]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/glibc.git/blame - INSTALL
Remove --enable-obsolete-nsl configure flag
[thirdparty/glibc.git] / INSTALL
CommitLineData
c9dc3f62
RM
1Installing the GNU C Library
2****************************
41aa20c2 3
6a3951a0 4Before you do anything else, you should read the FAQ at
7b0fb870
SP
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::,
00c1176b
UD
11below.
12
1f77f049
JM
13Configuring and compiling the GNU C Library
14===========================================
00c1176b 15
1f77f049
JM
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
a8db092e
CD
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
00c1176b
UD
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
e6bdb741
AJ
29directory, the compilation may need to create or modify files and
30directories in the source directory.
f05f5ca3 31
a8db092e
CD
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
db9881ec
JM
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
a8db092e
CD
61 subdirectories of 'DIRECTORY'. The default is to the '--prefix'
62 directory if that option is specified, or '/usr/local' otherwise.
00c1176b 63
a8db092e
CD
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.
00c1176b
UD
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.
1f77f049
JM
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
d2830ba4
UD
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
a8db092e
CD
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
bd952512
UD
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
6413fcde
FW
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
a8db092e 109'--disable-shared'
bd952512
UD
110 Don't build shared libraries even if it is possible. Not all
111 systems support shared libraries; you need ELF support and
112 (currently) the GNU linker.
41aa20c2 113
9d7a3741
L
114'--enable-static-pie'
115 Enable static position independent executable (static PIE) support.
116 Static PIE is similar to static executable, but can be loaded at
117 any address without help from a dynamic linker. All static
118 programs as well as static tests are built as static PIE, except
119 for those marked with no-pie. The resulting glibc can be used with
120 the GCC option, -static-pie, which is available with GCC 8 or
126adc89
L
121 above, to create static PIE. This option also implies that glibc
122 programs and tests are created as dynamic position independent
123 executables (PIE) by default.
9d7a3741 124
e6c69509 125'--enable-cet'
9e38f455 126'--enable-cet=permissive'
e6c69509 127 Enable Intel Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) support.
9e38f455
L
128 When the GNU C Library is built with '--enable-cet' or
129 '--enable-cet=permissive', the resulting library is protected with
130 indirect branch tracking (IBT) and shadow stack (SHSTK). When CET
131 is enabled, the GNU C Library is compatible with all existing
132 executables and shared libraries. This feature is currently
133 supported on i386, x86_64 and x32 with GCC 8 and binutils 2.29 or
134 later. Note that when CET is enabled, the GNU C Library requires
135 CPUs capable of multi-byte NOPs, like x86-64 processors as well as
136 Intel Pentium Pro or newer. With '--enable-cet', it is an error to
137 dlopen a non CET enabled shared library in CET enabled application.
138 With '--enable-cet=permissive', CET is disabled when dlopening a
139 non CET enabled shared library in CET enabled application.
e6c69509 140
e84bd851 141 NOTE: '--enable-cet' has been tested for i686, x86_64 and x32 on
9e38f455
L
142 non-CET processors. '--enable-cet' has been tested for i686,
143 x86_64 and x32 on CET processors.
e84bd851 144
a8db092e 145'--disable-profile'
00c1176b
UD
146 Don't build libraries with profiling information. You may want to
147 use this option if you don't plan to do profiling.
41aa20c2 148
a8db092e 149'--enable-static-nss'
00c1176b
UD
150 Compile static versions of the NSS (Name Service Switch) libraries.
151 This is not recommended because it defeats the purpose of NSS; a
152 program linked statically with the NSS libraries cannot be
153 dynamically reconfigured to use a different name database.
154
a8db092e 155'--enable-hardcoded-path-in-tests'
e98cdb38
CD
156 By default, dynamic tests are linked to run with the installed C
157 library. This option hardcodes the newly built C library path in
158 dynamic tests so that they can be invoked directly.
159
1cba4036
MF
160'--disable-timezone-tools'
161 By default, timezone related utilities ('zic', 'zdump', and
44f826e3
MF
162 'tzselect') are installed with the GNU C Library. If you are
163 building these independently (e.g. by using the 'tzcode' package),
164 then this option will allow disabling the install of these.
