2. Installing

Before you can use the Mach microkernel in your system you'll need to install it and all components you want to use with it, e.g. the rest of the operating system. You also need a bootloader to load the kernel from the storage medium and run it when the computer is started.

GNU Mach is only available for Intel i386-compatible architectures (such as the Pentium) currently. If you have a different architecture and want to run the GNU Mach microkernel, you will need to port the kernel and all other software of the system to your machine's architecture. Porting is an involved process which requires considerable programming skills, and it is not recommended for the faint-of-heart. If you have the talent and desire to do a port, contact bug-hurd@gnu.org in order to coordinate the effort.

2.1 Binary Distributions

By far the easiest and best way to install GNU Mach and the operating system is to obtain a GNU binary distribution. The GNU operating system consists of GNU Mach, the Hurd, the C library and many applications. Without the GNU operating system, you will only have a microkernel, which is not very useful by itself, without the other programs.

Building the whole operating system takes a huge effort, and you are well advised to not do it yourself, but to get a binary distribution of the GNU operating system. The distribution also includes a binary of the GNU Mach microkernel.

Information on how to obtain the GNU system can be found in the Hurd info manual.

2.2 Compilation

If you already have a running GNU system, and only want to recompile the kernel, for example to select a different set of included hardware drivers, you can easily do this. You need the GNU C compiler and MiG, the Mach interface generator, which both come in their own packages.

Building and installing the kernel is as easy as with any other GNU software package. The configure script is used to configure the source and set the compile time options. The compilation is done by running:

make

To install the kernel and its header files, just enter the command:

make install

This will install the kernel into $(prefix)/boot/gnumach and the header files into $(prefix)/include. You can also only install the kernel or the header files. For this, the two targets install-kernel and install-headers are provided.

2.3 Configuration

The following options can be passed to the configure script as command line arguments and control what components are built into the kernel, or where it is installed.

The default for an option is to be disabled, unless otherwise noted.

--prefix prefix

Sets the prefix to PREFIX. The default prefix is the empty string, which is the correct value for the GNU system. The prefix is prepended to all file names at installation time.

--enable-kdb

Enables the in-kernel debugger. This is only useful if you actually anticipate debugging the kernel. It is not enabled by default because it adds considerably to the unpageable memory footprint of the kernel. See section 11. Kernel Debugger.

--enable-kmsg

Enables the kernel message device kmsg.

--enable-lpr

Enables the parallel port devices lpr%d.

--enable-floppy

Enables the PC floppy disk controller devices fd%d.

--enable-ide

Enables the IDE controller devices hd%d, hd%ds%d.

The following options enable drivers for various SCSI controller. SCSI devices are named sd%d (disks) or cd%d (CD ROMs).

--enable-advansys

Enables the AdvanSys SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-buslogic

Enables the BusLogic SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--disable-flashpoint

Only meaningful in conjunction with `--enable-buslogic'. Omits the FlshPoint support. This option is enabled by default if `--enable-buslogic' is specified.

--enable-u1434f

Enables the UltraStor 14F/34F SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ultrastor

Enables the UltraStor SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-aha152x

--enable-aha2825

Enables the Adaptec AHA-152x/2825 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-aha1542

Enables the Adaptec AHA-1542 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-aha1740

Enables the Adaptec AHA-1740 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-aic7xxx

Enables the Adaptec AIC7xxx SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-futuredomain

Enables the Future Domain 16xx SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-in2000

Enables the Always IN 2000 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ncr5380

--enable-ncr53c400

Enables the generic NCR5380/53c400 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ncr53c406a

Enables the NCR53c406a SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-pas16

Enables the PAS16 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-seagate

Enables the Seagate ST02 and Future Domain TMC-8xx SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-t128

--enable-t128f

--enable-t228

Enables the Trantor T128/T128F/T228 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ncr53c7xx

Enables the NCR53C7,8xx SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-eatadma

Enables the EATA-DMA (DPT, NEC, AT&T, SNI, AST, Olivetti, Alphatronix) SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-eatapio

Enables the EATA-PIO (old DPT PM2001, PM2012A) SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-wd7000

Enables the WD 7000 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-eata

Enables the EATA ISA/EISA/PCI (DPT and generic EATA/DMA-compliant boards) SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-am53c974

--enable-am79c974

Enables the AM53/79C974 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-dtc3280

--enable-dtc3180

Enables the DTC3180/3280 SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ncr53c8xx

--enable-dc390w

--enable-dc390u

--enable-dc390f

Enables the NCR53C8XX SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-dc390t

--enable-dc390

Enables the Tekram DC-390(T) SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-ppa

Enables the IOMEGA Parallel Port ZIP drive device sd%d.

