4 These are installation instructions for Bash.
6 The simplest way to compile Bash is:
8 1. `cd' to the directory containing the source code and type
9 `./configure' to configure Bash for your system. If you're using
10 `csh' on an old version of System V, you might need to type `sh
11 ./configure' instead to prevent `csh' from trying to execute
14 Running `configure' takes some time. While running, it prints
15 messages telling which features it is checking for.
17 2. Type `make' to compile Bash and build the `bashbug' bug reporting
20 3. Optionally, type `make tests' to run the Bash test suite.
22 4. Type `make install' to install `bash' and `bashbug'. This will
23 also install the manual pages and Info file.
25 The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
26 various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
27 those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package
28 (the top directory, the `builtins', `doc', and `support' directories,
29 each directory under `lib', and several others). It also creates a
30 `config.h' file containing system-dependent definitions. Finally, it
31 creates a shell script named `config.status' that you can run in the
32 future to recreate the current configuration, a file `config.cache'
33 that saves the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring, and a
34 file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
35 debugging `configure'). If at some point `config.cache' contains
36 results you don't want to keep, you may remove or edit it.
38 To find out more about the options and arguments that the `configure'
39 script understands, type
41 bash-2.04$ ./configure --help
43 at the Bash prompt in your Bash source directory.
45 If you need to do unusual things to compile Bash, please try to figure
46 out how `configure' could check whether or not to do them, and mail
47 diffs or instructions to <bash-maintainers@gnu.org> so they can be
48 considered for the next release.
50 The file `configure.in' is used to create `configure' by a program
51 called Autoconf. You only need `configure.in' if you want to change it
52 or regenerate `configure' using a newer version of Autoconf. If you do
53 this, make sure you are using Autoconf version 2.10 or newer.
55 If you need to change `configure.in' or regenerate `configure', you
56 will need to create two files: `_distribution' and `_patchlevel'.
57 `_distribution' should contain the major and minor version numbers of
58 the Bash distribution, for example `2.01'. `_patchlevel' should
59 contain the patch level of the Bash distribution, `0' for example. The
60 script `support/mkconffiles' has been provided to automate the creation
63 You can remove the program binaries and object files from the source
64 code directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the files that
65 `configure' created (so you can compile Bash for a different kind of
66 computer), type `make distclean'.
71 Some systems require unusual options for compilation or linking that
72 the `configure' script does not know about. You can give `configure'
73 initial values for variables by setting them in the environment. Using
74 a Bourne-compatible shell, you can do that on the command line like
77 CC=c89 CFLAGS=-O2 LIBS=-lposix ./configure
79 On systems that have the `env' program, you can do it like this:
81 env CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include LDFLAGS=-s ./configure
83 The configuration process uses GCC to build Bash if it is available.
85 Compiling For Multiple Architectures
86 ====================================
88 You can compile Bash for more than one kind of computer at the same
89 time, by placing the object files for each architecture in their own
90 directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that supports
91 the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. `cd' to the directory where
92 you want the object files and executables to go and run the `configure'
93 script from the source directory. You may need to supply the
94 `--srcdir=PATH' argument to tell `configure' where the source files
95 are. `configure' automatically checks for the source code in the
96 directory that `configure' is in and in `..'.
98 If you have to use a `make' that does not supports the `VPATH'
99 variable, you can compile Bash for one architecture at a time in the
100 source code directory. After you have installed Bash for one
101 architecture, use `make distclean' before reconfiguring for another
104 Alternatively, if your system supports symbolic links, you can use the
105 `support/mkclone' script to create a build tree which has symbolic
106 links back to each file in the source directory. Here's an example
107 that creates a build directory in the current directory from a source
108 directory `/usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0':
110 bash /usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0/support/mkclone -s /usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0 .
112 The `mkclone' script requires Bash, so you must have already built Bash
113 for at least one architecture before you can create build directories
114 for other architectures.
119 By default, `make install' will install into `/usr/local/bin',
120 `/usr/local/man', etc. You can specify an installation prefix other
121 than `/usr/local' by giving `configure' the option `--prefix=PATH'.