1cba4036
MF
165
166 Note that you need to make sure the external tools are kept in sync
167 with the versions that the GNU C Library expects as the data
168 formats may change over time. Consult the 'timezone' subdirectory
169 for more details.
170
03baef1c
NA
171'--enable-stack-protector'
172'--enable-stack-protector=strong'
173'--enable-stack-protector=all'
174 Compile the C library and all other parts of the glibc package
175 (including the threading and math libraries, NSS modules, and
176 transliteration modules) using the GCC '-fstack-protector',
177 '-fstack-protector-strong' or '-fstack-protector-all' options to
178 detect stack overruns. Only the dynamic linker and a small number
179 of routines called directly from assembler are excluded from this
180 protection.
181
2d6ab5df 182'--enable-bind-now'
94a4e9e4
FW
183 Disable lazy binding for installed shared objects and programs.
184 This provides additional security hardening because it enables full
185 RELRO and a read-only global offset table (GOT), at the cost of
186 slightly increased program load times.
2d6ab5df 187
a8db092e
CD
188'--enable-pt_chown'
189 The file 'pt_chown' is a helper binary for 'grantpt' (*note
190 Pseudo-Terminals: Allocation.) that is installed setuid root to fix
191 up pseudo-terminal ownership. It is not built by default because
192 systems using the Linux kernel are commonly built with the 'devpts'
193 filesystem enabled and mounted at '/dev/pts', which manages
194 pseudo-terminal ownership automatically. By using
195 '--enable-pt_chown', you may build 'pt_chown' and install it setuid
196 and owned by 'root'. The use of 'pt_chown' introduces additional
197 security risks to the system and you should enable it only if you
198 understand and accept those risks.
199
200'--disable-werror'
201 By default, the GNU C Library is built with '-Werror'. If you wish
a4ecc9eb
JM
202 to build without this option (for example, if building with a newer
203 version of GCC than this version of the GNU C Library was tested
a8db092e
CD
204 with, so new warnings cause the build with '-Werror' to fail), you
205 can configure with '--disable-werror'.
206
21933112 207'--disable-mathvec'
b55a155f
RJ
208 By default for x86_64, the GNU C Library is built with the vector
209 math library. Use this option to disable the vector math library.
21933112 210
67e58f39
SP
211'--enable-tunables'
212 Tunables support allows additional library parameters to be
2c0b90ab
SP
213 customized at runtime. This feature is enabled by default. This
214 option can take the following values:
6765d5d3
SP
215
216 'yes'
2c0b90ab
SP
217 This is the default if no option is passed to configure. This
218 enables tunables and selects the default frontend (currently
219 'valstring').
220
221 'no'
222 This option disables tunables.
6765d5d3
SP
223
224 'valstring'
225 This enables tunables and selects the 'valstring' frontend for
226 tunables. This frontend allows users to specify tunables as a
227 colon-separated list in a single environment variable
228 'GLIBC_TUNABLES'.
67e58f39 229
e69d994a
ZW
230'--disable-crypt'
231 Do not install the passphrase-hashing library 'libcrypt' or the
232 header file 'crypt.h'. 'unistd.h' will still declare the function
233 'crypt'. Using this option does not change the set of programs
234 that may need to be linked with '-lcrypt'; it only means that the
235 GNU C Library will not provide that library.
236
237 This option is for hackers and distributions experimenting with
238 independently-maintained implementations of libcrypt. It may
239 become the default in a future release.
240
d5c3fafc
DD
241'--disable-experimental-malloc'
242 By default, a per-thread cache is enabled in 'malloc'. While this
243 cache can be disabled on a per-application basis using tunables
244 (set glibc.malloc.tcache_count to zero), this option can be used to
245 remove it from the build completely.
246
a8db092e
CD
247'--build=BUILD-SYSTEM'
248'--host=HOST-SYSTEM'
249 These options are for cross-compiling. If you specify both options
250 and BUILD-SYSTEM is different from HOST-SYSTEM, 'configure' will
251 prepare to cross-compile the GNU C Library from BUILD-SYSTEM to be
252 used on HOST-SYSTEM. You'll probably need the '--with-headers'
253 option too, and you may have to override CONFIGURE's selection of
254 the compiler and/or binutils.
