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1Installing the GNU C Library
2****************************
41aa20c2 3
6a3951a0 4Before you do anything else, you should read the FAQ at
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5<https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/FAQ>. It answers common questions
6and describes problems you may experience with compilation and
7installation.
41aa20c2 8
00c1176b 9 You will need recent versions of several GNU tools: definitely GCC
fe959e1e 10and GNU Make, and possibly others. *Note Tools for Compilation::,
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11below.
12
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13Configuring and compiling the GNU C Library
14===========================================
00c1176b 15
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16The GNU C Library cannot be compiled in the source directory. You must
17build it in a separate build directory. For example, if you have
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18unpacked the GNU C Library sources in '/src/gnu/glibc-VERSION', create a
19directory '/src/gnu/glibc-build' to put the object files in. This
20allows removing the whole build directory in case an error occurs, which
21is the safest way to get a fresh start and should always be done.
00c1176b 22
a8db092e 23 From your object directory, run the shell script 'configure' located
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24at the top level of the source tree. In the scenario above, you'd type
25
f1e86fca 26 $ ../glibc-VERSION/configure ARGS...
00c1176b 27
3858bf28 28 Please note that even though you're building in a separate build
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29directory, the compilation may need to create or modify files and
30directories in the source directory.
f05f5ca3 31
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32'configure' takes many options, but the only one that is usually
33mandatory is '--prefix'. This option tells 'configure' where you want
34the GNU C Library installed. This defaults to '/usr/local', but the
1f77f049 35normal setting to install as the standard system library is
a8db092e 36'--prefix=/usr' for GNU/Linux systems and '--prefix=' (an empty prefix)
1f77f049 37for GNU/Hurd systems.
00c1176b 38
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39 It may also be useful to pass 'CC=COMPILER' and 'CFLAGS=FLAGS'
40arguments to 'configure'. 'CC' selects the C compiler that will be
41used, and 'CFLAGS' sets optimization options for the compiler. Any
42compiler options required for all compilations, such as options
43selecting an ABI or a processor for which to generate code, should be
44included in 'CC'. Options that may be overridden by the GNU C Library
45build system for particular files, such as for optimization and
46debugging, should go in 'CFLAGS'. The default value of 'CFLAGS' is '-g
47-O2', and the GNU C Library cannot be compiled without optimization, so
48if 'CFLAGS' is specified it must enable optimization. For example:
49
50 $ ../glibc-VERSION/configure CC="gcc -m32" CFLAGS="-O3"
00c1176b 51
bd952512 52 The following list describes all of the available options for
a8db092e 53'configure':
00c1176b 54
a8db092e 55'--prefix=DIRECTORY'
00c1176b 56 Install machine-independent data files in subdirectories of
a8db092e 57 'DIRECTORY'. The default is to install in '/usr/local'.
00c1176b 58
a8db092e 59'--exec-prefix=DIRECTORY'
00c1176b 60 Install the library and other machine-dependent files in
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61 subdirectories of 'DIRECTORY'. The default is to the '--prefix'
62 directory if that option is specified, or '/usr/local' otherwise.
00c1176b 63
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64'--with-headers=DIRECTORY'
65 Look for kernel header files in DIRECTORY, not '/usr/include'. The
66 GNU C Library needs information from the kernel's header files
1f77f049 67 describing the interface to the kernel. The GNU C Library will
a8db092e 68 normally look in '/usr/include' for them, but if you specify this
1f77f049 69 option, it will look in DIRECTORY instead.
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70
71 This option is primarily of use on a system where the headers in
a8db092e 72 '/usr/include' come from an older version of the GNU C Library.
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73 Conflicts can occasionally happen in this case. You can also use
74 this option if you want to compile the GNU C Library with a newer
a8db092e 75 set of kernel headers than the ones found in '/usr/include'.
41aa20c2 76
a8db092e 77'--enable-kernel=VERSION'
90d1d40b 78 This option is currently only useful on GNU/Linux systems. The
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79 VERSION parameter should have the form X.Y.Z and describes the
80 smallest version of the Linux kernel the generated library is
81 expected to support. The higher the VERSION number is, the less
82 compatibility code is added, and the faster the code gets.
