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Handbook for CRUX 2.2

1. Preface

Per Lidén wrote this handbook. RobertMcMeekin converted it to DocBook, the CRUX team made a Wiki version. Numerous others have given feedback and improvement suggestions.

2. Introduction

2.1. What is CRUX?

CRUX is a lightweight, i686-optimized Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users. The primary focus of this distribution is "keep it simple", which it reflects in a simple tar.gz-based package system, BSD-style initscripts, and a relatively small collection of trimmed packages. The secondary focus is utilization of new Linux features and recent tools and libraries. CRUX also has a ports system which makes it easy to install and upgrade applications.

2.2. Why use CRUX?

There are many Linux distributions out there these days, so what makes this distribution any better than the others? Well, it's all about taste really. I can give you a hint about my taste, and perhaps we share the same taste, or we don't. First of all, I want a distribution made with simplicity in mind from beginning to end. Further, I want my packages up-to-date, not the latest bleeding-edge-alpha version, but the latest stable version. I want to easily create new and update old packages (updating a package in CRUX is often just a matter of typing pkgmk -d -u). I want packages optimized for my processor (think -march=i686). I don't want my filesystem cluttered with files I never use (think /usr/doc/*, etc). If I need more information about a specific program, other than information found on the man-page, I'll find it on the net. And finally, I want to use new features offered by recent Linux kernels (think udev, inotify, reiserfs, ext3fs, xfs, etc).

If you are a somewhat experienced Linux user that wants a clean and solid Linux distribution as the foundation of your installation, prefers editing configuration files with an editor to using a GUI, and doesn't hesitate to download and compile programs yourself, then this distribution might suit you well.

2.3. License

2.3.1. Packages

Since CRUX is a Linux distribution, it contains software written by a lot of different people. Each software package comes with its own license, chosen by its author(s). To find out how a particular package is licensed, have a look at its source code.

2.3.2. Build Scripts

All package build scripts in CRUX (in package categories core and opt) are Copyright © 2000-2006 by Per Lidén and the CRUX development team, and licensed through the GNU General Public License.

2.3.3. NO WARRANTY

CRUX is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use it at YOUR OWN RISK.

3. Installing CRUX

3.1. Supported Hardware

Packages on the official CRUX ISO image are compiled with optimization for i686 (Pentium-Pro/Celeron/Pentium-II or better) processors. Do not try to install it on an i586 (Pentium, AMD K6/K6-II/K6-III) or lower processor, since it simply will not work. To install CRUX on an i586 system you need to download the i586 version of the CRUX ISO image.

The kernel used during installation, i.e. when booting from the CRUX ISO image (El Torito), is compiled with the following disk controllers and USB support:

SubsystemDriver(s) included in bootkernel
IDEGeneric PCI IDE chipset
SATAServerWorks Frodo/Apple K2, Intel PIIX/ICH, Promise, Silicon Image, VIA, VITESSE VSC-7174
SCSI7000FASST, ACARD, Adaptec AACRAID, Adaptec AIC7xxx, Adaptec AIC79xx U320, AdvanSys, Always IN2000, AMI MegaRAID, BusLogic, Compaq Fibre Channel, NCR5380/53c400, IBM ServeRAID, SYM53C8XX, Tekram DC390(T) and Am53/79C974
USBUSB device filesystem, EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support, UHCI (Intel PIIX4, VIA, ...) support, OHCI (Compaq, iMacs, OPTi, SiS, ALi, ...) support, USB Mass Storage support, USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support, HID input layer support

In order to install CRUX, your disk controller must be present in the list above. If your hardware is not supported or you have other problems installing CRUX you might find a solution in Section "Alternative Installation Methods".

3.2. Installing From CD-ROM

 $ md5sum crux-2.2.iso

Compare the output with the file crux-2.2.md5sum, which can be found in the same directory as the ISO image on the download site. If the checksums match the download was successful and you can continue by burning the ISO image on a CD.

 $ fdisk /dev/hd?
 $ mkreiserfs /dev/hd??
 $ mkswap /dev/hd??

Note

Please keep in mind that SATA harddisks are usually detected as SCSI devices. The first SATA disk is called /dev/sda instead of /dev/hda. For more information about harddisk naming conventions please checkout this HOWTO.