255
256 If you only specify '--host', 'configure' will prepare for a native
257 compile but use what you specify instead of guessing what your
258 system is. This is most useful to change the CPU submodel. For
259 example, if 'configure' guesses your machine as 'i686-pc-linux-gnu'
260 but you want to compile a library for 586es, give
261 '--host=i586-pc-linux-gnu' or just '--host=i586-linux' and add the
262 appropriate compiler flags ('-mcpu=i586' will do the trick) to
db9881ec 263 'CC'.
1792d4db 264
a8db092e 265 If you specify just '--build', 'configure' will get confused.
41aa20c2 266
a8db092e 267'--with-pkgversion=VERSION'
8b748aed 268 Specify a description, possibly including a build number or build
a8db092e 269 date, of the binaries being built, to be included in '--version'
8b748aed 270 output from programs installed with the GNU C Library. For
a8db092e
CD
271 example, '--with-pkgversion='FooBar GNU/Linux glibc build 123''.
272 The default value is 'GNU libc'.
8b748aed 273
a8db092e 274'--with-bugurl=URL'
8b748aed 275 Specify the URL that users should visit if they wish to report a
a8db092e 276 bug, to be included in '--help' output from programs installed with
8b748aed
JM
277 the GNU C Library. The default value refers to the main
278 bug-reporting information for the GNU C Library.
279
a8db092e
CD
280 To build the library and related programs, type 'make'. This will
281produce a lot of output, some of which may look like errors from 'make'
b55a155f
RJ
282but aren't. Look for error messages from 'make' containing '***'.
283Those indicate that something is seriously wrong.
41aa20c2 284
3858bf28
RM
285 The compilation process can take a long time, depending on the
286configuration and the speed of your machine. Some complex modules may
287take a very long time to compile, as much as several minutes on slower
288machines. Do not panic if the compiler appears to hang.
00c1176b 289
a8db092e
CD
290 If you want to run a parallel make, simply pass the '-j' option with
291an appropriate numeric parameter to 'make'. You need a recent GNU
292'make' version, though.
bd952512
UD
293
294 To build and run test programs which exercise some of the library
a8db092e
CD
295facilities, type 'make check'. If it does not complete successfully, do
296not use the built library, and report a bug after verifying that the
bd952512
UD
297problem is not already known. *Note Reporting Bugs::, for instructions
298on reporting bugs. Note that some of the tests assume they are not
a8db092e 299being run by 'root'. We recommend you compile and test the GNU C
1f77f049 300Library as an unprivileged user.
41aa20c2 301
8d4b5a8a 302 Before reporting bugs make sure there is no problem with your system.
6736e93b 303The tests (and later installation) use some pre-existing files of the
a8db092e 304system such as '/etc/passwd', '/etc/nsswitch.conf' and others. These
8d4b5a8a
UD
305files must all contain correct and sensible content.
306
a8db092e 307 Normally, 'make check' will run all the tests before reporting all
d6fe5e58 308problems found and exiting with error status if any problems occurred.
a8db092e 309You can specify 'stop-on-test-failure=y' when running 'make check' to
d6fe5e58
JM
310make the test run stop and exit with an error status immediately when a
311failure occurs.
312
a8db092e
CD
313 To format the 'GNU C Library Reference Manual' for printing, type
314'make dvi'. You need a working TeX installation to do this. The
315distribution builds the on-line formatted version of the manual, as Info
316files, as part of the build process. You can build them manually with
317'make info'.
1792d4db 318
c0389ee4 319 The library has a number of special-purpose configuration parameters
a8db092e
CD
320which you can find in 'Makeconfig'. These can be overwritten with the
321file 'configparms'. To change them, create a 'configparms' in your
322build directory and add values as appropriate for your system. The file
323is included and parsed by 'make' and has to follow the conventions for
324makefiles.
c0389ee4 325
1f77f049 326 It is easy to configure the GNU C Library for cross-compilation by
a8db092e 327setting a few variables in 'configparms'. Set 'CC' to the
c0389ee4 328cross-compiler for the target you configured the library for; it is
a8db092e 329important to use this same 'CC' value when running 'configure', like
db9881ec 330this: 'configure TARGET CC=TARGET-gcc'. Set 'BUILD_CC' to the compiler
6736e93b 331to use for programs run on the build system as part of compiling the
a8db092e
CD
332library. You may need to set 'AR' to cross-compiling versions of 'ar'
333if the native tools are not configured to work with object files for the
334target you configured for. When cross-compiling the GNU C Library, it
335may be tested using 'make check
df381762
JM
336test-wrapper="SRCDIR/scripts/cross-test-ssh.sh HOSTNAME"', where SRCDIR
337is the absolute directory name for the main source directory and
338HOSTNAME is the host name of a system that can run the newly built
a8db092e
CD
339binaries of the GNU C Library. The source and build directories must be
340visible at the same locations on both the build system and HOSTNAME.
