blob: b95082be4d5eec7656e858685bd28f5b871a1efd [file] [log] [blame]
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001Intro
2=====
3
4This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of
5software necessary to run the 2.6 kernels, as well as provide brief
6instructions regarding any other "Gotchas" users may encounter when
7trying life on the Bleeding Edge. If upgrading from a pre-2.4.x
8kernel, please consult the Changes file included with 2.4.x kernels for
9additional information; most of that information will not be repeated
10here. Basically, this document assumes that your system is already
11functional and running at least 2.4.x kernels.
12
13This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels
14and therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,
15Axel Boldt, Alessandro Sigala, and countless other users all over the
16'net).
17
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070018Current Minimal Requirements
19============================
20
21Upgrade to at *least* these software revisions before thinking you've
22encountered a bug! If you're unsure what version you're currently
23running, the suggested command should tell you.
24
25Again, keep in mind that this list assumes you are already
26functionally running a Linux 2.4 kernel. Also, not all tools are
Dominik Brodowski5085cb22005-06-27 16:28:45 -070027necessary on all systems; obviously, if you don't have any ISDN
28hardware, for example, you probably needn't concern yourself with
29isdn4k-utils.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070030
Andrew Mortona1365642006-01-08 01:04:09 -080031o Gnu C 3.2 # gcc --version
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070032o Gnu make 3.79.1 # make --version
33o binutils 2.12 # ld -v
34o util-linux 2.10o # fdformat --version
35o module-init-tools 0.9.10 # depmod -V
Bill Nottingham242f45d2009-01-29 16:28:40 -080036o e2fsprogs 1.41.4 # e2fsck -V
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070037o jfsutils 1.1.3 # fsck.jfs -V
38o reiserfsprogs 3.6.3 # reiserfsck -V 2>&1|grep reiserfsprogs
39o xfsprogs 2.6.0 # xfs_db -V
Bill Nottingham242f45d2009-01-29 16:28:40 -080040o squashfs-tools 4.0 # mksquashfs -version
41o btrfs-progs 0.18 # btrfsck
Robert P. J. Daye4121712006-09-11 12:39:19 -040042o pcmciautils 004 # pccardctl -V
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070043o quota-tools 3.09 # quota -V
44o PPP 2.4.0 # pppd --version
45o isdn4k-utils 3.1pre1 # isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
46o nfs-utils 1.0.5 # showmount --version
47o procps 3.2.0 # ps --version
John Levon0c0a4002005-06-23 22:02:47 -070048o oprofile 0.9 # oprofiled --version
Robert P. J. Daye4121712006-09-11 12:39:19 -040049o udev 081 # udevinfo -V
H. Peter Anvinc3887cd2007-08-02 13:50:43 -040050o grub 0.93 # grub --version
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070051
52Kernel compilation
53==================
54
55GCC
56---
57
58The gcc version requirements may vary depending on the type of CPU in your
Andrew Mortona1365642006-01-08 01:04:09 -080059computer.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070060
61Make
62----
63
64You will need Gnu make 3.79.1 or later to build the kernel.
65
66Binutils
67--------
68
69Linux on IA-32 has recently switched from using as86 to using gas for
70assembling the 16-bit boot code, removing the need for as86 to compile
71your kernel. This change does, however, mean that you need a recent
72release of binutils.
73
74System utilities
75================
76
77Architectural changes
78---------------------
79
80DevFS has been obsoleted in favour of udev
81(http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/)
82
8332-bit UID support is now in place. Have fun!
84
85Linux documentation for functions is transitioning to inline
86documentation via specially-formatted comments near their
87definitions in the source. These comments can be combined with the
88SGML templates in the Documentation/DocBook directory to make DocBook
89files, which can then be converted by DocBook stylesheets to PostScript,
90HTML, PDF files, and several other formats. In order to convert from
91DocBook format to a format of your choice, you'll need to install Jade as
92well as the desired DocBook stylesheets.
93
94Util-linux
95----------
96
97New versions of util-linux provide *fdisk support for larger disks,
98support new options to mount, recognize more supported partition
99types, have a fdformat which works with 2.4 kernels, and similar goodies.
100You'll probably want to upgrade.
101
102Ksymoops
103--------
104
Jesper Juhl62a07e62005-11-07 01:01:03 -0800105If the unthinkable happens and your kernel oopses, you may need the
106ksymoops tool to decode it, but in most cases you don't.