The amount of disk space you need depends on how many packages you choose to install. I recommend having at least a 1G root partition (CRUX will use about 200MB-500MB depending on your configuration).

Using ReiserFS is recommended, but there is support for Ext2fs/Ext3fs, XFS and JFS as well. Further, I highly recommend separating system data from user data, i.e. use a separate partition for /home (and possibly /var) since that will make your life a lot easier the day you want to upgrade/reinstall/remove your system.

Note

Make sure that any BIOS Virus Protection option is DISABLED as this option may prevent fdisk from writing new partitions correctly.
 $ mount /dev/hd?? /mnt

If you want the installation to span more than one partition, mount those partitions as well. For example, if you want to have a different partition for /home or /var, then do:

 $ mkdir /mnt/var
 $ mount /dev/hd?? /mnt/var
 $ swapon /dev/hd??

Once it has installed the selected packages, the setup script will display an installation log. Make sure the last line in the log says “0 error(s)”.

If you at a later stage find that you need some additional packages you can just mount the CRUX CD-ROM and use pkgadd to install them.

Note

There is no package dependency checking. This means that it is up to you to figure out that if you for example install the sendmail package you also need to install the db package.

Screenshots of setup

 $ mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
 $ mount --bind /tmp /mnt/tmp
 $ mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc
 $ mount -t sysfs none /mnt/sys
 $ chroot /mnt /bin/bash
 $ passwd
 $ cd /usr/src/linux-2.6.15.6
 $ make menuconfig
 $ make all
 $ make modules_install
 $ cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /vmlinuz
 $ cp System.map /

If you plan to use GRUB (which is included in the ISO) make sure you read the installation notes in the appendix of this document.

3.3. Upgrading From CD-ROM

 $ md5sum crux-2.2.iso

Compare the output with the file crux-2.2.md5sum, which can be found in the same directory as the ISO image on the download site. If the checksums match the download was successful and you can continue with burning the ISO image on a CD.

 $ mount /dev/hd?? /mnt

If your installation spans over more than one partition, then mount these partitions as well. For example, if you have a different partition for /var, then do:

 $ mount /dev/hd?? /mnt/var
 $ swapon /dev/hd??

Note

The setup script uses the /etc/pkgadd.conf of the target system to determine which files to upgrade and which files not to upgrade. The files that are not upgraded are put in /var/lib/pkg/rejected/ (Section "Upgrading a Package").

When the setup script has upgraded the selected packages an upgrade log will be displayed. Make sure the last line in the log says “0 error(s)”. If you at a later stage find that you need some additional packages you can just mount the CRUX CD-ROM and use pkgadd to install them (e.g. pkgadd /mnt/crux/opt/package#1.0-1.pkg.tar.gz).

 $ mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
 $ mount --bind /tmp /mnt/tmp
 $ mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc
 $ mount -t sysfs none /mnt/sys
 $ chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Important

If you upgrade your system from CRUX 2.1 to CRUX 2.2 you have to change all disk/cdrom/floppy device names in your /etc/fstab file. Starting with 2.2 CRUX does no longer use the devfs name scheme (/dev/discs/discX/partY). Two (new) examples: /dev/hda1 would specify the first partition at your primary-master harddisk (standard IDE ATA bus). /dev/sda2 specifies the second partition at your first SCSI or SATA harddisk. More information
udev reads files in /sys/* and /proc/*. Make sure that those pseudo filesystems are enabled in your kernel configuration and available during system-startup. Also note that unlike devfsd, udev doesn't automatically mount /dev/pts. Terminal applications such as xterm(1) will not work if you forget to mount it. If you want udev to detect your connected USB hardware you'll need the USB-Filesystem mounted on /proc/bus/usb. We highly recommend you check your fstab file:
# <dev> <dir>         <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
[..]
devpts  /dev/pts      devpts defaults  0      0
sysfs   /sys          sysfs  defaults  0      0
proc    /proc         proc   defaults  0      0
usb     /proc/bus/usb usbfs  defaults  0      0

If you plan to use GRUB (which is included in the ISO) make sure you read the installation notes in the appendix of this document.