c0389ee4 341
a8db092e 342 In general, when testing the GNU C Library, 'test-wrapper' may be set
0eb69512
JM
343to the name and arguments of any program to run newly built binaries.
344This program must preserve the arguments to the binary being run, its
8540f6d2 345working directory and the standard input, output and error file
a8db092e
CD
346descriptors. If 'TEST-WRAPPER env' will not work to run a program with
347environment variables set, then 'test-wrapper-env' must be set to a
8540f6d2 348program that runs a newly built program with environment variable
a8db092e 349assignments in effect, those assignments being specified as 'VAR=VALUE'
8540f6d2 350before the name of the program to be run. If multiple assignments to
a8db092e 351the same variable are specified, the last assignment specified must take
4acc27ed
RM
352precedence. Similarly, if 'TEST-WRAPPER env -i' will not work to run a
353program with an environment completely empty of variables except those
354directly assigned, then 'test-wrapper-env-only' must be set; its use has
355the same syntax as 'test-wrapper-env', the only difference in its
356semantics being starting with an empty set of environment variables
357rather than the ambient set.
0eb69512 358
c9dc3f62
RM
359Installing the C Library
360========================
41aa20c2 361
80ed68b7 362To install the library and its header files, and the Info files of the
a8db092e 363manual, type 'make install'. This will build things, if necessary,
686554bf
JM
364before installing them; however, you should still compile everything
365first. If you are installing the GNU C Library as your primary C
366library, we recommend that you shut the system down to single-user mode
a8db092e
CD
367first, and reboot afterward. This minimizes the risk of breaking things
368when the library changes out from underneath.
1792d4db 369
a8db092e 370 'make install' will do the entire job of upgrading from a previous
1f77f049
JM
371installation of the GNU C Library version 2.x. There may sometimes be
372headers left behind from the previous installation, but those are
a8db092e
CD
373generally harmless. If you want to avoid leaving headers behind you can
374do things in the following order.
c0389ee4 375
a8db092e
CD
376 You must first build the library ('make'), optionally check it ('make
377check'), switch the include directories and then install ('make
c0389ee4
AJ
378install'). The steps must be done in this order. Not moving the
379directory before install will result in an unusable mixture of header
380files from both libraries, but configuring, building, and checking the
381library requires the ability to compile and run programs against the old
a8db092e 382library. The new '/usr/include', after switching the include
02c4bbad 383directories and before installing the library should contain the Linux
a8db092e
CD
384headers, but nothing else. If you do this, you will need to restore any
385headers from libraries other than the GNU C Library yourself after
1f77f049 386installing the library.
c0389ee4 387
1f77f049 388 You can install the GNU C Library somewhere other than where you
a82a3db9
MS
389configured it to go by setting the 'DESTDIR' GNU standard make variable
390on the command line for 'make install'. The value of this variable is
1f77f049 391prepended to all the paths for installation. This is useful when
a8db092e 392setting up a chroot environment or preparing a binary distribution. The
a82a3db9
MS
393directory should be specified with an absolute file name. Installing
394with the 'prefix' and 'exec_prefix' GNU standard make variables set is
395not supported.
1792d4db 396
a8db092e
CD
397 The GNU C Library includes a daemon called 'nscd', which you may or
398may not want to run. 'nscd' caches name service lookups; it can
1f77f049
JM
399dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as
400well.
1792d4db 401
a8db092e
CD
402 One auxiliary program, '/usr/libexec/pt_chown', is installed setuid
403'root' if the '--enable-pt_chown' configuration option is used. This
404program is invoked by the 'grantpt' function; it sets the permissions on
405a pseudoterminal so it can be used by the calling process. If you are
406using a Linux kernel with the 'devpts' filesystem enabled and mounted at
407'/dev/pts', you don't need this program.