83
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84'--with-binutils=DIRECTORY'
85 Use the binutils (assembler and linker) in 'DIRECTORY', not the
6736e93b 86 ones the C compiler would default to. You can use this option if
41aa20c2 87 the default binutils on your system cannot deal with all the
a8db092e 88 constructs in the GNU C Library. In that case, 'configure' will
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89 detect the problem and suppress these constructs, so that the
90 library will still be usable, but functionality may be lost--for
91 example, you can't build a shared libc with old binutils.
41aa20c2 92
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93'--with-nonshared-cflags=CFLAGS'
94 Use additional compiler flags CFLAGS to build the parts of the
95 library which are always statically linked into applications and
96 libraries even with shared linking (that is, the object files
97 contained in 'lib*_nonshared.a' libraries). The build process will
98 automatically use the appropriate flags, but this option can be
99 used to set additional flags required for building applications and
100 libraries, to match local policy. For example, if such a policy
101 requires that all code linked into applications must be built with
102 source fortification,
103 '--with-nonshared-cflags=-Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' will make sure
104 that the objects in 'libc_nonshared.a' are compiled with this flag
105 (although this will not affect the generated code in this
106 particular case and potentially change debugging information and
107 metadata only).
108
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109'--with-rtld-early-cflags=CFLAGS'
110 Use additional compiler flags CFLAGS to build the early startup
111 code of the dynamic linker. These flags can be used to enable
112 early dynamic linker diagnostics to run on CPUs which are not
113 compatible with the rest of the GNU C Library, for example, due to
114 compiler flags which target a later instruction set architecture
115 (ISA).
116
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117'--with-timeoutfactor=NUM'
118 Specify an integer NUM to scale the timeout of test programs. This
119 factor can be changed at run time using 'TIMEOUTFACTOR' environment
120 variable.
121
a8db092e 122'--disable-shared'
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123 Don't build shared libraries even if it is possible. Not all
124 systems support shared libraries; you need ELF support and
125 (currently) the GNU linker.
41aa20c2 126
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127'--disable-default-pie'
128 Don't build glibc programs and the testsuite as position
129 independent executables (PIE). By default, glibc programs and tests
130 are created as position independent executables on targets that
131 support it. If the toolchain and architecture support it, static
132 executables are built as static PIE and the resulting glibc can be
133 used with the GCC option, -static-pie, which is available with GCC
134 8 or above, to create static PIE.
9d7a3741 135
e6c69509 136'--enable-cet'
9e38f455 137'--enable-cet=permissive'
e6c69509 138 Enable Intel Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) support.
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139 When the GNU C Library is built with '--enable-cet' or
140 '--enable-cet=permissive', the resulting library is protected with
141 indirect branch tracking (IBT) and shadow stack (SHSTK). When CET
142 is enabled, the GNU C Library is compatible with all existing
143 executables and shared libraries. This feature is currently
144 supported on i386, x86_64 and x32 with GCC 8 and binutils 2.29 or
145 later. Note that when CET is enabled, the GNU C Library requires
146 CPUs capable of multi-byte NOPs, like x86-64 processors as well as
147 Intel Pentium Pro or newer. With '--enable-cet', it is an error to
148 dlopen a non CET enabled shared library in CET enabled application.
149 With '--enable-cet=permissive', CET is disabled when dlopening a
150 non CET enabled shared library in CET enabled application.
e6c69509 151
e84bd851 152 NOTE: '--enable-cet' has been tested for i686, x86_64 and x32 on
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153 non-CET processors. '--enable-cet' has been tested for i686,
154 x86_64 and x32 on CET processors.
e84bd851 155
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156'--enable-memory-tagging'
157 Enable memory tagging support if the architecture supports it.
158 When the GNU C Library is built with this option then the resulting
159 library will be able to control the use of tagged memory when
160 hardware support is present by use of the tunable
161 'glibc.mem.tagging'. This includes the generation of tagged memory
162 when using the 'malloc' APIs.
163
164 At present only AArch64 platforms with MTE provide this
165 functionality, although the library will still operate (without
166 memory tagging) on older versions of the architecture.
167
168 The default is to disable support for memory tagging.
169
a8db092e 170'--disable-profile'
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171 Don't build libraries with profiling information. You may want to
172 use this option if you don't plan to do profiling.
