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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
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130'--disable-timezone-tools'
131 By default, timezone related utilities ('zic', 'zdump', and
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132 'tzselect') are installed with the GNU C Library. If you are
133 building these independently (e.g. by using the 'tzcode' package),
134 then this option will allow disabling the install of these.
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135
136 Note that you need to make sure the external tools are kept in sync
137 with the versions that the GNU C Library expects as the data
138 formats may change over time. Consult the 'timezone' subdirectory
139 for more details.
140
a8db092e 141'--enable-lock-elision=yes'
52dfbe13 142 Enable lock elision for pthread mutexes by default.
1717da59 143
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144'--enable-pt_chown'
145 The file 'pt_chown' is a helper binary for 'grantpt' (*note
146 Pseudo-Terminals: Allocation.) that is installed setuid root to fix
147 up pseudo-terminal ownership. It is not built by default because
148 systems using the Linux kernel are commonly built with the 'devpts'
149 filesystem enabled and mounted at '/dev/pts', which manages
150 pseudo-terminal ownership automatically. By using
151 '--enable-pt_chown', you may build 'pt_chown' and install it setuid
152 and owned by 'root'. The use of 'pt_chown' introduces additional
153 security risks to the system and you should enable it only if you
154 understand and accept those risks.
155
156'--disable-werror'
157 By default, the GNU C Library is built with '-Werror'. If you wish
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158 to build without this option (for example, if building with a newer
159 version of GCC than this version of the GNU C Library was tested
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160 with, so new warnings cause the build with '-Werror' to fail), you
161 can configure with '--disable-werror'.
162
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163'--disable-mathvec'
164 By default for x86_64, the GNU C Library is built with vector math
165 library. Use this option to disable vector math library.
166
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167'--build=BUILD-SYSTEM'
168'--host=HOST-SYSTEM'
169 These options are for cross-compiling. If you specify both options
170 and BUILD-SYSTEM is different from HOST-SYSTEM, 'configure' will
171 prepare to cross-compile the GNU C Library from BUILD-SYSTEM to be
172 used on HOST-SYSTEM. You'll probably need the '--with-headers'
173 option too, and you may have to override CONFIGURE's selection of
174 the compiler and/or binutils.
175
176 If you only specify '--host', 'configure' will prepare for a native
177 compile but use what you specify instead of guessing what your
178 system is. This is most useful to change the CPU submodel. For
179 example, if 'configure' guesses your machine as 'i686-pc-linux-gnu'
180 but you want to compile a library for 586es, give
181 '--host=i586-pc-linux-gnu' or just '--host=i586-linux' and add the
182 appropriate compiler flags ('-mcpu=i586' will do the trick) to
ad1b5f19 183 CFLAGS.
1792d4db 184
a8db092e 185 If you specify just '--build', 'configure' will get confused.
41aa20c2 186
a8db092e 187'--with-pkgversion=VERSION'
8b748aed 188 Specify a description, possibly including a build number or build
a8db092e 189 date, of the binaries being built, to be included in '--version'
8b748aed 190 output from programs installed with the GNU C Library. For
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191 example, '--with-pkgversion='FooBar GNU/Linux glibc build 123''.
192 The default value is 'GNU libc'.
8b748aed 193
a8db092e 194'--with-bugurl=URL'
8b748aed 195 Specify the URL that users should visit if they wish to report a
a8db092e 196 bug, to be included in '--help' output from programs installed with
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197 the GNU C Library. The default value refers to the main
198 bug-reporting information for the GNU C Library.
199
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200 To build the library and related programs, type 'make'. This will
201produce a lot of output, some of which may look like errors from 'make'
202but isn't. Look for error messages from 'make' containing '***'. Those
203indicate that something is seriously wrong.
41aa20c2 204
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205 The compilation process can take a long time, depending on the
206configuration and the speed of your machine. Some complex modules may
207take a very long time to compile, as much as several minutes on slower
208machines. Do not panic if the compiler appears to hang.
00c1176b 209
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210 If you want to run a parallel make, simply pass the '-j' option with
211an appropriate numeric parameter to 'make'. You need a recent GNU
212'make' version, though.
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213
214 To build and run test programs which exercise some of the library
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215facilities, type 'make check'. If it does not complete successfully, do
216not use the built library, and report a bug after verifying that the
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217problem is not already known. *Note Reporting Bugs::, for instructions
218on reporting bugs. Note that some of the tests assume they are not
a8db092e 219being run by 'root'. We recommend you compile and test the GNU C
1f77f049 220Library as an unprivileged user.
41aa20c2 221
8d4b5a8a 222 Before reporting bugs make sure there is no problem with your system.