41aa20c2 408
08a5ee14
CD
409 After installation you should configure the timezone and install
410locales for your system. The time zone configuration ensures that your
411system time matches the time for your current timezone. The locales
412ensure that the display of information on your system matches the
413expectations of your language and geographic region.
414
415 The GNU C Library is able to use two kinds of localization
416information sources, the first is a locale database named
417'locale-archive' which is generally installed as
418'/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive'. The locale archive has the benefit of
419taking up less space and being very fast to load, but only if you plan
420to install sixty or more locales. If you plan to install one or two
421locales you can instead install individual locales into their self-named
422directories e.g. '/usr/lib/locale/en_US.utf8'. For example to install
423the German locale using the character set for UTF-8 with name 'de_DE'
424into the locale archive issue the command 'localedef -i de_DE -f UTF-8
425de_DE', and to install just the one locale issue the command 'localedef
426--no-archive -i de_DE -f UTF-8 de_DE'. To configure all locales that
a8db092e 427are supported by the GNU C Library, you can issue from your build
08a5ee14
CD
428directory the command 'make localedata/install-locales' to install all
429locales into the locale archive or 'make
430localedata/install-locale-files' to install all locales as files in the
431default configured locale installation directory (derived from
432'--prefix' or '--localedir'). To install into an alternative system
433root use 'DESTDIR' e.g. 'make localedata/install-locale-files
434DESTDIR=/opt/glibc', but note that this does not change the configured
435prefix.
a8db092e
CD
436
437 To configure the locally used timezone, set the 'TZ' environment
438variable. The script 'tzselect' helps you to select the right value.
439As an example, for Germany, 'tzselect' would tell you to use
440'TZ='Europe/Berlin''. For a system wide installation (the given paths
441are for an installation with '--prefix=/usr'), link the timezone file
442which is in '/usr/share/zoneinfo' to the file '/etc/localtime'. For
443Germany, you might execute 'ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
bd952512
UD
444/etc/localtime'.
445
c9dc3f62
RM
446Recommended Tools for Compilation
447=================================
41aa20c2 448
80ed68b7 449We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to
1f77f049 450build the GNU C Library:
41aa20c2 451
f2873d2d 452 * GNU 'make' 4.0 or newer
41aa20c2 453
f650932b
CD
454 As of relase time, GNU 'make' 4.2.1 is the newest verified to work
455 to build the GNU C Library.
456
4dcbbc3b 457 * GCC 6.2 or newer
0e7727f7 458
4dcbbc3b 459 GCC 6.2 or higher is required. In general it is recommended to use
4863355a
JM
460 the newest version of the compiler that is known to work for
461 building the GNU C Library, as newer compilers usually produce
df5919df 462 better code. As of release time, GCC 9.2.1 is the newest compiler
4863355a 463 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
91ea72b7 464
50545f5a
PM
465 For PowerPC 64-bits little-endian (powerpc64le), a GCC version with
466 support for '-mno-gnu-attribute', '-mabi=ieeelongdouble', and
5c7ccc29
PM
467 '-mabi=ibmlondouble' is required. Likewise, the compiler must also
468 support passing '-mlong-double-128' with the preceding options. As
469 of release, this implies GCC 7.4 and newer (excepting GCC 7.5.0,
470 see GCC PR94200). These additional features are required for
471 building the GNU C Library with support for IEEE long double.
50545f5a 472
022dfdce
SL
473 For multi-arch support it is recommended to use a GCC which has
474 been built with support for GNU indirect functions. This ensures
475 that correct debugging information is generated for functions
476 selected by IFUNC resolvers. This support can either be enabled by
477 configuring GCC with '--enable-gnu-indirect-function', or by
478 enabling it by default by setting 'default_gnu_indirect_function'
479 variable for a particular architecture in the GCC source file
480 'gcc/config.gcc'.
481
1f77f049
JM
482 You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that use
483 the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 484
90d1d40b
RM
485 Check the FAQ for any special compiler issues on particular
486 platforms.
5713a71e 487
073e8fa7 488 * GNU 'binutils' 2.25 or later
41aa20c2 489
a8db092e 490 You must use GNU 'binutils' (as and ld) to build the GNU C Library.
