1 GNU Emacs Installation Guide
2 Copyright (c) 1992, 1994 Free software Foundation, Inc.
4 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
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12 under the above conditions, provided also that they
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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 50 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 50+20 Mb.
36 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
37 give to the `configure' program. That file offers hints for
38 getting around some possible installation problems.
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; if it cannot, you must find the appropriate configuration
48 name in `./etc/MACHINES' and specify it explicitly.
50 If you don't want X support, specify `--with-x=no'. If you omit this
51 option, `configure' will try to figure out for itself whether your
52 system has X, and arrange to use it if present.
54 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
55 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
56 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, `configure'
57 is able to find them; these options are necessary if you have your X
58 Window System files installed in unusual places.
60 To get more attractive menus, you can specify an X toolkit when you
61 configure Emacs; use the option `--with-x-toolkit=TOOLKIT', where
62 TOOLKIT is `athena' or `motif' (`yes' and `lucid' are synonyms for
63 `athena'). On some systems, it does not work to use a toolkit with
66 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
67 compile Emacs using GCC. If you don't want to use GCC, specify
68 `--with-gcc=no'. If you omit this option, `configure' will search
69 for GCC in your path, and use it if present.
71 You can build Emacs for several different machine types from a single
72 source directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that
73 supports the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. Make separate
74 build directories for the different configuration types, and in each
75 one, run the Emacs `configure' script. `configure' looks for the
76 Emacs source code in the directory that `configure' is in.
78 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
79 should put emacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
80 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
81 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
82 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/share/emacs/VERSION
83 (where VERSION is the version number of Emacs, like `19.27').
84 - The architecture-dependent files go in
85 PREFIXDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION
86 (where CONFIGURATION is the configuration name, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
87 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
89 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
90 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
91 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
92 - Emacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
93 - The architecture-dependent files go in
94 EXECDIR/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION.
95 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
97 For example, the command
99 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11
101 configures Emacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
102 support for the X11 window system.
104 `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation
105 itself. It just creates the files that influence those things:
106 `./Makefile', `lib-src/Makefile', `oldXMenu/Makefile',
107 `lwlib/Makefile', `src/Makefile', and `./src/config.h'. For details
108 on exactly what it does, see the section called `CONFIGURATION BY
111 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
112 creates a shell script `config.status' which, when run, recreates the
113 same configuration. If `configure' exits with an error after
114 disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'. `configure'
115 also creates a file `config.cache' that saves the results of its tests
116 to make reconfiguring faster, and a file `config.log' containing compiler
117 output (useful mainly for debugging `configure'). You can give
118 `configure' the option `--cache-file=FILE' to use the results of the
119 tests in FILE instead of `config.cache'. Set FILE to `/dev/null' to
120 disable caching, for debugging `configure'.
122 The work of `configure' can be done by editing various files in the
123 distribution, but using `configure' is supposed to be simpler. See
124 the section called "CONFIGURATION BY HAND" below if you want to do the
125 configuration yourself.
127 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
128 for your system, edit the file `./lisp/site-init.el' containing Emacs
129 Lisp code to override them; you probably don't want to edit paths.el
130 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
131 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
133 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
135 is how you would override the default value of the variable
136 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
138 Before you override a variable this way, *look at the value* that the
139 variable gets by default! Make sure you know what kind of value the
140 variable should have. If you don't pay attention to what you are
141 doing, you'll make a mistake.
143 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
144 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
145 something up in the system's password and user information database.
146 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
148 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
149 Lisp code you want Emacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
150 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
151 documentation strings to be in the etc/DOC file (see
152 src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
153 else, use site-init.el.
155 If you set load-path in site-init.el or site-load.el, Emacs will use
156 *precisely* the resulting path when it starts up again. If you do this,
159 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
160 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
161 something up in the system's password and user information database.
162 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
164 The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
165 need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
167 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
168 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
169 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
172 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the Emacs distribution to finish
173 building Emacs in the standard way. The final executable file will be
174 named `src/emacs'. If you want to have Emacs's executable programs
175 and data files installed as well, run `make install'.