6736e93b 223The tests (and later installation) use some pre-existing files of the
a8db092e 224system such as '/etc/passwd', '/etc/nsswitch.conf' and others. These
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225files must all contain correct and sensible content.
226
a8db092e 227 Normally, 'make check' will run all the tests before reporting all
d6fe5e58 228problems found and exiting with error status if any problems occurred.
a8db092e 229You can specify 'stop-on-test-failure=y' when running 'make check' to
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230make the test run stop and exit with an error status immediately when a
231failure occurs.
232
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233 To format the 'GNU C Library Reference Manual' for printing, type
234'make dvi'. You need a working TeX installation to do this. The
235distribution builds the on-line formatted version of the manual, as Info
236files, as part of the build process. You can build them manually with
237'make info'.
1792d4db 238
c0389ee4 239 The library has a number of special-purpose configuration parameters
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240which you can find in 'Makeconfig'. These can be overwritten with the
241file 'configparms'. To change them, create a 'configparms' in your
242build directory and add values as appropriate for your system. The file
243is included and parsed by 'make' and has to follow the conventions for
244makefiles.
c0389ee4 245
1f77f049 246 It is easy to configure the GNU C Library for cross-compilation by
a8db092e 247setting a few variables in 'configparms'. Set 'CC' to the
c0389ee4 248cross-compiler for the target you configured the library for; it is
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249important to use this same 'CC' value when running 'configure', like
250this: 'CC=TARGET-gcc configure TARGET'. Set 'BUILD_CC' to the compiler
6736e93b 251to use for programs run on the build system as part of compiling the
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252library. You may need to set 'AR' to cross-compiling versions of 'ar'
253if the native tools are not configured to work with object files for the
254target you configured for. When cross-compiling the GNU C Library, it
255may be tested using 'make check
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256test-wrapper="SRCDIR/scripts/cross-test-ssh.sh HOSTNAME"', where SRCDIR
257is the absolute directory name for the main source directory and
258HOSTNAME is the host name of a system that can run the newly built
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259binaries of the GNU C Library. The source and build directories must be
260visible at the same locations on both the build system and HOSTNAME.
c0389ee4 261
a8db092e 262 In general, when testing the GNU C Library, 'test-wrapper' may be set
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263to the name and arguments of any program to run newly built binaries.
264This program must preserve the arguments to the binary being run, its
8540f6d2 265working directory and the standard input, output and error file
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266descriptors. If 'TEST-WRAPPER env' will not work to run a program with
267environment variables set, then 'test-wrapper-env' must be set to a
8540f6d2 268program that runs a newly built program with environment variable
a8db092e 269assignments in effect, those assignments being specified as 'VAR=VALUE'
8540f6d2 270before the name of the program to be run. If multiple assignments to
a8db092e 271the same variable are specified, the last assignment specified must take
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272precedence. Similarly, if 'TEST-WRAPPER env -i' will not work to run a
273program with an environment completely empty of variables except those
274directly assigned, then 'test-wrapper-env-only' must be set; its use has
275the same syntax as 'test-wrapper-env', the only difference in its
276semantics being starting with an empty set of environment variables
277rather than the ambient set.
0eb69512 278
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279Installing the C Library
280========================
41aa20c2 281
80ed68b7 282To install the library and its header files, and the Info files of the
a8db092e 283manual, type 'make install'. This will build things, if necessary,
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284before installing them; however, you should still compile everything
285first. If you are installing the GNU C Library as your primary C
286library, we recommend that you shut the system down to single-user mode
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287first, and reboot afterward. This minimizes the risk of breaking things
288when the library changes out from underneath.
1792d4db 289
a8db092e 290 'make install' will do the entire job of upgrading from a previous
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291installation of the GNU C Library version 2.x. There may sometimes be
292headers left behind from the previous installation, but those are
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293generally harmless. If you want to avoid leaving headers behind you can
294do things in the following order.
c0389ee4 295
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296 You must first build the library ('make'), optionally check it ('make
297check'), switch the include directories and then install ('make
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298install'). The steps must be done in this order. Not moving the
299directory before install will result in an unusable mixture of header
300files from both libraries, but configuring, building, and checking the
301library requires the ability to compile and run programs against the old
a8db092e 302library. The new '/usr/include', after switching the include
02c4bbad 303directories and before installing the library should contain the Linux
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304headers, but nothing else. If you do this, you will need to restore any
305headers from libraries other than the GNU C Library yourself after
1f77f049 306installing the library.
c0389ee4 307
1f77f049 308 You can install the GNU C Library somewhere other than where you
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309configured it to go by setting the 'DESTDIR' GNU standard make variable
310on the command line for 'make install'. The value of this variable is
1f77f049 311prepended to all the paths for installation. This is useful when
a8db092e 312setting up a chroot environment or preparing a binary distribution. The
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313directory should be specified with an absolute file name. Installing
314with the 'prefix' and 'exec_prefix' GNU standard make variables set is
315not supported.
