1 GNU Emacs Installation Guide
2 Copyright (c) 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000 Free software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end of the file for copying permissions.
8 The simplest way to build Emacs is to use the `configure' shell script
9 which attempts to guess correct values for various system-dependent
10 variables and features and find the directories where various system
11 headers and libraries are kept. It then creates a `Makefile' in each
12 subdirectory and a `config.h' file containing system-dependent
13 definitions. Running the `make' utility then builds the package for
16 Here's the procedure to build Emacs using `configure' on systems which
17 are supported by it. If this simplified procedure fails, or if you
18 are using a platform such as MS-Windows, where `configure' script
19 doesn't work, you might need to use various non-default options, and
20 maybe perform some of the steps manually. The more detailed
21 description in the rest of the sections of this guide will help you do
22 that, so please refer to them if the simple procedure does not work.
24 1. If you want to be able to input international characters which
25 your keyboard doesn't support directly (i.e. you cannot type
26 them at the shell prompt), download the leim-M.N.tar.gz
27 distribution and unpack it into the same directory where you have
28 unpacked the main Emacs distribution. See ADDITIONAL
29 DISTRIBUTION FILES, below, for more about this.
31 2. Make sure your system has at least 120 MB of free disk space.
33 3a. `cd' to the directory where you unpacked Emacs and invoke the
38 3b. Alternatively, create a separate directory, outside the source
39 directory, where you want to build Emacs, and invoke `configure'
44 where SOURCE-DIR is the top-level Emacs source directory. This
45 may not work unless you use GNU make.
47 4. When `configure' finishes, it prints several lines of details
48 about the system configuration. Read those details carefully
49 looking for anything suspicious, such as wrong CPU and operating
50 system names, wrong places for headers or libraries, missing
51 libraries that you know are installed on your system, etc.
53 If you find anything wrong, you will have to pass to `configure'
54 explicit machine configuration name, and one or more options
55 which tell it where to find various headers and libraries; refer
56 to DETAILED BUILDING AND INSTALLATION section below.
58 If `configure' didn't find some image support libraries, such as
59 Xpm, jpeg, etc., and you want to use them refer to the subsection
60 "Image support libraries", below.
62 If the details printed by `configure' don't make any sense to
63 you, assume that `configure' did its job and proceed.
65 5. If you need to run the `configure' script more than once (e.g.,
66 with some non-default options), always clean the source
67 directories before running `configure' again:
72 6. Invoke the `make' program:
76 7. If `make' succeeds, it will build an executable program `emacs'
77 in the `src' directory. You can try this program, to make sure
82 8. Assuming that the program `src/emacs' starts and displays its
83 opening screen, you can install the program and its auxiliary
84 files into their installation directories:
88 You are now ready to use Emacs. If you wish to conserve disk space,
89 you may remove the program binaries and object files from the
90 directory where you built Emacs:
94 You can also save some space by compressing (with `gzip') Info files
95 and installed Lisp source (.el) files which have corresponding .elc
99 ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION FILES
103 The Emacs Lisp code for input methods for various international
104 character scripts allows you to input characters in scripts which are
105 not directly supported by your keyboard. It is distributed in a
106 separate tar file because it amounts to a significant fraction of the
107 size of the distribution. This tar file is called leim-M.N.tar.gz,
108 with the same version number as Emacs, and it unpacks into the
109 directory emacs-M.N/leim.
111 You should unpack leim-M.N.tar.gz into the same directory where you
112 have previously unpacked the main Emacs distribution. It fills in the
113 contents of one subdirectory, which is present in the main Emacs
114 distribution only in dummy form.
116 Once you have unpacked the Leim tar file into the Emacs source tree,
117 building and installing Emacs automatically installs the input method
118 support as well. If you have built Emacs without unpacking Leim
119 first, just unpack Leim, build Emacs again, and install it again.
121 * intlfonts-VERSION.tar.gz
123 The intlfonts distribution contains X11 fonts that Emacs needs in
124 order to display international characters. If you see a non-ASCII
125 character appear as a hollow box, that means you don't have a font for
126 it. You might find a font in the intlfonts distribution. If you do
127 have a font for a non-ASCII character, but some characters don't look
128 right, or appear improperly aligned, a font from the intlfonts
129 distribution might look better.
131 The fonts in the intlfonts distribution are also used by the ps-print
132 package for printing international characters. The file
133 lisp/ps-mule.el defines the *.bdf font files required for printing
136 The intlfonts distribution contains its own installation instructions,
137 in the intlfonts/README file.