3.4. Alternative Installation Methods

3.4.1. Building Your Own Bootkernel

If you are unable to install CRUX from CD-ROM because your hardware is not supported by the bootkernel you can build your own bootkernel and add whatever hardware support you need. To do this you need a 1.44Mb floppy disk, access to another Linux box and the CRUX ISO image burned on a CD. Basic knowledge about how to configure and compile the Linux kernel is of course also required.

 $ cd mkbootfloppy
 $ ./mkbootfloppy /path/to/linux/kernel/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
 1440+0 records in
 1440+0 records out
 mke2fs 1.27 (8-Mar-2002)
 Added CRUX *
 $ dd if=boot.img of=/dev/fd0

3.4.2. Network Installation

If you do not have a CD burner, are unable to boot your machine using the CRUX CD-ROM or for any other reason are unable to install CRUX the normal way (Section "Installing From CD-ROM") you might want to check out HOWTO install CRUX via NFS? by Jürgen Daubert.

4. The Package System

4.1. Introduction

The package system (pkgutils) is made with simplicity in mind, where all packages are plain tar.gz files (i.e. without any kind of meta data).

Packages follow the naming convention <name>#<version>-<release>.pkg.tar.gz, where <name> is the name of the program, <version> is the version number of the program, and <release> is the version number of the package.
The pkg.tar.gz extension is used (instead of just tar.gz) to indicate that this is not just any tar.gz file, but a tar.gz that is meant to be installed using pkgadd. This way it is easy to tell packages apart from other tar.gz files.

pkgadd(8), pkgrm(8), pkginfo(8), and pkgmk(8) are the package management utilities. With these utilities you can install, uninstall, inspect, make packages and query the package database.

When a package is installed using pkgadd a new record is added to the package database (stored in /var/lib/pkg/db). The basic package system does not have any kind of dependency checking, thus it will not warn you if you install a package that requires other packages to be installed. The included prt-get tool, however, does support dependencies.

The following sections will in short describe how to use the package utilities. Additional information about these utilities can be found on their respective man page.

4.2. Using the Package System

4.2.1. Installing a Package

Installing a package is done by using pkgadd. This utility requires at least one argument, the package you want to install. Example:

 $ pkgadd bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz

When installing a package the package manager will ensure that no previously installed files are overwritten. If conflicts are found an error message will be printed and pkgadd will abort without installing the package. The error message will contain the names of the conflicting files. Example:

 $ pkgadd bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz
 bin/sh
 usr/man/man1/sh.1.gz
 pkgadd error: listed file(s) already installed (use -f to ignore and overwrite)

To force the installation and overwrite the conflicting files you can use the option -f (or --force). Example:

 $ pkgadd -f bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz

The package system allows a file to be owned by exactly one package. When forcing an installation the ownership of the conflicting files will be transferred to the package that is currently being installed. Directories can however be owned by more then one package.

Warning

It is often not a good idea to force the installation unless you really know what you are doing. If a package conflicts with already installed files it could be a sign that the package is broken and installs unexpected files. Use this option with extreme care, preferably not at all.

As said earlier the package file itself does not contain any meta data. Instead the package manager uses the package filename to determine the package name and version. Thus, when installing a package file named bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz the package manager will interpret this as a package named bash at version 2.05-1. If pkgadd is unable to interpret the filename (e.g. # is missing or the filename does not end with .pkg.tar.gz) an error message will be printed and pkgadd will abort without installing the package.

4.2.2. Upgrading a Package

Upgrading a package is done using pkgadd with the -u option. Example:

 $ pkgadd -u bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz

This will replace the previously installed bash package with the new one. If you have not previously installed bash, pkgadd will print an error message. The package system does not care about the version number of the package in that you can “upgrade” version 2.05-1 with version 2.04-1 (or even with version 2.05-1 itself). The installed package will be replaced with the specified package.

Upgrading a package is equivalent to executing pkgrm followed by pkgadd with one (big) exception. When upgrading a package (with pkgadd -u) you have the option to prevent some of the already installed files from getting replaced. This is typically useful when you want to preserve configuration and log files.