107In the 2.6 kernel it is generally preferred to build the kernel with
108CONFIG_KALLSYMS so that it produces readable dumps that can be used as-is
109(this also produces better output than ksymoops).
110If for some reason your kernel is not build with CONFIG_KALLSYMS and
111you have no way to rebuild and reproduce the Oops with that option, then
112you can still decode that Oops with ksymoops.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700113
114Module-Init-Tools
115-----------------
116
117A new module loader is now in the kernel that requires module-init-tools
118to use. It is backward compatible with the 2.4.x series kernels.
119
120Mkinitrd
121--------
122
123These changes to the /lib/modules file tree layout also require that
124mkinitrd be upgraded.
125
126E2fsprogs
127---------
128
129The latest version of e2fsprogs fixes several bugs in fsck and
130debugfs. Obviously, it's a good idea to upgrade.
131
132JFSutils
133--------
134
135The jfsutils package contains the utilities for the file system.
136The following utilities are available:
137o fsck.jfs - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check
138 and repair a JFS formatted partition.
139o mkfs.jfs - create a JFS formatted partition.
140o other file system utilities are also available in this package.
141
142Reiserfsprogs
143-------------
144
145The reiserfsprogs package should be used for reiserfs-3.6.x
146(Linux kernels 2.4.x). It is a combined package and contains working
147versions of mkreiserfs, resize_reiserfs, debugreiserfs and
148reiserfsck. These utils work on both i386 and alpha platforms.
149
150Xfsprogs
151--------
152
153The latest version of xfsprogs contains mkfs.xfs, xfs_db, and the
154xfs_repair utilities, among others, for the XFS filesystem. It is
155architecture independent and any version from 2.0.0 onward should
156work correctly with this version of the XFS kernel code (2.6.0 or
157later is recommended, due to some significant improvements).
158
Dominik Brodowski5085cb22005-06-27 16:28:45 -0700159PCMCIAutils
160-----------
161
162PCMCIAutils replaces pcmcia-cs (see below). It properly sets up
163PCMCIA sockets at system startup and loads the appropriate modules
164for 16-bit PCMCIA devices if the kernel is modularized and the hotplug
165subsystem is used.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700166
167Pcmcia-cs
168---------
169
170PCMCIA (PC Card) support is now partially implemented in the main
Dominik Brodowski5085cb22005-06-27 16:28:45 -0700171kernel source. The "pcmciautils" package (see above) replaces pcmcia-cs
172for newest kernels.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700173
174Quota-tools
175-----------
176
177Support for 32 bit uid's and gid's is required if you want to use
178the newer version 2 quota format. Quota-tools version 3.07 and
179newer has this support. Use the recommended version or newer
180from the table above.
181
182Intel IA32 microcode
183--------------------
184
185A driver has been added to allow updating of Intel IA32 microcode,
Greg Kroah-Hartman890fbae2005-06-20 21:15:16 -0700186accessible as a normal (misc) character device. If you are not using
187udev you may need to:
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700188
189mkdir /dev/cpu
190mknod /dev/cpu/microcode c 10 184
191chmod 0644 /dev/cpu/microcode
192
193as root before you can use this. You'll probably also want to
194get the user-space microcode_ctl utility to use with this.
195
196Powertweak
197----------
198
199If you are running v0.1.17 or earlier, you should upgrade to
200version v0.99.0 or higher. Running old versions may cause problems
201with programs using shared memory.
202
203udev
204----
205udev is a userspace application for populating /dev dynamically with
Greg Kroah-Hartman890fbae2005-06-20 21:15:16 -0700206only entries for devices actually present. udev replaces the basic
Jan Engelhardt03a67a42006-11-30 05:32:19 +0100207functionality of devfs, while allowing persistent device naming for
Greg Kroah-Hartman890fbae2005-06-20 21:15:16 -0700208devices.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700209
Miklos Szeredi909021e2005-09-27 21:45:20 -0700210FUSE
211----
212
213Needs libfuse 2.4.0 or later. Absolute minimum is 2.3.0 but mount
214options 'direct_io' and 'kernel_cache' won't work.
215
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700216Networking
217==========
218
219General changes
220---------------
221
222If you have advanced network configuration needs, you should probably
223consider using the network tools from ip-route2.
