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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. For Windows NT, see the file nt/INSTALL.)
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', or possibly when
27 running the final dumped Emacs.
28
29 Building Emacs requires about 70 Mb of disk space (including the Emacs
30 sources). Once installed, Emacs occupies about 35 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 70+35 Mb.
35
36 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
37 give to the `configure' program. That file 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; if it cannot, you must find the appropriate configuration
48 name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it explicitly.
49
50 If you don't want X support, specify `--with-x=no'. If you omit this
51 option, `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your
52 system has X, and arrange to use it if present.
53
54 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
55 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
56 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, `configure'
57 is able to find them; these options are necessary if you have your X
58 Window System files installed in unusual places. These options also
59 accept a list of directories, separated with colons.
60
61 To get more attractive menus, you can specify an X toolkit when you
62 configure Emacs; use the option `--with-x-toolkit=TOOLKIT', where
63 TOOLKIT is `athena' or `motif' (`yes' and `lucid' are synonyms for
64 `athena'). On some systems, it does not work to use a toolkit with
65 shared libraries.
66
67 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
68 compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
69 `--with-gcc=no'. If you omit this option, `configure' will search
70 for GCC in your path, and use it if present.
71
72 You can build Emacs for several different machine types from a single
73 source directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that
74 supports the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. Make separate
75 build directories for the different configuration types, and in each
76 one, run the Emacs `configure' script. `configure' looks for the
77 Emacs source code in the directory that `configure' is in.
78
79 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
80 should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
81 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
82 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
83 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/share/emacs/VERSION
84 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.27').
85 - The architecture-dependent files go in
86 PREFIXDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
87 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
88 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
89
90 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
91 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
92 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
93 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
94 - The architecture-dependent files go in
95 EXECDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
96 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
97
98 For example, the command
99
100 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
101
102 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
103 support for the X11 window system.
104
105 `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
106 itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
107 `./Makefile', `lib-src/Makefile', `oldXMenu/Makefile',
108 `lwlib/Makefile', `src/Makefile', and `./src/config.h'. For details
109 on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY
110 HAND', below.
111
112 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
113 creates a shell script `config.status' which, when run, recreates the
114 same configuration. If `configure' exits with an error after
115 disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'. `configure'
116 also creates a file `config.cache' that saves the results of its tests
117 to make reconfiguring faster, and a file `config.log' containing compiler
118 output (useful mainly for debugging `configure'). You can give
119 `configure' the option `--cache-file=FILE' to use the results of the
120 tests in FILE instead of `config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to
121 disable caching, for debugging `configure'.
122
123 The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
124 distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See
125 the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the
126 configuration yourself.
127
128 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
129 for your system, set up the file `./lisp/site-init.el' with Emacs
130 Lisp code to override them; it is not a good idea to edit paths.el
131 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
132 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
133
134 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
135
136 is how you would override the default value of the variable
137 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
138
139 Before you override a variable this way, *look at the value* that the
140 variable gets by default! Make sure you know what kind of value the
141 variable should have. If you don't pay attention to what you are
142 doing, you'll make a mistake.
143
144 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
145 Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
146 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
147 documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
148 src/Makefile.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
149 else, use site-init.el.
150
151 If you set load-path to a different value in site-init.el or
152 site-load.el, Emacs will use *precisely* that value when it starts up
153 again. If you do this, you are on your own!
154
155 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
156 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
157 something up in the system's password and user information database.
158 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
159
160 The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
161 need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
162
163 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
164 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
165 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
166 entries.
167
168 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
169 building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file is
170 named `src/emacs'. You can execute this file "in place" without
171 copying it, if you wish; then it automatically uses the sibling
172 directories ../lisp, ../lib-src, ../info.
173
174 Or you can "install" the executable and the other Emacs into their
175 installed locations, with `make install'. By default, Emacs's files
176 are installed in the following directories:
177
178 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
179 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
180 and `rcs-checkin'.
181
182 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
183 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
184 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.27'. Since the
185 Lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
186 another, including the version number in the path
187 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
188 at the same time; in particular, you don't have to
189 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new version.
190
191 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp' holds the local Emacs Lisp
192 files installed for Emacs version VERSION only.
193
194 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp' holds the local Emacs Lisp
195 files installed for all Emacs versions.
196
197 When Emacs is installed, it searches for its Lisp files
198 in `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp', then in
199 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp', and finally in
200 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp'.
201
202 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
203 file, the `yow' database, and other
204 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
205 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
206
207 `/usr/local/com/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing
208 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
209 users.
210
211 `/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
212 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
213 run themselves.
214 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
215 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
216 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
217 architecture and operating system of your machine,
218 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
219 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
220 operating system, and architecture in use, including
221 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
222 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
223 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
224 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
225 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
226
227 `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
228 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
229 using info files as well, so this directory stands
230 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
231
232 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
233 in `/usr/local/bin'.
234
235 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
236 install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
237 for its Lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
238 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
239 information on this.
240
241 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
242 /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
243 info files.
244
245 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
246 then you might need to make the movemail program setuid or setgid
247 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
248
249 10) You are done! You can remove executables and object files from
250 the build directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the files
251 that `configure' created (so you can compile Emacs for a different
252 configuration), type `make distclean'.
253
254
255
256 MAKE VARIABLES
257
258 You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
259 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
260 command line. For example, if you type
261
262 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
263
264 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
265 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
266 `/usr/local/bin'.
267
268 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
269
270 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
271 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
272
273 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
274 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
275 defaults to /usr/local/share. We create the following
276 subdirectories under `datadir':
277 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs Lisp library, and
278 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
279 file, and the `yow' database.