1792d4db 316
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317 The GNU C Library includes a daemon called 'nscd', which you may or
318may not want to run. 'nscd' caches name service lookups; it can
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319dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as
320well.
1792d4db 321
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322 One auxiliary program, '/usr/libexec/pt_chown', is installed setuid
323'root' if the '--enable-pt_chown' configuration option is used. This
324program is invoked by the 'grantpt' function; it sets the permissions on
325a pseudoterminal so it can be used by the calling process. If you are
326using a Linux kernel with the 'devpts' filesystem enabled and mounted at
327'/dev/pts', you don't need this program.
41aa20c2 328
bd952512 329 After installation you might want to configure the timezone and
1f77f049 330locale installation of your system. The GNU C Library comes with a
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331locale database which gets configured with 'localedef'. For example, to
332set up a German locale with name 'de_DE', simply issue the command
333'localedef -i de_DE -f ISO-8859-1 de_DE'. To configure all locales that
334are supported by the GNU C Library, you can issue from your build
335directory the command 'make localedata/install-locales'.
336
337 To configure the locally used timezone, set the 'TZ' environment
338variable. The script 'tzselect' helps you to select the right value.
339As an example, for Germany, 'tzselect' would tell you to use
340'TZ='Europe/Berlin''. For a system wide installation (the given paths
341are for an installation with '--prefix=/usr'), link the timezone file
342which is in '/usr/share/zoneinfo' to the file '/etc/localtime'. For
343Germany, you might execute 'ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
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344/etc/localtime'.
345
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346Recommended Tools for Compilation
347=================================
41aa20c2 348
80ed68b7 349We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to
1f77f049 350build the GNU C Library:
41aa20c2 351
a8db092e 352 * GNU 'make' 3.79 or newer
41aa20c2 353
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354 You need the latest version of GNU 'make'. Modifying the GNU C
355 Library to work with other 'make' programs would be so difficult
356 that we recommend you port GNU 'make' instead. *Really.* We
357 recommend GNU 'make' version 3.79. All earlier versions have
6736e93b 358 severe bugs or lack features.
41aa20c2 359
b08b4218 360 * GCC 4.7 or newer
0e7727f7 361
b08b4218 362 GCC 4.7 or higher is required. In general it is recommended to use
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363 the newest version of the compiler that is known to work for
364 building the GNU C Library, as newer compilers usually produce
2c8f75f7 365 better code. As of release time, GCC 5.3 is the newest compiler
4863355a 366 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
91ea72b7 367
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368 You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that use
369 the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 370
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371 Check the FAQ for any special compiler issues on particular
372 platforms.
5713a71e 373
a8db092e 374 * GNU 'binutils' 2.22 or later
41aa20c2 375
a8db092e 376 You must use GNU 'binutils' (as and ld) to build the GNU C Library.
7a49a7d5 377 No other assembler or linker has the necessary functionality at the
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378 moment. As of release time, GNU 'binutils' 2.25 is the newest
379 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 380
a8db092e 381 * GNU 'texinfo' 4.7 or later
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382
383 To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you
a8db092e 384 need this version of the 'texinfo' package. Earlier versions do
41aa20c2 385 not understand all the tags used in the document, and the
1792d4db 386 installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works
2c8f75f7 387 differently. As of release time, 'texinfo' 6.0 is the newest
04cb913d 388 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 389
a8db092e 390 * GNU 'awk' 3.1.2, or higher
00c1176b 391
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392 'awk' is used in several places to generate files. Some 'gawk'
393 extensions are used, including the 'asorti' function, which was
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394 introduced in version 3.1.2 of 'gawk'. As of release time, 'gawk'
395 version 4.1.3 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C
396 Library.
41aa20c2 397
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398 * Perl 5
399
400 Perl is not required, but it is used if present to test the
401 installation. We may decide to use it elsewhere in the future.
41aa20c2 402
a8db092e 403 * GNU 'sed' 3.02 or newer
c0389ee4 404
a8db092e 405 'Sed' is used in several places to generate files. Most scripts
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406 work with any version of 'sed'. As of release time, 'sed' version
407 4.2.2 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
c0389ee4 408
a8db092e 409If you change any of the 'configure.ac' files you will also need
0cc70fcf 410
a8db092e 411 * GNU 'autoconf' 2.69 (exactly)
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412
413and if you change any of the message translation files you will need
414
a8db092e 415 * GNU 'gettext' 0.10.36 or later
41aa20c2 416
a8db092e 417If you wish to regenerate the 'yacc' parser code in the 'intl'
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418subdirectory you will need
419
a8db092e 420 * GNU 'bison' 2.7 or later
cc8623f1 421
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422You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using
423patches, although we try to avoid this.