41aa20c2 173
a8db092e 174'--enable-static-nss'
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175 Compile static versions of the NSS (Name Service Switch) libraries.
176 This is not recommended because it defeats the purpose of NSS; a
177 program linked statically with the NSS libraries cannot be
178 dynamically reconfigured to use a different name database.
179
a8db092e 180'--enable-hardcoded-path-in-tests'
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181 By default, dynamic tests are linked to run with the installed C
182 library. This option hardcodes the newly built C library path in
183 dynamic tests so that they can be invoked directly.
184
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185'--disable-timezone-tools'
186 By default, timezone related utilities ('zic', 'zdump', and
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187 'tzselect') are installed with the GNU C Library. If you are
188 building these independently (e.g. by using the 'tzcode' package),
189 then this option will allow disabling the install of these.
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190
191 Note that you need to make sure the external tools are kept in sync
192 with the versions that the GNU C Library expects as the data
193 formats may change over time. Consult the 'timezone' subdirectory
194 for more details.
195
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196'--enable-stack-protector'
197'--enable-stack-protector=strong'
198'--enable-stack-protector=all'
199 Compile the C library and all other parts of the glibc package
200 (including the threading and math libraries, NSS modules, and
201 transliteration modules) using the GCC '-fstack-protector',
202 '-fstack-protector-strong' or '-fstack-protector-all' options to
203 detect stack overruns. Only the dynamic linker and a small number
204 of routines called directly from assembler are excluded from this
205 protection.
206
2d6ab5df 207'--enable-bind-now'
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208 Disable lazy binding for installed shared objects and programs.
209 This provides additional security hardening because it enables full
210 RELRO and a read-only global offset table (GOT), at the cost of
211 slightly increased program load times.
2d6ab5df 212
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213'--enable-pt_chown'
214 The file 'pt_chown' is a helper binary for 'grantpt' (*note
215 Pseudo-Terminals: Allocation.) that is installed setuid root to fix
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216 up pseudo-terminal ownership on GNU/Hurd. It is not required on
217 GNU/Linux, and the GNU C Library will not use the installed
218 'pt_chown' program when configured with '--enable-pt_chown'.
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219
220'--disable-werror'
221 By default, the GNU C Library is built with '-Werror'. If you wish
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222 to build without this option (for example, if building with a newer
223 version of GCC than this version of the GNU C Library was tested
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224 with, so new warnings cause the build with '-Werror' to fail), you
225 can configure with '--disable-werror'.
226
21933112 227'--disable-mathvec'
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228 By default for x86_64, the GNU C Library is built with the vector
229 math library. Use this option to disable the vector math library.
21933112 230
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231'--disable-crypt'
232 Do not install the passphrase-hashing library 'libcrypt' or the
233 header file 'crypt.h'. 'unistd.h' will still declare the function
234 'crypt'. Using this option does not change the set of programs
235 that may need to be linked with '-lcrypt'; it only means that the
236 GNU C Library will not provide that library.
237
238 This option is for hackers and distributions experimenting with
239 independently-maintained implementations of libcrypt. It may
240 become the default in a future release.
241
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242'--disable-scv'
243 Disable using 'scv' instruction for syscalls. All syscalls will
244 use 'sc' instead, even if the kernel supports 'scv'. PowerPC only.
245
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246'--build=BUILD-SYSTEM'
247'--host=HOST-SYSTEM'
248 These options are for cross-compiling. If you specify both options
249 and BUILD-SYSTEM is different from HOST-SYSTEM, 'configure' will
250 prepare to cross-compile the GNU C Library from BUILD-SYSTEM to be
251 used on HOST-SYSTEM. You'll probably need the '--with-headers'
252 option too, and you may have to override CONFIGURE's selection of
253 the compiler and/or binutils.
254
255 If you only specify '--host', 'configure' will prepare for a native
256 compile but use what you specify instead of guessing what your
257 system is. This is most useful to change the CPU submodel. For
258 example, if 'configure' guesses your machine as 'i686-pc-linux-gnu'
259 but you want to compile a library for 586es, give
260 '--host=i586-pc-linux-gnu' or just '--host=i586-linux' and add the
261 appropriate compiler flags ('-mcpu=i586' will do the trick) to
db9881ec 262 'CC'.
