README.rst 18 KB

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  1. .. _readme:
  2. Linux kernel release 5.x <http://kernel.org/>
  3. =============================================
  4. These are the release notes for Linux version 5. Read them carefully,
  5. as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
  6. kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong.
  7. What is Linux?
  8. --------------
  9. Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by
  10. Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across
  11. the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.
  12. It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,
  13. including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand
  14. loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,
  15. and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.
  16. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 - see the
  17. accompanying COPYING file for more details.
  18. On what hardware does it run?
  19. -----------------------------
  20. Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),
  21. today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and
  22. UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,
  23. IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64 Xtensa, and
  24. ARC architectures.
  25. Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures
  26. as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the
  27. GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has
  28. also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although
  29. functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.
  30. Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a
  31. userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).
  32. Documentation
  33. -------------
  34. - There is a lot of documentation available both in electronic form on
  35. the Internet and in books, both Linux-specific and pertaining to
  36. general UNIX questions. I'd recommend looking into the documentation
  37. subdirectories on any Linux FTP site for the LDP (Linux Documentation
  38. Project) books. This README is not meant to be documentation on the
  39. system: there are much better sources available.
  40. - There are various README files in the Documentation/ subdirectory:
  41. these typically contain kernel-specific installation notes for some
  42. drivers for example. Please read the
  43. :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>` file, as it
  44. contains information about the problems, which may result by upgrading
  45. your kernel.
  46. Installing the kernel source
  47. ----------------------------
  48. - If you install the full sources, put the kernel tarball in a
  49. directory where you have permissions (e.g. your home directory) and
  50. unpack it::
  51. xz -cd linux-5.x.tar.xz | tar xvf -
  52. Replace "X" with the version number of the latest kernel.
  53. Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually
  54. incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header
  55. files. They should match the library, and not get messed up by
  56. whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be.
  57. - You can also upgrade between 5.x releases by patching. Patches are
  58. distributed in the xz format. To install by patching, get all the
  59. newer patch files, enter the top level directory of the kernel source
  60. (linux-5.x) and execute::
  61. xz -cd ../patch-5.x.xz | patch -p1
  62. Replace "x" for all versions bigger than the version "x" of your current
  63. source tree, **in_order**, and you should be ok. You may want to remove
  64. the backup files (some-file-name~ or some-file-name.orig), and make sure
  65. that there are no failed patches (some-file-name# or some-file-name.rej).
  66. If there are, either you or I have made a mistake.
  67. Unlike patches for the 5.x kernels, patches for the 5.x.y kernels
  68. (also known as the -stable kernels) are not incremental but instead apply
  69. directly to the base 5.x kernel. For example, if your base kernel is 5.0
  70. and you want to apply the 5.0.3 patch, you must not first apply the 5.0.1
  71. and 5.0.2 patches. Similarly, if you are running kernel version 5.0.2 and
  72. want to jump to 5.0.3, you must first reverse the 5.0.2 patch (that is,
  73. patch -R) **before** applying the 5.0.3 patch. You can read more on this in
  74. :ref:`Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst <applying_patches>`.
  75. Alternatively, the script patch-kernel can be used to automate this
  76. process. It determines the current kernel version and applies any
  77. patches found::
  78. linux/scripts/patch-kernel linux
  79. The first argument in the command above is the location of the
  80. kernel source. Patches are applied from the current directory, but
  81. an alternative directory can be specified as the second argument.
  82. - Make sure you have no stale .o files and dependencies lying around::
  83. cd linux
  84. make mrproper
  85. You should now have the sources correctly installed.
  86. Software requirements
  87. ---------------------
  88. Compiling and running the 5.x kernels requires up-to-date
  89. versions of various software packages. Consult
  90. :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>` for the minimum version numbers
  91. required and how to get updates for these packages. Beware that using
  92. excessively old versions of these packages can cause indirect
  93. errors that are very difficult to track down, so don't assume that
  94. you can just update packages when obvious problems arise during
  95. build or operation.
