Eric Lee / smarc-ti-linux-kernel | Embedian Git Server

Commit 2af238e455ef5fd31c2f7a06c2db3f13d843b9bf

Authored by Randy Dunlap 2008-03-01 06:21:53 +0800

Committed by Sam Ravnborg 2009-01-03 03:43:25 +0800

kbuild: make *config usage docs

Create a kconfig user assistance guide, with a few tips and hints
about using menuconfig, xconfig, and gconfig.

Mostly contains user interface, environment variables, and search topics,
along with mini.config/custom.config usage.

Signed-off-by: Randy Dunlap <randy.dunlap@oracle.com>
Signed-off-by: Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>

Showing 3 changed files with 210 additions and 12 deletions Inline Diff

Documentation/kbuild/00-INDEX
Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt
README

Documentation/kbuild/00-INDEX

Diff comments View file @ 2af238e

 00-INDEX
     	- this file: info on the kernel build process
 kconfig-language.txt
 	- specification of Config Language, the language in Kconfig files
 makefiles.txt
 	- developer information for linux kernel makefiles
+kconfig.txt
+	- usage help for make *config
 modules.txt
 	- how to build modules and to install them

Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt

Diff comments View file @ 2af238e

File was created	1	This file contains some assistance for using "make *config".
	2
	3	Use "make help" to list all of the possible configuration targets.
	4
	5	The xconfig ('qconf') and menuconfig ('mconf') programs also
	6	have embedded help text. Be sure to check it for navigation,
	7	search, and other general help text.
	8
	9	======================================================================
	10	General
	11	--------------------------------------------------
	12
	13	New kernel releases often introduce new config symbols. Often more
	14	important, new kernel releases may rename config symbols. When
	15	this happens, using a previously working .config file and running
	16	"make oldconfig" won't necessarily produce a working new kernel
	17	for you, so you may find that you need to see what NEW kernel
	18	symbols have been introduced.
	19
	20	To see a list of new config symbols when using "make oldconfig", use
	21
	22	cp user/some/old.config .config
	23	yes "" \| make oldconfig >conf.new
	24
	25	and the config program will list as (NEW) any new symbols that have
	26	unknown values. Of course, the .config file is also updated with
	27	new (default) values, so you can use:
	28
	29	grep "(NEW)" conf.new
	30
	31	to see the new config symbols or you can 'diff' the previous and
	32	new .config files to see the differences:
	33
	34	diff .config.old .config \| less
	35
	36	(Yes, we need something better here.)
	37
	38
	39	======================================================================
	40	menuconfig
	41	--------------------------------------------------
	42
	43	SEARCHING for CONFIG symbols
	44
	45	Searching in menuconfig:
	46
	47	The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
	48	names, so you have to know something close to what you are
	49	looking for.
	50
	51	Example:
	52	/hotplug
	53	This lists all config symbols that contain "hotplug",
	54	e.g., HOTPLUG, HOTPLUG_CPU, MEMORY_HOTPLUG.
	55
	56	For search help, enter / followed TAB-TAB-TAB (to highlight
	57	<Help>) and Enter. This will tell you that you can also use
	58	regular expressions (regexes) in the search string, so if you
	59	are not interested in MEMORY_HOTPLUG, you could try
	60
	61	/^hotplug
	62
	63
	64	______________________________________________________________________
	65	Color Themes for 'menuconfig'
	66
	67	It is possible to select different color themes using the variable
	68	MENUCONFIG_COLOR. To select a theme use:
	69
	70	make MENUCONFIG_COLOR=<theme> menuconfig
	71
	72	Available themes are:
	73	mono => selects colors suitable for monochrome displays
	74	blackbg => selects a color scheme with black background
	75	classic => theme with blue background. The classic look
	76	bluetitle => a LCD friendly version of classic. (default)
	77
	78	______________________________________________________________________
	79	Environment variables in 'menuconfig'
	80
	81	KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG
	82	--------------------------------------------------
	83	(partially based on lkml email from/by Rob Landley, re: miniconfig)
	84	--------------------------------------------------
	85	The allyesconfig/allmodconfig/allnoconfig/randconfig variants can
	86	also use the environment variable KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG as a flag or a
	87	filename that contains config symbols that the user requires to be
	88	set to a specific value. If KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG is used without a
	89	filename, "make *config" checks for a file named
	90	"all{yes/mod/no/random}.config" (corresponding to the *config command
	91	that was used) for symbol values that are to be forced. If this file
	92	is not found, it checks for a file named "all.config" to contain forced
	93	values.
	94
	95	This enables you to create "miniature" config (miniconfig) or custom
	96	config files containing just the config symbols that you are interested
	97	in. Then the kernel config system generates the full .config file,
	98	including dependencies of your miniconfig file, based on the miniconfig
	99	file.
	100
	101	This 'KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG' file is a config file which contains
	102	(usually a subset of all) preset config symbols. These variable
	103	settings are still subject to normal dependency checks.
	104
	105	Examples:
	106	KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=custom-notebook.config make allnoconfig
	107	or
	108	KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config make allnoconfig
	109	or
	110	make KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config allnoconfig
	111
	112	These examples will disable most options (allnoconfig) but enable or
	113	disable the options that are explicitly listed in the specified
	114	mini-config files.
	115
	116	KCONFIG_NOSILENTUPDATE
	117	--------------------------------------------------
	118	If this variable has a non-blank value, it prevents silent kernel
	119	config udpates (requires explicit updates).
	120
	121	KCONFIG_CONFIG
	122	--------------------------------------------------
	123	This environment variable can be used to specify a default kernel config
	124	file name to override the default name of ".config".
	125
	126	KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG
	127	--------------------------------------------------
	128	If you set KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG in the environment, Kconfig will not
	129	break symlinks when .config is a symlink to somewhere else.
	130
	131	KCONFIG_NOTIMESTAMP
	132	--------------------------------------------------
	133	If this environment variable exists and is non-null, the timestamp line
	134	in generated .config files is omitted.
	135
	136	KCONFIG_AUTOCONFIG
	137	--------------------------------------------------
	138	This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
	139	"auto.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/auto.conf".
	140
	141	KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER
	142	--------------------------------------------------
	143	This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
	144	"autoconf.h" (header) file. Its default value is "include/linux/autoconf.h".
	145
	146	______________________________________________________________________
	147	menuconfig User Interface Options
	148	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	149	MENUCONFIG_MODE
	150	--------------------------------------------------
	151	This mode shows all sub-menus in one large tree.
	152
	153	Example:
	154	MENUCONFIG_MODE=single_menu make menuconfig
	155
	156	======================================================================
	157	xconfig
	158	--------------------------------------------------
	159
	160	Searching in xconfig:
	161
	162	The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
	163	names, so you have to know something close to what you are
	164	looking for.
	165
	166	Example:
	167	Ctrl-F hotplug
	168	or
	169	Menu: File, Search, hotplug
	170
	171	lists all config symbol entries that contain "hotplug" in
	172	the symbol name. In this Search dialog, you may change the
	173	config setting for any of the entries that are not grayed out.
	174	You can also enter a different search string without having
	175	to return to the main menu.
	176
	177
	178	======================================================================
	179	gconfig
	180	--------------------------------------------------
	181
	182	Searching in gconfig:
	183
	184	None (gconfig isn't maintained as well as xconfig or menuconfig);
	185	however, gconfig does have a few more viewing choices than
	186	xconfig does.
	187
	188	###
	189

