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1	.. _changes:
2
3	Minimal requerements to compile the Kernel
4	++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5
6	Intro
7	=====
8
9	This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of
10	software necessary to run the 4.x kernels.
11
12	This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels
13	and therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,
14	Axel Boldt, Alessandro Sigala, and countless other users all over the
15	'net).
16
17	Current Minimal Requirements
18	****************************
19
20	Upgrade to at **least** these software revisions before thinking you've
21	encountered a bug! If you're unsure what version you're currently
22	running, the suggested command should tell you.
23
24	Again, keep in mind that this list assumes you are already functionally
25	running a Linux kernel. Also, not all tools are necessary on all
26	systems; obviously, if you don't have any ISDN hardware, for example,
27	you probably needn't concern yourself with isdn4k-utils.
28
29	====================== =============== ========================================
30	Program Minimal version Command to check the version
31	====================== =============== ========================================
32	GNU C 3.2 gcc --version
33	GNU make 3.80 make --version
34	binutils 2.12 ld -v
35	util-linux 2.10o fdformat --version
36	kmod 13 depmod -V
37	e2fsprogs 1.41.4 e2fsck -V
38	jfsutils 1.1.3 fsck.jfs -V
39	reiserfsprogs 3.6.3 reiserfsck -V
40	xfsprogs 2.6.0 xfs_db -V
41	squashfs-tools 4.0 mksquashfs -version
42	btrfs-progs 0.18 btrfsck
43	pcmciautils 004 pccardctl -V
44	quota-tools 3.09 quota -V
45	PPP 2.4.0 pppd --version
46	isdn4k-utils 3.1pre1 isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
47	nfs-utils 1.0.5 showmount --version
48	procps 3.2.0 ps --version
49	oprofile 0.9 oprofiled --version
50	udev 081 udevd --version
51	grub 0.93 grub --version || grub-install --version
52	mcelog 0.6 mcelog --version
53	iptables 1.4.2 iptables -V
54	openssl & libcrypto 1.0.0 openssl version
55	bc 1.06.95 bc --version
56	Sphinx\ [#f1]_ 1.2 sphinx-build --version
57	====================== =============== ========================================
58
59	.. [#f1] Sphinx is needed only to build the Kernel documentation
60
61	Kernel compilation
62	******************
63
64	GCC
65	---
66
67	The gcc version requirements may vary depending on the type of CPU in your
68	computer.
69
70	Make
71	----
72
73	You will need GNU make 3.80 or later to build the kernel.
74
75	Binutils
76	--------
77
78	Linux on IA-32 has recently switched from using ``as86`` to using ``gas`` for
79	assembling the 16-bit boot code, removing the need for ``as86`` to compile
80	your kernel. This change does, however, mean that you need a recent
81	release of binutils.
82
83	Perl
84	----
85
86	You will need perl 5 and the following modules: ``Getopt::Long``,
87	``Getopt::Std``, ``File::Basename``, and ``File::Find`` to build the kernel.
88
89	BC
90	--
91
92	You will need bc to build kernels 3.10 and higher
93
94
95	OpenSSL
96	-------
97
98	Module signing and external certificate handling use the OpenSSL program and
99	crypto library to do key creation and signature generation.
100
101	You will need openssl to build kernels 3.7 and higher if module signing is
102	enabled. You will also need openssl development packages to build kernels 4.3
103	and higher.
104
105
106	System utilities
107	****************
108
109	Architectural changes
110	---------------------
111
112	DevFS has been obsoleted in favour of udev
113	(http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/)
114
115	32-bit UID support is now in place. Have fun!
116
117	Linux documentation for functions is transitioning to inline
118	documentation via specially-formatted comments near their
119	definitions in the source. These comments can be combined with the
120	SGML templates in the Documentation/DocBook directory to make DocBook
121	files, which can then be converted by DocBook stylesheets to PostScript,
122	HTML, PDF files, and several other formats. In order to convert from
123	DocBook format to a format of your choice, you'll need to install Jade as
124	well as the desired DocBook stylesheets.
125
126	Util-linux
127	----------
128
129	New versions of util-linux provide ``fdisk`` support for larger disks,
130	support new options to mount, recognize more supported partition
131	types, have a fdformat which works with 2.4 kernels, and similar goodies.
132	You'll probably want to upgrade.
133
134	Ksymoops
135	--------
136
137	If the unthinkable happens and your kernel oopses, you may need the
138	ksymoops tool to decode it, but in most cases you don't.
