+.. _changes:
+
+Minimal requerements to compile the Kernel
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+
Intro
=====
This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of
-software necessary to run the 3.0 kernels.
+software necessary to run the 4.x kernels.
This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels
and therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,
'net).
Current Minimal Requirements
-============================
+****************************
-Upgrade to at *least* these software revisions before thinking you've
+Upgrade to at **least** these software revisions before thinking you've
encountered a bug! If you're unsure what version you're currently
running, the suggested command should tell you.
systems; obviously, if you don't have any ISDN hardware, for example,
you probably needn't concern yourself with isdn4k-utils.
-o GNU C 3.2 # gcc --version
-o GNU make 3.80 # make --version
-o binutils 2.12 # ld -v
-o util-linux 2.10o # fdformat --version
-o module-init-tools 0.9.10 # depmod -V
-o e2fsprogs 1.41.4 # e2fsck -V
-o jfsutils 1.1.3 # fsck.jfs -V
-o reiserfsprogs 3.6.3 # reiserfsck -V
-o xfsprogs 2.6.0 # xfs_db -V
-o squashfs-tools 4.0 # mksquashfs -version
-o btrfs-progs 0.18 # btrfsck
-o pcmciautils 004 # pccardctl -V
-o quota-tools 3.09 # quota -V
-o PPP 2.4.0 # pppd --version
-o isdn4k-utils 3.1pre1 # isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
-o nfs-utils 1.0.5 # showmount --version
-o procps 3.2.0 # ps --version
-o oprofile 0.9 # oprofiled --version
-o udev 081 # udevd --version
-o grub 0.93 # grub --version || grub-install --version
-o mcelog 0.6 # mcelog --version
-o iptables 1.4.2 # iptables -V
-o openssl & libcrypto 1.0.0 # openssl version
-o bc 1.06.95 # bc --version
-
+====================== =============== ========================================
+ Program Minimal version Command to check the version
+====================== =============== ========================================
+GNU C 3.2 gcc --version
+GNU make 3.80 make --version
+binutils 2.12 ld -v
+util-linux 2.10o fdformat --version
+module-init-tools 0.9.10 depmod -V
+e2fsprogs 1.41.4 e2fsck -V
+jfsutils 1.1.3 fsck.jfs -V
+reiserfsprogs 3.6.3 reiserfsck -V
+xfsprogs 2.6.0 xfs_db -V
+squashfs-tools 4.0 mksquashfs -version
+btrfs-progs 0.18 btrfsck
+pcmciautils 004 pccardctl -V
+quota-tools 3.09 quota -V
+PPP 2.4.0 pppd --version
+isdn4k-utils 3.1pre1 isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
+nfs-utils 1.0.5 showmount --version
+procps 3.2.0 ps --version
+oprofile 0.9 oprofiled --version
+udev 081 udevd --version
+grub 0.93 grub --version || grub-install --version
+mcelog 0.6 mcelog --version
+iptables 1.4.2 iptables -V
+openssl & libcrypto 1.0.0 openssl version
+bc 1.06.95 bc --version
+Sphinx\ [#f1]_ 1.2 sphinx-build --version
+====================== =============== ========================================
+
+.. [#f1] Sphinx is needed only to build the Kernel documentation
Kernel compilation
-==================
+******************
GCC
---
Binutils
--------
-Linux on IA-32 has recently switched from using as86 to using gas for
-assembling the 16-bit boot code, removing the need for as86 to compile
+Linux on IA-32 has recently switched from using ``as86`` to using ``gas`` for
+assembling the 16-bit boot code, removing the need for ``as86`` to compile
your kernel. This change does, however, mean that you need a recent
release of binutils.
Perl
----
-You will need perl 5 and the following modules: Getopt::Long, Getopt::Std,
-File::Basename, and File::Find to build the kernel.
+You will need perl 5 and the following modules: ``Getopt::Long``,
+``Getopt::Std``, ``File::Basename``, and ``File::Find`` to build the kernel.
BC
--
System utilities
-================
+****************
Architectural changes
---------------------
Util-linux
----------
-New versions of util-linux provide *fdisk support for larger disks,
+New versions of util-linux provide ``fdisk`` support for larger disks,
support new options to mount, recognize more supported partition
types, have a fdformat which works with 2.4 kernels, and similar goodies.
You'll probably want to upgrade.
If the unthinkable happens and your kernel oopses, you may need the
ksymoops tool to decode it, but in most cases you don't.