  96. Build directory for the kernel
  97. ------------------------------
  98. When compiling the kernel, all output files will per default be
  99. stored together with the kernel source code.
  100. Using the option ``make O=output/dir`` allows you to specify an alternate
  101. place for the output files (including .config).
  102. Example::
  103. kernel source code: /usr/src/linux-5.x
  104. build directory: /home/name/build/kernel
  105. To configure and build the kernel, use::
  106. cd /usr/src/linux-5.x
  107. make O=/home/name/build/kernel menuconfig
  108. make O=/home/name/build/kernel
  109. sudo make O=/home/name/build/kernel modules_install install
  110. Please note: If the ``O=output/dir`` option is used, then it must be
  111. used for all invocations of make.
  112. Configuring the kernel
  113. ----------------------
  114. Do not skip this step even if you are only upgrading one minor
  115. version. New configuration options are added in each release, and
  116. odd problems will turn up if the configuration files are not set up
  117. as expected. If you want to carry your existing configuration to a
  118. new version with minimal work, use ``make oldconfig``, which will
  119. only ask you for the answers to new questions.
  120. - Alternative configuration commands are::
  121. "make config" Plain text interface.
  122. "make menuconfig" Text based color menus, radiolists & dialogs.
  123. "make nconfig" Enhanced text based color menus.
  124. "make xconfig" Qt based configuration tool.
  125. "make gconfig" GTK+ based configuration tool.
  126. "make oldconfig" Default all questions based on the contents of
  127. your existing ./.config file and asking about
  128. new config symbols.
  129. "make olddefconfig"
  130. Like above, but sets new symbols to their default
  131. values without prompting.
  132. "make defconfig" Create a ./.config file by using the default
  133. symbol values from either arch/$ARCH/defconfig
  134. or arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig,
  135. depending on the architecture.
  136. "make ${PLATFORM}_defconfig"
  137. Create a ./.config file by using the default
  138. symbol values from
  139. arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig.
  140. Use "make help" to get a list of all available
  141. platforms of your architecture.
  142. "make allyesconfig"
  143. Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
  144. values to 'y' as much as possible.
  145. "make allmodconfig"
  146. Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
  147. values to 'm' as much as possible.
  148. "make allnoconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
  149. values to 'n' as much as possible.
  150. "make randconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
  151. values to random values.
  152. "make localmodconfig" Create a config based on current config and
  153. loaded modules (lsmod). Disables any module
  154. option that is not needed for the loaded modules.
  155. To create a localmodconfig for another machine,
  156. store the lsmod of that machine into a file
  157. and pass it in as a LSMOD parameter.
  158. Also, you can preserve modules in certain folders
  159. or kconfig files by specifying their paths in
  160. parameter LMC_KEEP.
  161. target$ lsmod > /tmp/mylsmod
  162. target$ scp /tmp/mylsmod host:/tmp
  163. host$ make LSMOD=/tmp/mylsmod \
  164. LMC_KEEP="drivers/usb:drivers/gpu:fs" \
  165. localmodconfig
  166. The above also works when cross compiling.
  167. "make localyesconfig" Similar to localmodconfig, except it will convert
  168. all module options to built in (=y) options. You can
  169. also preserve modules by LMC_KEEP.
  170. "make kvmconfig" Enable additional options for kvm guest kernel support.
  171. "make xenconfig" Enable additional options for xen dom0 guest kernel
  172. support.
  173. "make tinyconfig" Configure the tiniest possible kernel.
  174. You can find more information on using the Linux kernel config tools
  175. in Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst.
  176. - NOTES on ``make config``:
  177. - Having unnecessary drivers will make the kernel bigger, and can
  178. under some circumstances lead to problems: probing for a
  179. nonexistent controller card may confuse your other controllers.