1792d4db 263
a8db092e 264 If you specify just '--build', 'configure' will get confused.
41aa20c2 265
a8db092e 266'--with-pkgversion=VERSION'
8b748aed 267 Specify a description, possibly including a build number or build
a8db092e 268 date, of the binaries being built, to be included in '--version'
8b748aed 269 output from programs installed with the GNU C Library. For
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270 example, '--with-pkgversion='FooBar GNU/Linux glibc build 123''.
271 The default value is 'GNU libc'.
8b748aed 272
a8db092e 273'--with-bugurl=URL'
8b748aed 274 Specify the URL that users should visit if they wish to report a
a8db092e 275 bug, to be included in '--help' output from programs installed with
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276 the GNU C Library. The default value refers to the main
277 bug-reporting information for the GNU C Library.
278
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279 To build the library and related programs, type 'make'. This will
280produce a lot of output, some of which may look like errors from 'make'
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281but aren't. Look for error messages from 'make' containing '***'.
282Those indicate that something is seriously wrong.
41aa20c2 283
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284 The compilation process can take a long time, depending on the
285configuration and the speed of your machine. Some complex modules may
286take a very long time to compile, as much as several minutes on slower
287machines. Do not panic if the compiler appears to hang.
00c1176b 288
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289 If you want to run a parallel make, simply pass the '-j' option with
290an appropriate numeric parameter to 'make'. You need a recent GNU
291'make' version, though.
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292
293 To build and run test programs which exercise some of the library
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294facilities, type 'make check'. If it does not complete successfully, do
295not use the built library, and report a bug after verifying that the
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296problem is not already known. *Note Reporting Bugs::, for instructions
297on reporting bugs. Note that some of the tests assume they are not
a8db092e 298being run by 'root'. We recommend you compile and test the GNU C
1f77f049 299Library as an unprivileged user.
41aa20c2 300
8d4b5a8a 301 Before reporting bugs make sure there is no problem with your system.
6736e93b 302The tests (and later installation) use some pre-existing files of the
a8db092e 303system such as '/etc/passwd', '/etc/nsswitch.conf' and others. These
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304files must all contain correct and sensible content.
305
a8db092e 306 Normally, 'make check' will run all the tests before reporting all
d6fe5e58 307problems found and exiting with error status if any problems occurred.
a8db092e 308You can specify 'stop-on-test-failure=y' when running 'make check' to
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309make the test run stop and exit with an error status immediately when a
310failure occurs.
311
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312 To format the 'GNU C Library Reference Manual' for printing, type
313'make dvi'. You need a working TeX installation to do this. The
314distribution builds the on-line formatted version of the manual, as Info
315files, as part of the build process. You can build them manually with
316'make info'.
1792d4db 317
c0389ee4 318 The library has a number of special-purpose configuration parameters
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319which you can find in 'Makeconfig'. These can be overwritten with the
320file 'configparms'. To change them, create a 'configparms' in your
321build directory and add values as appropriate for your system. The file
322is included and parsed by 'make' and has to follow the conventions for
323makefiles.
c0389ee4 324
1f77f049 325 It is easy to configure the GNU C Library for cross-compilation by
a8db092e 326setting a few variables in 'configparms'. Set 'CC' to the
c0389ee4 327cross-compiler for the target you configured the library for; it is
a8db092e 328important to use this same 'CC' value when running 'configure', like
db9881ec 329this: 'configure TARGET CC=TARGET-gcc'. Set 'BUILD_CC' to the compiler
6736e93b 330to use for programs run on the build system as part of compiling the
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331library. You may need to set 'AR' to cross-compiling versions of 'ar'
332if the native tools are not configured to work with object files for the
333target you configured for. When cross-compiling the GNU C Library, it
334may be tested using 'make check
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335test-wrapper="SRCDIR/scripts/cross-test-ssh.sh HOSTNAME"', where SRCDIR
336is the absolute directory name for the main source directory and
337HOSTNAME is the host name of a system that can run the newly built
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338binaries of the GNU C Library. The source and build directories must be
339visible at the same locations on both the build system and HOSTNAME.
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340The 'cross-test-ssh.sh' script requires 'flock' from 'util-linux' to
341work when GLIBC_TEST_ALLOW_TIME_SETTING environment variable is set.
