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[bpt/emacs.git] / INSTALL
1 GNU Emacs Installation Guide
2 Copyright (c) 1992, 1994 Free software Foundation, Inc.
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
18 BUILDING AND INSTALLATION:
19 (This is for a Unix or Unix-like system. For MSDOS, see below;
20 search for MSDOG.)
21
22 1) Make sure your system has enough swapping space allocated to handle
23 a program whose pure code is 900k bytes and whose data area is at
24 least 400k and can reach 8Mb or more. If the swapping space is
25 insufficient, you will get an error in the command `temacs -batch -l
26 loadup dump', found in `./src/Makefile.in.in', or possibly when
27 running the final dumped Emacs.
28
29 Building Emacs requires about 50 Mb of disk space (including the Emacs
30 sources). Once installed, Emacs occupies about 20 Mb in the file
31 system where it is installed; this includes the executable files, Lisp
32 libraries, miscellaneous data files, and on-line documentation. If
33 the building and installation take place in different directories,
34 then the installation procedure momentarily requires 50+20 Mb.
35
36 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
37 give to the `configure' program. That file sometimes offers hints for
38 getting around some possible installation problems.
39
40 3) In the top directory of the Emacs distribution, run the program
41 `configure' as follows:
42
43 ./configure CONFIGURATION-NAME [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
44
45 The CONFIGURATION-NAME argument should be a configuration name given
46 in `./etc/MACHINES'. If omitted, `configure' will try to guess your
47 system type by inspecting its environment; if it cannot, you must find
48 the appropriate configuration name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it
49 explicitly.
50
51 The `--with-x', `--with-x11', and `--with-x10' options specify which
52 window system Emacs should support. If you don't want X support,
53 specify `--with-x=no'. If all of these options are omitted,
54 `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your system has
55 X11, and arrange to use it if present.
56
57 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
58 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
59 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, your
60 compiler should be able to find these by default; these options should
61 only be necessary if you have your X Window System files installed in
62 unusual places.
63
64 You can specify toolkit operation when you configure Emacs; use the
65 option --with-x-toolkit.
66
67 Note: on some systems, it does not work to use the toolkit with shared
68 libraries.
69
70 The `--run-in-place' option sets up default values for the path
71 variables in `./Makefile' so that Emacs will expect to find its data
72 files (lisp libraries, runnable programs, and the like) in the same
73 locations they occupy while Emacs builds. If you use `--run-in-place'
74 then you don't need to do `make install'.
75
76 `--run-in-place' is pretty much obsolete now. If you put the Emacs
77 executable in a subdirectory named src, which has siblings named lisp,
78 lib-src, etc, info and so on, Emacs automatically uses those sibling
79 directories if the standard installation directory names don't contain
80 what Emacs needs.
81
82 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
83 compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
84 `--with-gcc=no'. If this option is omitted, `configure' will search
85 for GCC in your load path, and use it if present.
86
87 The `--srcdir=DIR' option specifies that the configuration and build
88 processes should look for the Emacs source code in DIR, when DIR is
89 not the current directory.
90
91 You can use `--srcdir' to build Emacs for several different machine
92 types from a single source directory. Make separate build directories
93 for the different configuration types, and in each one, build Emacs
94 specifying the common source directory with `--srcdir'.
95
96 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
97 should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
98 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
99 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
100 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION
101 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.7').
102 - The architecture-dependent files go in
103 PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
104 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
105 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
106
107 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
108 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
109 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
110 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
111 - The architecture-dependent files go in
112 EXECDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
113 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
114
115 For example, the command
116
117 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
118
119 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
120 support for the X11 window system.
121
122 The `configure' program does not accept abbreviations for its
123 options.
124
125 Note that `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
126 itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
127 `./Makefile', `lib-src/Makefile', `oldXMenu/Makefile',
128 `lwlib/Makefile', `src/Makefile', and `./src/config.h'. For details
129 on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY
130 HAND', below.
131
132 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
133 leaves a copy in the file `config.status'. That file is also a shell
134 script which, when run, recreates the same configuration; it contains
135 the verbal description as a comment. If `configure' exits with an
136 error after disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'.
137
138 The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
139 distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See
140 the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the
141 configuration yourself.
142
143 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
144 for your system, edit the file `./lisp/site-init.el' containing Emacs
145 Lisp code to override them; you probably don't want to edit paths.el
146 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
147 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
148
149 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
150
151 is how you would override the default value of the variable
152 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
153
154 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
155 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
156 something up in the system's password and user information database.
157 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
158
159 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
160 Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
161 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
162 documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
163 src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
164 else, use site-init.el.
165
166 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
167 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
168 something up in the system's password and user information database.
169 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
170
171 The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
172 need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
173
174 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
175 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
176 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
177 entries.
178
179 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
180 building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file will be
181 named `src/emacs'. If you want to have Emacs's executable programs
182 and data files installed as well, run `make install'.
183
184 By default, Emacs installs its files in the following directories:
185
186 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
187 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
188 and `rcs-checkin'.
189
190 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
191 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
192 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since the
193 lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
194 another, including the version number in the path
195 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
196 at the same time; this means that you don't have to
197 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new
198 version.
199
200 Emacs searches for its lisp files in
201 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp', then in this
202 directory.
203
204 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
205 file, the `yow' database, and other
206 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
207 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
208
209 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing
210 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
211 users.