139 * elisp-manual-M.N.tar.gz
141 This distribution contains the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual which
142 complements the Emacs Manual. (The Emacs Manual is accessible from
143 within the editor by typing "C-h i", then selecting the "Emacs" item
144 from the menu, or by clicking "Help" in the menu bar and selecting
145 "Read Emacs Manual".) It is a good idea to install the Emacs Lisp
146 Reference Manual after installing Emacs, to complete the on-line
147 documentation of Emacs in Info.
149 If you have installed Texinfo, you can install the Emacs Lisp
150 Reference Manual this way (after unpacking the elisp-manual-M.N.tar.gz
154 ./configure --prefix=PREFIXDIR
157 Otherwise, you can install it manually. Just copy the files elisp and
158 elisp-* from the elisp-manual-M.N directory to your site's info
159 directory (see the description of `infodir', below), and make sure
160 that file `dir' in this directory contains an entry like this:
162 * Elisp: (elisp). The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
164 * Image support libraries
166 Emacs needs optional libraries to be able to display images (with the
167 exception of PBM and XBM images whose support is built-in).
169 On some systems, particularly on GNU/Linux, these libraries may
170 already be present or available as additional packages. If not, you
171 can download and build them from sources. None of them are vital for
172 running Emacs; however, note that Emacs will not be able to use color
173 icons in the toolbar if the XPM support is not available.
175 Here's the list of these optional libraries, and the URLs where they
178 . libXaw3d for fancy 3D-style
179 scroll bars: ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/widgets/Xaw3d/
180 . libxpm for XPM: ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/libraries/
181 . libpng for PNG: ftp://www.libpng.org/pub/png/
182 . libz (for PNG): http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib/
183 . libjpeg for JPEG: ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/
184 . libtiff for TIFF: http://www.libtiff.org/
186 http://prtr-13.ucsc.edu/~badger/software/libungif/index.shtml
188 Emacs will configure itself to build with these libraries if the
189 `configure' script finds them on your system, unless you supply the
190 appropriate --without-LIB option. In some cases, older versions of
191 these libraries won't work because some routines are missing, and
192 configure should avoid such old versions. If that happens, use the
193 --without-LIB options to `configure'. See below for more details.
196 DETAILED BUILDING AND INSTALLATION:
198 (This is for a Unix or Unix-like system. For MS-DOS and Windows 3.X,
199 see below; search for MSDOG. For Windows 9X, Windows ME, Windows NT,
200 and Windows 2000, see the file nt/INSTALL. For the Mac, see the file
203 1) Make sure your system has enough swapping space allocated to handle
204 a program whose pure code is 1.5 MB and whose data area is at
205 least 2.5 MB and can reach 80 MB or more. If the swapping space is
206 insufficient, you will get an error in the command `temacs -batch -l
207 loadup dump', found in `./src/Makefile.in', or possibly when
208 running the final dumped Emacs.
210 Building Emacs requires about 95 MB of disk space (including the Emacs
211 sources), or 130 MB if Leim is used. Once installed, Emacs occupies
212 about 60 MB (70 MB with Leim) in the file system where it is
213 installed; this includes the executable files, Lisp libraries,
214 miscellaneous data files, and on-line documentation. If the building
215 and installation take place in different directories, then the
216 installation procedure momentarily requires 95+60 MB (130+70 MB).
218 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
219 give to the `configure' program. That file offers hints for
220 getting around some possible installation problems. The file lists
221 many different configurations, but only the part for your machine and
222 operating system is relevant. (The list is arranged in alphabetical
223 order by the vendor name.)
225 3) You can build Emacs in the top-level Emacs source directory
226 or in a separate directory.
228 3a) To build in the top-level Emacs source directory, go to that
229 directory and run the program `configure' as follows:
231 ./configure [CONFIGURATION-NAME] [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
233 The CONFIGURATION-NAME argument should be a configuration name given
234 in `./etc/MACHINES', with the system version number added at the end.
236 You should try first omitting CONFIGURATION-NAME. This way,
237 `configure' will try to guess your system type. If it cannot guess,
238 or if something goes wrong in building or installing Emacs this way,
239 try again specifying the proper CONFIGURATION-NAME explicitly.
241 If you don't want X support, specify `--with-x=no'. If you omit this
242 option, `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your
243 system has X, and arrange to use it if present.
