source: README@ 2507cf7

ablfs
Last change on this file since 2507cf7 was d7818f5, checked in by Pierre Labastie <pierre@…>, 13 years ago

Updates to README and README.BLFS. First "alpha release"

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31. INTRODUCTION::
4
5 This collection of scripts, known as jhalfs, strives to create
6 accurate makefiles from the Linux From Scratch book series XML files.
7 This software is an evolution of the original "jhalfs-0.2" code developed
8 by Jeremy Huntwork.
9
10 The usage of this script assumes you have read and are familiar with
11 the book(s) and, therefore, the configuration variables found in menuconfig
12 interface will have meaning to you.
13
14 The list of supported books can be found at
15 http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/alfs/wiki/SupportedBooks
16
17 NOTES::
18 *. The resulting Makefile takes considerable time to run to completion.
19 Lay in a supply of caffeine beverages.
20
21 *. It is recommended that you temporarily unpack your linux kernel,
22 run <make menuconfig>, configure the kernel as per the book and save
23 the resulting .config file. This suggestion also applies to the
24 configuration of the uClibc package when building a HLFS system using
25 uClibc rather than glibc.
26
27 *. Read carefully this file and the other README.* files before start
28 using the tool.
29
302. PREREQUISITES::
31
32 To use this tool you MUST:
33
34 - have experience building {c,h,b}LFS packages
35 - know how to edit and write shell scripts
36 - know how a Makefile works
37 - be able to trace build failures and to find what is causing it
38 (user error, package bug, {c,h,b}LFS command bug, or jhalfs code bug)
39
40 If you do not have the above skills, please don't use this tool.
41
42
433. INSTALLATION::
44
45 No installation is required. System-wide installation is not allowed.
46
474. CONFIGURATION::
48
49 We have installed the familiar menu based configuration tool driven by
50 GNU make. see the section RUNNING, for details
51
525. RUNNING::
53
54 The command <make> will launch a menu based configuration program. You will
55 recognize the layout from building the kernel or uClibc/BusyBox. The
56 underlying menu code was borrowed from BusyBox and slightly modified for
57 our use.
58
59 Help on parameter function is available from the on-line help. Please
60 make use of that feature for additional information not in this file.
61
62 Once you have set the parameters you wish and have saved your work the
63 jhalfs script is launch. The script verify first that the host can run
64 it and build the xLFS system, then validate the configuration and present
65 you with your selections which you may accept or reject.
66
67 If you accepted the displayed settings jhalfs will proceed to create the
68 Makefile, optionally download packages.
69
70 ::NEWS::
71 You must be logged as a normal user with sudo privileges to run
72 the Makefile.
73
74 NOTE::
75 If you run the jhalfs script directly the only function you can select
76 is to display the version number running <./jhalfs -v>
77
786. BLFS_TOOL SUPPORT::
79
80 For books that support it (TODO: which ones?), there is an option
81 to install an automated framework for building BLFS packages. Let
82 us call it blfs-tool for now. When you tick `BOOK Settings/Add
83 blfs-tool support' in jhalfs configuration menu, the tools are
84 installed in $BLFS_ROOT (default /blfs_root) on the xLFS system,
85 and a few dependencies (which you may select) are built at the
86 end of the jhalfs run. The pre-made build dependencies
87 scripts has been written based on a LFS build. For CLFS and HLFS
88 builds you may need to adjust those scripts, that are found into the
89 common/blfs-tool-deps directory in the jhalfs sources tree.
90
91 (TODO: is this relevant to present CLFS?)
92 WARNING:: If you add blfs-tool support on a CLFS Sysroot build
93 you MUST edit the scripts to fix the installation paths.
94
95 After booting the new xLFS system some steps are needed to finish
96 the installation of the automated tools:
97
98 - A user account must be created. You must be logged on that user
99 account to use blfs-tool. This is not strictly necessary,
100 since the packages can be built as root, too, but it is
101 never a good idea to build packages as root.
102
103 - Move /blfs-root to that user's home and change ownership of the
104 directory and files to the user.
105
106 - Give the user read and write privileges over the $TRACKING_DIR
107 directory and the files that it contains.
108
109 - If you think that you may need the libxml2/libxslt Python modules,
110 remove the libxml2 and libxslt trackin files found in $TRACKING_DIR.
111
112 - Configure sudo, adding the needed privileges for the user. For
113 newer sudo version, do not forget to add a line Defaults secure_path=
114 containing /sbin and /usr/sbin (in /etc/sudoers), otherwise some
115 executables are not found.
116
117 - Although it is not strictly necessary, it is recommended to install
118 the bash shell startup files (as per `3.After LFS Configuration
119 Issues' of the BLFS book), as some instructions in BLFS rely on
120 their being present.
121
122 We assume that blfs-tool will be used on a running fresh xLFS system.
123 To use it to build BLFS packages from the chroot jail is also possible,
124 but not supported.
125
126 To know how to use blfs-tool, see README.BLFS.
127
1287. LAYOUT::
129
130 /BLFS (see README.BLFS)
131