342
343 It is also possible to execute tests, which require setting the date
344on the target machine. Following use cases are supported:
345 * 'GLIBC_TEST_ALLOW_TIME_SETTING' is set in the environment in which
346 eligible tests are executed and have the privilege to run
347 'clock_settime'. In this case, nothing prevents those tests from
348 running in parallel, so the caller shall assure that those tests
349 are serialized or provide a proper wrapper script for them.
350
351 * The 'cross-test-ssh.sh' script is used and one passes the
352 '--allow-time-setting' flag. In this case, both sets
353 'GLIBC_TEST_ALLOW_TIME_SETTING' and serialization of test execution
354 are assured automatically.
c0389ee4 355
a8db092e 356 In general, when testing the GNU C Library, 'test-wrapper' may be set
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357to the name and arguments of any program to run newly built binaries.
358This program must preserve the arguments to the binary being run, its
8540f6d2 359working directory and the standard input, output and error file
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360descriptors. If 'TEST-WRAPPER env' will not work to run a program with
361environment variables set, then 'test-wrapper-env' must be set to a
8540f6d2 362program that runs a newly built program with environment variable
a8db092e 363assignments in effect, those assignments being specified as 'VAR=VALUE'
8540f6d2 364before the name of the program to be run. If multiple assignments to
a8db092e 365the same variable are specified, the last assignment specified must take
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366precedence. Similarly, if 'TEST-WRAPPER env -i' will not work to run a
367program with an environment completely empty of variables except those
368directly assigned, then 'test-wrapper-env-only' must be set; its use has
369the same syntax as 'test-wrapper-env', the only difference in its
370semantics being starting with an empty set of environment variables
371rather than the ambient set.
0eb69512 372
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373 For AArch64 with SVE, when testing the GNU C Library, 'test-wrapper'
374may be set to "SRCDIR/sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/aarch64/vltest.py
375VECTOR-LENGTH" to change Vector Length.
376
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377Installing the C Library
378========================
41aa20c2 379
80ed68b7 380To install the library and its header files, and the Info files of the
a8db092e 381manual, type 'make install'. This will build things, if necessary,
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382before installing them; however, you should still compile everything
383first. If you are installing the GNU C Library as your primary C
384library, we recommend that you shut the system down to single-user mode
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385first, and reboot afterward. This minimizes the risk of breaking things
386when the library changes out from underneath.
1792d4db 387
a8db092e 388 'make install' will do the entire job of upgrading from a previous
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389installation of the GNU C Library version 2.x. There may sometimes be
390headers left behind from the previous installation, but those are
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391generally harmless. If you want to avoid leaving headers behind you can
392do things in the following order.
c0389ee4 393
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394 You must first build the library ('make'), optionally check it ('make
395check'), switch the include directories and then install ('make
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396install'). The steps must be done in this order. Not moving the
397directory before install will result in an unusable mixture of header
398files from both libraries, but configuring, building, and checking the
399library requires the ability to compile and run programs against the old
a8db092e 400library. The new '/usr/include', after switching the include
02c4bbad 401directories and before installing the library should contain the Linux
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402headers, but nothing else. If you do this, you will need to restore any
403headers from libraries other than the GNU C Library yourself after
1f77f049 404installing the library.
c0389ee4 405
1f77f049 406 You can install the GNU C Library somewhere other than where you
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407configured it to go by setting the 'DESTDIR' GNU standard make variable
408on the command line for 'make install'. The value of this variable is
1f77f049 409prepended to all the paths for installation. This is useful when
a8db092e 410setting up a chroot environment or preparing a binary distribution. The
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411directory should be specified with an absolute file name. Installing
412with the 'prefix' and 'exec_prefix' GNU standard make variables set is
413not supported.
1792d4db 414
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415 The GNU C Library includes a daemon called 'nscd', which you may or
416may not want to run. 'nscd' caches name service lookups; it can
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417dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as
418well.
1792d4db 419
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420 One auxiliary program, '/usr/libexec/pt_chown', is installed setuid
421'root' if the '--enable-pt_chown' configuration option is used. This
422program is invoked by the 'grantpt' function; it sets the permissions on
423a pseudoterminal so it can be used by the calling process. If you are
424using a Linux kernel with the 'devpts' filesystem enabled and mounted at
425'/dev/pts', you don't need this program.
