GNU Emacs Installation Guide Copyright (c) 1992 Free software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the copyright notice and permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor grants the recipient permission for further redistribution as permitted by this notice. Permission is granted to distribute modified versions of this document, or of portions of it, under the above conditions, provided also that they carry prominent notices stating who last changed them, and that any new or changed statements about the activities of the Free Software Foundation are approved by the Foundation. BUILDING AND INSTALLATION: (This is for a Unix or Unix-like system. For MSDOS, see below; search for MSDOG.) 1) Make sure your system has enough swapping space allocated to handle a program whose pure code is 900k bytes and whose data area is at least 400k and can reach 8Mb or more. If the swapping space is insufficient, you will get an error in the command `temacs -batch -l loadup dump', found in `./src/Makefile.in.in', or possibly when running the final dumped Emacs. Building Emacs requires about 30 Mb of disk space (including the Emacs sources). Once installed, Emacs occupies about 20 Mb in the file system where it is installed; this includes the executable files, Lisp libraries, miscellaneous data files, and on-line documentation. If the building and installation take place in different directories, then the installation procedure momentarily requires 30+20 Mb. 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should give to the `configure' program. That file sometimes offers hints for getting around some possible installation problems. 3) In the top directory of the Emacs distribution, run the program `configure' as follows: ./configure CONFIGURATION-NAME [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ... The CONFIGURATION-NAME argument should be a configuration name given in `./etc/MACHINES'. If omitted, `configure' will try to guess your system type by inspecting its environment; if it cannot, you must find the appropriate configuration name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it explicitly. The `--with-x', `--with-x11', and `--with-x10' options specify which window system Emacs should support. If you don't want X support, specify `--with-x=no'. If all of these options are omitted, `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your system has X11, and arrange to use it if present. The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build process where the compiler should look for the include files and object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, your compiler should be able to find these by default; these options should only be necessary if you have your X Window System files installed in unusual places. You can specify toolkit operation when you configure Emacs; use the option --with-x-toolkit=athena, --with-x-toolkit=motif, or --with-x-toolkit=open-look. The `--run-in-place' option sets up default values for the path variables in `./Makefile' so that Emacs will expect to find its data files (lisp libraries, runnable programs, and the like) in the same locations they occupy while Emacs builds. This means that you don't have to install Emacs in order to run it; it uses its data files as they were unpacked. The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify `--with-gcc=no'. If this option is omitted, `configure' will search for GCC in your load path, and use it if present. The `--srcdir=DIR' option specifies that the configuration and build processes should look for the Emacs source code in DIR, when DIR is not the current directory. You can use `--srcdir' to build Emacs for several different machine types from a single source directory. Make separate build directories for the different configuration types, and in each one, build Emacs specifying the common source directory with `--srcdir'. The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'. - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise). - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.7'). - The architecture-dependent files go in PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2), unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise. The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific files, like executables and utility programs. If specified, - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and - The architecture-dependent files go in EXECDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION. EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs. For example, the command ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with support for the X11 window system. The `configure' program does not accept abbreviations for its options. Note that `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation itself. It just creates the files that influence those things: `./Makefile', `build-install', and `./src/config.h'. For details on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY HAND', below. When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and leaves a copy in the file `config.status'. That file is also a shell script which, when run, recreates the same configuration; it contains the verbal description as a comment. If `configure' exits with an error after disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'. The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the configuration yourself. 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right for your system, edit the file `./lisp/site-init.el' containing Emacs Lisp code to override them; you probably don't want to edit paths.el itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES, rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example, (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews") is how you would override the default value of the variable news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews"). Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look something up in the system's password and user information database. See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects. 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all else, use site-load.el. Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look something up in the system's password and user information database. See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects. This file is nonexistent in the distribution. You do not need to create it if you have nothing to put in it. 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb' and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified entries. 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file will be named `src/emacs'. If you want to have Emacs's executable programs and data files installed as well, run `make install'. By default, Emacs installs its files in the following directories: `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run - `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', and `emacsclient'. `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library; `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since the lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs unavailable while installing a new version. Emacs searches for its lisp files in `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp', then in this directory. `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC file, the `yow' database, and other architecture-independent files Emacs might need while running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'. `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between users. `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run themselves. `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including the configuration name in the path allows you to have several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is installed on. `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented using info files as well, so this directory stands apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories. `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed in `/usr/local/bin'. If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more information on this. 