.. _changes: Minimal requirements to compile the Kernel++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Intro===== This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels ofsoftware necessary to run the 4.x kernels. This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernelsand therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,Axel Boldt, Alessandro Sigala, and countless other users all over the'net). Current Minimal Requirements**************************** Upgrade to at **least** these software revisions before thinking you'veencountered a bug!  If you're unsure what version you're currentlyrunning, the suggested command should tell you. Again, keep in mind that this list assumes you are already functionallyrunning a Linux kernel.  Also, not all tools are necessary on allsystems; obviously, if you don't have any ISDN hardware, for example,you probably needn't concern yourself with isdn4k-utils. ====================== ===============  ========================================        Program        Minimal version       Command to check the version====================== ===============  ========================================GNU C                  3.2              gcc --versionGNU make               3.81             make --versionbinutils               2.20             ld -vutil-linux             2.10o            fdformat --versionmodule-init-tools      0.9.10           depmod -Ve2fsprogs              1.41.4           e2fsck -Vjfsutils               1.1.3            fsck.jfs -Vreiserfsprogs          3.6.3            reiserfsck -Vxfsprogs               2.6.0            xfs_db -Vsquashfs-tools         4.0              mksquashfs -versionbtrfs-progs            0.18             btrfsckpcmciautils            004              pccardctl -Vquota-tools            3.09             quota -VPPP                    2.4.0            pppd --versionisdn4k-utils           3.1pre1          isdnctrl 2>&1|grep versionnfs-utils              1.0.5            showmount --versionprocps                 3.2.0            ps --versionoprofile               0.9              oprofiled --versionudev                   081              udevd --versiongrub                   0.93             grub --version || grub-install --versionmcelog                 0.6              mcelog --versioniptables               1.4.2            iptables -Vopenssl & libcrypto    1.0.0            openssl versionbc                     1.06.95          bc --versionSphinx\ [#f1]_	       1.2		sphinx-build --version====================== ===============  ======================================== .. [#f1] Sphinx is needed only to build the Kernel documentation Kernel compilation****************** GCC--- The gcc version requirements may vary depending on the type of CPU in yourcomputer. Make---- You will need GNU make 3.81 or later to build the kernel. Binutils-------- The build system has, as of 4.13, switched to using thin archives (`ar T`)rather than incremental linking (`ld -r`) for built-in.o intermediate steps.This requires binutils 2.20 or newer. Perl---- You will need perl 5 and the following modules: ``Getopt::Long``,``Getopt::Std``, ``File::Basename``, and ``File::Find`` to build the kernel. BC-- You will need bc to build kernels 3.10 and higher  OpenSSL------- Module signing and external certificate handling use the OpenSSL program andcrypto library to do key creation and signature generation. You will need openssl to build kernels 3.7 and higher if module signing isenabled.  You will also need openssl development packages to build kernels 4.3and higher.  System utilities**************** Architectural changes--------------------- DevFS has been obsoleted in favour of udev(http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/) 32-bit UID support is now in place.  Have fun! Linux documentation for functions is transitioning to inlinedocumentation via specially-formatted comments near theirdefinitions in the source.  These comments can be combined with ReSTfiles the Documentation/ directory to make enriched documentation, which canthen be converted to PostScript, HTML, LaTex, ePUB and PDF files.In order to convert from ReST format to a format of your choice, you'll needSphinx. Util-linux---------- New versions of util-linux provide ``fdisk`` support for larger disks,support new options to mount, recognize more supported partitiontypes, have a fdformat which works with 2.4 kernels, and similar goodies.You'll probably want to upgrade. Ksymoops-------- If the unthinkable happens and your kernel oopses, you may need theksymoops tool to decode it, but in most cases you don't.It is generally preferred to build the kernel with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` sothat it produces readable dumps that can be used as-is (this alsoproduces better output than ksymoops).  If for some reason your kernelis not build with ``CONFIG_KALLSYMS`` and you have no way to rebuild andreproduce the Oops with that option, then you can still decode that Oopswith ksymoops. 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 thatmkinitrd be upgraded. E2fsprogs--------- The latest version of ``e2fsprogs`` fixes several bugs in fsck anddebugfs.  Obviously, it's a good idea to upgrade. JFSutils-------- The ``jfsutils`` package contains the utilities for the file system.The following utilities are available: - ``fsck.jfs`` - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check  and repair a JFS formatted partition. - ``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 workingversions 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 isarchitecture independent and any version from 2.0.0 onward shouldwork correctly with this version of the XFS kernel code (2.6.0 orlater is recommended, due to some significant improvements). PCMCIAutils----------- PCMCIAutils replaces ``pcmcia-cs``. It properly sets upPCMCIA sockets at system startup and loads the appropriate modulesfor 16-bit PCMCIA devices if the kernel is modularized and the hotplugsubsystem is used. Quota-tools----------- Support for 32 bit uid's and gid's is required if you want to usethe newer version 2 quota format.  