Standard use commands in the order you may need them. prefetch : preload all necessary files in cache before compilation build : compile the distribution clean : erase build and log to recompile everything from scratch Optional gettoolchain : optionally load from sourceforge a precompilated toolchain package. This solve some compilation issues on old or very recent distributions and save 20% of next full building time. If you want to use it, do it before build step Maintainer / advanced commands changelog : Update doc/Changelog from CVS messages log check : Test if packages files are still available for download This is faster on http URL with --spider,but still slow on ftp because of real load. checkclean : Erase all check mark on cache directory to be able to check another time dist : Mainly produce a diff from previous version to track wich files have been changed newupdate : Add on CVS structure for new update directory and files rootfiles : Goal is to create update/x/ROOTFILES automatically in the futur. Build md5 of all included files in iso and list of changed or removed files (not yet fully usable at some packages include a compilation timestamp, so md5 change at every compilation) toolchain : Create our own toolchain package to save 20% of build time. shell : Enter a shell inside the chroot, used to tune lfs script and / or during kernel upgrade to rebuild a new .config