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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<http://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/FAQ>. It answers common questions and
6describes problems you may experience with compilation and installation.
41aa20c2 7
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8 Features can be added to the GNU C Library via "add-on" bundles.
9These are separate tar files, which you unpack into the top level of the
10source tree. Then you give 'configure' the '--enable-add-ons' option to
11activate them, and they will be compiled into the library.
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12
13 You will need recent versions of several GNU tools: definitely GCC
fe959e1e 14and GNU Make, and possibly others. *Note Tools for Compilation::,
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15below.
16
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17Configuring and compiling the GNU C Library
18===========================================
00c1176b 19
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20The GNU C Library cannot be compiled in the source directory. You must
21build it in a separate build directory. For example, if you have
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22unpacked the GNU C Library sources in '/src/gnu/glibc-VERSION', create a
23directory '/src/gnu/glibc-build' to put the object files in. This
24allows removing the whole build directory in case an error occurs, which
25is the safest way to get a fresh start and should always be done.
00c1176b 26
a8db092e 27 From your object directory, run the shell script 'configure' located
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28at the top level of the source tree. In the scenario above, you'd type
29
f1e86fca 30 $ ../glibc-VERSION/configure ARGS...
00c1176b 31
3858bf28 32 Please note that even though you're building in a separate build
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33directory, the compilation may need to create or modify files and
34directories in the source directory.
f05f5ca3 35
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36'configure' takes many options, but the only one that is usually
37mandatory is '--prefix'. This option tells 'configure' where you want
38the GNU C Library installed. This defaults to '/usr/local', but the
1f77f049 39normal setting to install as the standard system library is
a8db092e 40'--prefix=/usr' for GNU/Linux systems and '--prefix=' (an empty prefix)
1f77f049 41for GNU/Hurd systems.
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42
43 It may also be useful to set the CC and CFLAGS variables in the
a8db092e 44environment when running 'configure'. CC selects the C compiler that
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45will be used, and CFLAGS sets optimization options for the compiler.
46
bd952512 47 The following list describes all of the available options for
a8db092e 48'configure':
00c1176b 49
a8db092e 50'--prefix=DIRECTORY'
00c1176b 51 Install machine-independent data files in subdirectories of
a8db092e 52 'DIRECTORY'. The default is to install in '/usr/local'.
00c1176b 53
a8db092e 54'--exec-prefix=DIRECTORY'
00c1176b 55 Install the library and other machine-dependent files in
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56 subdirectories of 'DIRECTORY'. The default is to the '--prefix'
57 directory if that option is specified, or '/usr/local' otherwise.
00c1176b 58
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59'--with-headers=DIRECTORY'
60 Look for kernel header files in DIRECTORY, not '/usr/include'. The
61 GNU C Library needs information from the kernel's header files
1f77f049 62 describing the interface to the kernel. The GNU C Library will
a8db092e 63 normally look in '/usr/include' for them, but if you specify this
1f77f049 64 option, it will look in DIRECTORY instead.
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65
66 This option is primarily of use on a system where the headers in
a8db092e 67 '/usr/include' come from an older version of the GNU C Library.
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68 Conflicts can occasionally happen in this case. You can also use
69 this option if you want to compile the GNU C Library with a newer
a8db092e 70 set of kernel headers than the ones found in '/usr/include'.
41aa20c2 71
a8db092e 72'--enable-add-ons[=LIST]'
3858bf28 73 Specify add-on packages to include in the build. If this option is
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74 specified with no list, it enables all the add-on packages it finds
75 in the main source directory; this is the default behavior. You
76 may specify an explicit list of add-ons to use in LIST, separated
77 by spaces or commas (if you use spaces, remember to quote them from
78 the shell). Each add-on in LIST can be an absolute directory name
79 or can be a directory name relative to the main source directory,
80 or relative to the build directory (that is, the current working
81 directory). For example,
82 '--enable-add-ons=nptl,../glibc-libidn-VERSION'.