177 By default, Emacs installs its files in the following directories:
179 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
180 `emacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
183 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp library;
184 `VERSION' stands for the number of the Emacs version
185 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.27'. Since the
186 lisp library changes from one version of Emacs to
187 another, including the version number in the path
188 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed
189 at the same time; this means that you don't have to
190 make Emacs unavailable while installing a new
193 Emacs searches for its lisp files in
194 `/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp', then in this
197 `/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/etc' holds the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
198 file, the `yow' database, and other
199 architecture-independent files Emacs might need while
200 running. VERSION is as specified for `.../lisp'.
202 `/usr/local/com/emacs/lock' contains files indicating who is editing
203 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
206 `/usr/local/libexec/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
207 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to
209 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are
210 installing, and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument
211 you gave to the `configure' program to identify the
212 architecture and operating system of your machine,
213 like `mips-dec-ultrix' or `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since
214 these files are specific to the version of Emacs,
215 operating system, and architecture in use, including
216 the configuration name in the path allows you to have
217 several versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and
218 operating systems installed at the same time; this is
219 useful for sites at which different kinds of machines
220 share the file system Emacs is installed on.
222 `/usr/local/info' holds the on-line documentation for Emacs, known as
223 "info files". Many other GNU programs are documented
224 using info files as well, so this directory stands
225 apart from the other, Emacs-specific directories.
227 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
230 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
231 install Emacs's libraries and data files or where Emacs should search
232 for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
233 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
236 8) Check the file `dir' in your site's info directory (usually
237 /usr/local/info) to make sure that it has a menu entry for the Emacs
240 9) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
241 then you might need to make the movemail program setuid or setgid
242 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
249 You can change where the build process installs Emacs and its data
250 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
251 command line. For example, if you type
253 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
255 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the Emacs
256 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
259 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
261 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
262 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
264 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
265 read-only data files that Emacs refers to while it runs; it
266 defaults to /usr/local/share. We create the following
267 subdirectories under `datadir':
268 - `emacs/VERSION/lisp', containing the Emacs lisp library, and
269 - `emacs/VERSION/etc', containing the Emacs tutorial, the DOC
270 file, and the `yow' database.
271 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
272 like `18.59' or `19.0'. Since these files vary from one version
273 of Emacs to another, including the version number in the path
274 allows you to have several versions of Emacs installed at the
275 same time; this means that you don't have to make Emacs
276 unavailable while installing a new version.
278 `sharedstatedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
279 that Emacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
280 /usr/local/com. We create the following
281 subdirectories under `sharedstatedir':
282 - `emacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
283 what, so Emacs can detect editing clashes between
286 `libexecdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
287 Emacs refers to as it runs; it defaults to `/usr/local/libexec'.
288 We create the following subdirectories under `libexecdir':
289 - `emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
290 programs used by Emacs that users are not expected to run
292 `VERSION' is the number of the Emacs version you are installing,
293 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the argument you gave to the
294 `configure' program to identify the architecture and operating
295 system of your machine, like `mips-dec-ultrix' or
296 `sparc-sun-sunos'. Since these files are specific to the version
297 of Emacs, operating system, and architecture in use, including
298 the configuration name in the path allows you to have several
299 versions of Emacs for any mix of machines and operating systems
300 installed at the same time; this is useful for sites at which
301 different kinds of machines share the file system Emacs is
304 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
305 Emacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/info'.
307 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for Emacs and its
308 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
309 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
311 `manext' gives the extension the man pages should be installed with.
312 It should contain a period, followed by the appropriate
313 digit. It defaults to `.1'. For example given the default
314 values for `mandir' and `manext', the Emacs man page would be
315 installed as `/usr/local/man/man1/emacs.1'.
317 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of Emacs; instead,
318 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
319 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
320 `sharedstatedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
321 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
324 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
325 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
327 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
328 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
329 to place all of the Emacs data files in the appropriate
330 directories under that path.
332 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
333 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
334 path variables - `bindir' and `libexecdir'.