When executing pkgadd the file /etc/pkgadd.conf will be read. This file can contain rules describing how pkgadd should behave when doing upgrades. A rule is built out of three fragments; event, pattern and action. The event describes in what kind of situation this rule applies. Currently only one type of event is supported, that is UPGRADE. The pattern is a filename pattern expressed as a regular expression and the action applicable to the UPGRADE event is YES or NO. More than one rule of the same event type is allowed, in which case the first rule will have the lowest priority and the last rule will have the highest priority. Example:

 # 
 # /etc/pkgadd.conf: pkgadd(8) configuration
 #

 UPGRADE         ^etc/.*$                NO
 UPGRADE         ^var/log/.*$            NO
 UPGRADE         ^etc/X11/.*$            YES
 UPGRADE         ^etc/X11/xorg.conf$     NO

 # End of file

The above example will cause pkgadd to never upgrade anything in /etc/ or /var/log/ (subdirectories included), except files in /etc/X11/ (subdirectories included), unless it is the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf. The default rule is to upgrade everything, rules in this file are exceptions to that rule.

Note

A pattern should never contain an initial “/” since you are referring to the files in the package, not the files on the disk.

If pkgadd finds that a specific file should not be upgraded it will install it under /var/lib/pkg/rejected/. Files in this directory are never added to the package database. The user is then free to examine, use and/or remove that file manually. Another option is to use rejmerge. For each rejected file found in /var/lib/pkg/rejected/, rejmerge will display the difference between the installed version and the rejected version. The user can then choose to keep the installed version, upgrade to the rejected version or perform a merge of the two. Example (using the above /etc/pkgadd.conf):

 $ pkgadd -u bash#2.05-1.pkg.tar.gz
 pkgadd: rejecting etc/profile, keeping existing version
 $ ls /var/lib/pkg/rejected/
 etc/
 $ ls /var/lib/pkg/rejected/etc/
 profile

4.2.3. Removing a Package

Removing a package is done by using pkgrm. This utility requires one argument, the name of the package you want to remove. Example:

 $ pkgrm bash

Warning

This will remove all files owned by the package, no questions asked. Think twice before doing it and make sure that you did not misspell the package name since that could remove something completely different (e.g. think about what could happen if you misspelled glib as glibc).

4.2.4. Querying the Package Database

Querying the package database is done using pkginfo. This utility has a few options to answer different queries.

OptionDescription
-i, --installedList installed packages and their version.
-l, --list package|fileList files owned by the specified package or contained in file
-o, --owner patternList owner(s) of file(s) matching pattern.

Examples:

 $ pkginfo -i
 audiofile 0.2.3-1
 autoconf 2.52-1
 automake 1.5-1
 <...>
 xmms 1.2.7-1
 zip 2.3-1
 zlib 1.1.4-1
 $ pkginfo -l bash
 bin/
 bin/bash
 bin/sh
 etc/
 etc/profile
 usr/
 usr/man/
 usr/man/man1/
 usr/man/man1/bash.1.gz
 usr/man/man1/sh.1.gz
 $ pkginfo -l grep#2.5-1.pkg.tar.gz
 usr/
 usr/bin/
 usr/bin/egrep
 usr/bin/fgrep
 usr/bin/grep
 usr/man/
 usr/man/man1/
 usr/man/man1/egrep.1.gz
 usr/man/man1/fgrep.1.gz
 usr/man/man1/grep.1.gz
 $ pkginfo -o bin/ls
 e2fsprogs  usr/bin/lsattr
 fileutils  bin/ls
 modutils   sbin/lsmod

4.3. Package management frontend: prt-get

To address the different requirements towards package management in CRUX, a number of users started discussion about an advanced package management frontend to pkgutils, with dependency handling and support for large install transactions. The result of this community effort is prt-get, a tool which provides a number of features on top of pkgutils while keeping pkgutils' original character and power. Its main features are

Nowadays prt-get is an official project and tool of the CRUX project.

A full description can be found in the manual of prt-get.