132 /CLFS/master.sh
133 /clfs.xsl
134
135 /CLFS2/master.sh
136 /clfs2.xsl
137
138 /CLFS3/master.sh
139 /clfs3.xsl
140
141 /HLFS/master.sh
142 /hlfs.xsl
143
144 /LFS/master.sh
145 /lfs.xsl
146
147 /common/common_functions
148 /makefile_functions
149 /packages.xsl
150 /urls.xsl
151 /create-sbu_du-report.sh
152 /progress_bar.sh
153 /blfs-tool-deps/9xx-*
154 /libs/func_*
155
156 /custom/template
157 /config/
158 /examples/*
159 /examples_CLFS-E/*
160
161 /extras/do_copy_files
162 /do_ica_prep
163 /do_ica_work
164 /farce
165 /filelist
166
167 /optimize/opt_config
168 /opt_override
169 /optimize_functions
170 /opt_config.d/noOpt
171 /noSymbols
172 /O3pipe
173 /O3pipe_march
174 /defOpt_fPIC
175
176 /menu/*
177
178 README
179 README.BLFS
180 README.CLFS
181 README.HLFS
182 README.CUSTOM
183 TODO
184 LICENSE
185
186 Config.in
187 Makefile
188 jhalfs
189 blfs-tool
190
1918. FAQ::
192 Q. "This 'help' file is very sparse"
193 A. Yes, it is. This tool, jhalfs, is for those who understand the LFS books
194 and wish to automate the build. 99% of any problems that arise can be
195 solved by reading the book(s).
196
197 Q. "It doesn't work!"
198 A. Yes it does, try >> make
199 Remember you must have 'sudo' privileges.
200
201 Q. "It still doesn't work"
202 A. jhalfs was designed to work against the development versions of the LFS
203 series of books. Consequently changes in a book(s) sometimes breaks older
204 versions of jhalfs. Before you start pulling out your hair download the
205 latest version of jhalfs to see if that solves your problem.
206
207 Q. "How do I specify the build location?"
208 A. The original LFS document worked against the well known location /mnt/lfs.
209 This script automates the build of all of the LFS series of books and uses
210 a generic location $BUILDDIR with a default value of /mnt/build_dir.
211 You may change this value to suit your needs.
212
213 The layout below $BUILDDIR is as follows.
214 $BUILDDIR/
215 jhalfs (Makefile, cmd scripts, logs, etc..)
216 sources (where packages reside)
217 tools (temporary bootstrap system)
218 cross-tools (temporary CLFS only)
219 ...
220 FHS dir structure
221 ...
222 blfs_root (files to use blfs-tool if selected to install it)
223
224 Q. "What is the function of the SRC_ARCHIVE variable?"
225 A. When jhalfs runs and packages download was selected, it creates a local
226 copy of the necessary packages in BUILDDIR/sources by downloading the
227 files. If the variable SRC_ARCHIVE is defined the software will first
228 look in this location for the file and, if found, will copy it to
229 BUILDDIR/sources.
230 If the files are not found in SRC_ARCHIVE _and_ you have write priv to
231 the directory any downloaded files will be mirrored there.
232
233 Q. "How do I set the SRC_ARCHIVE location?"
234 A. The best way to set the value of SRC_ARCHIVE is
235
236 export SRC_ARCHIVE=/wherever/you/store/downloaded/packages
237
238 or you can set the full path in the proper menu entry.
239
240 Q. "Why have 2 copies of the files?"
241 A. The package files must be visible during the chroot phase and this is a
242 simple and reliable method of doing so. This method also handles the CLFS
243 boot build method where the final build may be done on a separate machine.
244
245 Q. "What is the function of "User account" and "Group account" menu settings?"
246 A. If you are running jhalfs from a low or non-privileged account you may not
247 have the priv to create/delete the user needed to build temporary tools.
248 These settings allow you to use your own user and group name to do that
249 build steps.
250
251 These variables are adjustable also when invoking make:
252
253 $BUILDDIR make LUSER=myaccount LGROUP=mygroup
254
255 The only changes to your account will be the creation of a NEW .bashrc
256 after saving your original to .bashrc.XXX
257
258 Q. "When I try to build CLFS the Makefile fails at the mid-point"
259 A. There could be numerous reasons for the failure but the most likely reason
260 is you are doing a cross-build using the 'chroot' method and the target is
261 not compatible with the host. If you choose to build using the chroot
262 method a test is performed at the end of the temptools phase. If the test
263 succeeds the build continues inside a chroot jail. However if the test fails
264 it means the host and target are not compatible an you should use the
265 'boot' method to create your target code.
266 As an extreme example: You can build a sparc target on a x86 platform but
267 only the temptools phase. You must select the 'boot' method and not the
268 'chroot.' You must transfer the toolchain to a sparc platform, reboot the
269 sparc box and continue the build.
270 Of all the LFS series of books Cross-LFS requires the greatest
271 understanding of host/target hardware combination. Please read the book
272 carefully and don't skip the easy parts (there are none..)
273
274 Q. "How could I stop the build at a predefined chosen point?"
275 A. Launch the Makefile manually passing the last numbered target to be build
276 as the break point. For example:
277
278 make BREAKPOINT=84-bash
279
280 The build can be stopped also at the end of a top-level build phase by
281 calling directly the appropriate mk_* target. For example:
282
283 make mk_LUSER
284
285 See the Makefile to know the proper target names for that book build.
286
287Authors:
288 George Boudreau
289 Manuel Canales Esparcia
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