139	It is generally preferred to build the kernel with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` so
140	that it produces readable dumps that can be used as-is (this also
141	produces better output than ksymoops). If for some reason your kernel
142	is not build with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` and you have no way to rebuild and
143	reproduce the Oops with that option, then you can still decode that Oops
144	with ksymoops.
145
146	Mkinitrd
147	--------
148
149	These changes to the ``/lib/modules`` file tree layout also require that
150	mkinitrd be upgraded.
151
152	E2fsprogs
153	---------
154
155	The latest version of ``e2fsprogs`` fixes several bugs in fsck and
156	debugfs. Obviously, it's a good idea to upgrade.
157
158	JFSutils
159	--------
160
161	The ``jfsutils`` package contains the utilities for the file system.
162	The following utilities are available:
163
164	- ``fsck.jfs`` - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check
165	and repair a JFS formatted partition.
166
167	- ``mkfs.jfs`` - create a JFS formatted partition.
168
169	- other file system utilities are also available in this package.
170
171	Reiserfsprogs
172	-------------
173
174	The reiserfsprogs package should be used for reiserfs-3.6.x
175	(Linux kernels 2.4.x). It is a combined package and contains working
176	versions of ``mkreiserfs``, ``resize_reiserfs``, ``debugreiserfs`` and
177	``reiserfsck``. These utils work on both i386 and alpha platforms.
178
179	Xfsprogs
180	--------
181
182	The latest version of ``xfsprogs`` contains ``mkfs.xfs``, ``xfs_db``, and the
183	``xfs_repair`` utilities, among others, for the XFS filesystem. It is
184	architecture independent and any version from 2.0.0 onward should
185	work correctly with this version of the XFS kernel code (2.6.0 or
186	later is recommended, due to some significant improvements).
187
188	PCMCIAutils
189	-----------
190
191	PCMCIAutils replaces ``pcmcia-cs``. It properly sets up
192	PCMCIA sockets at system startup and loads the appropriate modules
193	for 16-bit PCMCIA devices if the kernel is modularized and the hotplug
194	subsystem is used.
195
196	Quota-tools
197	-----------
198
199	Support for 32 bit uid's and gid's is required if you want to use
200	the newer version 2 quota format. Quota-tools version 3.07 and
201	newer has this support. Use the recommended version or newer
202	from the table above.
203
204	Intel IA32 microcode
205	--------------------
206
207	A driver has been added to allow updating of Intel IA32 microcode,
208	accessible as a normal (misc) character device. If you are not using
209	udev you may need to::
210
211	mkdir /dev/cpu
212	mknod /dev/cpu/microcode c 10 184
213	chmod 0644 /dev/cpu/microcode
214
215	as root before you can use this. You'll probably also want to
216	get the user-space microcode_ctl utility to use with this.
217
218	udev
219	----
220
221	``udev`` is a userspace application for populating ``/dev`` dynamically with
222	only entries for devices actually present. ``udev`` replaces the basic
223	functionality of devfs, while allowing persistent device naming for
224	devices.
225
226	FUSE
227	----
228
229	Needs libfuse 2.4.0 or later. Absolute minimum is 2.3.0 but mount
230	options ``direct_io`` and ``kernel_cache`` won't work.
231
232	Networking
233	**********
234
235	General changes
236	---------------
237
238	If you have advanced network configuration needs, you should probably
239	consider using the network tools from ip-route2.
240
241	Packet Filter / NAT
242	-------------------
243	The packet filtering and NAT code uses the same tools like the previous 2.4.x
244	kernel series (iptables). It still includes backwards-compatibility modules
245	for 2.2.x-style ipchains and 2.0.x-style ipfwadm.
246
247	PPP
248	---
249
250	The PPP driver has been restructured to support multilink and to
251	enable it to operate over diverse media layers. If you use PPP,
252	upgrade pppd to at least 2.4.0.
253
254	If you are not using udev, you must have the device file /dev/ppp
255	which can be made by::
256
257	mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0
258
259	as root.
260
261	Isdn4k-utils
262	------------
263
264	Due to changes in the length of the phone number field, isdn4k-utils
265	needs to be recompiled or (preferably) upgraded.