--enable-qlogicfas

Enables the Qlogic FAS SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-qlogicisp

Enables the Qlogic ISP SCSI controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

--enable-gdth

Enables the GDT SCSI Disk Array controller devices sd%d, cd%d.

The following options enable drivers for various ethernet cards. NIC device names are usually eth%d, except for the pocket adaptors.

GNU Mach does only autodetect one ethernet card. To enable any further cards, the source code has to be edited.

--enable-ne2000

--enable-ne1000

Enables the NE2000/NE1000 ISA netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c503

--enable-el2

Enables the 3Com 503 (Etherlink II) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c509

--enable-3c579

--enable-el3

Enables the 3Com 509/579 (Etherlink III) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-wd80x3

Enables the WD80X3 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c501

--enable-el1

Enables the 3COM 501 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ul

Enables the SMC Ultra netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ul32

Enables the SMC Ultra 32 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-hplanplus

Enables the HP PCLAN+ (27247B and 27252A) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-hplan

Enables the HP PCLAN (27245 and other 27xxx series) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c59x

--enable-3c90x

--enable-vortex

Enables the 3Com 590/900 series (592/595/597/900/905) "Vortex/Boomerang" netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-seeq8005

Enables the Seeq8005 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-hp100

--enable-hpj2577

--enable-hpj2573

--enable-hp27248b

--enable-hp2585

Enables the HP 10/100VG PCLAN (ISA, EISA, PCI) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ac3200

Enables the Ansel Communications EISA 3200 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-e2100

Enables the Cabletron E21xx netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-at1700

Enables the AT1700 (Fujitsu 86965) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-eth16i

--enable-eth32

Enables the ICL EtherTeam 16i/32 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-znet

--enable-znote

Enables the Zenith Z-Note netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-eexpress

Enables the EtherExpress 16 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-eexpresspro

Enables the EtherExpressPro netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-eexpresspro100

Enables the Intel EtherExpressPro PCI 10+/100B/100+ netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-depca

--enable-de100

--enable-de101

--enable-de200

--enable-de201

--enable-de202

--enable-de210

--enable-de422

Enables the DEPCA, DE10x, DE200, DE201, DE202, DE210, DE422 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ewrk3

--enable-de203

--enable-de204

--enable-de205

Enables the EtherWORKS 3 (DE203, DE204, DE205) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-de4x5

--enable-de425

--enable-de434

--enable-435

--enable-de450

--enable-500

Enables the DE425, DE434, DE435, DE450, DE500 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-apricot

Enables the Apricot XEN-II on board ethernet netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-wavelan

Enables the AT&T WaveLAN & DEC RoamAbout DS netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c507

--enable-el16

Enables the 3Com 507 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c505

--enable-elplus

Enables the 3Com 505 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-de600

Enables the D-Link DE-600 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-de620

Enables the D-Link DE-620 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-skg16

Enables the Schneider & Koch G16 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ni52

Enables the NI5210 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ni65

Enables the NI6510 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-atp

Enables the AT-LAN-TEC/RealTek pocket adaptor netword card devices atp%d.

--enable-lance

--enable-at1500

--enable-ne2100

Enables the AMD LANCE and PCnet (AT1500 and NE2100) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-elcp

--enable-tulip

Enables the DECchip Tulip (dc21x4x) PCI netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-fmv18x

Enables the FMV-181/182/183/184 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-3c515

Enables the 3Com 515 ISA Fast EtherLink netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-pcnet32

Enables the AMD PCI PCnet32 (PCI bus NE2100 cards) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-ne2kpci

Enables the PCI NE2000 netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-yellowfin

Enables the Packet Engines Yellowfin Gigabit-NIC netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-rtl8139

--enable-rtl8129

Enables the RealTek 8129/8139 (not 8019/8029!) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-epic

--enable-epic100

Enables the SMC 83c170/175 EPIC/100 (EtherPower II) netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-tlan

Enables the TI ThunderLAN netword card devices eth%d.

--enable-viarhine

Enables the VIA Rhine netword card devices eth%d.

2.4 Cross-Compilation

Another way to install the kernel is to use an existing operating system in order to compile the kernel binary. This is called cross-compiling, because it is done between two different platforms. If the pre-built kernels are not working for you, and you can't ask someone to compile a custom kernel for your machine, this is your last chance to get a kernel that boots on your hardware.

Luckily, the kernel does have light dependencies. You don't even need a cross compiler if your build machine has a compiler and is the same architecture as the system you want to run GNU Mach on.

You need a cross-mig, though.

XXX More info needed.