4.4. Creating Packages

Creating a package is done using pkgmk. This utility uses a file called Pkgfile, which contains information about the package (such as name, version, etc) and the commands that should be executed in order to compile the package in question. To be more specific, the Pkgfile file is actually a bash(1) script, which defines a number of variables (name, version, release and source) and a function (build). Below is an example of what a Pkgfile file might look like. The example shows how to package the grep(1) utility. Some comments are inserted for explanation.

# Specify the name of the package.
name=grep

# Specify the version of the package.
version=2.4.2

# Specify the package release.
release=1

# The source(s) used to build this package.
source=(ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/gnu/$name/$name-$version.tar.gz)

# The build() function below will be called by pkgmk when
# the listed source files have been unpacked.
build() {
   # The first thing we do is to cd into the source directory.
   cd $name-$version

   # Run the configure script with desired arguments.
   # In this case we want to put grep under /usr/bin and
   # disable national language support.
   ./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-nls

   # Compile.
   make

   # Install the files, BUT do not install it under /usr, instead
   # we redirect all the files to $PKG/usr by setting the DESTDIR
   # variable. The $PKG variable points to a temporary directory
   # which will later be made into a tar.gz-file. Note that the
   # DESTDIR variable is not used by all Makefiles, some use prefix
   # and others use ROOT, etc. You have to inspect the Makefile in
   # question to find out. Some Makefiles do not support redirection
   # at all. In those cases you will have to create a patch for it.
   make DESTDIR=$PKG install

   # Remove unwanted files, in this case the info-pages.
   rm -rf $PKG/usr/info
}

In reality you do not include all those comments, thus the real Pkgfile for grep(1) looks like this:

# Description: GNU grep, egrep and fgrep
# URL:         http://www.gnu.org/software/grep/grep.html
# Maintainer:  Per Lidén, per at fukt dot bth dot se

name=grep
version=2.4.2
release=1
source=(ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/gnu/$name/$name-$version.tar.gz)

build() {
  cd $name-$version
  ./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-nls
  make
  make DESTDIR=$PKG install
  rm -rf $PKG/usr/info
}

Note

The build() function in the example above is just an example of how grep is built. The contents of the function can differ significantly if the program is build in some other way, e.g. does not use autoconf.

When the build() function has been executed, the $PKG directory will be made into a package named <name>#<version>-<release>.pkg.tar.gz. Before the package creation is completed, pkgmk will check the content of the package against the .footprint file. If this file does not exist, it will be created and the test will be skipped. The .footprint file will contain a list of all files that should be in the package if the build was successful or a list of all the files that were installed in $PKG (if the .footprint did not already exist). If there is a mismatch the test will fail and an error message will be printed. You should not write the .footprint file by hand. Instead, when a package has been upgraded and you need to update the contents of the .footprint file you simply do pkgmk -uf. This test ensures that a rebuild of the package turned out as expected.

If the package built without errors it's time to install it by using pkgadd and try it out. I highly recommend looking at the Pkgfile in another package(s), since looking at examples is a great way to learn.

4.5. Package Guidelines

4.5.1. General

4.5.2. Directories

DirectoryDescription
/usr/bin/User command/application binaries
/usr/sbin/System binaries (e.g. daemons)
/usr/lib/Libraries
/usr/include/Header files
/usr/lib/<prog>/Plug-ins, addons, etc
/usr/man/Man pages
/usr/share/<prog>/Data files
/usr/etc/<prog>/Configuration files
/etc/Configuration files for system software (daemons, etc)

4.5.3. Remove Junk Files

4.5.4. Pkgfile

4.5.4.1. Pkgfile header

Provide a header including the following fields:

NameMeaning
DescriptionA short description of the package; keep it factual
MaintainerYour full name and e-mail address, obfuscated if you want
PackagerThe original packager's full name and e-mail address
URLA webpage with more information on this software package
Depends onA list of dependencies, separated either by spaces or commas

Depends on can be omitted if there are no dependencies; Packager can be omitted if the maintainer and packager are the same person.