212
213 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
214 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
215 run themselves.
216 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
217 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
218 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
219 architecture and operating system of your machine,
220 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
221 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
222 operating system, and architecture in use, including
223 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
224 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
225 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
226 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
227 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
228
229 `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
230 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
231 using info files as well, so this directory stands
232 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
233
234 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
235 in `/usr/local/bin'.
236
237 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
238 install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
239 for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
240 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
241 information on this.
242
243 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
244 /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
245 info files.
246
247 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
248 then you might need to make the program arch-lib/movemail setuid or setgid
249 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
250
251 10) You are done!
252
253
254 MAKE VARIABLES
255
256 You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
257 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
258 command line. For example, if you type
259
260 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
261
262 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
263 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
264 `/usr/local/bin'.
265
266 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
267
268 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
269 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
270
271 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
272 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
273 defaults to /usr/local/share. We create the following
274 subdirectories under `datadir':
275 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs lisp library, and
276 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
277 file, and the `yow' database.
278 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
279 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
280 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
281 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
282 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
283 unavailable while installing a new version.
284
285 `sharedstatedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
286 that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
287 /usr/local/com. We create the following
288 subdirectories under `sharedstatedir':
289 - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
290 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
291 users.
292
293 `libexecdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
294 Emacs refers to as it runs; it defaults to `/usr/local/libexec'.
295 We create the following subdirectories under `libexecdir':
296 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
297 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
298 themselves.
299 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
300 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
301 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
302 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
303 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
304 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
305 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
306 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
307 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
308 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
309 installed on.
310
311 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
312 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
313
314 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
315 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
316 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
317
318 `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
319 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
320 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
321 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
322 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
323
324 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
325 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
326 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
327 `sharedstatedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
328 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
329 by default.
330
331 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
332 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
333 By including
334 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
335 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
336 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
337 directories under that path.
338
339 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
340 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
341 path variables - `bindir' and `libexecdir'.
342
343 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
344 GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs.
345
346 `lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its lisp
347 library. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
348 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
349 described above).
350
351 `locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for lisp files
352 specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of
353 directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking
354 `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
355 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp'.
356
357 `lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for
358 its lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of
359 `lispdir' and `locallisppath'. It should be a colon-separated
360 list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they
361 appear.
362
363 `etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of
364 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC
365 file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
366 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc'.
367
368 `lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its
369 locking information. Its default value, based on `sharedstatedir'
370 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock'.
371
372 `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the
373 executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses
374 while running. Its default value, based on `libexecdir' (which
375 see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
376 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
377
378 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
379 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
380 emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
381 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
382 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
383 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
384 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
385
386 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
387 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
388 when running make in the subdirectories.
389
390
391 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
392
393 Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
394 following steps.
395
396 1) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'.
397
398 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
399 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
400 see which operating system and architecture description files from
401 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
402 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
403 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
404
405 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
406 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
407 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
408 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
409 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
410
411 3) Create src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile from the corresponding
412 `Makefile.in.in' files. First copy `Makefile.in.in' to `Makefile.in',
413 then edit in appropriate substituions for the @...@ constructs,
414 and then copy the shell commands near the end of `configure'
415 that run cpp to construct `Makefile'.
416
417 4) Create `Makefile' files in various other directories
418 from the corresponding `Makefile.in' files. This isn't so hard,
419 just a matter of substitution.
420
421 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
422 program. However, since Emacs has configuration requirements that
423 autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses an marriage of custom-baked
424 configuration code and autoconf macros. New versions of autoconf
425 could very well break this arrangement, so it may be wise to avoid
426 rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when possible.
427
428
429 BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
430
431 Once Emacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
432 the following steps.
433
434 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
435 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing
436 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
437
438 2) Go to directory `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates
439 executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile'
440 and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others.
441
442 3) Go to directory `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in
443 the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
444 `../lib-src'.
445
446 This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
447 which has another name that contains a version number.
448 Each time you do this, that version number increments in the last place.
449
450 It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
451 current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
452 all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
453 emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
454 file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
455 version.
456
457
458 INSTALLATION BY HAND
459
460 The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
461 directory of the Emacs distribution.
462
463 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
464 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
465
466 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
467 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `fakemail', `hexl',
468 `movemail', `profile', `rcs2log', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup',
469 and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied.
470 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs-checkin'
471 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
472 - The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
473 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
474 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
475 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
476
477 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
478 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
479 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
480 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
481 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
482 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
483
484 3) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as
485 indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
486
487 4) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
488 in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
489 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
490 `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
491 of installing different versions.
492
493 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
494
495 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
496 `rcs-checkin' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
497 intended for users to run.
498
499 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
500 appropriate man directories.
501
502 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
503 used by Emacs once it is built. However, it is very desirable to keep
504 the source on line for debugging.
505
506
507 PROBLEMS
508
509 See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
510 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
511
512
513 Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
514
515 To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler for MSDOG
516 (also known as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed. Type these
517 commands:
518
519 config msdos
520 make install
521
522 To save disk space, Emacs is built with the idea that you will execute
523 it from the same place in the file system where you built it. As the
524 /usr/local/ subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the
525 executables are placed in /emacs/bin/.
526
527 MSDOG is a not a multitasking operating system, so Emacs features such
528 as asynchronous subprocesses that depend on multitasking will not
529 work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.