  180. - A kernel with math-emulation compiled in will still use the
  181. coprocessor if one is present: the math emulation will just
  182. never get used in that case. The kernel will be slightly larger,
  183. but will work on different machines regardless of whether they
  184. have a math coprocessor or not.
  185. - The "kernel hacking" configuration details usually result in a
  186. bigger or slower kernel (or both), and can even make the kernel
  187. less stable by configuring some routines to actively try to
  188. break bad code to find kernel problems (kmalloc()). Thus you
  189. should probably answer 'n' to the questions for "development",
  190. "experimental", or "debugging" features.
  191. Compiling the kernel
  192. --------------------
  193. - Make sure you have at least gcc 4.9 available.
  194. For more information, refer to :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>`.
  195. Please note that you can still run a.out user programs with this kernel.
  196. - Do a ``make`` to create a compressed kernel image. It is also
  197. possible to do ``make install`` if you have lilo installed to suit the
  198. kernel makefiles, but you may want to check your particular lilo setup first.
  199. To do the actual install, you have to be root, but none of the normal
  200. build should require that. Don't take the name of root in vain.
  201. - If you configured any of the parts of the kernel as ``modules``, you
  202. will also have to do ``make modules_install``.
  203. - Verbose kernel compile/build output:
  204. Normally, the kernel build system runs in a fairly quiet mode (but not
  205. totally silent). However, sometimes you or other kernel developers need
  206. to see compile, link, or other commands exactly as they are executed.
  207. For this, use "verbose" build mode. This is done by passing
  208. ``V=1`` to the ``make`` command, e.g.::
  209. make V=1 all
  210. To have the build system also tell the reason for the rebuild of each
  211. target, use ``V=2``. The default is ``V=0``.
  212. - Keep a backup kernel handy in case something goes wrong. This is
  213. especially true for the development releases, since each new release
  214. contains new code which has not been debugged. Make sure you keep a
  215. backup of the modules corresponding to that kernel, as well. If you
  216. are installing a new kernel with the same version number as your
  217. working kernel, make a backup of your modules directory before you
  218. do a ``make modules_install``.
  219. Alternatively, before compiling, use the kernel config option
  220. "LOCALVERSION" to append a unique suffix to the regular kernel version.
  221. LOCALVERSION can be set in the "General Setup" menu.
  222. - In order to boot your new kernel, you'll need to copy the kernel
  223. image (e.g. .../linux/arch/x86/boot/bzImage after compilation)
  224. to the place where your regular bootable kernel is found.
  225. - Booting a kernel directly from a floppy without the assistance of a
  226. bootloader such as LILO, is no longer supported.
  227. If you boot Linux from the hard drive, chances are you use LILO, which
  228. uses the kernel image as specified in the file /etc/lilo.conf. The
  229. kernel image file is usually /vmlinuz, /boot/vmlinuz, /bzImage or
  230. /boot/bzImage. To use the new kernel, save a copy of the old image
  231. and copy the new image over the old one. Then, you MUST RERUN LILO
  232. to update the loading map! If you don't, you won't be able to boot
  233. the new kernel image.
  234. Reinstalling LILO is usually a matter of running /sbin/lilo.
  235. You may wish to edit /etc/lilo.conf to specify an entry for your
  236. old kernel image (say, /vmlinux.old) in case the new one does not
  237. work. See the LILO docs for more information.
  238. After reinstalling LILO, you should be all set. Shutdown the system,
  239. reboot, and enjoy!
  240. If you ever need to change the default root device, video mode,
  241. etc. in the kernel image, use your bootloader's boot options
  242. where appropriate. No need to recompile the kernel to change
  243. these parameters.
  244. - Reboot with the new kernel and enjoy.
  245. If something goes wrong
  246. -----------------------
  247. - If you have problems that seem to be due to kernel bugs, please check
  248. the file MAINTAINERS to see if there is a particular person associated
  249. with the part of the kernel that you are having trouble with. If there
  250. isn't anyone listed there, then the second best thing is to mail
  251. them to me (torvalds@linux-foundation.org), and possibly to any other
  252. relevant mailing-list or to the newsgroup.