224
225Packet Filter / NAT
226-------------------
227The packet filtering and NAT code uses the same tools like the previous 2.4.x
228kernel series (iptables). It still includes backwards-compatibility modules
229for 2.2.x-style ipchains and 2.0.x-style ipfwadm.
230
231PPP
232---
233
234The PPP driver has been restructured to support multilink and to
235enable it to operate over diverse media layers. If you use PPP,
236upgrade pppd to at least 2.4.0.
237
Greg Kroah-Hartman890fbae2005-06-20 21:15:16 -0700238If you are not using udev, you must have the device file /dev/ppp
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700239which can be made by:
240
241mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0
242
243as root.
244
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700245Isdn4k-utils
246------------
247
248Due to changes in the length of the phone number field, isdn4k-utils
249needs to be recompiled or (preferably) upgraded.
250
251NFS-utils
252---------
253
254In 2.4 and earlier kernels, the nfs server needed to know about any
255client that expected to be able to access files via NFS. This
256information would be given to the kernel by "mountd" when the client
257mounted the filesystem, or by "exportfs" at system startup. exportfs
258would take information about active clients from /var/lib/nfs/rmtab.
259
260This approach is quite fragile as it depends on rmtab being correct
261which is not always easy, particularly when trying to implement
262fail-over. Even when the system is working well, rmtab suffers from
263getting lots of old entries that never get removed.
264
265With 2.6 we have the option of having the kernel tell mountd when it
266gets a request from an unknown host, and mountd can give appropriate
267export information to the kernel. This removes the dependency on
268rmtab and means that the kernel only needs to know about currently
269active clients.
270
271To enable this new functionality, you need to:
272
Robert P. J. Daye4121712006-09-11 12:39:19 -0400273 mount -t nfsd nfsd /proc/fs/nfsd
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700274
275before running exportfs or mountd. It is recommended that all NFS
276services be protected from the internet-at-large by a firewall where
277that is possible.
278
279Getting updated software
280========================
281
282Kernel compilation
283******************
284
Andrew Mortona1365642006-01-08 01:04:09 -0800285gcc
286---
287o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700288
289Make
290----
291o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/>
292
293Binutils
294--------
295o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/>
296
297System utilities
298****************
299
300Util-linux
301----------
302o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>
303
304Ksymoops
305--------
306o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/>
307
308Module-Init-Tools
309-----------------
310o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rusty/modules/>
311
312Mkinitrd
313--------
314o <ftp://rawhide.redhat.com/pub/rawhide/SRPMS/SRPMS/>
315
316E2fsprogs
317---------
318o <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.29.tar.gz>
319
320JFSutils
321--------
322o <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/>
323
324Reiserfsprogs
325-------------
326o <http://www.namesys.com/pub/reiserfsprogs/reiserfsprogs-3.6.3.tar.gz>
327
328Xfsprogs
329--------
330o <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/download/>
331
Dominik Brodowski5085cb22005-06-27 16:28:45 -0700332Pcmciautils
333-----------
334o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/>
335
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700336Pcmcia-cs
337---------
Dominik Brodowski5085cb22005-06-27 16:28:45 -0700338o <http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700339
340Quota-tools
341----------
342o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>
343
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700344DocBook Stylesheets
345-------------------
346o <http://nwalsh.com/docbook/dsssl/>
347
Martin Waitz8b0c2d92005-05-01 08:59:27 -0700348XMLTO XSLT Frontend
349-------------------
350o <http://cyberelk.net/tim/xmlto/>
351
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700352Intel P6 microcode
353------------------
354o <http://www.urbanmyth.org/microcode/>
355
356Powertweak
357----------
358o <http://powertweak.sourceforge.net/>
359
360udev
361----
362o <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev.html>
363
Miklos Szeredi909021e2005-09-27 21:45:20 -0700364FUSE
365----
366o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse>
367
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700368Networking
369**********
370
371PPP
372---
373o <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/ppp-2.4.0.tar.gz>
374
375Isdn4k-utils
376------------
377o <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/isdn4k-utils.v3.1pre1.tar.gz>
378
379NFS-utils
380---------
381o <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14>
382
383Iptables
384--------
385o <http://www.iptables.org/downloads.html>
386
387Ip-route2
388---------
389o <ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/net/ip-routing/iproute2-2.2.4-now-ss991023.tar.gz>
390
391OProfile
392--------
393o <http://oprofile.sf.net/download/>
394
395NFS-Utils
396---------
397o <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/>
398