245 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
246 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
247 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, `configure'
248 is able to find them; these options are necessary if you have your X
249 Window System files installed in unusual places. These options also
250 accept a list of directories, separated with colons.
252 To get more attractive menus, you can specify an X toolkit when you
253 configure Emacs; use the option `--with-x-toolkit=TOOLKIT', where
254 TOOLKIT is `athena' or `motif' (`yes' and `lucid' are synonyms for
255 `athena'). On some systems, it does not work to use a toolkit with
256 shared libraries. A free implementation of Motif, called LessTif, is
257 available ftom <http://www.lesstif.org>. You can get fancy 3D-style
258 scroll bars, even without LessTif/Motif, if you have the Xaw3d library
259 installed (see "Image support libraries" above for Xaw3d
262 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
263 compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
264 `--with-gcc=no'. If you omit this option, `configure' will search
265 for GCC in your path, and use it if present.
267 The Emacs mail reader RMAIL is configured to be able to read mail from
268 a POP3 server by default. Versions of the POP protocol older than
269 POP3 are not supported. For Kerberos-authenticated POP add
270 `--with-kerberos', for Hesiod support add `--with-hesiod'. While POP3
271 is always enabled, whether Emacs actually uses POP is controlled by
272 individual users--see the Rmail chapter of the Emacs manual.
274 For image support you may have to download, build, and install the
275 appropriate image support libraries for image types other than XBM and
276 PBM, see the list of URLs in "ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION FILES" above.
277 (Note that PNG support requires libz in addition to libpng.)
279 To disable individual types of image support in Emacs for some reason,
280 even though configure finds the libraries, you can configure with one
281 or more of these options:
283 --without-xpm for XPM image support
284 --without-jpeg for JPEG image support
285 --without-tiff for TIFF image support
286 --without-gif for GIF image support
287 --without-png for PNG image support
289 Use --without-toolkit-scroll-bars to disable LessTif/Motif or Xaw3d
290 scroll bars. --without-xim disables the use of X Input Methods, and
291 --disable-largefile omits support for files larger than 2GB on systems
294 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
295 should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
296 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
297 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
298 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/share/emacs/VERSION
299 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.27').
300 - The architecture-dependent files go in
301 PREFIXDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
302 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
303 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
305 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
306 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
307 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
308 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
309 - The architecture-dependent files go in
310 EXECDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
311 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
313 For example, the command
315 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
317 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
318 support for the X11 window system.
320 `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
321 itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
322 `./Makefile', `lib-src/Makefile', `oldXMenu/Makefile',
323 `lwlib/Makefile', `src/Makefile', and `./src/config.h'. For details
324 on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY
327 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
328 creates a shell script `config.status' which, when run, recreates the
329 same configuration. If `configure' exits with an error after
330 disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'. `configure'
331 also creates a file `config.cache' that saves the results of its tests
332 to make reconfiguring faster, and a file `config.log' containing compiler
333 output (useful mainly for debugging `configure'). You can give
334 `configure' the option `--cache-file=FILE' to use the results of the
335 tests in FILE instead of `config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to
336 disable caching, for debugging `configure'.
338 If the description of the system configuration printed by `configure'
339 is not right, or if it claims some of the fatures or libraries are not
340 available when you know they are, look at the `config.log' file for
341 the trace of the failed tests performed by `configure' to check
342 whether these features are supported. Typically, some test fails
343 because the compiler cannot find some function in the system
344 libraries, or some macro-processor definition in the system headers.
346 Some tests might fail because the compiler should look in special
347 directories for some header files, or link against optional
348 libraries, or use special compilation options. You can force
349 `configure' and the build process which follows it to do that by
350 setting the variables CPPFLAGS, CFLAGS, LDFLAGS, LIBS, and CC before
351 running `configure'. CPPFLAGS lists the options passed to the
352 preprocessor, CFLAGS are compilation options, LDFLAGS are options used
353 when linking, LIBS are libraries to link against, and CC is the
354 command which invokes the compiler.
356 Here's an example of a `configure' invocation, assuming a Bourne-like
357 shell such as Bash, which uses these variables:
359 CPPFLAGS='-I/foo/myinclude' LDFLAGS='-L/bar/mylib' \
360 CFLAGS='-O3' LIBS='-lfoo -lbar' ./configure
362 (this is all one long line). This tells `configure' to instruct the
363 preprocessor to look in the `/foo/myinclude' directory for header
364 files (in addition to the standard directories), instruct the linker
365 to look in `/bar/mylib' for libraries, pass the -O3 optimization
366 switch to the compiler, and link against libfoo.a and libbar.a
367 libraries in addition to the standard ones.