  253. - In all bug-reports, *please* tell what kernel you are talking about,
  254. how to duplicate the problem, and what your setup is (use your common
  255. sense). If the problem is new, tell me so, and if the problem is
  256. old, please try to tell me when you first noticed it.
  257. - If the bug results in a message like::
  258. unable to handle kernel paging request at address C0000010
  259. Oops: 0002
  260. EIP: 0010:XXXXXXXX
  261. eax: xxxxxxxx ebx: xxxxxxxx ecx: xxxxxxxx edx: xxxxxxxx
  262. esi: xxxxxxxx edi: xxxxxxxx ebp: xxxxxxxx
  263. ds: xxxx es: xxxx fs: xxxx gs: xxxx
  264. Pid: xx, process nr: xx
  265. xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
  266. or similar kernel debugging information on your screen or in your
  267. system log, please duplicate it *exactly*. The dump may look
  268. incomprehensible to you, but it does contain information that may
  269. help debugging the problem. The text above the dump is also
  270. important: it tells something about why the kernel dumped code (in
  271. the above example, it's due to a bad kernel pointer). More information
  272. on making sense of the dump is in Documentation/admin-guide/bug-hunting.rst
  273. - If you compiled the kernel with CONFIG_KALLSYMS you can send the dump
  274. as is, otherwise you will have to use the ``ksymoops`` program to make
  275. sense of the dump (but compiling with CONFIG_KALLSYMS is usually preferred).
  276. This utility can be downloaded from
  277. https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/ .
  278. Alternatively, you can do the dump lookup by hand:
  279. - In debugging dumps like the above, it helps enormously if you can
  280. look up what the EIP value means. The hex value as such doesn't help
  281. me or anybody else very much: it will depend on your particular
  282. kernel setup. What you should do is take the hex value from the EIP
  283. line (ignore the ``0010:``), and look it up in the kernel namelist to
  284. see which kernel function contains the offending address.
  285. To find out the kernel function name, you'll need to find the system
  286. binary associated with the kernel that exhibited the symptom. This is
  287. the file 'linux/vmlinux'. To extract the namelist and match it against
  288. the EIP from the kernel crash, do::
  289. nm vmlinux | sort | less
  290. This will give you a list of kernel addresses sorted in ascending
  291. order, from which it is simple to find the function that contains the
  292. offending address. Note that the address given by the kernel
  293. debugging messages will not necessarily match exactly with the
  294. function addresses (in fact, that is very unlikely), so you can't
  295. just 'grep' the list: the list will, however, give you the starting
  296. point of each kernel function, so by looking for the function that
  297. has a starting address lower than the one you are searching for but
  298. is followed by a function with a higher address you will find the one
  299. you want. In fact, it may be a good idea to include a bit of
  300. "context" in your problem report, giving a few lines around the
  301. interesting one.
  302. If you for some reason cannot do the above (you have a pre-compiled
  303. kernel image or similar), telling me as much about your setup as
  304. possible will help. Please read the :ref:`admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst <reportingbugs>`
  305. document for details.
  306. - Alternatively, you can use gdb on a running kernel. (read-only; i.e. you
  307. cannot change values or set break points.) To do this, first compile the
  308. kernel with -g; edit arch/x86/Makefile appropriately, then do a ``make
  309. clean``. You'll also need to enable CONFIG_PROC_FS (via ``make config``).
  310. After you've rebooted with the new kernel, do ``gdb vmlinux /proc/kcore``.
  311. You can now use all the usual gdb commands. The command to look up the
  312. point where your system crashed is ``l *0xXXXXXXXX``. (Replace the XXXes
  313. with the EIP value.)
  314. gdb'ing a non-running kernel currently fails because ``gdb`` (wrongly)
  315. disregards the starting offset for which the kernel is compiled.