336 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
337 GNU software; here are some variables specific to Emacs.
339 `lispdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects its lisp
340 library. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
341 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
344 `locallisppath' indicates where Emacs should search for lisp files
345 specific to your site. It should be a colon-separated list of
346 directories; Emacs checks them in order before checking
347 `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
348 is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/site-lisp'.
350 `lisppath' is the complete list of directories Emacs should search for
351 its lisp files; its default value is the concatenation of
352 `lispdir' and `locallisppath'. It should be a colon-separated
353 list of directories; Emacs checks them in the order they
356 `etcdir' indicates where Emacs should install and expect the rest of
357 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial, DOC
358 file, and yow database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
359 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/etc'.
361 `lockdir' indicates the directory where Emacs keeps track of its
362 locking information. Its default value, based on `sharedstatedir'
363 (which see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/lock'.
365 `archlibdir' indicates where Emacs installs and expects the
366 executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses
367 while running. Its default value, based on `libexecdir' (which
368 see), is `/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
369 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
371 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
372 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
373 emacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
374 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
375 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
376 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
377 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
379 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
380 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
381 when running make in the subdirectories.
384 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
386 Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
389 1) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'.
391 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
392 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
393 see which operating system and architecture description files from
394 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
395 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
396 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
398 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
399 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
400 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
401 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
402 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
404 3) Create src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile from the corresponding
405 `Makefile.in.in' files. First copy `Makefile.in.in' to `Makefile.in',
406 then edit in appropriate substituions for the @...@ constructs,
407 and then copy the shell commands near the end of `configure'
408 that run cpp to construct `Makefile'.
410 4) Create `Makefile' files in various other directories
411 from the corresponding `Makefile.in' files. This isn't so hard,
412 just a matter of substitution.
414 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
415 program. You need version 2.0 or newer of `autoconf' to rebuild `configure'.
417 BUILDING GNU EMACS BY HAND
419 Once Emacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
422 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
423 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing
424 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
426 2) Go to directory `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates
427 executables named `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile'
428 and `digest-doc' and `test-distrib'. And others.
430 3) Go to directory `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in
431 the `./lisp' and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
434 This creates a file `./src/emacs' which is the runnable Emacs,
435 which has another name that contains a version number.
436 Each time you do this, that version number increments in the last place.
438 It also creates a file in `./etc' whose name is `DOC' followed by the
439 current Emacs version. This file contains documentation strings for
440 all the functions in Emacs. Each time you run make to make a new
441 emacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
442 file for an Emacs version as long as you keep using that Emacs
448 The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
449 directory of the Emacs distribution.
451 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
452 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
454 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
455 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `fakemail', `hexl',
456 `movemail', `profile', `rcs2log', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup',
457 and `yow' are used by Emacs; they do need to be copied.
458 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', and `rcs-checkin'
459 are intended to be run by users; they are handled below.
460 - The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
461 used in building Emacs, and are not needed any more.
462 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
463 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
465 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
466 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
467 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
468 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the Emacs
469 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
470 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the Emacs info.
472 3) Create a directory for Emacs to use for clash detection, named as
473 indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
475 4) Copy `./src/emacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
476 in users' search paths. `./src/emacs' has an alternate name
477 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
478 `/usr/local/bin/emacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
479 of installing different versions.
481 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
483 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', and
484 `rcs-checkin' from `./lib-src' to `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are
485 intended for users to run.
487 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for emacs, ctags, and etags into the
488 appropriate man directories.
490 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `emacs', are not
491 used by Emacs once it is built. However, it is very desirable to keep
492 the source on line for debugging.
497 See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
498 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
501 Installation on MSDOG (a.k.a. MSDOS)
503 To install on MSDOG, you need to have the GNU C compiler for MSDOG
504 (also known as djgpp), GNU Make, rm, mv, chmod, and sed. Type these
510 To save disk space, Emacs is built with the idea that you will execute
511 it from the same place in the file system where you built it. As the
512 /usr/local/ subtree does not exist on most MSDOG systems, the
513 executables are placed in /emacs/bin/.
515 MSDOG is a not a multitasking operating system, so Emacs features such
516 as asynchronous subprocesses that depend on multitasking will not
517 work. Synchronous subprocesses do work.