path: root/Documentation/Changes

Intro
=====

This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of
software necessary to run the 2.1.x kernels, as well as provide brief
instructions regarding any other "Gotchas" users may encounter when
trying life on the Bleeding Edge.  If upgrading from a pre-2.0.x
kernel, please consult the Changes file included with 2.0.x kernels for
additional information; most of that information will not be repeated
here.  Basically, this document assumes that your system is already
functional and running at least 2.0.x.

   It is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels and
therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,
Axel Boldt, Alessandro Sigala, and countless other users all over the
'net).  Please feel free to submit changes, corrections, gripes,
flames, money, etc. to me (gt1355b@prism.gatech.edu).  If you do so,
you don't need to bother doing so in the form of a diff, as this is
generated by texinfo so a diff is useless anyway (though I can
incorporate one by hand if you insist upon sending it that way ;-).

   Check out http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Misc/info/LinuxBleed.html for an
HTML-ized shopping list.

   For those of you in Europe,
http://www.datanet.hu/generations/linux/Changes2.html is an
English-language HTML version.

Last updated: September 13. 1997
Current Author: Chris Ricker (gt1355b@prism.gatech.edu).

Current Minimal Requirements
****************************

   Upgrade to at *least* these software revisions before thinking you've
encountered a bug!  If you're unsure what version you're currently
running, the suggested command should tell you.

- Kernel modules	 modutils-2.1.55         ; insmod -V
- Gnu C 		 2.7.2.3                 ; gcc --version
- Binutils		 2.8.1.0.1               ; ld -v
- Linux C Library	 5.4.38                  ; ls -l /lib/libc.so.*
- Dynamic Linker (ld.so) 1.9.5                   ; ldd -v
- Linux C++ Library	 2.7.2.8                 ; ls -l /usr/lib/libg++.so.*
- Procps		 1.2                    ; ps --version
- Procinfo               0.11                    ; procinfo -v
- Mount                  2.6h                    ; mount --version
- Net-tools              1.41                    ; hostname -V
- Loadlin                1.6a
- Sh-utils               1.16                    ; expr --v
- Autofs                 0.3.11                   ; automount --version
- NFS                    0.4.21                  ; showmount --version
- Bash                   1.14.7                  ; bash -version

Upgrade notes
*************

General Information
===================

   <CTRL><ALT><DEL> now performs a cold reboot instead of a warm reboot
for increased hardware compatibility.  If you want a warm reboot and
know it works on your hardware, add a "reboot=warm" command line option
in Lilo.  A small number of machines need "reboot=bios" to reboot via
the BIOS.

Libc
====

   Linux-2.1.x is ELF-only.  You can still compile a.out apps if you
really want, but your kernel must be compiled ELF.  If you can't
currently compile ELF, consult the ELF howto at
http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/ELF-HOWTO.html and upgrade your system
accordingly.

   For modules to work, you need to be running libc-5.4.x or greater.
Since updates to libc fix other problems as well (security flaws, for
example) and since 5.4.7 is missing a few needed symbols, try to get
the latest 5.4.x you can.  Currently, libc-5.4.38 is the latest public
release.

   If you upgrade to libc-5.4.x, you also have to upgrade your dynamic
linker (ld.so) to at least 1.9.5, or all sorts of weirdness will
happen.  Actually, ld.so-1.8.2 and later will work, but 1.9.5 is widely
available, so if you need to upgrade, use it.  If you get a release
later than 1.8.5, avoid 1.8.10 as it introduces a few bugs that are
fixed in later releases.  Please make sure you don't install ld.so-2.x
unless you're running glibc2 / libc6.

   If you upgrade to libc-5.4.x, you may also need to upgrade ypbind if
you're using NIS.

Modules
=======

   You need to upgrade to modutils-2.1.55 for kernels 2.1.55 and later.
This version will also work with 2.0.x kernels.

Binutils
========

   If you upgrade binutils, please read its accompanying release notes
to find out the proper way to upgrade it.  No, the instruction to "rm
`which encaps`" is not a joke.

Gnu C
=====

   You need at least GCC 2.7.2 to compile the kernel.  If you're
upgrading from an earlier release, you might as well get GCC 2.7.2.3,
the latest public release.  If you already have GCC 2.7.2 on your
system, you don't have to upgrade just so the kernel will work (though
feel free to upgrade if you want the gcc bug fixes).

Networking Changes
==================

   Please read Documentation/networking/routing.txt and
Documentation/networking/policy-routing.txt for more information about
changes in routing code.  OSPF classes have been added, and interface
routes are generated automatically.

   If for some reason you need to override this automatic default
routing, you have to specify the complete route specification (netmask,
device, etc.) for the kernel to accept it. Consequently, you need to
either remove interface routes from your init scripts or add missing
information to them if you need to replace the automatic routes.

   Also note that some routes, such as loopback routes, do not show up
in some standard tools.  Check in /proc/net/rt_local to verify their
presence.

   To turn on IP forwarding, issue the following command:   echo 1 >
/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forwarding

   To run bootpd, you'll need to issue the following command:   echo 1
>/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_boot_agent

   For support for new features like IPv6, upgrade to the latest
net-tools.

Memory
======

   As of 2.1.41, the format of /proc/meminfo has changed.  This broke
many memory utils, which have to be upgraded.  Get the new procps-1.2
and you should be set.

Mount and network file systems
==============================

   The NFS code in the kernel is currently being revised, resulting in
much-improved performance.  As a result, you'll need to upgrade mount
to a recent 2.6 release.  Also, amd is being phased out in favor of the
much better autofs.  You'll also have to get the appropriate utils to
use autofs as well as the new NFS utils.

RPM
===

   If you run RedHat Linux or any other distribution that uses RPM, you
need to upgrade RPM to version 2.2.7 or later.

