(internal_equal): Once again use a switch.
[bpt/emacs.git] / INSTALL
CommitLineData
a0e671c7 1GNU Emacs Installation Guide
eaa91904 2Copyright (c) 1992, 1994 Free software Foundation, Inc.
a0e671c7
JB
3
4 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
5 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
6 copyright notice and permission notice are preserved,
7 and that the distributor grants the recipient permission
8 for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
9
10 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
11 of this document, or of portions of it,
12 under the above conditions, provided also that they
13 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them,
14 and that any new or changed statements about the activities
15 of the Free Software Foundation are approved by the Foundation.
16
17
18BUILDING AND INSTALLATION:
42db5687
RS
19(This is for a Unix or Unix-like system. For MSDOS, see below;
20search for MSDOG.)
a0e671c7
JB
21
221) Make sure your system has enough swapping space allocated to handle
23a program whose pure code is 900k bytes and whose data area is at
24least 400k and can reach 8Mb or more. If the swapping space is
25insufficient, you will get an error in the command `temacs -batch -l
42db5687
RS
26loadup dump', found in `./src/Makefile.in.in', or possibly when
27running the final dumped Emacs.
a0e671c7 28
eaa91904 29Building Emacs requires about 50 Mb of disk space (including the Emacs
42db5687
RS
30sources). Once installed, Emacs occupies about 20 Mb in the file
31system where it is installed; this includes the executable files, Lisp
32libraries, miscellaneous data files, and on-line documentation. If
33the building and installation take place in different directories,
eaa91904 34then the installation procedure momentarily requires 50+20 Mb.
a0e671c7
JB
35
362) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
f40423fa 37give to the `configure' program. That file offers hints for
a0e671c7
JB
38getting around some possible installation problems.
39
403) In the top directory of the Emacs distribution, run the program
41`configure' as follows:
42
43 ./configure CONFIGURATION-NAME [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
44
45The CONFIGURATION-NAME argument should be a configuration name given
46in `./etc/MACHINES'. If omitted, `configure' will try to guess your
f40423fa
DM
47system type; if it cannot, you must find the appropriate configuration
48name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it explicitly.
a0e671c7 49
f40423fa
DM
50If you don't want X support, specify `--with-x=no'. If you omit this
51option, `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your
52system has X, and arrange to use it if present.
a0e671c7
JB
53
54The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
55process where the compiler should look for the include files and
f40423fa
DM
56object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, `configure'
57is able to find them; these options are necessary if you have your X
58Window System files installed in unusual places.
a0e671c7 59
f40423fa
DM
60To get more attractive menus, you can specify an X toolkit when you
61configure Emacs; use the option `--with-x-toolkit=TOOLKIT', where
62TOOLKIT is `athena' or `motif' (`yes' and `lucid' are synonyms for
63`athena'). On some systems, it does not work to use a toolkit with
64shared libraries.
a0e671c7
JB
65
66The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
67compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
f40423fa
DM
68`--with-gcc=no'. If you omit this option, `configure' will search
69for GCC in your path, and use it if present.
a0e671c7 70
f40423fa
DM
71You can build Emacs for several different machine types from a single
72source directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that
73supports the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. Make separate
74build directories for the different configuration types, and in each
75one, run the Emacs `configure' script. `configure' looks for the
76Emacs source code in the directory that `configure' is in.
42db5687 77
a0e671c7
JB
78The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
79should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
80- Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
81 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
f40423fa
DM
82- The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/share/emacs/VERSION
83 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.27').
a0e671c7 84- The architecture-dependent files go in
f40423fa 85 PREFIXDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
a0e671c7
JB
86 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
87 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
88
89The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
90portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
91files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
92- Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
93- The architecture-dependent files go in
f40423fa 94 EXECDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
a0e671c7
JB
95EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
96
97For example, the command
98
99 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
100
101configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
102support for the X11 window system.