369 The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
370 distribution, but using `configure' is easier. See the section called
371 "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the configuration
374 3b) To build in a separate directory, go to that directory
375 and run the program `configure' as follows:
377 SOURCE-DIR/configure CONFIGURATION-NAME [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
379 SOURCE-DIR refers to the top-level Emacs source directory which is
380 where Emacs's configure script is located. `configure' looks for the
381 Emacs source code in the directory that `configure' is in.
383 To build in a separate directory, you must use a version of `make'
384 that supports the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'.
386 3c) Some people try to build in a separate directory by filling
387 it full of symlinks to the files in the real source directory.
388 If you do that, `make all' does work, but `make install' fails:
389 it copies the symbolic links rather than the actual files.
391 As far as is known, there is no particular reason to use
392 a directory full of links rather than use the standard GNU
393 facilities to build in a separate directory (see 3b above).
395 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
396 for your system, set up the file `./lisp/site-init.el' with Emacs
397 Lisp code to override them; it is not a good idea to edit paths.el
398 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
399 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
401 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
403 is how you would override the default value of the variable
404 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
406 Before you override a variable this way, *look at the value* that the
407 variable gets by default! Make sure you know what kind of value the
408 variable should have. If you don't pay attention to what you are
409 doing, you'll make a mistake.
411 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
412 Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
413 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
414 documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
415 src/Makefile.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
416 else, use site-init.el. Do not load byte-compiled code which
417 was build with a non-nil value of `byte-compile-dynamic'.
419 If you set load-path to a different value in site-init.el or
420 site-load.el, Emacs will use *precisely* that value when it starts up
421 again. If you do this, you are on your own!
423 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
424 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
425 something up in the system's password and user information database.
426 See `./etc/PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
428 The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
429 need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
431 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
432 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
433 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
436 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
437 building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file is
438 named `src/emacs'. You can execute this file "in place" without
439 copying it, if you wish; then it automatically uses the sibling
440 directories ../lisp, ../lib-src, ../info.
442 Or you can "install" the executable and the other Emacs into their
443 installed locations, with `make install'. By default, Emacs's files
444 are installed in the following directories:
446 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
447 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
450 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
451 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
452 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.27'. Since the
453 Lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
454 another, including the version number in the path
455 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
456 at the same time; in particular, you don't have to
457 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new version.
459 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp' holds the local Emacs Lisp
460 files installed for Emacs version VERSION only.
462 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp' holds the local Emacs Lisp
463 files installed for all Emacs versions.
465 When Emacs is installed, it searches for its Lisp files
466 in `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp', then in
467 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp', and finally in
468 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp'.
470 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
471 file, the `yow' database, and other
472 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
473 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
475 `/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
476 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
478 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
479 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
480 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
481 architecture and operating system of your machine,
482 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
483 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
484 operating system, and architecture in use, including
485 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
486 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
487 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
488 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
489 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
491 `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
492 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
493 using info files as well, so this directory stands
494 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
496 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
499 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
500 install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
501 for its Lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
502 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
505 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
506 /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
509 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
510 then you might need to make the movemail program setuid or setgid
511 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
513 10) You are done! You can remove executables and object files from
514 the build directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the files
515 that `configure' created (so you can compile Emacs for a different
516 configuration), type `make distclean'. If you don't need some, or all
517 of the input methods from the Leim package, you can remove the
518 unneeded files in the leim/quail, leim/skk, and leim/skk-dic
519 subdirectories of your site's lisp directory (usually
520 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/).
526 You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
527 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
528 command line. For example, if you type
530 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
532 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
533 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
536 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
538 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
539 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
541 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
542 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
543 defaults to /usr/local/share. We create the following
544 subdirectories under `datadir':
545 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs Lisp library, and
546 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
547 file, and the `yow' database.
548 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
549 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
550 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
551 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
552 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
553 unavailable while installing a new version.