41aa20c2 426
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427 After installation you should configure the timezone and install
428locales for your system. The time zone configuration ensures that your
429system time matches the time for your current timezone. The locales
430ensure that the display of information on your system matches the
431expectations of your language and geographic region.
432
433 The GNU C Library is able to use two kinds of localization
434information sources, the first is a locale database named
435'locale-archive' which is generally installed as
436'/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive'. The locale archive has the benefit of
437taking up less space and being very fast to load, but only if you plan
438to install sixty or more locales. If you plan to install one or two
439locales you can instead install individual locales into their self-named
440directories e.g. '/usr/lib/locale/en_US.utf8'. For example to install
441the German locale using the character set for UTF-8 with name 'de_DE'
442into the locale archive issue the command 'localedef -i de_DE -f UTF-8
443de_DE', and to install just the one locale issue the command 'localedef
444--no-archive -i de_DE -f UTF-8 de_DE'. To configure all locales that
a8db092e 445are supported by the GNU C Library, you can issue from your build
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446directory the command 'make localedata/install-locales' to install all
447locales into the locale archive or 'make
448localedata/install-locale-files' to install all locales as files in the
449default configured locale installation directory (derived from
450'--prefix' or '--localedir'). To install into an alternative system
451root use 'DESTDIR' e.g. 'make localedata/install-locale-files
452DESTDIR=/opt/glibc', but note that this does not change the configured
453prefix.
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454
455 To configure the locally used timezone, set the 'TZ' environment
456variable. The script 'tzselect' helps you to select the right value.
457As an example, for Germany, 'tzselect' would tell you to use
458'TZ='Europe/Berlin''. For a system wide installation (the given paths
459are for an installation with '--prefix=/usr'), link the timezone file
460which is in '/usr/share/zoneinfo' to the file '/etc/localtime'. For
461Germany, you might execute 'ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
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462/etc/localtime'.
463
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464Recommended Tools for Compilation
465=================================
41aa20c2 466
80ed68b7 467We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to
1f77f049 468build the GNU C Library:
41aa20c2 469
f2873d2d 470 * GNU 'make' 4.0 or newer
41aa20c2 471
7f0d9e61 472 As of release time, GNU 'make' 4.4 is the newest verified to work to
ad477489 473 build the GNU C Library.
f650932b 474
4dcbbc3b 475 * GCC 6.2 or newer
0e7727f7 476
4dcbbc3b 477 GCC 6.2 or higher is required. In general it is recommended to use
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478 the newest version of the compiler that is known to work for
479 building the GNU C Library, as newer compilers usually produce
51990242 480 better code. As of release time, GCC 13.0 is the newest compiler
4863355a 481 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
91ea72b7 482
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483 For PowerPC 64-bits little-endian (powerpc64le), a GCC version with
484 support for '-mno-gnu-attribute', '-mabi=ieeelongdouble', and
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485 '-mabi=ibmlondouble' is required. Likewise, the compiler must also
486 support passing '-mlong-double-128' with the preceding options. As
487 of release, this implies GCC 7.4 and newer (excepting GCC 7.5.0,
488 see GCC PR94200). These additional features are required for
489 building the GNU C Library with support for IEEE long double.
50545f5a 490
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491 For ARC architecture builds, GCC 8.3 or higher is needed.
492
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493 For s390x architecture builds, GCC 7.1 or higher is needed (See gcc
494 Bug 98269).
495
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496 For AArch64 architecture builds with mathvec enabled, GCC 10 or
497 higher is needed due to dependency on arm_sve.h.
498
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499 For multi-arch support it is recommended to use a GCC which has
500 been built with support for GNU indirect functions. This ensures
501 that correct debugging information is generated for functions
502 selected by IFUNC resolvers. This support can either be enabled by
503 configuring GCC with '--enable-gnu-indirect-function', or by
504 enabling it by default by setting 'default_gnu_indirect_function'
505 variable for a particular architecture in the GCC source file
506 'gcc/config.gcc'.
507
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508 You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that use
509 the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 510
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511 Check the FAQ for any special compiler issues on particular
512 platforms.