-It is generally preferred to build the kernel with CONFIG_KALLSYMS so
+It is generally preferred to build the kernel with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` so
that it produces readable dumps that can be used as-is (this also
produces better output than ksymoops). If for some reason your kernel
-is not build with CONFIG_KALLSYMS and you have no way to rebuild and
+is not build with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` and you have no way to rebuild and
reproduce the Oops with that option, then you can still decode that Oops
with ksymoops.
Module-Init-Tools
-----------------
-A new module loader is now in the kernel that requires module-init-tools
+A new module loader is now in the kernel that requires ``module-init-tools``
to use. It is backward compatible with the 2.4.x series kernels.
Mkinitrd
--------
-These changes to the /lib/modules file tree layout also require that
+These changes to the ``/lib/modules`` file tree layout also require that
mkinitrd be upgraded.
E2fsprogs
---------
-The latest version of e2fsprogs fixes several bugs in fsck and
+The latest version of ``e2fsprogs`` fixes several bugs in fsck and
debugfs. Obviously, it's a good idea to upgrade.
JFSutils
--------
-The jfsutils package contains the utilities for the file system.
+The ``jfsutils`` package contains the utilities for the file system.
The following utilities are available:
-o fsck.jfs - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check
+
+- ``fsck.jfs`` - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check
and repair a JFS formatted partition.
-o mkfs.jfs - create a JFS formatted partition.
-o other file system utilities are also available in this package.
+
+- ``mkfs.jfs`` - create a JFS formatted partition.
+
+- other file system utilities are also available in this package.
Reiserfsprogs
-------------
The reiserfsprogs package should be used for reiserfs-3.6.x
(Linux kernels 2.4.x). It is a combined package and contains working
-versions of mkreiserfs, resize_reiserfs, debugreiserfs and
-reiserfsck. These utils work on both i386 and alpha platforms.
+versions of ``mkreiserfs``, ``resize_reiserfs``, ``debugreiserfs`` and
+``reiserfsck``. These utils work on both i386 and alpha platforms.
Xfsprogs
--------
-The latest version of xfsprogs contains mkfs.xfs, xfs_db, and the
-xfs_repair utilities, among others, for the XFS filesystem. It is
+The latest version of ``xfsprogs`` contains ``mkfs.xfs``, ``xfs_db``, and the
+``xfs_repair`` utilities, among others, for the XFS filesystem. It is
architecture independent and any version from 2.0.0 onward should
work correctly with this version of the XFS kernel code (2.6.0 or
later is recommended, due to some significant improvements).
PCMCIAutils
-----------
-PCMCIAutils replaces pcmcia-cs. It properly sets up
+PCMCIAutils replaces ``pcmcia-cs``. It properly sets up
PCMCIA sockets at system startup and loads the appropriate modules
for 16-bit PCMCIA devices if the kernel is modularized and the hotplug
subsystem is used.
A driver has been added to allow updating of Intel IA32 microcode,
accessible as a normal (misc) character device. If you are not using
-udev you may need to:
+udev you may need to::
-mkdir /dev/cpu
-mknod /dev/cpu/microcode c 10 184
-chmod 0644 /dev/cpu/microcode
+ mkdir /dev/cpu
+ mknod /dev/cpu/microcode c 10 184
+ chmod 0644 /dev/cpu/microcode
as root before you can use this. You'll probably also want to
get the user-space microcode_ctl utility to use with this.
udev
----
-udev is a userspace application for populating /dev dynamically with
-only entries for devices actually present. udev replaces the basic
+
+``udev`` is a userspace application for populating ``/dev`` dynamically with
+only entries for devices actually present. ``udev`` replaces the basic
functionality of devfs, while allowing persistent device naming for
devices.
----
Needs libfuse 2.4.0 or later. Absolute minimum is 2.3.0 but mount
-options 'direct_io' and 'kernel_cache' won't work.
+options ``direct_io`` and ``kernel_cache`` won't work.
Networking
-==========
+**********
General changes
---------------
upgrade pppd to at least 2.4.0.
If you are not using udev, you must have the device file /dev/ppp
-which can be made by:
+which can be made by::
-mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0
+ mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0
as root.
In ancient (2.4 and earlier) kernels, the nfs server needed to know
about any client that expected to be able to access files via NFS. This
-information would be given to the kernel by "mountd" when the client
-mounted the filesystem, or by "exportfs" at system startup. exportfs
-would take information about active clients from /var/lib/nfs/rmtab.