555 `libexecdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
556 Emacs refers to as it runs; it defaults to `/usr/local/libexec'.
557 We create the following subdirectories under `libexecdir':
558 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
559 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
561 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
562 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
563 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
564 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
565 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
566 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
567 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
568 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
569 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
570 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
573 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
574 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
576 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
577 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
578 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
580 `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
581 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
582 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
583 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
584 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
586 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
587 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
588 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
589 `sharedstatedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
590 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
593 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
594 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
596 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
597 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
598 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
599 directories under that path.
601 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
602 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
603 path variables - `bindir' and `libexecdir'.
605 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
606 GNU software; this variable is specific to Emacs.
608 `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the executable
609 files and other architecture-dependent data it uses while
610 running. Its default value, based on `libexecdir' (which
611 see), is `/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
612 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
614 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
615 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
616 emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
617 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
618 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
619 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
620 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
622 The path for finding Lisp files is specified in src/paths.h,
623 a file which is generated by running configure. To change the path,
624 you can edit the definition of PATH_LOADSEARCH in that file
625 before you run `make'.
627 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
628 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
629 when running make in the subdirectories.
632 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
634 Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
637 1) Copy `./src/config.in' to `./src/config.h'.
639 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
640 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
641 see which operating system and architecture description files from
642 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
643 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
644 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
646 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
647 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
648 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
649 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
650 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
652 3) Create src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile from the corresponding
653 `Makefile.in' files. First copy `Makefile.in' to `Makefile.c',
654 then edit in appropriate substitutions for the @...@ constructs,
655 and then copy the shell commands near the end of `configure'
656 that run cpp to construct `Makefile'.
658 4) Create `Makefile' files in various other directories
659 from the corresponding `Makefile.in' files. This isn't so hard,
660 just a matter of substitution.
662 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
663 program. You need version 2.0 or newer of `autoconf' to rebuild `configure'.
665 BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
667 Once Emacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
670 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
671 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.in', changing
672 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
674 2) Go to directory `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates
675 executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile'
676 and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others.
678 3) Go to directory `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in
679 the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
682 This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
683 which has another name that contains a version number.
684 Each time you do this, that version number increments in the last place.
686 It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
687 current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
688 all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
689 emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
690 file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
696 The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
697 directory of the Emacs distribution.
699 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
700 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
702 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
703 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `fakemail', `hexl',
704 `movemail', `profile', `rcs2log', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup',
705 and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied.
706 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs-checkin'
707 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
708 - The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
709 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
710 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
711 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
713 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
714 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
715 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
716 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
717 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
718 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
720 3) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
721 in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
722 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
723 `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
724 of installing different versions.
726 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
728 4) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
729 `rcs-checkin' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
730 intended for users to run.
732 5) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
733 appropriate man directories.
735 6) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
736 used by Emacs once it is built. However, it is very desirable to keep
737 the source on line for debugging.
742 See the file PROBLEMS in etc subdirectory for a list of various
743 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
746 Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
748 To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler for MSDOG
749 (also known as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, and sed. See the remarks in
750 config.bat for more information about locations and versions. The
751 file etc/FAQ includes pointers to Internet sites where you can find
752 the necessary utilities; search for "MS-DOS". The configuration step
753 (see below) will test for these utilities and will refuse to continue
754 if any of them isn't found.
756 If you are building the MSDOG version of Emacs on an MSDOG-like system
757 which supports long file names (e.g. Windows 95), you need to make
758 sure that long file names are handled consistently both when you
759 unpack the distribution and compile it. If you intend to compile with
760 DJGPP v2.0 or later, and long file names support is enabled (LFN=y in
761 the environment), you need to unpack Emacs distribution in a way that
762 doesn't truncate the original long filenames to the DOS 8.3 namespace;
763 the easiest way to do this is to use djtar program which comes with
764 DJGPP, since it will note the LFN setting and behave accordingly.
765 DJGPP v1 doesn't support long filenames, so you must unpack Emacs with
766 a program that truncates the filenames to 8.3 naming as it extracts
767 files; again, using djtar after setting LFN=n is the recommended way.
768 You can build Emacs with LFN=n even if you use DJGPP v2, if some of
769 your tools don't support long file names: just ensure that LFN is set
770 to `n' during both unpacking and compiling.
772 (By the time you read this, you have already unpacked the Emacs
773 distribution, but if the explanations above imply that you should have
774 done it differently, it's safer to delete the directory tree created
775 by the unpacking program and unpack Emacs again, than to risk running
776 into problems during the build process.)
