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authorRandy Dunlap <randy.dunlap@oracle.com>2008-02-29 14:21:53 -0800
committerSam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>2009-01-02 20:43:25 +0100
commit2af238e455ef5fd31c2f7a06c2db3f13d843b9bf (patch)
tree9a1da45a4b81a03f25742a57843228362ca66fc5 /Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt
parent80a7d1d991e35b0370c0396f36f6a076869a6bac (diff)
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>
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+This file contains some assistance for using "make *config".
+
+Use "make help" to list all of the possible configuration targets.
+
+The xconfig ('qconf') and menuconfig ('mconf') programs also
+have embedded help text. Be sure to check it for navigation,
+search, and other general help text.
+
+======================================================================
+General
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+New kernel releases often introduce new config symbols. Often more
+important, new kernel releases may rename config symbols. When
+this happens, using a previously working .config file and running
+"make oldconfig" won't necessarily produce a working new kernel
+for you, so you may find that you need to see what NEW kernel
+symbols have been introduced.
+
+To see a list of new config symbols when using "make oldconfig", use
+
+ cp user/some/old.config .config
+ yes "" | make oldconfig >conf.new
+
+and the config program will list as (NEW) any new symbols that have
+unknown values. Of course, the .config file is also updated with
+new (default) values, so you can use:
+
+ grep "(NEW)" conf.new
+
+to see the new config symbols or you can 'diff' the previous and
+new .config files to see the differences:
+
+ diff .config.old .config | less
+
+(Yes, we need something better here.)
+
+
+======================================================================
+menuconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+SEARCHING for CONFIG symbols
+
+Searching in menuconfig:
+
+ The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
+ names, so you have to know something close to what you are
+ looking for.
+
+ Example:
+ /hotplug
+ This lists all config symbols that contain "hotplug",
+ e.g., HOTPLUG, HOTPLUG_CPU, MEMORY_HOTPLUG.
+
+ For search help, enter / followed TAB-TAB-TAB (to highlight
+ <Help>) and Enter. This will tell you that you can also use
+ regular expressions (regexes) in the search string, so if you
+ are not interested in MEMORY_HOTPLUG, you could try
+
+ /^hotplug
+
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Color Themes for 'menuconfig'
+
+It is possible to select different color themes using the variable
+MENUCONFIG_COLOR. To select a theme use:
+
+ make MENUCONFIG_COLOR=<theme> menuconfig
+
+Available themes are:
+ mono => selects colors suitable for monochrome displays
+ blackbg => selects a color scheme with black background
+ classic => theme with blue background. The classic look
+ bluetitle => a LCD friendly version of classic. (default)
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Environment variables in 'menuconfig'
+
+KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+(partially based on lkml email from/by Rob Landley, re: miniconfig)
+--------------------------------------------------
+The allyesconfig/allmodconfig/allnoconfig/randconfig variants can
+also use the environment variable KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG as a flag or a
+filename that contains config symbols that the user requires to be
+set to a specific value. If KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG is used without a
+filename, "make *config" checks for a file named
+"all{yes/mod/no/random}.config" (corresponding to the *config command
+that was used) for symbol values that are to be forced. If this file
+is not found, it checks for a file named "all.config" to contain forced
+values.
+
+This enables you to create "miniature" config (miniconfig) or custom
+config files containing just the config symbols that you are interested
+in. Then the kernel config system generates the full .config file,
+including dependencies of your miniconfig file, based on the miniconfig
+file.
+
+This 'KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG' file is a config file which contains
+(usually a subset of all) preset config symbols. These variable
+settings are still subject to normal dependency checks.
+
+Examples:
+ KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=custom-notebook.config make allnoconfig
+or
+ KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config make allnoconfig
+or
+ make KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config allnoconfig
+
+These examples will disable most options (allnoconfig) but enable or
+disable the options that are explicitly listed in the specified
+mini-config files.
+
+KCONFIG_NOSILENTUPDATE
+--------------------------------------------------
+If this variable has a non-blank value, it prevents silent kernel
+config udpates (requires explicit updates).
+
+KCONFIG_CONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be used to specify a default kernel config
+file name to override the default name of ".config".
+
+KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+If you set KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG in the environment, Kconfig will not
+break symlinks when .config is a symlink to somewhere else.
+
+KCONFIG_NOTIMESTAMP
+--------------------------------------------------
+If this environment variable exists and is non-null, the timestamp line
+in generated .config files is omitted.
+
+KCONFIG_AUTOCONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
+"auto.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/auto.conf".
+
+KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
+"autoconf.h" (header) file. Its default value is "include/linux/autoconf.h".
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+menuconfig User Interface Options
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+MENUCONFIG_MODE
+--------------------------------------------------
+This mode shows all sub-menus in one large tree.
+
+Example:
+ MENUCONFIG_MODE=single_menu make menuconfig
+
+======================================================================
+xconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+Searching in xconfig:
+
+ The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
+ names, so you have to know something close to what you are
+ looking for.
+
+ Example:
+ Ctrl-F hotplug
+ or
+ Menu: File, Search, hotplug
+
+ lists all config symbol entries that contain "hotplug" in
+ the symbol name. In this Search dialog, you may change the
+ config setting for any of the entries that are not grayed out.
+ You can also enter a different search string without having
+ to return to the main menu.
+
+
+======================================================================
+gconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+Searching in gconfig:
+
+ None (gconfig isn't maintained as well as xconfig or menuconfig);
+ however, gconfig does have a few more viewing choices than
+ xconfig does.
+
+###