123 You can specify separate installation prefixes for
124 architecture-specific files and architecture-independent files. If you
125 give `configure' the option `--exec-prefix=PATH', `make install' will
126 use PATH as the prefix for installing programs and libraries.
127 Documentation and other data files will still use the regular prefix.
129 Specifying the System Type
130 ==========================
132 There may be some features `configure' can not figure out
133 automatically, but needs to determine by the type of host Bash will run
134 on. Usually `configure' can figure that out, but if it prints a
135 message saying it can not guess the host type, give it the
136 `--host=TYPE' option. `TYPE' can either be a short name for the system
137 type, such as `sun4', or a canonical name with three fields:
138 `CPU-COMPANY-SYSTEM' (e.g., `sparc-sun-sunos4.1.2').
140 See the file `support/config.sub' for the possible values of each field.
145 If you want to set default values for `configure' scripts to share, you
146 can create a site shell script called `config.site' that gives default
147 values for variables like `CC', `cache_file', and `prefix'. `configure'
148 looks for `PREFIX/share/config.site' if it exists, then
149 `PREFIX/etc/config.site' if it exists. Or, you can set the
150 `CONFIG_SITE' environment variable to the location of the site script.
151 A warning: the Bash `configure' looks for a site script, but not all
152 `configure' scripts do.
157 `configure' recognizes the following options to control how it operates.
160 Use and save the results of the tests in FILE instead of
161 `./config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to disable caching, for
162 debugging `configure'.
165 Print a summary of the options to `configure', and exit.
170 Do not print messages saying which checks are being made.
173 Look for the Bash source code in directory DIR. Usually
174 `configure' can determine that directory automatically.
177 Print the version of Autoconf used to generate the `configure'
180 `configure' also accepts some other, not widely used, boilerplate
181 options. `configure --help' prints the complete list.
186 The Bash `configure' has a number of `--enable-FEATURE' options, where
187 FEATURE indicates an optional part of Bash. There are also several
188 `--with-PACKAGE' options, where PACKAGE is something like `bash-malloc'
189 or `purify'. To turn off the default use of a package, use
190 `--without-PACKAGE'. To configure Bash without a feature that is
191 enabled by default, use `--disable-FEATURE'.
193 Here is a complete list of the `--enable-' and `--with-' options that
194 the Bash `configure' recognizes.
197 Define if you are using the Andrew File System from Transarc.
200 Use the Bash version of `malloc' in `lib/malloc/malloc.c'. This
201 is not the same `malloc' that appears in GNU libc, but an older
202 version derived from the 4.2 BSD `malloc'. This `malloc' is very
203 fast, but wastes some space on each allocation. This option is
204 enabled by default. The `NOTES' file contains a list of systems
205 for which this should be turned off, and `configure' disables this
206 option automatically for a number of systems.
209 Use the curses library instead of the termcap library. This should
210 be supplied if your system has an inadequate or incomplete termcap
213 `--with-glibc-malloc'
214 Use the GNU libc version of `malloc' in `lib/malloc/gmalloc.c'.
215 This is not the version of `malloc' that appears in glibc version
216 2, but a modified version of the `malloc' from glibc version 1.
217 This is somewhat slower than the default `malloc', but wastes less
218 space on a per-allocation basis, and will return memory to the
219 operating system under certain circumstances.
222 A synonym for `--with-bash-malloc'.
224 `--with-installed-readline'
225 Define this to make Bash link with a locally-installed version of
226 Readline rather than the version in `lib/readline'. This works
227 only with Readline 4.1 and later versions.
230 Define this to use the Purify memory allocation checker from
233 `--enable-minimal-config'
234 This produces a shell with minimal features, close to the
235 historical Bourne shell.
237 There are several `--enable-' options that alter how Bash is compiled
238 and linked, rather than changing run-time features.
241 This builds a Bash binary that produces profiling information to be
242 processed by `gprof' each time it is executed.
244 `--enable-static-link'
245 This causes Bash to be linked statically, if `gcc' is being used.
246 This could be used to build a version to use as root's shell.
248 The `minimal-config' option can be used to disable all of the following
249 options, but it is processed first, so individual options may be
250 enabled using `enable-FEATURE'.