Quota-tools version 3.07 andnewer has this support.  Use the recommended version or newerfrom the table above. Intel IA32 microcode-------------------- A driver has been added to allow updating of Intel IA32 microcode,accessible as a normal (misc) character device.  If you are not usingudev you may need to::   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 toget the user-space microcode_ctl utility to use with this. udev---- ``udev`` is a userspace application for populating ``/dev`` dynamically withonly entries for devices actually present. ``udev`` replaces the basicfunctionality of devfs, while allowing persistent device naming fordevices. FUSE---- Needs libfuse 2.4.0 or later.  Absolute minimum is 2.3.0 but mountoptions ``direct_io`` and ``kernel_cache`` won't work. Networking********** General changes--------------- If you have advanced network configuration needs, you should probablyconsider using the network tools from ip-route2. Packet Filter / NAT-------------------The packet filtering and NAT code uses the same tools like the previous 2.4.xkernel series (iptables).  It still includes backwards-compatibility modulesfor 2.2.x-style ipchains and 2.0.x-style ipfwadm. PPP--- The PPP driver has been restructured to support multilink and toenable it to operate over diverse media layers.  If you use PPP,upgrade pppd to at least 2.4.0. If you are not using udev, you must have the device file /dev/pppwhich can be made by::   mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0 as root. Isdn4k-utils------------ Due to changes in the length of the phone number field, isdn4k-utilsneeds to be recompiled or (preferably) upgraded. NFS-utils--------- In ancient (2.4 and earlier) kernels, the nfs server needed to knowabout any client that expected to be able to access files via NFS.  Thisinformation would be given to the kernel by ``mountd`` when the clientmounted the filesystem, or by ``exportfs`` at system startup.  exportfswould take information about active clients from ``/var/lib/nfs/rmtab``. This approach is quite fragile as it depends on rmtab being correctwhich is not always easy, particularly when trying to implementfail-over.  Even when the system is working well, ``rmtab`` suffers fromgetting lots of old entries that never get removed. With modern kernels we have the option of having the kernel tell mountdwhen it gets a request from an unknown host, and mountd can giveappropriate export information to the kernel.  This removes thedependency on ``rmtab`` and means that the kernel only needs to know aboutcurrently active clients. To enable this new functionality, you need to::   mount -t nfsd nfsd /proc/fs/nfsd before running exportfs or mountd.  It is recommended that all NFSservices be protected from the internet-at-large by a firewall wherethat is possible. mcelog------ On x86 kernels the mcelog utility is needed to process and log machine checkevents when ``CONFIG_X86_MCE`` is enabled. Machine check events are errorsreported by the CPU. Processing them is strongly encouraged. Kernel documentation******************** Sphinx------ The ReST markups currently used by the Documentation/ files are meant to bebuilt with ``Sphinx`` version 1.2 or upper. If you're desiring to buildPDF 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. For PDF output you'll also  need ``convert(1)`` from ImageMagick (https://www.imagemagick.org).  Getting updated software======================== Kernel compilation****************** gcc--- - <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/> Make---- - <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/> Binutils-------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/> OpenSSL------- - <https://www.openssl.org/> System utilities**************** Util-linux---------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/> Ksymoops-------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/> Module-Init-Tools----------------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/module-init-tools/> Mkinitrd-------- - <https://code.launchpad.net/initrd-tools/main> E2fsprogs--------- - <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.29.tar.gz> JFSutils-------- - <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/> Reiserfsprogs------------- - <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/fs/reiserfs/> Xfsprogs-------- - <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/> Pcmciautils----------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/> Quota-tools----------- - <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>  Intel P6 microcode------------------ - <https://downloadcenter.intel.com/> udev---- - <http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html> FUSE---- - <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse> mcelog------ - <http://www.mcelog.org/> Networking********** PPP--- - <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/> Isdn4k-utils------------ - <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/> NFS-utils--------- - <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14> Iptables-------- - <http://www.iptables.org/downloads.html> Ip-route2--------- - <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/net/iproute2/> OProfile-------- - <http://oprofile.sf.net/download/> NFS-Utils--------- - <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/> Kernel documentation******************** Sphinx------ - <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>