README

Diff comments View file @ 2af238e

1	Linux kernel release 2.6.xx <http://kernel.org/>	1	Linux kernel release 2.6.xx <http://kernel.org/>
2		2
3	These are the release notes for Linux version 2.6. Read them carefully,	3	These are the release notes for Linux version 2.6. Read them carefully,
4	as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the	4	as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
5	kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong.	5	kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong.
6		6
7	WHAT IS LINUX?	7	WHAT IS LINUX?
8		8
9	Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by	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	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.	11	the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.
12		12
13	It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,	13	It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,
14	including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand	14	including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand
15	loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,	15	loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,
16	and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.	16	and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.
17		17
18	It is distributed under the GNU General Public License - see the	18	It is distributed under the GNU General Public License - see the
19	accompanying COPYING file for more details.	19	accompanying COPYING file for more details.
20		20
21	ON WHAT HARDWARE DOES IT RUN?	21	ON WHAT HARDWARE DOES IT RUN?
22		22
23	Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),	23	Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),
24	today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and	24	today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and
25	UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,	25	UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,
26	IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS,	26	IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS,
27	Xtensa, AVR32 and Renesas M32R architectures.	27	Xtensa, AVR32 and Renesas M32R architectures.
28		28
29	Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures	29	Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures
30	as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the	30	as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the
31	GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has	31	GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has
32	also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although	32	also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although
33	functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.	33	functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.
34	Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a	34	Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a
35	userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).	35	userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).
36		36
37	DOCUMENTATION:	37	DOCUMENTATION:
38		38
39	- There is a lot of documentation available both in electronic form on	39	- There is a lot of documentation available both in electronic form on
40	the Internet and in books, both Linux-specific and pertaining to	40	the Internet and in books, both Linux-specific and pertaining to