280 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
281 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
282 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
283 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
284 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
285 unavailable while installing a new version.
286
287 `sharedstatedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
288 that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
289 /usr/local/com. We create the following
290 subdirectories under `sharedstatedir':
291 - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
292 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
293 users.
294
295 `libexecdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
296 Emacs refers to as it runs; it defaults to `/usr/local/libexec'.
297 We create the following subdirectories under `libexecdir':
298 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
299 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
300 themselves.
301 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
302 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
303 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
304 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
305 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
306 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
307 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
308 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
309 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
310 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
311 installed on.
312
313 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
314 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
315
316 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
317 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
318 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
319
320 `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
321 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
322 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
323 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
324 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
325
326 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
327 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
328 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
329 `sharedstatedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
330 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
331 by default.
332
333 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
334 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
335 By including
336 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
337 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
338 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
339 directories under that path.
340
341 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
342 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
343 path variables - `bindir' and `libexecdir'.
344
345 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
346 GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs.
347
348 `lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its Lisp library.
349 Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above), is
350 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
351 described above).
352
353 `locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for Lisp files
354 specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of
355 directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking
356 `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above), is
357 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp:/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp'.
358
359 `lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for
360 its Lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of
361 `locallisppath' and `lispdir'. It should be a colon-separated
362 list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they
363 appear.
364
365 `etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of
366 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC
367 file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
368 (which see), is `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/etc'.
369
370 `lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its
371 locking information. Its default value, based on
372 `sharedstatedir' (which see), is `/usr/local/com/emacs/lock'.
373
374 `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the executable
375 files and other architecture-dependent data it uses while
376 running. Its default value, based on `libexecdir' (which
377 see), is `/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
378 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
379
380 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
381 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
382 emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
383 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
384 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
385 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
386 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
387
388 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
389 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
390 when running make in the subdirectories.
391
392
393 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
394
395 Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
396 following steps.
397
398 1) Copy `./src/config.in' to `./src/config.h'.
399
400 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
401 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
402 see which operating system and architecture description files from
403 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
404 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
405 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
406
407 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
408 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
409 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
410 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
411 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
412
413 3) Create src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile from the corresponding
414 `Makefile.in' files. First copy `Makefile.in' to `Makefile.c',
415 then edit in appropriate substitutions for the @...@ constructs,
416 and then copy the shell commands near the end of `configure'
417 that run cpp to construct `Makefile'.
418
419 4) Create `Makefile' files in various other directories
420 from the corresponding `Makefile.in' files. This isn't so hard,
421 just a matter of substitution.
422
423 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
424 program. You need version 2.0 or newer of `autoconf' to rebuild `configure'.
425
426 BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
427
428 Once Emacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
429 the following steps.
430
431 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
432 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.in', changing
433 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
434
435 2) Go to directory `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates
436 executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile'
437 and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others.
438
439 3) Go to directory `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in
440 the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
441 `../lib-src'.
442
443 This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
444 which has another name that contains a version number.
445 Each time you do this, that version number increments in the last place.
446
447 It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
448 current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
449 all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
450 emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
451 file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
452 version.
453
454
455 INSTALLATION BY HAND
456
457 The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
458 directory of the Emacs distribution.
459
460 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
461 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
462
463 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
464 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `fakemail', `hexl',
465 `movemail', `profile', `rcs2log', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup',
466 and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied.
467 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs-checkin'
468 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
469 - The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
470 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
471 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
472 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
473
474 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
475 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
476 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
477 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
478 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
479 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
480
481 3) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as
482 indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
483
484 4) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
485 in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
486 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
487 `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
488 of installing different versions.
489
490 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
491
492 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
493 `rcs-checkin' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
494 intended for users to run.
495
496 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
497 appropriate man directories.
498
499 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
500 used by Emacs once it is built. However, it is very desirable to keep
501 the source on line for debugging.
502
503
504 PROBLEMS
505
506 See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
507 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
508
509
510 Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
511
512 To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler for MSDOG
513 (also known as djgpp version 1), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed.
514 Version 2 of djgpp (to be released soon) is not yet supported. See the
515 remarks in config.bat for more information about locations and versions.
516
517 Some users report that running Emacs 19.29 requires dpmi memory
518 management. We do not know why this is so, since 19.28 did not need
519 it. If we find out what change introduced this requirement, we will
520 try to eliminate it. It is possible that this problem happens only
521 when there is not enough physical memory on the machine.
522
523 You can find out if you have a dpmi host by running go32 (part of
524 djgpp) without arguments; it will tell you if it uses dpmi memory.
525 For more information about dpmi memory, consult the djgpp FAQ.
526
527 To build and install Emacs, type these commands:
528
529 config msdos
530 make install
531
532 You may need to work around a type conflict between gmalloc.c and the
533 header file djgppstd.h regarding declarations of memalign and valloc.
534 Temporarily deleting those declarations from djgppstd.h while compiling
535 Emacs or while compiling gmalloc.c should do it. We found out about this
536 problem too late to include a more convenient fix--sorry.
537
538 To save disk space, Emacs is built with the idea that you will execute
539 it from the same place in the file system where you built it. As the
540 /usr/local/ subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the
541 executables might be placed in /emacs/bin/, for instance, in which
542 case there should also be /emacs/lisp, /emacs/info and /emacs/etc
543 directories. In general, with the default path handling, the etc/,
544 info/ and lisp/ directories are expected to exist in ../ relative to
545 the directory containing the executing binary. This behaviour can be
546 overridden by setting the HOME environment variable to the directory
547 containing lisp/ etc.
548
549 MSDOG is a not a multitasking operating system, so Emacs features such
550 as asynchronous subprocesses that depend on multitasking will not
551 work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.