Example header

# Description: Terminal based IRC client for UNIX systems
# URL: http://www.irssi.org/
# Maintainer: Jukka Heino, jukka at karsikkopuu dot net
# Packager: Daniel K. Gebhart, dkg at con-fuse dot org
# Depends on: glib

5. The Ports System

5.1. Introduction

5.1.1. What is a Port?

A port is a directory containing the files needed for building a package using pkgmk. This means that this directory at least has the files Pkgfile (which is the package build description) and .footprint (which is used for regression testing and contains a list of files this package is expected to contain once it is built). Further, a port directory can contain patches and/or other files needed for building the package. It is important to understand that the actual source code for the package is not necessarily present in port directory. Instead the Pkgfile contains an URL which points to a location where the source can be downloaded.

The use of the word port in this context is borrowed from the BSD world, where a port refers to a program that has been ported to a system or platform. The word can sometimes be a bit misleading since most programs require no actual porting to run on CRUX (or on Linux in general).

5.1.2. What is the Ports System?

The term Ports System refers to a remote repository containing ports and a client program capable of downloading ports from that repository. CRUX users use the ports(8) utility to download ports from the repository and place them in /usr/ports/. The ports utility uses rsync(1) to do the actual downloading/synchronization.

5.1.3. Port collections

CRUX' ports are organized in so called collections. There are three different layers of ports:

5.1.3.1. The official collection 'opt' and 'core'

core and opt are the two primary collections of CRUX. They're maintained by the CRUX development team which ensures that they're consistent and working well together. Those two collections are also enabled by default in CRUX.

5.1.3.2. The user contributed collection 'contrib'

The contrib collection is a relatively new collection which is provided by experienced port maintainers, some part of the CRUX development team, some regular users. Its goal is to reduce the number of duplicate ports provided in the individual collections. If you're a seasoned port maintainer, you might even want to join the contrib collection.

As those ports are not provided officially by the CRUX development team, this collection is disabled by default.

5.1.3.3. The individual collections from CRUX users

Using HttpUp, every user can publish his or her own ports easily; the only requirement for that is some webspace to upload the ports. Publishing ports in an HttpUp repository is the easiest way to contribute back to the CRUX community.

5.2. Using the Ports System

5.2.1. Synchronizing Your Local Ports Structure

When CRUX is installed for the first time the local ports structure (/usr/ports/) is empty. To bring your local ports structure up to date you use the ports utility with the -u option. Example:

 $ ports -u

The -u option means update, and tells ports to contact the ports repository and download new and updated ports. The output from this execution is something like this:

 Updating file list from crux.nu::ports/crux-2.2/core/
 Updating collection ports/crux-2.2/core/
 ...
 Updating file list from crux.nu::ports/crux-2.2/opt/
 Updating collection ports/crux-2.2/opt/
 ...
 Finished successfully

The output reveals which files are downladed, updated and deleted.

5.2.2. Listing Local Ports

When the local ports structure has been updated the directory /usr/ports/ will contain two package categories, core and opt. Under each of these directories you will find ports. You can simply browse around in the directory structure to find out which ports are available.

 $ cd /usr/ports/core/
 $ ls
 autoconf/    gdbm/               ncurses/        sendmail/
 automake/    gettext/            net-tools/      shadow/
 bash/        glibc/              netkit-base/    slocate/
 bc/          grep/               netkit-ftp/     strace/
 bin86/       groff/              netkit-telnet/  sysfsutils/
 bindutils/   grub/               nfs-utils/      sysklogd/
 binutils/    gzip/               openssh/        sysvinit/
 bison/       hdparm/             openssl/        tar/
 bzip2/       hotplug/            patch/          tcp_wrappers/
 coreutils/   httpup/             pciutils/       tcsh/
 cpio/        iptables/           perl/           time/
 curl/        jfsutils/           pkg-config/     traceroute/
 db/          kbd/                pkgutils/       udev/
 dcron/       less/               portmap/        unzip/
 dhcpcd/      libstdc++-compat/   ports/          usbutils/
 diffutils/   libtool/            ppp/            util-linux/
 e2fsprogs/   libusb/             procps/         vim/
 ed/          lilo/               prt-get/        wget/
 expat/       m4/                 psmisc/         which/
 file/        make/               rc/             xfsprogs/
 filesystem/  man/                rdate/          zip/
 findutils/   man-pages/          readline/       zlib/
 flex/        mktemp/             reiserfsprogs/
 gawk/        module-init-tools/  rsync/
 gcc/         nasm/               sed/

You can also use ports with the -l option to list all local ports. Example:

 $ ports -l
 core/autoconf
 core/automake
 core/bash
 core/bc
 core/bin86
 core/bindutils
 core/binutils
 ...