103
f40423fa 104`configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
a0e671c7 105itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
908477d9
DM
106`./Makefile', `lib-src/Makefile', `oldXMenu/Makefile',
107`lwlib/Makefile', `src/Makefile', and `./src/config.h'. For details
108on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY
109HAND', below.
a0e671c7
JB
110
111When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
f40423fa
DM
112creates a shell script `config.status' which, when run, recreates the
113same configuration. If `configure' exits with an error after
114disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'. `configure'
115also creates a file `config.cache' that saves the results of its tests
116to make reconfiguring faster, and a file `config.log' containing compiler
117output (useful mainly for debugging `configure'). You can give
118`configure' the option `--cache-file=FILE' to use the results of the
119tests in FILE instead of `config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to
120disable caching, for debugging `configure'.
a0e671c7
JB
121
122The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
123distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See
124the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the
125configuration yourself.
126
1274) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
128for your system, edit the file `./lisp/site-init.el' containing Emacs
129Lisp code to override them; you probably don't want to edit paths.el
130itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
131rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
132
133 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
134
135is how you would override the default value of the variable
136news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
137
138Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
139not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
140something up in the system's password and user information database.
141See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
142
42db5687
RS
1435) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
144Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
145site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
146documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
147src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
eaa91904 148else, use site-init.el.
a0e671c7
JB
149
150Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
151not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
152something up in the system's password and user information database.
153See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
154
eaa91904
RS
155The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
156need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
a0e671c7
JB
157
1586) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
159wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
160and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
161entries.
162
1637) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
164building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file will be
165named `src/emacs'. If you want to have Emacs's executable programs
166and data files installed as well, run `make install'.
167
168By default, Emacs installs its files in the following directories:
169
170`/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
c9da8016
RS
171 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
172 and `rcs-checkin'.
a0e671c7 173
f40423fa 174`/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
a0e671c7 175 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
f40423fa 176 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.27'. Since the
a0e671c7
JB
177 lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
178 another, including the version number in the path
179 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
180 at the same time; this means that you don't have to
181 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new
182 version.
183
184 Emacs searches for its lisp files in
f40423fa 185 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp', then in this
a0e671c7
JB
186 directory.
187
f40423fa 188`/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
a0e671c7
JB
189 file, the `yow' database, and other
190 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
191 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
192
f40423fa 193`/usr/local/com/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing
a0e671c7
JB
194 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
195 users.
196
f40423fa 197`/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
a0e671c7
JB
198 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
199 run themselves.
200 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
201 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
202 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
203 architecture and operating system of your machine,
204 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
205 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
206 operating system, and architecture in use, including
207 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
208 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
209 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
210 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
211 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
212
213`/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
214 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
215 using info files as well, so this directory stands
216 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
217
218`/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
219 in `/usr/local/bin'.
220
221If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
222install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
223for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
224the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
225information on this.
226
2278) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
228/usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
229info files.
230
42db5687 2319) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
f40423fa 232then you might need to make the movemail program setuid or setgid
42db5687
RS
233to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
234
23510) You are done!
a0e671c7
JB
236
237
238MAKE VARIABLES
239
240You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
241files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
242command line. For example, if you type
243
244 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
245
246the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
247executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
248`/usr/local/bin'.
249
250Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
251
252`bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
253 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
254
255`datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
256 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
908477d9 257 defaults to /usr/local/share. We create the following
a0e671c7
JB
258 subdirectories under `datadir':
259 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs lisp library, and
260 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
261 file, and the `yow' database.
262 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
263 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
264 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
265 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
266 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
267 unavailable while installing a new version.
268
908477d9 269`sharedstatedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
a0e671c7 270 that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
908477d9
DM
271 /usr/local/com. We create the following
272 subdirectories under `sharedstatedir':
a0e671c7
JB
273 - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
274 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
275 users.
276
908477d9
DM
277`libexecdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
278 Emacs refers to as it runs; it defaults to `/usr/local/libexec'.
279 We create the following subdirectories under `libexecdir':
a0e671c7
JB
280 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
281 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
282 themselves.
283 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
284 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
285 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
286 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
287 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
288 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
289 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
290 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
291 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
292 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
293 installed on.
294
295`infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
296 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
297
298`mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
299 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
300 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
301
302`manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
303 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
304 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
305 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
306 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
307
308`prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
309 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
310 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
908477d9 311 `sharedstatedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
a0e671c7
JB
312 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
313 by default.
314
315 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
316 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
317 By including
318 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
319 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
320 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
321 directories under that path.