5713a71e 513
073e8fa7 514 * GNU 'binutils' 2.25 or later
41aa20c2 515
a8db092e 516 You must use GNU 'binutils' (as and ld) to build the GNU C Library.
7a49a7d5 517 No other assembler or linker has the necessary functionality at the
51990242 518 moment. As of release time, GNU 'binutils' 2.39 is the newest
04cb913d 519 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 520
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521 For PowerPC 64-bits little-endian (powerpc64le), 'objcopy' is
522 required to support '--update-section'. This option requires
523 binutils 2.26 or newer.
524
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525 ARC architecture needs 'binutils' 2.32 or higher for TLS related
526 fixes.
527
a8db092e 528 * GNU 'texinfo' 4.7 or later
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529
530 To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you
a8db092e 531 need this version of the 'texinfo' package. Earlier versions do
41aa20c2 532 not understand all the tags used in the document, and the
1792d4db 533 installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works
51990242 534 differently. As of release time, 'texinfo' 7.0.2 is the newest
04cb913d 535 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 536
a8db092e 537 * GNU 'awk' 3.1.2, or higher
00c1176b 538
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539 'awk' is used in several places to generate files. Some 'gawk'
540 extensions are used, including the 'asorti' function, which was
2c8f75f7 541 introduced in version 3.1.2 of 'gawk'. As of release time, 'gawk'
6415fd2d 542 version 5.1.1 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C
2c8f75f7 543 Library.
41aa20c2 544
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545 * GNU 'bison' 2.7 or later
546
547 'bison' is used to generate the 'yacc' parser code in the 'intl'
6415fd2d 548 subdirectory. As of release time, 'bison' version 3.8.2 is the
93493119 549 newest verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
1faaf703 550
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551 * Perl 5
552
3c1622eb 553 Perl is not required, but if present it is used in some tests and
053c52b1 554 the 'mtrace' program, to build the GNU C Library manual. As of
51990242 555 release time 'perl' version 5.36.0 is the newest verified to work
053c52b1 556 to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 557
a8db092e 558 * GNU 'sed' 3.02 or newer
c0389ee4 559
a8db092e 560 'Sed' is used in several places to generate files. Most scripts
2c8f75f7 561 work with any version of 'sed'. As of release time, 'sed' version
ad477489 562 4.8 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
c0389ee4 563
c6982f7e 564 * Python 3.4 or later
3c1622eb 565
c6982f7e 566 Python is required to build the GNU C Library. As of release time,
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567 Python 3.11 is the newest verified to work for building and testing
568 the GNU C Library.
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569
570 * PExpect 4.0
571
572 The pretty printer tests drive GDB through test programs and
573 compare its output to the printers'. PExpect is used to capture
574 the output of GDB, and should be compatible with the Python version
6415fd2d 575 in your system. As of release time PExpect 4.8.0 is the newest
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576 verified to work to test the pretty printers.
577
578 * GDB 7.8 or later with support for Python 2.7/3.4 or later
579
580 GDB itself needs to be configured with Python support in order to
581 use the pretty printers. Notice that your system having Python
582 available doesn't imply that GDB supports it, nor that your
583 system's Python and GDB's have the same version. As of release
7a52dfab 584 time GNU 'debugger' 12.1 is the newest verified to work to test the
330c9d0d 585 pretty printers.
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586
587 Unless Python, PExpect and GDB with Python support are present, the
588 printer tests will report themselves as 'UNSUPPORTED'. Notice that
589 some of the printer tests require the GNU C Library to be compiled
590 with debugging symbols.
591
a8db092e 592If you change any of the 'configure.ac' files you will also need
0cc70fcf 593
a8db092e 594 * GNU 'autoconf' 2.69 (exactly)
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595
596and if you change any of the message translation files you will need
597
a8db092e 598 * GNU 'gettext' 0.10.36 or later
41aa20c2 599
51990242 600 As of release time, GNU 'gettext' version 0.21.1 is the newest
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601 version verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
602
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603You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using
604patches, although we try to avoid this.