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs info files. 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files, then you might need to make the program arch-lib/movemail setuid or setgid to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe. 10) You are done! MAKE VARIABLES You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make' command line. For example, if you type make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not `/usr/local/bin'. Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set. `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin. `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it defaults to /usr/local/lib. We create the following subdirectories under `datadir': - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs lisp library, and - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC file, and the `yow' database. `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs unavailable while installing a new version. `statedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to /usr/local/lib as well. We create the following subdirectories under `statedir': - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between users. `libdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that Emacs refers to as it runs; it too defaults to `/usr/local/lib'. We create the following subdirectories under `libdir': - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run themselves. `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including the configuration name in the path allows you to have several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is installed on. `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'. `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to `/usr/local/man/man1'. `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with. It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'. `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead, its value is used to determine the defaults for all the architecture-independent path variables - `datadir', `statedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it by default. For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'. By including `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft' in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate directories under that path. `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead determines the default values for the architecture-dependent path variables - `bindir' and `libdir'. The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs. `lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its lisp library. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as described above). `locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for lisp files specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp'. `lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for its lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of `lispdir' and `locallisppath'. It should be a colon-separated list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they appear. `etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir' (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc'. `lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its locking information. Its default value, based on `statedir' (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock'. `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses while running. Its default value, based on `libdir' (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above). Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'. The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them when running make in the subdirectories. CONFIGURATION BY HAND Running the `configure' program performs the following steps. 1) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'. 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to see which operating system and architecture description files from `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include the appropriate system and architecture description files. 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'. 3) If you're going to use the make utility to build Emacs, you will still need to run `configure' first, giving theappropriate values for the variables in the sections entitled "Things `configure' Might Edit" and "Where To Install Things." Note that you may only need to change the variables `prefix' and `exec_prefix', since the rest of the variables have reasonable defaults based on them. For each Makefile variable of this type, there is a corresponding configure option; for example, to change the location of the lock directory, you might use ./configure --lockdir=/nfs/emacslock 4) If you're going to use the build-install script to build Emacs, copy `./build-ins.in' to `./build-install', and edit the definitions found at the top of the script. The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf' program. However, since Emacs has configuration requirements that autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses an marriage of custom-baked configuration code and autoconf macros. New versions of autoconf could very well break this arrangement, so it may be wise to avoid rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when possible. BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND Once Emacs is configured, running `make' or running the shell script `build-install' in the top directory performs the following steps. 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'. 2) Cd to `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile' and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others. 3) Cd to `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and `../lib-src'. This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs, assigning it a new build version number by incrementing the build version stored in `./lisp/version.el'. It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs version. INSTALLATION BY HAND The steps below are done by the shell script `build-install' or by running `make install' in the main directory of the Emacs distribution. 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'. Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied. - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `env', `fakemail', `hexl', `movemail', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup', and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied. - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs2log' are intended to be run by users; they are handled below. - The programs `make-docfile', `make-path', and `test-distrib' were used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more. - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them. 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir' file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info. 3) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'. 4) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way of installing different versions. You can delete `./src/temacs'. 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and `rcs2log' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are intended for users to run. 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the appropriate man directories. 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not used by Emacs once it is built. The source would be handy for debugging. PROBLEMS See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them. Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS) To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler (also known as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed. Type these commands: config msdos make install To save disk space, Emacs is built in-place. As the /usr/local/ subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the executables are placed in /emacs/bin/. MSDOG is a not a multi-tasking operating system, so Emacs features that depend on multitasking will not work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.