GNU `sed' 3.02 or newer |
354 | ||
6736e93b | 355 | `Sed' is used in several places to generate files. Most scripts |
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356 | work with any version of `sed'. The known exception is the script |
357 | `po2test.sed' in the `intl' subdirectory which is used to generate | |
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358 | `msgs.h' for the test suite. This script works correctly only |
359 | with GNU `sed' 3.02. If you like to run the test suite, you | |
360 | should definitely upgrade `sed'. | |
c0389ee4 | 361 | |
0cc70fcf | 362 | |
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363 | If you change any of the `configure.in' files you will also need |
364 | ||
7a49a7d5 | 365 | * GNU `autoconf' 2.53 or higher |
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366 | |
367 | and if you change any of the message translation files you will need | |
368 | ||
c26b4f64 | 369 | * GNU `gettext' 0.10.36 or later |
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370 | |
371 | You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using | |
372 | patches, although we try to avoid this. | |
373 | ||
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374 | Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems |
375 | ===================================== | |
80ed68b7 | 376 | |
a7a93d50 | 377 | If you are installing the GNU C Library on GNU/Linux systems, you need |
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378 | to have the header files from a 2.6.19.1 or newer kernel around for |
379 | reference. These headers must be installed using `make | |
380 | headers_install'; the headers present in the kernel source directory | |
381 | are not suitable for direct use by the GNU C Library. You do not need | |
382 | to use that kernel, just have its headers installed where the GNU C | |
383 | Library can access them, referred to here as INSTALL-DIRECTORY. The | |
384 | easiest way to do this is to unpack it in a directory such as | |
385 | `/usr/src/linux-VERSION'. In that directory, run `make headers_install | |
386 | INSTALL_HDR_PATH=INSTALL-DIRECTORY'. Finally, configure the GNU C | |
387 | Library with the option `--with-headers=INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. | |
388 | Use the most recent kernel you can get your hands on. (If you are | |
389 | cross-compiling the GNU C Library, you need to specify | |
390 | `ARCH=ARCHITECTURE' in the `make headers_install' command, where | |
391 | ARCHITECTURE is the architecture name used by the Linux kernel, such as | |
392 | `x86' or `powerpc'.) | |
393 | ||
394 | After installing the GNU C Library, you may need to remove or rename | |
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395 | directories such as `/usr/include/linux' and `/usr/include/asm', and |
396 | replace them with copies of directories such as `linux' and `asm' from | |
397 | `INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. All directories present in | |
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398 | `INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include' should be copied, except that the GNU C |
399 | Library provides its own version of `/usr/include/scsi'; the files | |
400 | provided by the kernel should be copied without replacing those | |
401 | provided by the GNU C Library. The `linux', `asm' and `asm-generic' | |
402 | directories are required to compile programs using the GNU C Library; | |
403 | the other directories describe interfaces to the kernel but are not | |
404 | required if not compiling programs using those interfaces. You do not | |
405 | need to copy kernel headers if you did not specify an alternate kernel | |
406 | header source using `--with-headers'. | |
407 | ||
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408 | The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for GNU/Linux systems expects some |
409 | components of the GNU C Library installation to be in `/lib' and some | |
410 | in `/usr/lib'. This is handled automatically if you configure the GNU | |
411 | C Library with `--prefix=/usr'. If you set some other prefix or allow | |
412 | it to default to `/usr/local', then all the components are installed | |
413 | there. | |
1792d4db | 414 | |
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415 | Reporting Bugs |
416 | ============== | |
41aa20c2 | 417 | |
1f77f049 | 418 | There are probably bugs in the GNU C Library. There are certainly |
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419 | errors and omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get |
420 | fixed. If you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will | |
421 | remain unfixed for all eternity, if not longer. | |
422 | ||
bd952512 UD |
423 | It is a good idea to verify that the problem has not already been |
424 | reported. Bugs are documented in two places: The file `BUGS' describes | |
8b748aed JM |
425 | a number of well known bugs and the central GNU C Library bug tracking |
426 | system has a WWW interface at `http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/'. The | |
427 | WWW interface gives you access to open and closed reports. A closed | |
428 | report normally includes a patch or a hint on solving the problem. | |
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429 | |
430 | To report a bug, first you must find it. With any luck, this will | |
431 | be the hard part. Once you've found a bug, make sure it's really a | |
1f77f049 | 432 | bug. A good way to do this is to see if the GNU C Library behaves the |
6736e93b UD |
433 | same way some other C library does. If so, probably you are wrong and |
434 | the libraries are right (but not necessarily). If not, one of the | |
1f77f049 | 435 | libraries is probably wrong. It might not be the GNU C Library. Many |
6736e93b UD |
436 | historical Unix C libraries permit things that we don't, such as |
437 | closing a file twice. | |
1792d4db | 438 | |
1f77f049 | 439 | If you think you have found some way in which the GNU C Library does |
1792d4db | 440 | not conform to the ISO and POSIX standards (*note Standards and |
c0389ee4 | 441 | Portability::), that is definitely a bug. Report it! |
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442 | |
443 | Once you're sure you've found a bug, try to narrow it down to the | |
444 | smallest test case that reproduces the problem. In the case of a C | |
445 | library, you really only need to narrow it down to one library function | |
446 | call, if possible. This should not be too difficult. | |
447 | ||
448 | The final step when you have a simple test case is to report the bug. | |
8b748aed | 449 | Do this at `http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html'. |
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450 | |
451 | If you are not sure how a function should behave, and this manual | |
452 | doesn't tell you, that's a bug in the manual. Report that too! If the | |
453 | function's behavior disagrees with the manual, then either the library | |
454 | or the manual has a bug, so report the disagreement. If you find any | |
80ed68b7 RM |
455 | errors or omissions in this manual, please report them to the bug |
456 | database. If you refer to specific sections of the manual, please | |
457 | include the section names for easier identification. |