7a49a7d5 491 No other assembler or linker has the necessary functionality at the
df5919df 492 moment. As of release time, GNU 'binutils' 2.32 is the newest
04cb913d 493 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 494
3a0acbdc
PM
495 For PowerPC 64-bits little-endian (powerpc64le), 'objcopy' is
496 required to support '--update-section'. This option requires
497 binutils 2.26 or newer.
498
a8db092e 499 * GNU 'texinfo' 4.7 or later
41aa20c2
UD
500
501 To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you
a8db092e 502 need this version of the 'texinfo' package. Earlier versions do
41aa20c2 503 not understand all the tags used in the document, and the
1792d4db 504 installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works
e7124906 505 differently. As of release time, 'texinfo' 6.6 is the newest
04cb913d 506 verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 507
a8db092e 508 * GNU 'awk' 3.1.2, or higher
00c1176b 509
a8db092e
CD
510 'awk' is used in several places to generate files. Some 'gawk'
511 extensions are used, including the 'asorti' function, which was
2c8f75f7 512 introduced in version 3.1.2 of 'gawk'. As of release time, 'gawk'
df5919df 513 version 5.0.1 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C
2c8f75f7 514 Library.
41aa20c2 515
1faaf703
JB
516 * GNU 'bison' 2.7 or later
517
518 'bison' is used to generate the 'yacc' parser code in the 'intl'
df5919df 519 subdirectory. As of release time, 'bison' version 3.4.1 is the
93493119 520 newest verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
1faaf703 521
00c1176b
UD
522 * Perl 5
523
3c1622eb 524 Perl is not required, but if present it is used in some tests and
053c52b1 525 the 'mtrace' program, to build the GNU C Library manual. As of
df5919df 526 release time 'perl' version 5.30.1 is the newest verified to work
053c52b1 527 to build the GNU C Library.
41aa20c2 528
a8db092e 529 * GNU 'sed' 3.02 or newer
c0389ee4 530
a8db092e 531 'Sed' is used in several places to generate files. Most scripts
2c8f75f7 532 work with any version of 'sed'. As of release time, 'sed' version
f650932b 533 4.5 is the newest verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
c0389ee4 534
c6982f7e 535 * Python 3.4 or later
3c1622eb 536
c6982f7e 537 Python is required to build the GNU C Library. As of release time,
e7124906 538 Python 3.7.4 is the newest verified to work for building and
330c9d0d 539 testing the GNU C Library.
3c1622eb
JM
540
541 * PExpect 4.0
542
543 The pretty printer tests drive GDB through test programs and
544 compare its output to the printers'. PExpect is used to capture
545 the output of GDB, and should be compatible with the Python version
546 in your system. As of release time PExpect 4.3 is the newest
547 verified to work to test the pretty printers.
548
549 * GDB 7.8 or later with support for Python 2.7/3.4 or later
550
551 GDB itself needs to be configured with Python support in order to
552 use the pretty printers. Notice that your system having Python
553 available doesn't imply that GDB supports it, nor that your
554 system's Python and GDB's have the same version. As of release
e7124906 555 time GNU 'debugger' 8.3 is the newest verified to work to test the
330c9d0d 556 pretty printers.
3c1622eb
JM
557
558 Unless Python, PExpect and GDB with Python support are present, the
559 printer tests will report themselves as 'UNSUPPORTED'. Notice that
560 some of the printer tests require the GNU C Library to be compiled
561 with debugging symbols.
562
a8db092e 563If you change any of the 'configure.ac' files you will also need
0cc70fcf 564
a8db092e 565 * GNU 'autoconf' 2.69 (exactly)
41aa20c2
UD
566
567and if you change any of the message translation files you will need
568
a8db092e 569 * GNU 'gettext' 0.10.36 or later
41aa20c2 570
f650932b
CD
571 As of release time, GNU 'gettext' version 0.19.8.1 is the newest
572 version verified to work to build the GNU C Library.
573
41aa20c2
UD
574You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using
575patches, although we try to avoid this.