83
84'--enable-kernel=VERSION'
90d1d40b 85 This option is currently only useful on GNU/Linux systems. The
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86 VERSION parameter should have the form X.Y.Z and describes the
87 smallest version of the Linux kernel the generated library is
88 expected to support. The higher the VERSION number is, the less
89 compatibility code is added, and the faster the code gets.
90
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91'--with-binutils=DIRECTORY'
92 Use the binutils (assembler and linker) in 'DIRECTORY', not the
6736e93b 93 ones the C compiler would default to. You can use this option if
41aa20c2 94 the default binutils on your system cannot deal with all the
a8db092e 95 constructs in the GNU C Library. In that case, 'configure' will
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96 detect the problem and suppress these constructs, so that the
97 library will still be usable, but functionality may be lost--for
98 example, you can't build a shared libc with old binutils.
41aa20c2 99
a8db092e 100'--without-fp'
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101 Use this option if your computer lacks hardware floating-point
102 support and your operating system does not emulate an FPU.
103
a8db092e 104'--disable-shared'
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105 Don't build shared libraries even if it is possible. Not all
106 systems support shared libraries; you need ELF support and
107 (currently) the GNU linker.
41aa20c2 108
a8db092e 109'--disable-profile'
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110 Don't build libraries with profiling information. You may want to
111 use this option if you don't plan to do profiling.
41aa20c2 112
a8db092e 113'--enable-static-nss'
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114 Compile static versions of the NSS (Name Service Switch) libraries.
115 This is not recommended because it defeats the purpose of NSS; a
116 program linked statically with the NSS libraries cannot be
117 dynamically reconfigured to use a different name database.
118
a8db092e 119'--without-tls'
6736e93b 120 By default the C library is built with support for thread-local
a8db092e 121 storage if the used tools support it. By using '--without-tls'
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122 this can be prevented though there generally is no reason since it
123 creates compatibility problems.
124
a8db092e 125'--enable-hardcoded-path-in-tests'
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126 By default, dynamic tests are linked to run with the installed C
127 library. This option hardcodes the newly built C library path in
128 dynamic tests so that they can be invoked directly.
129
a8db092e 130'--enable-lock-elision=yes'
52dfbe13 131 Enable lock elision for pthread mutexes by default.
1717da59 132
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133'--enable-pt_chown'
134 The file 'pt_chown' is a helper binary for 'grantpt' (*note
135 Pseudo-Terminals: Allocation.) that is installed setuid root to fix
136 up pseudo-terminal ownership. It is not built by default because
137 systems using the Linux kernel are commonly built with the 'devpts'
138 filesystem enabled and mounted at '/dev/pts', which manages
139 pseudo-terminal ownership automatically. By using
140 '--enable-pt_chown', you may build 'pt_chown' and install it setuid
141 and owned by 'root'. The use of 'pt_chown' introduces additional
142 security risks to the system and you should enable it only if you
143 understand and accept those risks.
144
145'--disable-werror'
146 By default, the GNU C Library is built with '-Werror'. If you wish
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147 to build without this option (for example, if building with a newer
148 version of GCC than this version of the GNU C Library was tested
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149 with, so new warnings cause the build with '-Werror' to fail), you
150 can configure with '--disable-werror'.
151
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152'--disable-mathvec'
153 By default for x86_64, the GNU C Library is built with vector math
154 library. Use this option to disable vector math library.
155
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156'--build=BUILD-SYSTEM'
157'--host=HOST-SYSTEM'
158 These options are for cross-compiling. If you specify both options
159 and BUILD-SYSTEM is different from HOST-SYSTEM, 'configure' will
160 prepare to cross-compile the GNU C Library from BUILD-SYSTEM to be
161 used on HOST-SYSTEM. You'll probably need the '--with-headers'
162 option too, and you may have to override CONFIGURE's selection of
163 the compiler and/or binutils.
164
165 If you only specify '--host', 'configure' will prepare for a native
166 compile but use what you specify instead of guessing what your
167 system is. This is most useful to change the CPU submodel. For
168 example, if 'configure' guesses your machine as 'i686-pc-linux-gnu'
169 but you want to compile a library for 586es, give
170 '--host=i586-pc-linux-gnu' or just '--host=i586-linux' and add the
171 appropriate compiler flags ('-mcpu=i586' will do the trick) to
ad1b5f19 172 CFLAGS.