778 It is important to understand that the runtime support of long file
779 names by the Emacs binary is NOT affected by the LFN setting during
780 compilation; Emacs compiled with DJGPP v2.0 or later will always
781 support long file names on Windows 9X no matter what was the setting
782 of LFN at compile time. However, if you compiled with LFN disabled
783 and want to enable LFN support after Emacs was already built, you need
784 to make sure that the support files in the lisp, etc and info
785 directories are called by their original long names as found in the
786 distribution. You can do this either by renaming the files manually,
787 or by extracting them from the original distribution archive with
788 djtar after you set LFN=y in the environment.
790 To unpack Emacs with djtar, type this command:
794 (This assumes that the Emacs distribution is called `emacs.tgz' on
797 If you need to type international characters, you will need to unpack
798 the Leim distribution (see the description near the beginning of this
799 file). You unpack it from the same directory where you unpacked
800 Emacs. To unpack Leim with djtar, assuming the Leim distribution is
801 called `leim.tgz', type this command:
805 If you want to print international characters, install the intlfonts
806 distribution. For this, create a directory called `fonts' under the
807 Emacs top-level directory (usually called `emacs-XX.YY') created by
808 unpacking emacs.tgz, chdir into the directory emacs-XX.YY/fonts, and
811 djtar -x intlfonts.tgz
813 When unpacking is done, a directory called `emacs-XX.YY' will be
814 created, where XX.YY is the Emacs version. To build and install
815 Emacs, chdir to that directory and type these commands:
820 Running "config msdos" checks for several programs that are required
821 to configure and build Emacs; if one of those programs is not found,
822 CONFIG.BAT stops and prints an error message. If you have DJGPP
823 version 2.0 or 2.01, it will complain about a program called
824 DJECHO.EXE. These old versions of DJGPP shipped that program under
825 the name ECHO.EXE, so you can simply copy ECHO.EXE to DJECHO.EXE and
826 rerun CONFIG.BAT. If you have neither ECHO.EXE nor DJECHO.EXE, you
827 should be able to find them in your djdevNNN.zip archive (where NNN is
828 the DJGPP version number).
830 To install the international fonts, chdir to the intlfonts-X.Y
831 directory created when you unpacked the intlfonts distribution (X.Y is
832 the version number of the fonts' distribution), and type the following
835 make bdf INSTALLDIR=..
837 After Make finishes, you may remove the directory intlfonts-X.Y; the
838 fonts are installed into the fonts/bdf subdirectory of the top-level
839 Emacs directory, and that is where Emacs will look for them by
842 Building Emacs creates executable files in the src and lib-src
843 directories. Installing Emacs on MSDOS moves these executables to a
844 sibling directory called bin. For example, if you build in directory
845 /emacs, installing moves the executables from /emacs/src and
846 /emacs/lib-src to the directory /emacs/bin, so you can then delete the
847 subdirectories /emacs/src and /emacs/lib-src if you wish. The only
848 subdirectories you need to keep are bin, lisp, etc and info. (If you
849 installed Leim, keep the leim subdirectory, and if you installed
850 intlfonts, keep the fonts directory and all its subdirectories as well.)
851 The bin subdirectory should be added to your PATH. The msdos
852 subdirectory includes a PIF and an icon file for Emacs which you might
853 find useful if you run Emacs under MS Windows.
855 Emacs on MSDOS finds the lisp, etc and info directories by looking in
856 ../lisp, ../etc and ../info, starting from the directory where the
857 Emacs executable was run from. You can override this by setting the
858 environment variables EMACSDATA (for the location of `etc' directory),
859 EMACSLOADPATH (for the location of `lisp' directory) and INFOPATH (for
860 the location of the `info' directory).
862 MSDOG is a not a multitasking operating system, so Emacs features such
863 as asynchronous subprocesses that depend on multitasking will not
864 work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.
866 Version 2.0 of djgpp has two bugs that affect Emacs. We've included
867 corrected versions of two files from djgpp in the msdos subdirectory:
868 is_exec.c and sigaction.c. To work around the bugs, compile these
869 files and link them into temacs. Djgpp versions 2.01 and later have
870 these bugs fixed, so upgrade if you can before building Emacs.
874 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
875 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
876 copyright notice and permission notice are preserved,
877 and that the distributor grants the recipient permission
878 for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
880 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
881 of this document, or of portions of it,
882 under the above conditions, provided also that they
883 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them,
884 and that any new or changed statements about the activities
885 of the Free Software Foundation are approved by the Foundation.