252 All of the following options except for `disabled-builtins' and
253 `xpg-echo-default' are enabled by default, unless the operating system
254 does not provide the necessary support.
257 Allow alias expansion and include the `alias' and `unalias'
258 builtins (*note Aliases::).
260 `--enable-arith-for-command'
261 Include support for the alternate form of the `for' command that
262 behaves like the C language `for' statement (*note Looping
265 `--enable-array-variables'
266 Include support for one-dimensional array shell variables (*note
269 `--enable-bang-history'
270 Include support for `csh'-like history substitution (*note History
273 `--enable-brace-expansion'
274 Include `csh'-like brace expansion ( `b{a,b}c' ==> `bac bbc' ).
275 See *Note Brace Expansion::, for a complete description.
277 `--enable-command-timing'
278 Include support for recognizing `time' as a reserved word and for
279 displaying timing statistics for the pipeline following `time'
280 (*note Pipelines::). This allows pipelines as well as shell
281 builtins and functions to be timed.
283 `--enable-cond-command'
284 Include support for the `[[' conditional command (*note
285 Conditional Constructs::).
287 `--enable-directory-stack'
288 Include support for a `csh'-like directory stack and the `pushd',
289 `popd', and `dirs' builtins (*note The Directory Stack::).
291 `--enable-disabled-builtins'
292 Allow builtin commands to be invoked via `builtin xxx' even after
293 `xxx' has been disabled using `enable -n xxx'. See *Note Bash
294 Builtins::, for details of the `builtin' and `enable' builtin
297 `--enable-dparen-arithmetic'
298 Include support for the `((...))' command (*note Conditional
301 `--enable-extended-glob'
302 Include support for the extended pattern matching features
303 described above under *Note Pattern Matching::.
305 `--enable-help-builtin'
306 Include the `help' builtin, which displays help on shell builtins
307 and variables (*note Bash Builtins::).
310 Include command history and the `fc' and `history' builtin
311 commands (*note Bash History Facilities::).
313 `--enable-job-control'
314 This enables the job control features (*note Job Control::), if
315 the operating system supports them.
317 `--enable-net-redirections'
318 This enables the special handling of filenames of the form
319 `/dev/tcp/HOST/PORT' and `/dev/udp/HOST/PORT' when used in
320 redirections (*note Redirections::).
322 `--enable-process-substitution'
323 This enables process substitution (*note Process Substitution::) if
324 the operating system provides the necessary support.
326 `--enable-prompt-string-decoding'
327 Turn on the interpretation of a number of backslash-escaped
328 characters in the `$PS1', `$PS2', `$PS3', and `$PS4' prompt
329 strings. See *Note Printing a Prompt::, for a complete list of
330 prompt string escape sequences.
333 Enable the programmable completion facilities (*note Programmable
334 Completion::). If Readline is not enabled, this option has no
338 Include support for command-line editing and history with the Bash
339 version of the Readline library (*note Command Line Editing::).
341 `--enable-restricted'
342 Include support for a "restricted shell". If this is enabled,
343 Bash, when called as `rbash', enters a restricted mode. See *Note
344 The Restricted Shell::, for a description of restricted mode.
347 Include the `select' builtin, which allows the generation of simple
348 menus (*note Conditional Constructs::).
350 `--enable-usg-echo-default'
351 A synonym for `--enable-xpg-echo-default'.
353 `--enable-xpg-echo-default'
354 Make the `echo' builtin expand backslash-escaped characters by
355 default, without requiring the `-e' option. This sets the default
356 value of the `xpg_echo' shell option to `on', which makes the Bash
357 `echo' behave more like the version specified in the Single Unix
358 Specification, version 2. *Note Bash Builtins::, for a
359 description of the escape sequences that `echo' recognizes.
361 The file `config-top.h' contains C Preprocessor `#define' statements
362 for options which are not settable from `configure'. Some of these are
363 not meant to be changed; beware of the consequences if you do. Read
364 the comments associated with each definition for more information about