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 2.50 or newer.
55 You can remove the program binaries and object files from the source
56 code directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the files that
57 `configure' created (so you can compile Bash for a different kind of
58 computer), type `make distclean'.
63 Some systems require unusual options for compilation or linking that
64 the `configure' script does not know about. You can give `configure'
65 initial values for variables by setting them in the environment. Using
66 a Bourne-compatible shell, you can do that on the command line like
69 CC=c89 CFLAGS=-O2 LIBS=-lposix ./configure
71 On systems that have the `env' program, you can do it like this:
73 env CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include LDFLAGS=-s ./configure
75 The configuration process uses GCC to build Bash if it is available.
77 Compiling For Multiple Architectures
78 ====================================
80 You can compile Bash for more than one kind of computer at the same
81 time, by placing the object files for each architecture in their own
82 directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that supports
83 the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. `cd' to the directory where
84 you want the object files and executables to go and run the `configure'
85 script from the source directory. You may need to supply the
86 `--srcdir=PATH' argument to tell `configure' where the source files
87 are. `configure' automatically checks for the source code in the
88 directory that `configure' is in and in `..'.
90 If you have to use a `make' that does not supports the `VPATH'
91 variable, you can compile Bash for one architecture at a time in the
92 source code directory. After you have installed Bash for one
93 architecture, use `make distclean' before reconfiguring for another
96 Alternatively, if your system supports symbolic links, you can use the
97 `support/mkclone' script to create a build tree which has symbolic
98 links back to each file in the source directory. Here's an example
99 that creates a build directory in the current directory from a source
100 directory `/usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0':
102 bash /usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0/support/mkclone -s /usr/gnu/src/bash-2.0 .
104 The `mkclone' script requires Bash, so you must have already built Bash
105 for at least one architecture before you can create build directories
106 for other architectures.
111 By default, `make install' will install into `/usr/local/bin',
112 `/usr/local/man', etc. You can specify an installation prefix other
113 than `/usr/local' by giving `configure' the option `--prefix=PATH', or
114 by specifying a value for the `DESTDIR' `make' variable when running
117 You can specify separate installation prefixes for
118 architecture-specific files and architecture-independent files. If you
119 give `configure' the option `--exec-prefix=PATH', `make install' will
120 use PATH as the prefix for installing programs and libraries.
121 Documentation and other data files will still use the regular prefix.
123 Specifying the System Type
124 ==========================
126 There may be some features `configure' can not figure out
127 automatically, but need to determine by the type of host Bash will run
128 on. Usually `configure' can figure that out, but if it prints a
129 message saying it can not guess the host type, give it the
130 `--host=TYPE' option. `TYPE' can either be a short name for the system
131 type, such as `sun4', or a canonical name with three fields:
132 `CPU-COMPANY-SYSTEM' (e.g., `i386-unknown-freebsd4.2').
134 See the file `support/config.sub' for the possible values of each field.
139 If you want to set default values for `configure' scripts to share, you
140 can create a site shell script called `config.site' that gives default
141 values for variables like `CC', `cache_file', and `prefix'. `configure'
142 looks for `PREFIX/share/config.site' if it exists, then
143 `PREFIX/etc/config.site' if it exists. Or, you can set the
144 `CONFIG_SITE' environment variable to the location of the site script.
145 A warning: the Bash `configure' looks for a site script, but not all
146 `configure' scripts do.
151 `configure' recognizes the following options to control how it operates.
154 Use and save the results of the tests in FILE instead of
155 `./config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to disable caching, for
156 debugging `configure'.
159 Print a summary of the options to `configure', and exit.
164 Do not print messages saying which checks are being made.
167 Look for the Bash source code in directory DIR. Usually
168 `configure' can determine that directory automatically.
171 Print the version of Autoconf used to generate the `configure'
174 `configure' also accepts some other, not widely used, boilerplate
175 options. `configure --help' prints the complete list.
180 The Bash `configure' has a number of `--enable-FEATURE' options, where
181 FEATURE indicates an optional part of Bash. There are also several
182 `--with-PACKAGE' options, where PACKAGE is something like `bash-malloc'
183 or `purify'. To turn off the default use of a package, use
184 `--without-PACKAGE'. To configure Bash without a feature that is
185 enabled by default, use `--disable-FEATURE'.
187 Here is a complete list of the `--enable-' and `--with-' options that
188 the Bash `configure' recognizes.
191 Define if you are using the Andrew File System from Transarc.
194 Use the Bash version of `malloc' in `lib/malloc/malloc.c'. This
195 is not the same `malloc' that appears in GNU libc, but an older
196 version derived from the 4.2 BSD `malloc'. This `malloc' is very
197 fast, but wastes some space on each allocation. This option is
198 enabled by default. The `NOTES' file contains a list of systems
199 for which this should be turned off, and `configure' disables this
200 option automatically for a number of systems.
203 Use the curses library instead of the termcap library. This should
204 be supplied if your system has an inadequate or incomplete termcap
208 A synonym for `--with-bash-malloc'.
210 `--with-installed-readline[=PREFIX]'
211 Define this to make Bash link with a locally-installed version of
212 Readline rather than the version in `lib/readline'. This works
213 only with Readline 4.3 and later versions. If PREFIX is `yes' or
214 not supplied, `configure' uses the values of the make variables
215 `includedir' and `libdir', which are subdirectories of `prefix' by
216 default, to find the installed version of Readline if it is not in
217 the standard system include and library directories. If PREFIX is
218 `no', Bash links with the version in `lib/readline'. If PREFIX is
219 set to any other value, `configure' treats it as a directory
220 pathname and looks for the installed version of Readline in
221 subdirectories of that directory (include files in
222 PREFIX/`include' and the library in PREFIX/`lib').
225 Define this to use the Purify memory allocation checker from
228 `--enable-minimal-config'
229 This produces a shell with minimal features, close to the
230 historical Bourne shell.