1792d4db 173
a8db092e 174 If you specify just '--build', 'configure' will get confused.
41aa20c2 175
a8db092e 176'--with-pkgversion=VERSION'
8b748aed 177 Specify a description, possibly including a build number or build
a8db092e 178 date, of the binaries being built, to be included in '--version'
8b748aed 179 output from programs installed with the GNU C Library. For
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180 example, '--with-pkgversion='FooBar GNU/Linux glibc build 123''.
181 The default value is 'GNU libc'.
8b748aed 182
a8db092e 183'--with-bugurl=URL'
8b748aed 184 Specify the URL that users should visit if they wish to report a
a8db092e 185 bug, to be included in '--help' output from programs installed with
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186 the GNU C Library. The default value refers to the main
187 bug-reporting information for the GNU C Library.
188
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189 To build the library and related programs, type 'make'. This will
190produce a lot of output, some of which may look like errors from 'make'
191but isn't. Look for error messages from 'make' containing '***'. Those
192indicate that something is seriously wrong.
41aa20c2 193
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194 The compilation process can take a long time, depending on the
195configuration and the speed of your machine. Some complex modules may
196take a very long time to compile, as much as several minutes on slower
197machines. Do not panic if the compiler appears to hang.
00c1176b 198
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199 If you want to run a parallel make, simply pass the '-j' option with
200an appropriate numeric parameter to 'make'. You need a recent GNU
201'make' version, though.
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202
203 To build and run test programs which exercise some of the library
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204facilities, type 'make check'. If it does not complete successfully, do
205not use the built library, and report a bug after verifying that the
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206problem is not already known. *Note Reporting Bugs::, for instructions
207on reporting bugs. Note that some of the tests assume they are not
a8db092e 208being run by 'root'. We recommend you compile and test the GNU C
1f77f049 209Library as an unprivileged user.
41aa20c2 210
8d4b5a8a 211 Before reporting bugs make sure there is no problem with your system.
6736e93b 212The tests (and later installation) use some pre-existing files of the
a8db092e 213system such as '/etc/passwd', '/etc/nsswitch.conf' and others. These
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214files must all contain correct and sensible content.
215
a8db092e 216 Normally, 'make check' will run all the tests before reporting all
d6fe5e58 217problems found and exiting with error status if any problems occurred.
a8db092e 218You can specify 'stop-on-test-failure=y' when running 'make check' to
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219make the test run stop and exit with an error status immediately when a
220failure occurs.
221
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222 To format the 'GNU C Library Reference Manual' for printing, type
223'make dvi'. You need a working TeX installation to do this. The
224distribution builds the on-line formatted version of the manual, as Info
225files, as part of the build process. You can build them manually with
226'make info'.
1792d4db 227
c0389ee4 228 The library has a number of special-purpose configuration parameters
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229which you can find in 'Makeconfig'. These can be overwritten with the
230file 'configparms'. To change them, create a 'configparms' in your
231build directory and add values as appropriate for your system. The file
232is included and parsed by 'make' and has to follow the conventions for
233makefiles.
c0389ee4 234
1f77f049 235 It is easy to configure the GNU C Library for cross-compilation by
a8db092e 236setting a few variables in 'configparms'. Set 'CC' to the
c0389ee4 237cross-compiler for the target you configured the library for; it is
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238important to use this same 'CC' value when running 'configure', like
239this: 'CC=TARGET-gcc configure TARGET'. Set 'BUILD_CC' to the compiler
6736e93b 240to use for programs run on the build system as part of compiling the
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241library. You may need to set 'AR' to cross-compiling versions of 'ar'
242if the native tools are not configured to work with object files for the
243target you configured for. When cross-compiling the GNU C Library, it
244may be tested using 'make check
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245test-wrapper="SRCDIR/scripts/cross-test-ssh.sh HOSTNAME"', where SRCDIR
246is the absolute directory name for the main source directory and
247HOSTNAME is the host name of a system that can run the newly built
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248binaries of the GNU C Library. The source and build directories must be
249visible at the same locations on both the build system and HOSTNAME.
c0389ee4 250
a8db092e 251 In general, when testing the GNU C Library, 'test-wrapper' may be set
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252to the name and arguments of any program to run newly built binaries.