+information would be given to the kernel by ``mountd`` when the client
+mounted the filesystem, or by ``exportfs`` at system startup. exportfs
+would take information about active clients from ``/var/lib/nfs/rmtab``.
This approach is quite fragile as it depends on rmtab being correct
which is not always easy, particularly when trying to implement
-fail-over. Even when the system is working well, rmtab suffers from
+fail-over. Even when the system is working well, ``rmtab`` suffers from
getting lots of old entries that never get removed.
With modern kernels we have the option of having the kernel tell mountd
when it gets a request from an unknown host, and mountd can give
appropriate export information to the kernel. This removes the
-dependency on rmtab and means that the kernel only needs to know about
+dependency on ``rmtab`` and means that the kernel only needs to know about
currently active clients.
-To enable this new functionality, you need to:
+To enable this new functionality, you need to::
mount -t nfsd nfsd /proc/fs/nfsd
------
On x86 kernels the mcelog utility is needed to process and log machine check
-events when CONFIG_X86_MCE is enabled. Machine check events are errors reported
-by the CPU. Processing them is strongly encouraged.
+events when ``CONFIG_X86_MCE`` is enabled. Machine check events are errors
+reported by the CPU. Processing them is strongly encouraged.
+
+Kernel documentation
+********************
+
+Sphinx
+------
+
+The ReST markups currently used by the Documentation/ files are meant to be
+built with ``Sphinx`` version 1.2 or upper. If you're desiring to build
+PDF outputs, it is recommended to use version 1.4.6.
+
+.. note::
+
+ Please notice that, for PDF and LaTeX output, you'll also need ``XeLaTeX``
+ version 3.14159265. Depending on the distribution, you may also need
+ to install a series of ``texlive`` packages that provide the minimal
+ set of functionalities required for ``XeLaTex`` to work.
+
+Other tools
+-----------
+
+In order to produce documentation from DocBook, you'll also need ``xmlto``.
+Please notice, however, that we're currently migrating all documents to use
+``Sphinx``.
Getting updated software
========================
gcc
---
-o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/>
Make
----
-o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/>
Binutils
--------
-o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/>
OpenSSL
-------
-o <https://www.openssl.org/>
+
+- <https://www.openssl.org/>
System utilities
****************
Util-linux
----------
-o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>
Ksymoops
--------
-o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/>
Module-Init-Tools
-----------------
-o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rusty/modules/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rusty/modules/>
Mkinitrd
--------
-o <https://code.launchpad.net/initrd-tools/main>
+
+- <https://code.launchpad.net/initrd-tools/main>
E2fsprogs
---------
-o <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.29.tar.gz>
+
+- <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.29.tar.gz>
JFSutils
--------
-o <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/>
+
+- <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/>
Reiserfsprogs
-------------
-o <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/fs/reiserfs/>
+
+- <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/fs/reiserfs/>
Xfsprogs
--------
-o <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/>
+
+- <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/>
Pcmciautils
-----------
-o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/>
Quota-tools
-----------
-o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>
+-----------
+
+- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>
DocBook Stylesheets
-------------------
-o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/docbook/files/docbook-dsssl/>
+
+- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/docbook/files/docbook-dsssl/>
XMLTO XSLT Frontend
-------------------
-o <http://cyberelk.net/tim/xmlto/>
+
+- <http://cyberelk.net/tim/xmlto/>
Intel P6 microcode
------------------
-o <https://downloadcenter.intel.com/>
+
+- <https://downloadcenter.intel.com/>
udev
----
-o <http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html>
+
+- <http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html>
FUSE
----
-o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse>
+
+- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse>
mcelog
------
-o <http://www.mcelog.org/>
+
+- <http://www.mcelog.org/>
Networking
**********
PPP
---
-o <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/>
Isdn4k-utils
------------
-o <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/>
+
+- <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/>
NFS-utils
---------
-o <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14>
+
+- <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14>
Iptables
--------
-o <http://www.iptables.org/downloads.html>
+
+- <http://www.iptables.org/downloads.html>
Ip-route2
---------
-o <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/net/iproute2/>
+
+- <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/net/iproute2/>
OProfile
--------
-o <http://oprofile.sf.net/download/>
+
+- <http://oprofile.sf.net/download/>
NFS-Utils
---------
-o <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/>
+
+- <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/>
+
+Kernel documentation
+********************
+
+Sphinx
+------
+
+- <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>
projects / cascardo / linux.git / blobdiff