576
c9dc3f62
RM
577Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems
578=====================================
80ed68b7 579
a7a93d50 580If you are installing the GNU C Library on GNU/Linux systems, you need
5b4ecd3f 581to have the header files from a 3.2 or newer kernel around for
e9203023
FW
582reference. (For the ia64 architecture, you need version 3.2.18 or newer
583because this is the first version with support for the 'accept4' system
584call.) These headers must be installed using 'make headers_install';
585the headers present in the kernel source directory are not suitable for
586direct use by the GNU C Library. You do not need to use that kernel,
587just have its headers installed where the GNU C Library can access them,
588referred to here as INSTALL-DIRECTORY. The easiest way to do this is to
589unpack it in a directory such as '/usr/src/linux-VERSION'. In that
590directory, run 'make headers_install
1f77f049 591INSTALL_HDR_PATH=INSTALL-DIRECTORY'. Finally, configure the GNU C
a8db092e
CD
592Library with the option '--with-headers=INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. Use
593the most recent kernel you can get your hands on. (If you are
1f77f049 594cross-compiling the GNU C Library, you need to specify
a8db092e 595'ARCH=ARCHITECTURE' in the 'make headers_install' command, where
1f77f049 596ARCHITECTURE is the architecture name used by the Linux kernel, such as
a8db092e 597'x86' or 'powerpc'.)
1f77f049
JM
598
599 After installing the GNU C Library, you may need to remove or rename
a8db092e
CD
600directories such as '/usr/include/linux' and '/usr/include/asm', and
601replace them with copies of directories such as 'linux' and 'asm' from
602'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include'. All directories present in
603'INSTALL-DIRECTORY/include' should be copied, except that the GNU C
604Library provides its own version of '/usr/include/scsi'; the files
605provided by the kernel should be copied without replacing those provided
606by the GNU C Library. The 'linux', 'asm' and 'asm-generic' directories
607are required to compile programs using the GNU C Library; the other
608directories describe interfaces to the kernel but are not required if
609not compiling programs using those interfaces. You do not need to copy
610kernel headers if you did not specify an alternate kernel header source
611using '--with-headers'.
1f77f049 612
a7a93d50 613 The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for GNU/Linux systems expects some
a8db092e
CD
614components of the GNU C Library installation to be in '/lib' and some in
615'/usr/lib'. This is handled automatically if you configure the GNU C
616Library with '--prefix=/usr'. If you set some other prefix or allow it
617to default to '/usr/local', then all the components are installed there.
1792d4db 618
c9dc3f62
RM
619Reporting Bugs
620==============
41aa20c2 621
1f77f049 622There are probably bugs in the GNU C Library. There are certainly
41aa20c2
UD
623errors and omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get
624fixed. If you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will
625remain unfixed for all eternity, if not longer.
626
bd952512 627 It is a good idea to verify that the problem has not already been
a8db092e 628reported. Bugs are documented in two places: The file 'BUGS' describes
8b748aed 629a number of well known bugs and the central GNU C Library bug tracking
a306c790 630system has a WWW interface at <https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/>. The
8b748aed
JM
631WWW interface gives you access to open and closed reports. A closed
632report normally includes a patch or a hint on solving the problem.
6736e93b 633
a8db092e
CD
634 To report a bug, first you must find it. With any luck, this will be
635the hard part. Once you've found a bug, make sure it's really a bug. A
636good way to do this is to see if the GNU C Library behaves the same way
637some other C library does. If so, probably you are wrong and the
638libraries are right (but not necessarily). If not, one of the libraries
639is probably wrong. It might not be the GNU C Library. Many historical
640Unix C libraries permit things that we don't, such as closing a file
641twice.
1792d4db 642
1f77f049 643 If you think you have found some way in which the GNU C Library does
1792d4db 644not conform to the ISO and POSIX standards (*note Standards and
c0389ee4 645Portability::), that is definitely a bug. Report it!
41aa20c2
UD
646
647 Once you're sure you've found a bug, try to narrow it down to the
648smallest test case that reproduces the problem. In the case of a C
649library, you really only need to narrow it down to one library function
650call, if possible. This should not be too difficult.
651
652 The final step when you have a simple test case is to report the bug.
5a82c748 653Do this at <https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
41aa20c2
UD
654
655 If you are not sure how a function should behave, and this manual
656doesn't tell you, that's a bug in the manual. Report that too! If the
657function's behavior disagrees with the manual, then either the library
658or the manual has a bug, so report the disagreement. If you find any
80ed68b7
RM
659errors or omissions in this manual, please report them to the bug
660database. If you refer to specific sections of the manual, please
661include the section names for easier identification.