266
267	NFS-utils
268	---------
269
270	In ancient (2.4 and earlier) kernels, the nfs server needed to know
271	about any client that expected to be able to access files via NFS. This
272	information would be given to the kernel by ``mountd`` when the client
273	mounted the filesystem, or by ``exportfs`` at system startup. exportfs
274	would take information about active clients from ``/var/lib/nfs/rmtab``.
275
276	This approach is quite fragile as it depends on rmtab being correct
277	which is not always easy, particularly when trying to implement
278	fail-over. Even when the system is working well, ``rmtab`` suffers from
279	getting lots of old entries that never get removed.
280
281	With modern kernels we have the option of having the kernel tell mountd
282	when it gets a request from an unknown host, and mountd can give
283	appropriate export information to the kernel. This removes the
284	dependency on ``rmtab`` and means that the kernel only needs to know about
285	currently active clients.
286
287	To enable this new functionality, you need to::
288
289	mount -t nfsd nfsd /proc/fs/nfsd
290
291	before running exportfs or mountd. It is recommended that all NFS
292	services be protected from the internet-at-large by a firewall where
293	that is possible.
294
295	mcelog
296	------
297
298	On x86 kernels the mcelog utility is needed to process and log machine check
299	events when ``CONFIG_X86_MCE`` is enabled. Machine check events are errors
300	reported by the CPU. Processing them is strongly encouraged.
301
302	Kernel documentation
303	********************
304
305	Sphinx
306	------
307
308	The ReST markups currently used by the Documentation/ files are meant to be
309	built with ``Sphinx`` version 1.2 or upper. If you're desiring to build
310	PDF outputs, it is recommended to use version 1.4.6.
311
312	.. note::
313
314	Please notice that, for PDF and LaTeX output, you'll also need ``XeLaTeX``
315	version 3.14159265. Depending on the distribution, you may also need
316	to install a series of ``texlive`` packages that provide the minimal
317	set of functionalities required for ``XeLaTex`` to work.
318
319	Other tools
320	-----------
321
322	In order to produce documentation from DocBook, you'll also need ``xmlto``.
323	Please notice, however, that we're currently migrating all documents to use
324	``Sphinx``.
325
326	Getting updated software
327	========================
328
329	Kernel compilation
330	******************
331
332	gcc
333	---
334
335	- <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/>
336
337	Make
338	----
339
340	- <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/>
341
342	Binutils
343	--------
344
345	- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/>
346
347	OpenSSL
348	-------
349
350	- <https://www.openssl.org/>
351
352	System utilities
353	****************
354
355	Util-linux
356	----------
357
358	- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>
359
360	Kmod
361	----
362
363	- <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/kmod/>
364	- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/kernel/kmod/kmod.git>
365
366	Ksymoops
367	--------
368
369	- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/>
370
371	Mkinitrd
372	--------
373
374	- <https://code.launchpad.net/initrd-tools/main>
375
376	E2fsprogs
377	---------
378
379	- <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.29.tar.gz>
380
381	JFSutils
382	--------
383
384	- <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/>
385
386	Reiserfsprogs
387	-------------
388
389	- <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/fs/reiserfs/>
390
391	Xfsprogs
392	--------
393
394	- <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/>
395
396	Pcmciautils
397	-----------
398
399	- <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/>
400
401	Quota-tools
402	-----------
403
404	- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>
405
406	DocBook Stylesheets
407	-------------------
408
409	- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/docbook/files/docbook-dsssl/>
410
411	XMLTO XSLT Frontend
412	-------------------
413
414	- <http://cyberelk.net/tim/xmlto/>
415
416	Intel P6 microcode
417	------------------
418
419	- <https://downloadcenter.intel.com/>
420
421	udev
422	----
423
424	- <http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html>
425
426	FUSE
427	----
428
429	- <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse>
430
431	mcelog
432	------
433
434	- <http://www.mcelog.org/>
435
436	Networking
437	**********
438
439	PPP
440	---
441
442	- <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/>
443
444	Isdn4k-utils
445	------------
446
447	- <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/>
448
449	NFS-utils
450	---------
451
452	- <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14>
453
454	Iptables
455	--------
456
457	- <http://www.iptables.org/downloads.html>
458
459	Ip-route2
460	---------
461
462	- <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/net/iproute2/>
463
464	OProfile
465	--------
466
467	- <http://oprofile.sf.net/download/>
468
469	NFS-Utils
470	---------
471
472	- <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/>
473
474	Kernel documentation
475	********************
476
477	Sphinx
478	------
479
480	- <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>
481