If you are looking for a specific package it might be easier to use this approach (e.g. ports -l | grep sendmail) to find out if the package is available and if so in which category it is located.

5.2.3. Listing Version Differences

To find out if the ports structure carries ports that are different (likely newer) compared to the versions currently installed you can use the option -d. If version differences are found, the output from the above command could look something like this:

 $ ports -d
 Collection  Name     Port      Installed
 core        glibc    2.3.6-3   2.3.6-2
 opt         gtk      2.8.12-1  2.8.11-1

If no version differences were found, i.e. the system is in sync with the ports structure. Then output will simply be:

 $ ports -d
 No differences found

5.2.4. Building and Installing Packages

Once you have found a port that you want to build and install you simply go into the desired port directory and use pkgmk to build it. Example:

 $ cd /usr/ports/core/sendmail
 $ pkgmk -d

The -d option means download missing source files and tells pkgmk to download the source(s) specified in the Pkgfile (in case the source is already downloaded this option is ignored). When the download is completed the package will be built. If the package was built successfully you can use pkgadd to install or upgrade it. Example:

 $ pkgadd sendmail#8.11.6-2.pkg.tar.gz

To make life a bit easier these two steps can be made into one by using the options -i (for install) or -u (for upgrade). Example:

 $ pkgmk -d -i

or

 $ pkgmk -d -u

This will download, build and then install/upgrade the package. Note that the package will only be installed/upgraded if the build is successful.

5.2.5. Enabling the 'contrib' collection

As previously mentioned, the 'contrib' collection contains useful ports of experienced port maintainers. Since they are not provided by the CRUX development team, you should be slightly more critical with respect to quality and security. Most members of the 'contrib' collections are well respected community members though.

To enable it for ports, do

$ cd /etc/ports
$ mv contrib.rsync.inactive contrib.rsync

To let prt-get know that you want it to use the contrib tree to, edit /etc/prt-get.conf and uncomment the line prtdir /usr/ports/contrib (i.e. remove the hashmark in the beginning of the line. After that, it should look like this:

###
### prt-get conf
###

# note: the order matters: the package found first is used
prtdir /usr/ports/core
prtdir /usr/ports/opt

# the folloing line enables the user maintained contrib collection
prtdir /usr/ports/contrib

Now, run ports -u and you're ready to use the ports from contrib.

6. Configuration

6.1. Initialization Scripts

6.1.1. Runlevels

The following runlevels are used in CRUX (defined in /etc/inittab).

RunlevelDescription
0Halt
1 (S)Single-user Mode
2Multi-user Mode
3-5(Not used)
6Reboot

6.1.2. Layout

The initialization scripts used in CRUX follow the BSD-style (as opposed to the SysV-style) and have the following layout.

FileDescription
/etc/rcSystem boot script
/etc/rc.singleSingle-user startup script
/etc/rc.modulesModule initialization script
/etc/rc.multiMulti-user startup script
/etc/rc.localLocal multi-user startup script (empty by default)
/etc/rc.shutdownSystem shutdown script
/etc/rc.confSystem configuration
/etc/rc.d/Service start/stop script directory

Modify /etc/rc.modules, /etc/rc.local and /etc/rc.conf according to your needs.

6.1.3. Configuration Variables in /etc/rc.conf

The following configuration variables are found in /etc/rc.conf.

Variable Description
FONT

Specifies which console font to load at system startup. The contents of this variable will be passed as argument to setfont(1). The available fonts are located in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/.

Example: FONT=default

KEYMAP

Specifies which console keyboard map to load at system startup. The contents of this variable will be passed as argument to loadkeys(1). The available keyboard maps are located in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/.

Example: KEYMAP=sv-latin1

TIMEZONE

Specifies the timezone used by the system. The available zone description files are located in /usr/share/zoneinfo/.

Example: TIMEZONE=Europe/Stockholm

HOSTNAME

Specifies the hostname.