232 There are several `--enable-' options that alter how Bash is compiled
233 and linked, rather than changing run-time features.
236 Enable support for large files
237 (http://www.sas.com/standards/large_file/x_open.20Mar96.html) if
238 the operating system requires special compiler options to build
239 programs which can access large files. This is enabled by
240 default, if the operating system provides large file support.
243 This builds a Bash binary that produces profiling information to be
244 processed by `gprof' each time it is executed.
246 `--enable-static-link'
247 This causes Bash to be linked statically, if `gcc' is being used.
248 This could be used to build a version to use as root's shell.
250 The `minimal-config' option can be used to disable all of the following
251 options, but it is processed first, so individual options may be
252 enabled using `enable-FEATURE'.
254 All of the following options except for `disabled-builtins' and
255 `xpg-echo-default' are enabled by default, unless the operating system
256 does not provide the necessary support.
259 Allow alias expansion and include the `alias' and `unalias'
260 builtins (*note Aliases::).
262 `--enable-arith-for-command'
263 Include support for the alternate form of the `for' command that
264 behaves like the C language `for' statement (*note Looping
267 `--enable-array-variables'
268 Include support for one-dimensional array shell variables (*note
271 `--enable-bang-history'
272 Include support for `csh'-like history substitution (*note History
275 `--enable-brace-expansion'
276 Include `csh'-like brace expansion ( `b{a,b}c' ==> `bac bbc' ).
277 See *Note Brace Expansion::, for a complete description.
279 `--enable-command-timing'
280 Include support for recognizing `time' as a reserved word and for
281 displaying timing statistics for the pipeline following `time'
282 (*note Pipelines::). This allows pipelines as well as shell
283 builtins and functions to be timed.
285 `--enable-cond-command'
286 Include support for the `[[' conditional command. (*note
287 Conditional Constructs::).
289 `--enable-cond-regexp'
290 Include support for matching POSIX regular expressions using the
291 `=~' binary operator in the `[[' conditional command. (*note
292 Conditional Constructs::).
294 `--enable-directory-stack'
295 Include support for a `csh'-like directory stack and the `pushd',
296 `popd', and `dirs' builtins (*note The Directory Stack::).
298 `--enable-disabled-builtins'
299 Allow builtin commands to be invoked via `builtin xxx' even after
300 `xxx' has been disabled using `enable -n xxx'. See *Note Bash
301 Builtins::, for details of the `builtin' and `enable' builtin
304 `--enable-dparen-arithmetic'
305 Include support for the `((...))' command (*note Conditional
308 `--enable-extended-glob'
309 Include support for the extended pattern matching features
310 described above under *Note Pattern Matching::.
312 `--enable-help-builtin'
313 Include the `help' builtin, which displays help on shell builtins
314 and variables (*note Bash Builtins::).
317 Include command history and the `fc' and `history' builtin
318 commands (*note Bash History Facilities::).
320 `--enable-job-control'
321 This enables the job control features (*note Job Control::), if
322 the operating system supports them.
325 This enables support for multibyte characters if the operating
326 system provides the necessary support.
328 `--enable-net-redirections'
329 This enables the special handling of filenames of the form
330 `/dev/tcp/HOST/PORT' and `/dev/udp/HOST/PORT' when used in
331 redirections (*note Redirections::).
333 `--enable-process-substitution'
334 This enables process substitution (*note Process Substitution::) if
335 the operating system provides the necessary support.
337 `--enable-prompt-string-decoding'
338 Turn on the interpretation of a number of backslash-escaped
339 characters in the `$PS1', `$PS2', `$PS3', and `$PS4' prompt
340 strings. See *Note Printing a Prompt::, for a complete list of
341 prompt string escape sequences.
344 Enable the programmable completion facilities (*note Programmable
345 Completion::). If Readline is not enabled, this option has no
349 Include support for command-line editing and history with the Bash
350 version of the Readline library (*note Command Line Editing::).
352 `--enable-restricted'
353 Include support for a "restricted shell". If this is enabled,
354 Bash, when called as `rbash', enters a restricted mode. See *Note
355 The Restricted Shell::, for a description of restricted mode.
358 Include the `select' builtin, which allows the generation of simple
359 menus (*note Conditional Constructs::).
361 `--enable-usg-echo-default'
362 A synonym for `--enable-xpg-echo-default'.
364 `--enable-xpg-echo-default'
365 Make the `echo' builtin expand backslash-escaped characters by
366 default, without requiring the `-e' option. This sets the default
367 value of the `xpg_echo' shell option to `on', which makes the Bash
368 `echo' behave more like the version specified in the Single Unix
369 Specification, version 2. *Note Bash Builtins::, for a
370 description of the escape sequences that `echo' recognizes.
372 The file `config-top.h' contains C Preprocessor `#define' statements
373 for options which are not settable from `configure'. Some of these are
374 not meant to be changed; beware of the consequences if you do. Read
375 the comments associated with each definition for more information about