DOSEMU
======

   A new "stable" version of DOSEMU is available for 2.1.x kernels.
Upgrade to 0.66.7 or later.

Loadlin
=======

   Linux 2.1.22 and later releases use a new method of memory size
detection, requiring loadlin users to upgrade to loadlin-1.6a.

Sh-utils
========

   As of Linux-2.1.26, the Configure script ("make config") has been
updated to be POSIX-compliant.  As a result, your expr needs to be
updated.  Use sh-utils 1.16 or later.

Parallel Ports
==============

   As of 2.1.33, parallel port support can now by handled by the parport
driver.  Be aware that with Plug-and-Play support turned on, your
parallel port may no longer be where you expect it; for example, LPT1
(under DOS) was sometimes /dev/lp1 in Linux, but will probably be
/dev/lp0 with the new Plug-and-Play driver.  If printing breaks with
the new driver, try checking your lpd configuration.

Bash
====

   Old versions of Bash fail to properly handle symlinks, which can
cause problems when compiling modules.  Upgrade to at least 1.14 to fix
this problem.

Where to get the files
**********************

Binutils
========

The 2.8.1.0.1 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/binutils-2.8.1.0.1.bin.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/binutils-2.8.1.0.1.bin.tar.gz
Installation notes:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/release.binutils-2.8.1.0.1
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.binutils-2.8.1.0.1

Gnu C
=====

The 2.7.2.3 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/gcc-2.7.2.3.bin.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/gcc-2.7.2.3.bin.tar.gz
Installation notes:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/release.gcc-2.7.2.3
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.gcc-2.7.2.3

Linux C Library
===============

The 5.4.38 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/libc-5.4.38.bin.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/libc-5.4.38.bin.tar.gz
Installation notes for 5.4.38:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/release.libc-5.4.38
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.libc-5.4.38

Linux C++ Library
=================

The 2.7.2.8 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/libg++-2.7.2.8.bin.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/libg++-2.7.2.8.bin.tar.gz
Installation notes:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/release.libg++-2.7.2.8
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.libg++-2.7.2.8

Dynamic Linker
==============

The 1.9.5 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC/ld.so-1.9.5.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/ld.so-1.9.5.tar.gz

Modules utilities
=================

The 2.1.55 release:
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/alphabits/modutils/modutils-2.1.55.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.1/modutils-2.1.55.tar.gz

Procps utilities
================

The 1.2 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/sources/usr.bin/procps-1.2.tar.gz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/ps/procps-1.2.tgz

Procinfo utilities
==================

The 0.11 release:
ftp://ftp.cistron.nl/pub/people/svm/procinfo-0.11.tar.gz

RPM utilities
=============

The 2.2.7 release for Intel:
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/i386/rpm-2.2.7-1.i386.rpm
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/i386/rpm-devel-2.2.7-1.i386.rpm
The 2.2.7 release for Alpha:
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/axp/rpm-2.2.7-1.axp.rpm
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/axp/rpm-devel-2.2.7-1.axp.rpm
The 2.2.7 release for SPARC:
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/i386/rpm-2.2.7-1.sparc.rpm
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/updates/i386/rpm-devel-2.2.7-1.sparc.rpm

DOSEMU
======

The 0.66.7 release:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/ALPHA/dosemu/dosemu0.66.7.tgz
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/emulators/dosemu0.66.7.tgz

Loadlin
=======

The 1.6a release:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/loadlin/update-1.6a/loadlin.exe.gz
ftp://elserv.ffm.fgan.de/pub/linux/loadlin-1.6/update-1.6a/loadlin.exe.gz

Sh-utils
========

The 1.16 release:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/gnu/sh-utils-1.16.tar.gz
ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/sh-utils-1.16.tar.gz

Mount
=====

The 2.6h release:
ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux/util/mount-2.6h.tar.gz

Autofs
======

The 0.3.11 release:
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/daemons/autofs/autofs-0.3.11.tar.gz

NFS
===

The 0.4.21 release:
ftp://ftp.mathematik.th-darmstadt.de/pub/linux/okir/linux-nfs-0.4.21.tar.gz
ftp://linux.nrao.edu/pub/people/okir/linux-nfs-0.4.21.tar.gz

Net-tools
=========

The 1.41 release:
ftp://ftp.london.uk.eu.org/pub/ipv6/net-tools-1.41.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.cs-ipv6.lancs.ac.uk/pub/Code/Linux/Net_Tools/net-tools-1.41.tar.gz

Ypbind
======

The 3.2 release:
ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/linux/local/yp/ypbind-3.2.tar.gz

Bash
====

The 1.14.7 release:
ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/bash-1.14.7.tar.gz

Other Info
==========

   Please remember that most of these utils are available on your
favorite local linux mirror.  If you can, please get them from a closer
site before checking sunsite.

   You may also want to check for updated versions of this software in a
package format for the distribution you use.

   For those of you running Red Hat (or RPM on a different
distribution), most of these are available in RPM format.  Check around
your favorite Red Hat mirror site before installing the non-RPM
version.  Remember, you might need to use the -force option to get the
upgrade to install.  ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/contrib/ will have almost
everything you need.

   Those of you running Debian (or a different distribution that
supports .deb packages) can look in the "unstable" and
"project/experimental" directories of your favorite Debian mirror.

   For others, David Bourgin has put together a package of everything
necessary to quickly and easily upgrade to 2.1.x.  See
ftp://ftp.wsc.com/pub/freeware/linux/update.linux/kernel-v2.1.x/ for
more information and the files.

Please send info about any other packages that 2.1.x "broke" or about
any new features of 2.1.x that require extra or new packages for use to
Chris Ricker (gt1355b@prism.gatech.edu).