1 GNU Emacs Installation Guide
2 Copyright (c) 1992 Free software Foundation, Inc.
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.
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.
18 BUILDING AND INSTALLATION:
19 (This is for a Unix or Unix-like system. For MSDOS, see below;
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.in', or possibly when
27 running the final dumped Emacs.
29 Building Emacs requires about 30 Mb of disk space (including the Emacs
30 sources). Once installed, Emacs occupies about 20 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 30+20 Mb.
36 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
37 give to the `configure' program. That file sometimes offers hints for
38 getting around some possible installation problems.
40 3) In the top directory of the Emacs distribution, run the program
41 `configure' as follows:
43 ./configure CONFIGURATION-NAME [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
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 by inspecting its environment; if it cannot, you must find
48 the appropriate configuration name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it
51 The `--with-x', `--with-x11', and `--with-x10' options specify which
52 window system Emacs should support. If you don't want X support,
53 specify `--with-x=no'. If all of these options are omitted,
54 `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your system has
55 X11, and arrange to use it if present.
57 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
58 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
59 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, your
60 compiler should be able to find these by default; these options should
61 only be necessary if you have your X Window System files installed in
64 You can specify toolkit operation when you configure Emacs; use the
65 option --with-x-toolkit=athena, --with-x-toolkit=motif, or
66 --with-x-toolkit=open-look.
68 The `--run-in-place' option sets up default values for the path
69 variables in `./Makefile' so that Emacs will expect to find its data
70 files (lisp libraries, runnable programs, and the like) in the same
71 locations they occupy while Emacs builds. This means that you don't
72 have to install Emacs in order to run it; it uses its data files as
75 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
76 compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
77 `--with-gcc=no'. If this option is omitted, `configure' will search
78 for GCC in your load path, and use it if present.
80 The `--srcdir=DIR' option specifies that the configuration and build
81 processes should look for the Emacs source code in DIR, when DIR is
82 not the current directory.
84 You can use `--srcdir' to build Emacs for several different machine
85 types from a single source directory. Make separate build directories
86 for the different configuration types, and in each one, build Emacs
87 specifying the common source directory with `--srcdir'.
89 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
90 should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
91 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
92 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
93 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION
94 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.7').
95 - The architecture-dependent files go in
96 PREFIXDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
97 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
98 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
100 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
101 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
102 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
103 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
104 - The architecture-dependent files go in
105 EXECDIR/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
106 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
108 For example, the command
110 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
112 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
113 support for the X11 window system.
115 The `configure' program does not accept abbreviations for its
118 Note that `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
119 itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
120 `./Makefile', `build-install', and `./src/config.h'. For details on
121 exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY HAND',
124 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
125 leaves a copy in the file `config.status'. That file is also a shell
126 script which, when run, recreates the same configuration; it contains
127 the verbal description as a comment. If `configure' exits with an
128 error after disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'.
130 The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
131 distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See
132 the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the
133 configuration yourself.
135 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
136 for your system, edit the file `./lisp/site-init.el' containing Emacs
137 Lisp code to override them; you probably don't want to edit paths.el
138 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
139 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
141 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
143 is how you would override the default value of the variable
144 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
146 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
147 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
148 something up in the system's password and user information database.
149 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
151 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
152 Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
153 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
154 documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
155 src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
156 else, use site-load.el.
158 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
159 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
160 something up in the system's password and user information database.
161 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
163 This file is nonexistent in the distribution. You do not need to
164 create it if you have nothing to put in it.
166 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
167 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
168 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
171 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
172 building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file will be
173 named `src/emacs'. If you want to have Emacs's executable programs
174 and data files installed as well, run `make install'.
176 By default, Emacs installs its files in the following directories:
178 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
179 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', and `emacsclient'.
181 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
182 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
183 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since the
184 lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
185 another, including the version number in the path
186 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
187 at the same time; this means that you don't have to
188 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new
191 Emacs searches for its lisp files in
192 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp', then in this
195 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
196 file, the `yow' database, and other
197 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
198 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
200 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing
201 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
204 `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
205 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
207 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
208 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
209 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
210 architecture and operating system of your machine,
211 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
212 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
213 operating system, and architecture in use, including
214 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
215 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
216 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
217 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
218 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
220 `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
221 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
222 using info files as well, so this directory stands
223 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
225 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
228 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
229 install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
230 for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
231 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
234 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
235 /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
238 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
239 then you might need to make the program arch-lib/movemail setuid or setgid
240 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
247 You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
248 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
249 command line. For example, if you type
251 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
253 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
254 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
257 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
259 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
260 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
262 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
263 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
264 defaults to /usr/local/lib. We create the following
265 subdirectories under `datadir':
266 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs lisp library, and
267 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
268 file, and the `yow' database.