424
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425Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems
426=====================================
80ed68b7 427
a7a93d50 428If you are installing the GNU C Library on GNU/Linux systems, you need
d0f5b3f8 429to have the header files from a 2.6.32 or newer kernel around for
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430reference. These headers must be installed using 'make
431headers_install'; the headers present in the kernel source directory are
432not suitable for direct use by the GNU C Library. You do not need to
433use that kernel, just have its headers installed where the GNU C Library
434can access them, referred to here as INSTALL-DIRECTORY. The easiest way
435to do this is to unpack it in a directory such as
436'/usr/src/linux-VERSION'. In that directory, run 'make headers_install
1f77f049 437INSTALL_HDR_PATH=INSTALL-DIRECTORY'. Finally, configure the GNU C
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438Library with the option '--with-headers=INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. Use
439the most recent kernel you can get your hands on. (If you are
1f77f049 440cross-compiling the GNU C Library, you need to specify
a8db092e 441'ARCH=ARCHITECTURE' in the 'make headers_install' command, where
1f77f049 442ARCHITECTURE is the architecture name used by the Linux kernel, such as
a8db092e 443'x86' or 'powerpc'.)
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444
445 After installing the GNU C Library, you may need to remove or rename
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446directories such as '/usr/include/linux' and '/usr/include/asm', and
447replace them with copies of directories such as 'linux' and 'asm' from
448'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. All directories present in
449'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include' should be copied, except that the GNU C
450Library provides its own version of '/usr/include/scsi'; the files
451provided by the kernel should be copied without replacing those provided
452by the GNU C Library. The 'linux', 'asm' and 'asm-generic' directories
453are required to compile programs using the GNU C Library; the other
454directories describe interfaces to the kernel but are not required if
455not compiling programs using those interfaces. You do not need to copy
456kernel headers if you did not specify an alternate kernel header source
457using '--with-headers'.
1f77f049 458
a7a93d50 459 The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for GNU/Linux systems expects some
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460components of the GNU C Library installation to be in '/lib' and some in
461'/usr/lib'. This is handled automatically if you configure the GNU C
462Library with '--prefix=/usr'. If you set some other prefix or allow it
463to default to '/usr/local', then all the components are installed there.
1792d4db 464
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465Reporting Bugs
466==============
41aa20c2 467
1f77f049 468There are probably bugs in the GNU C Library. There are certainly
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469errors and omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get
470fixed. If you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will
471remain unfixed for all eternity, if not longer.
472
bd952512 473 It is a good idea to verify that the problem has not already been
a8db092e 474reported. Bugs are documented in two places: The file 'BUGS' describes
8b748aed 475a number of well known bugs and the central GNU C Library bug tracking
a8db092e 476system has a WWW interface at <http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/>. The
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477WWW interface gives you access to open and closed reports. A closed
478report normally includes a patch or a hint on solving the problem.
6736e93b 479
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480 To report a bug, first you must find it. With any luck, this will be
481the hard part. Once you've found a bug, make sure it's really a bug. A
482good way to do this is to see if the GNU C Library behaves the same way
483some other C library does. If so, probably you are wrong and the
484libraries are right (but not necessarily). If not, one of the libraries
485is probably wrong. It might not be the GNU C Library. Many historical
486Unix C libraries permit things that we don't, such as closing a file
487twice.
1792d4db 488
1f77f049 489 If you think you have found some way in which the GNU C Library does
1792d4db 490not conform to the ISO and POSIX standards (*note Standards and
c0389ee4 491Portability::), that is definitely a bug. Report it!
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492
493 Once you're sure you've found a bug, try to narrow it down to the
494smallest test case that reproduces the problem. In the case of a C
495library, you really only need to narrow it down to one library function
496call, if possible. This should not be too difficult.
497
498 The final step when you have a simple test case is to report the bug.
a8db092e 499Do this at <http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
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500
501 If you are not sure how a function should behave, and this manual
502doesn't tell you, that's a bug in the manual. Report that too! If the
503function's behavior disagrees with the manual, then either the library
504or the manual has a bug, so report the disagreement. If you find any
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505errors or omissions in this manual, please report them to the bug
506database. If you refer to specific sections of the manual, please
507include the section names for easier identification.