605
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606Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems
607=====================================
80ed68b7 608
a7a93d50 609If you are installing the GNU C Library on GNU/Linux systems, you need
5b4ecd3f 610to have the header files from a 3.2 or newer kernel around for
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611reference. (For the ia64 architecture, you need version 3.2.18 or newer
612because this is the first version with support for the 'accept4' system
613call.) These headers must be installed using 'make headers_install';
614the headers present in the kernel source directory are not suitable for
615direct use by the GNU C Library. You do not need to use that kernel,
616just have its headers installed where the GNU C Library can access them,
617referred to here as INSTALL-DIRECTORY. The easiest way to do this is to
618unpack it in a directory such as '/usr/src/linux-VERSION'. In that
619directory, run 'make headers_install
1f77f049 620INSTALL_HDR_PATH=INSTALL-DIRECTORY'. Finally, configure the GNU C
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621Library with the option '--with-headers=INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. Use
622the most recent kernel you can get your hands on. (If you are
1f77f049 623cross-compiling the GNU C Library, you need to specify
a8db092e 624'ARCH=ARCHITECTURE' in the 'make headers_install' command, where
1f77f049 625ARCHITECTURE is the architecture name used by the Linux kernel, such as
a8db092e 626'x86' or 'powerpc'.)
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627
628 After installing the GNU C Library, you may need to remove or rename
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629directories such as '/usr/include/linux' and '/usr/include/asm', and
630replace them with copies of directories such as 'linux' and 'asm' from
631'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. All directories present in
632'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include' should be copied, except that the GNU C
633Library provides its own version of '/usr/include/scsi'; the files
634provided by the kernel should be copied without replacing those provided
635by the GNU C Library. The 'linux', 'asm' and 'asm-generic' directories
636are required to compile programs using the GNU C Library; the other
637directories describe interfaces to the kernel but are not required if
638not compiling programs using those interfaces. You do not need to copy
639kernel headers if you did not specify an alternate kernel header source
640using '--with-headers'.
1f77f049 641
a7a93d50 642 The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for GNU/Linux systems expects some
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643components of the GNU C Library installation to be in '/lib' and some in
644'/usr/lib'. This is handled automatically if you configure the GNU C
645Library with '--prefix=/usr'. If you set some other prefix or allow it
646to default to '/usr/local', then all the components are installed there.
1792d4db 647
51990242 648 As of release time, Linux version 6.1.5 is the newest stable version
7a52dfab 649verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
6415fd2d 650
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651Reporting Bugs
652==============
41aa20c2 653
1f77f049 654There are probably bugs in the GNU C Library. There are certainly
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655errors and omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get
656fixed. If you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will
657remain unfixed for all eternity, if not longer.
658
bd952512 659 It is a good idea to verify that the problem has not already been
a8db092e 660reported. Bugs are documented in two places: The file 'BUGS' describes
8b748aed 661a number of well known bugs and the central GNU C Library bug tracking
a306c790 662system has a WWW interface at <https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/>. The
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663WWW interface gives you access to open and closed reports. A closed
664report normally includes a patch or a hint on solving the problem.
6736e93b 665
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666 To report a bug, first you must find it. With any luck, this will be
667the hard part. Once you've found a bug, make sure it's really a bug. A
668good way to do this is to see if the GNU C Library behaves the same way
669some other C library does. If so, probably you are wrong and the
670libraries are right (but not necessarily). If not, one of the libraries
671is probably wrong. It might not be the GNU C Library. Many historical
672Unix C libraries permit things that we don't, such as closing a file
673twice.
1792d4db 674
1f77f049 675 If you think you have found some way in which the GNU C Library does
1792d4db 676not conform to the ISO and POSIX standards (*note Standards and
c0389ee4 677Portability::), that is definitely a bug. Report it!
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678
679 Once you're sure you've found a bug, try to narrow it down to the
680smallest test case that reproduces the problem. In the case of a C
681library, you really only need to narrow it down to one library function
682call, if possible. This should not be too difficult.
683
684 The final step when you have a simple test case is to report the bug.
5a82c748 685Do this at <https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
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686
687 If you are not sure how a function should behave, and this manual
688doesn't tell you, that's a bug in the manual. Report that too! If the
689function's behavior disagrees with the manual, then either the library
690or the manual has a bug, so report the disagreement. If you find any
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691errors or omissions in this manual, please report them to the bug
692database. If you refer to specific sections of the manual, please
693include the section names for easier identification.