253This program must preserve the arguments to the binary being run, its
8540f6d2 254working directory and the standard input, output and error file
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255descriptors. If 'TEST-WRAPPER env' will not work to run a program with
256environment variables set, then 'test-wrapper-env' must be set to a
8540f6d2 257program that runs a newly built program with environment variable
a8db092e 258assignments in effect, those assignments being specified as 'VAR=VALUE'
8540f6d2 259before the name of the program to be run. If multiple assignments to
a8db092e 260the same variable are specified, the last assignment specified must take
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261precedence. Similarly, if 'TEST-WRAPPER env -i' will not work to run a
262program with an environment completely empty of variables except those
263directly assigned, then 'test-wrapper-env-only' must be set; its use has
264the same syntax as 'test-wrapper-env', the only difference in its
265semantics being starting with an empty set of environment variables
266rather than the ambient set.
0eb69512 267
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268Installing the C Library
269========================
41aa20c2 270
80ed68b7 271To install the library and its header files, and the Info files of the
a8db092e 272manual, type 'make install'. This will build things, if necessary,
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273before installing them; however, you should still compile everything
274first. If you are installing the GNU C Library as your primary C
275library, we recommend that you shut the system down to single-user mode
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276first, and reboot afterward. This minimizes the risk of breaking things
277when the library changes out from underneath.
1792d4db 278
a8db092e 279 'make install' will do the entire job of upgrading from a previous
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280installation of the GNU C Library version 2.x. There may sometimes be
281headers left behind from the previous installation, but those are
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282generally harmless. If you want to avoid leaving headers behind you can
283do things in the following order.
c0389ee4 284
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285 You must first build the library ('make'), optionally check it ('make
286check'), switch the include directories and then install ('make
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287install'). The steps must be done in this order. Not moving the
288directory before install will result in an unusable mixture of header
289files from both libraries, but configuring, building, and checking the
290library requires the ability to compile and run programs against the old
a8db092e 291library. The new '/usr/include', after switching the include
02c4bbad 292directories and before installing the library should contain the Linux
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293headers, but nothing else. If you do this, you will need to restore any
294headers from libraries other than the GNU C Library yourself after
1f77f049 295installing the library.
c0389ee4 296
1f77f049 297 You can install the GNU C Library somewhere other than where you
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298configured it to go by setting the 'DESTDIR' GNU standard make variable
299on the command line for 'make install'. The value of this variable is
1f77f049 300prepended to all the paths for installation. This is useful when
a8db092e 301setting up a chroot environment or preparing a binary distribution. The
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302directory should be specified with an absolute file name. Installing
303with the 'prefix' and 'exec_prefix' GNU standard make variables set is
304not supported.
1792d4db 305
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306 The GNU C Library includes a daemon called 'nscd', which you may or
307may not want to run. 'nscd' caches name service lookups; it can
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308dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as
309well.
1792d4db 310
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311 One auxiliary program, '/usr/libexec/pt_chown', is installed setuid
312'root' if the '--enable-pt_chown' configuration option is used. This
313program is invoked by the 'grantpt' function; it sets the permissions on
314a pseudoterminal so it can be used by the calling process. If you are
315using a Linux kernel with the 'devpts' filesystem enabled and mounted at
316'/dev/pts', you don't need this program.
41aa20c2 317
bd952512 318 After installation you might want to configure the timezone and
1f77f049 319locale installation of your system. The GNU C Library comes with a
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320locale database which gets configured with 'localedef'. For example, to
321set up a German locale with name 'de_DE', simply issue the command
322'localedef -i de_DE -f ISO-8859-1 de_DE'. To configure all locales that
323are supported by the GNU C Library, you can issue from your build
324directory the command 'make localedata/install-locales'.