269 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
270 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
271 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
272 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
273 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
274 unavailable while installing a new version.
276 `statedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
277 that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
278 /usr/local/lib as well. We create the following
279 subdirectories under `statedir':
280 - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
281 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
284 `libdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
285 Emacs refers to as it runs; it too defaults to `/usr/local/lib'.
286 We create the following subdirectories under `libdir':
287 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
288 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
290 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
291 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
292 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
293 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
294 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
295 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
296 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
297 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
298 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
299 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
302 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
303 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
305 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
306 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
307 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
309 `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
310 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
311 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
312 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
313 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
315 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
316 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
317 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
318 `statedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
319 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
322 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
323 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
325 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
326 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
327 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
328 directories under that path.
330 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
331 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
332 path variables - `bindir' and `libdir'.
334 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
335 GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs.
337 `lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its lisp
338 library. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
339 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
342 `locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for lisp files
343 specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of
344 directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking
345 `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
346 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp'.
348 `lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for
349 its lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of
350 `lispdir' and `locallisppath'. It should be a colon-separated
351 list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they
354 `etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of
355 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC
356 file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
357 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc'.
359 `lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its
360 locking information. Its default value, based on `statedir'
361 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock'.
363 `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the
364 executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses
365 while running. Its default value, based on `libdir' (which
366 see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
367 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
369 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
370 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
371 emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
372 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
373 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
374 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
375 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
377 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
378 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
379 when running make in the subdirectories.
382 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
384 Running the `configure' program performs the following steps.
386 1) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'.
388 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
389 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
390 see which operating system and architecture description files from
391 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
392 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
393 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
395 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
396 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
397 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
398 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
399 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
401 3) If you're going to use the make utility to build Emacs, you will
402 still need to run `configure' first, giving theappropriate values for
403 the variables in the sections entitled "Things `configure' Might Edit"
404 and "Where To Install Things." Note that you may only need to change
405 the variables `prefix' and `exec_prefix', since the rest of the
406 variables have reasonable defaults based on them. For each Makefile
407 variable of this type, there is a corresponding configure option; for
408 example, to change the location of the lock directory, you might use
410 ./configure --lockdir=/nfs/emacslock
412 4) If you're going to use the build-install script to build Emacs,
413 copy `./build-ins.in' to `./build-install', and edit the
414 definitions found at the top of the script.
416 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
417 program. However, since Emacs has configuration requirements that
418 autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses an marriage of custom-baked
419 configuration code and autoconf macros. New versions of autoconf
420 could very well break this arrangement, so it may be wise to avoid
421 rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when possible.
424 BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
426 Once Emacs is configured, running `make' or running the shell script
427 `build-install' in the top directory performs the following steps.
429 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
430 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing
431 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
433 2) Cd to `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates executables named
434 `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile' and `digest-doc'
435 and `test-distrib'. And others.
437 3) Cd to `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in the `./lisp'
438 and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
441 This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
442 assigning it a new build version number by incrementing the build
443 version stored in `./lisp/version.el'.
445 It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
446 current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
447 all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
448 emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
449 file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
455 The steps below are done by the shell script `build-install' or by
456 running `make install' in the main directory of the Emacs
459 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
460 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
462 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
463 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `env', `fakemail', `hexl',
464 `movemail', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup', and `yow' are used by
465 Emacs; they do need to be copied.
466 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs2log'
467 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
468 - The programs `make-docfile', `make-path', and `test-distrib' were
469 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
470 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
471 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
473 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
474 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
475 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
476 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
477 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
478 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
480 3) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as
481 indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
483 4) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
484 in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
485 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
486 `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
487 of installing different versions.
489 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
491 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
492 `rcs2log' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
493 intended for users to run.
495 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
496 appropriate man directories.
498 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
499 used by Emacs once it is built. The source would be handy for
505 See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
506 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
509 Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
511 To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler (also known
512 as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed. Type these commands:
517 To save disk space, Emacs is built in-place. As the /usr/local/
518 subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the executables are
519 placed in /emacs/bin/.
521 MSDOG is a not a multi-tasking operating system, so Emacs features
522 that depend on multitasking will not work. Synchronous subprocesses