322
323`exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
324 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
908477d9 325 path variables - `bindir' and `libexecdir'.
a0e671c7
JB
326
327The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
328GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs.
329
330`lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its lisp
42db5687 331 library. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
a0e671c7
JB
332 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
333 described above).
334
335`locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for lisp files
336 specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of
337 directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking
42db5687
RS
338 `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
339 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp'.
a0e671c7
JB
340
341`lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for
342 its lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of
343 `lispdir' and `locallisppath'. It should be a colon-separated
344 list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they
345 appear.
346
347`etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of
348 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC
349 file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
350 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc'.
351
352`lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its
908477d9 353 locking information. Its default value, based on `sharedstatedir'
a0e671c7
JB
354 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock'.
355
356`archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the
357 executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses
908477d9 358 while running. Its default value, based on `libexecdir' (which
a0e671c7
JB
359 see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
360 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
361
362Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
363you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
364emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
365must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
366settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
367directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
368`Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
369
370The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
371Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
372when running make in the subdirectories.
373
374
375CONFIGURATION BY HAND
376
c9da8016
RS
377Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
378following steps.
a0e671c7
JB
379
3801) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'.
381
3822) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
383use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
384see which operating system and architecture description files from
385`src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
386`src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
387the appropriate system and architecture description files.
388
3892) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
390you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
391files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
392changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
393redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
394
c9da8016
RS
3953) Create src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile from the corresponding
396`Makefile.in.in' files. First copy `Makefile.in.in' to `Makefile.in',
397then edit in appropriate substituions for the @...@ constructs,
398and then copy the shell commands near the end of `configure'
399that run cpp to construct `Makefile'.
a0e671c7 400
c9da8016
RS
4014) Create `Makefile' files in various other directories
402from the corresponding `Makefile.in' files. This isn't so hard,
403just a matter of substitution.
a0e671c7 404
a0e671c7 405The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
f40423fa 406program. You need version 2.0 or newer of `autoconf' to rebuild `configure'.
a0e671c7
JB
407
408BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
409
a4af02f3
RS
410Once Emacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
411the following steps.
a0e671c7
JB
412
4131) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
414`./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing
415the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
416
c9da8016
RS
4172) Go to directory `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates
418executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile'
419and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others.
a0e671c7 420
c9da8016
RS
4213) Go to directory `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in
422the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
a0e671c7
JB
423`../lib-src'.
424
425This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
c9da8016
RS
426which has another name that contains a version number.
427Each time you do this, that version number increments in the last place.
a0e671c7
JB
428
429It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
430current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
431all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
432emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
433file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
434version.
435
436
437INSTALLATION BY HAND
438
a4af02f3
RS
439The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
440directory of the Emacs distribution.
a0e671c7
JB
441
4421) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
443in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
444
445Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
eaa91904 446- The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `fakemail', `hexl',
c9da8016
RS
447 `movemail', `profile', `rcs2log', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup',
448 and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied.
449- The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs-checkin'
a0e671c7 450 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
3ae888e8 451- The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
a0e671c7
JB
452 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
453- The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
454 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
455
4562) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
457`./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
458destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
459probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
460distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
461file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
462
4633) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as
464indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
465
4664) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
467in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
468`./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
469`/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
470of installing different versions.
471
472You can delete `./src/temacs'.
473
4745) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
c9da8016 475`rcs-checkin' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
a0e671c7
JB
476intended for users to run.
477
4786) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
479appropriate man directories.
480
4817) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
c9da8016
RS
482used by Emacs once it is built. However, it is very desirable to keep
483the source on line for debugging.
a0e671c7
JB
484
485
486PROBLEMS
487
488See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
489problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
490
491
42db5687
RS
492Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
493
eaa91904
RS
494To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler for MSDOG
495(also known as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed. Type these
496commands:
42db5687
RS
497
498config msdos
499make install
500
eaa91904
RS
501To save disk space, Emacs is built with the idea that you will execute
502it from the same place in the file system where you built it. As the
503/usr/local/ subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the
504executables are placed in /emacs/bin/.
42db5687 505
eaa91904
RS
506MSDOG is a not a multitasking operating system, so Emacs features such
507as asynchronous subprocesses that depend on multitasking will not
508work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.