325
326 To configure the locally used timezone, set the 'TZ' environment
327variable. The script 'tzselect' helps you to select the right value.
328As an example, for Germany, 'tzselect' would tell you to use
329'TZ='Europe/Berlin''. For a system wide installation (the given paths
330are for an installation with '--prefix=/usr'), link the timezone file
331which is in '/usr/share/zoneinfo' to the file '/etc/localtime'. For
332Germany, you might execute 'ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
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333/etc/localtime'.
334
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335Recommended Tools for Compilation
336=================================
41aa20c2 337
80ed68b7 338We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to
1f77f049 339build the GNU C Library:
41aa20c2 340
a8db092e 341 * GNU 'make' 3.79 or newer
41aa20c2 342
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343 You need the latest version of GNU 'make'. Modifying the GNU C
344 Library to work with other 'make' programs would be so difficult
345 that we recommend you port GNU 'make' instead. *Really.* We
346 recommend GNU 'make' version 3.79. All earlier versions have
6736e93b 347 severe bugs or lack features.
41aa20c2 348
4863355a 349 * GCC 4.6 or newer
0e7727f7 350
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351 GCC 4.6 or higher is required. In general it is recommended to use
352 the newest version of the compiler that is known to work for
353 building the GNU C Library, as newer compilers usually produce
04cb913d 354 better code. As of release time, GCC 4.9.2 is the newest compiler
4863355a 355 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
91ea72b7 356
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357 You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that use
358 the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 359
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360 Check the FAQ for any special compiler issues on particular
361 platforms.
5713a71e 362
a8db092e 363 * GNU 'binutils' 2.22 or later
41aa20c2 364
a8db092e 365 You must use GNU 'binutils' (as and ld) to build the GNU C Library.
7a49a7d5 366 No other assembler or linker has the necessary functionality at the
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367 moment. As of release time, GNU 'binutils' 2.25 is the newest
368 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 369
a8db092e 370 * GNU 'texinfo' 4.7 or later
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371
372 To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you
a8db092e 373 need this version of the 'texinfo' package. Earlier versions do
41aa20c2 374 not understand all the tags used in the document, and the
1792d4db 375 installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works
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376 differently. As of release time, 'texinfo' 5.2 is the newest
377 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 378
a8db092e 379 * GNU 'awk' 3.1.2, or higher
00c1176b 380
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381 'awk' is used in several places to generate files. Some 'gawk'
382 extensions are used, including the 'asorti' function, which was
383 introduced in version 3.1.2 of 'gawk'.
41aa20c2 384
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385 * Perl 5
386
387 Perl is not required, but it is used if present to test the
388 installation. We may decide to use it elsewhere in the future.
41aa20c2 389
a8db092e 390 * GNU 'sed' 3.02 or newer
c0389ee4 391
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392 'Sed' is used in several places to generate files. Most scripts
393 work with any version of 'sed'. The known exception is the script
394 'po2test.sed' in the 'intl' subdirectory which is used to generate
395 'msgs.h' for the test suite. This script works correctly only with
396 GNU 'sed' 3.02. If you like to run the test suite, you should
397 definitely upgrade 'sed'.
c0389ee4 398
a8db092e 399If you change any of the 'configure.ac' files you will also need
0cc70fcf 400
a8db092e 401 * GNU 'autoconf' 2.69 (exactly)
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402
403and if you change any of the message translation files you will need
404
a8db092e 405 * GNU 'gettext' 0.10.36 or later
41aa20c2 406
a8db092e 407If you wish to regenerate the 'yacc' parser code in the 'intl'
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408subdirectory you will need
409
a8db092e 410 * GNU 'bison' 2.7 or later
cc8623f1 411
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412You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using
413patches, although we try to avoid this.