Example: HOSTNAME=pluto

SERVICES

Specifies which services to start at system startup. The services specified in this array must have a matching start/stop script in /etc/rc.d/. When entering multi-user mode the specified scripts will be called in the specified order with the argument start. At system shutdown or when entering single-user mode these scripts will be called in the reverse order with the argument stop.

Example: SERVICES=(crond identd sshd sendmail)

6.1.4. Network Configuration

The network configuration is found in the service script /etc/rc.d/net. To enable this service you need to add net to the SERVICES array in /etc/rc.conf. By default this service script only configures the lo device, you have to add additional ifconfig(8) and route(8) commands if you want to setup other network devices (eth0, eth1, etc). Example:

#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/net: start/stop network
#

case $1 in
start)
        /sbin/ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
        /sbin/ifconfig eth0 195.38.1.140 netmask 255.255.255.224
        /sbin/ifconfig eth1 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0
        /sbin/route add default gw 195.38.1.129
        ;;
stop)
        /sbin/ifconfig eth1 down
        /sbin/ifconfig eth0 down
        /sbin/ifconfig lo down
        ;;
restart)
        $0 stop
        $0 start
        ;;
*)
        echo "usage: $0 [start|stop|restart]"
        ;;
esac

# End of file

if you want to configure your system to be a DHCP client you use the dhcpcd(8) command (instead of ifconfig(8)). Example:

#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/net: start/stop network
#

case $1 in
start)
        /sbin/ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
        /sbin/dhcpcd eth0 [add additional options if needed]
        ;;
stop)
        killall -q /sbin/dhcpcd
        /sbin/ifconfig lo down
        ;;
restart)
        $0 stop
        $0 start
        ;;
*)
        echo "usage: $0 [start|stop|restart]"
        ;;
esac

# End of file

6.2. Passwords

CRUX uses MD5SUM passwords by default. This can be turned off if you instead want to use the traditional DES passwords. Note, however, that DES passwords are considered less secure. To disable MD5SUM passwords change the MD5_CRYPT_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs to no.

Furthermore, when compiling programs that use the crypt(3) function to authenticate users you should make sure that these programs are linked against the libcrypt library (i.e. use -lcrypt when linking) which contains the MD5SUM version of the crypt function (this version is backwards compatible and understands DES passwords as well).

6.3. Upgrading the Kernel

The kernel source, which is found in /usr/src/linux-2.6.15.6/ is not installed using pkgadd. If you decide to upgrade your kernel you can safely do so by manually replacing the kernel source with a newer version (or place it somewhere else). This will not make the package database inconsistent (since it's not installed with pkgadd) nor will it affect the kernel headers found in /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm since these are not symlinks to the kernel source, but instead contain copies of the headers.

7. Appendix

7.1. Troubleshooting

Many common problems are answered in the FAQ document, so if you experience problems please check whether http://crux.nu/Main/Faq contains answers to your questions already.

If you have further questions, there's a dedicated mailing list for CRUX, and an IRC channel. Actual information about these can be found on the Community page of our wiki.

7.2. GRUB installation

7.2.1. Precaution

Installing a new boot manager is like modifying the partition table using fdisk or installing a new system kernel. Please create a rescue boot disk first!

CRUX comes with a heavily patched version of grub. Use it at your own risk!

7.2.2. Installation

After installation you need to copy the stage files to /boot/grub/:

# cp /usr/share/grub/i386-pc/* /boot/grub/

(Of course, you can choose another location as described above but this guide assumes that you use /boot/grub. Normally you need only the files stage1 and stage2. Please read the grub documentation if you don't know why: http://www.uruk.org/orig-grub/ and http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html)

Now it's time to create your own "boot menu":

# # Copy sample file
# cp /boot/grub/menu.lst.sample /boot/grub/menu.lst
# # Modify it for your system 
# vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

For more information about setting up your own grub boot menu file: http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub-0.92/html_mono/grub.html#Configuration

Last but not least, install/enable the boot manager:

# # Run grub
# grub
grub> root (hdX,Y)
grub> setup (hdX)
grub> quit

Please correct the path and device names according to your configuration. Also see http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Installation. In the example above, X and Y need to be replaced with your hard drive and grub partition.