414
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415Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems
416=====================================
80ed68b7 417
a7a93d50 418If you are installing the GNU C Library on GNU/Linux systems, you need
d0f5b3f8 419to have the header files from a 2.6.32 or newer kernel around for
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420reference. These headers must be installed using 'make
421headers_install'; the headers present in the kernel source directory are
422not suitable for direct use by the GNU C Library. You do not need to
423use that kernel, just have its headers installed where the GNU C Library
424can access them, referred to here as INSTALL-DIRECTORY. The easiest way
425to do this is to unpack it in a directory such as
426'/usr/src/linux-VERSION'. In that directory, run 'make headers_install
1f77f049 427INSTALL_HDR_PATH=INSTALL-DIRECTORY'. Finally, configure the GNU C
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428Library with the option '--with-headers=INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. Use
429the most recent kernel you can get your hands on. (If you are
1f77f049 430cross-compiling the GNU C Library, you need to specify
a8db092e 431'ARCH=ARCHITECTURE' in the 'make headers_install' command, where
1f77f049 432ARCHITECTURE is the architecture name used by the Linux kernel, such as
a8db092e 433'x86' or 'powerpc'.)
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434
435 After installing the GNU C Library, you may need to remove or rename
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436directories such as '/usr/include/linux' and '/usr/include/asm', and
437replace them with copies of directories such as 'linux' and 'asm' from
438'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. All directories present in
439'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include' should be copied, except that the GNU C
440Library provides its own version of '/usr/include/scsi'; the files
441provided by the kernel should be copied without replacing those provided
442by the GNU C Library. The 'linux', 'asm' and 'asm-generic' directories
443are required to compile programs using the GNU C Library; the other
444directories describe interfaces to the kernel but are not required if
445not compiling programs using those interfaces. You do not need to copy
446kernel headers if you did not specify an alternate kernel header source
447using '--with-headers'.
1f77f049 448
a7a93d50 449 The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for GNU/Linux systems expects some
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450components of the GNU C Library installation to be in '/lib' and some in
451'/usr/lib'. This is handled automatically if you configure the GNU C
452Library with '--prefix=/usr'. If you set some other prefix or allow it
453to default to '/usr/local', then all the components are installed there.
1792d4db 454
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455Reporting Bugs
456==============
41aa20c2 457
1f77f049 458There are probably bugs in the GNU C Library. There are certainly
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459errors and omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get
460fixed. If you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will
461remain unfixed for all eternity, if not longer.
462
bd952512 463 It is a good idea to verify that the problem has not already been
a8db092e 464reported. Bugs are documented in two places: The file 'BUGS' describes
8b748aed 465a number of well known bugs and the central GNU C Library bug tracking
a8db092e 466system has a WWW interface at <http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/>. The
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467WWW interface gives you access to open and closed reports. A closed
468report normally includes a patch or a hint on solving the problem.
6736e93b 469
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470 To report a bug, first you must find it. With any luck, this will be
471the hard part. Once you've found a bug, make sure it's really a bug. A
472good way to do this is to see if the GNU C Library behaves the same way
473some other C library does. If so, probably you are wrong and the
474libraries are right (but not necessarily). If not, one of the libraries
475is probably wrong. It might not be the GNU C Library. Many historical
476Unix C libraries permit things that we don't, such as closing a file
477twice.
1792d4db 478
1f77f049 479 If you think you have found some way in which the GNU C Library does
1792d4db 480not conform to the ISO and POSIX standards (*note Standards and
c0389ee4 481Portability::), that is definitely a bug. Report it!
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482
483 Once you're sure you've found a bug, try to narrow it down to the
484smallest test case that reproduces the problem. In the case of a C
485library, you really only need to narrow it down to one library function
486call, if possible. This should not be too difficult.
487
488 The final step when you have a simple test case is to report the bug.
a8db092e 489Do this at <http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
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490
491 If you are not sure how a function should behave, and this manual
492doesn't tell you, that's a bug in the manual. Report that too! If the
493function's behavior disagrees with the manual, then either the library
494or the manual has a bug, so report the disagreement. If you find any
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495errors or omissions in this manual, please report them to the bug
496database. If you refer to specific sections of the manual, please
497include the section names for easier identification.