xref: /src/distrib/notes/alpha/contents

The alpha-specific portion of the NetBSD _VER release is found in the
"alpha" subdirectory of the distribution.  That subdirectory is laid
out as follows:

.../NetBSD-_VER/alpha/
	INSTALL			Installation notes; this file.

	binary/
		sets/		alpha binary distribution sets;
				see below.

		security/	alpha security distribution;
				see below.

		kernel/		alpha kernels; see below.

		toolchain/	alpha toolchain; see below.

	installation/

		floppy/		alpha boot and installation
				floppies; see below.

	source/

		toolchain/	Toolchain source code; see below.

Bootable installation/upgrade floppies:

	There is a bootable floppy disk image available which contains
	the software necessary to prepare your hard drive for NetBSD
	and install the NetBSD distribution, or to upgrading an already
	installed system from a previous version of NetBSD.

	Because the kernel on the installation disks is not suitable
	for use beyond initial installation and configuration, a
	"generic" kernel has been placed in a distribution set named
	"kern". This kernel is intended to run your system while you
	build a custom kernel. It is strongly encouraged that you
	build a custom kernel for your installation rather than use
	the prebuilt generic kernel on a long term basis.

        Please note that because of space considerations the kernels
        booted from the installation floppies do not contain drivers
        that are not needed during installation -- in particular, no
        drivers needed to run the X Window System are available in
        these kernels.

The alpha toolchain:

	The toolchain (compiler, assembler, linker, etc.) for the
	alpha port is not yet integrated into the main NetBSD source
	tree, so the binaries for it are still distributed separately.
	A tar file with the toolchain can be found under
	binaries/toolchain, and the source can be found under
	source/toolchain. 

	The toolchain installs under usr/local; to install it,
	just cd to the root directory and type

	    tar -x -z --unlink -f /path/to/toolchain.tar.gz

	Note that the "official" toolchain we use with 1.3 is actually
	the snapshot build of it from 97.11.05; this is based on the
	sources tagged WORKING-alpha in the NetBSD source tree.

The NetBSD/alpha binary distribution sets contain the binaries which
comprise the NetBSD _VER release for the alpha.  There are eight binary
distribution sets and the "security" distribution set.  The binary
distribution sets can be found in the "alpha/binary/sets" subdirectory
of the NetBSD _VER distribution tree, and are as follows:


	base	The NetBSD/alpha _VER base binary distribution.  You
		MUST install this distribution set.  It contains the
		base NetBSD utilities that are necessary for the
		system to run and be minimally functional.  It
		includes shared library support, and excludes
		everything described below.
		[ 13M gzipped, 41M uncompressed ]

	comp    Things needed for compiling programs, other than the
		actual compiler programs themselves. (These are in
		the toolchain snapshot file described above.) This
		set includes the system include files (/usr/include)
		and the various system libraries (except the shared
		libraries, which are included as part of the base
		set).  This set also includes the manual pages for
		all of the utilities it contains, as well as the system
		call and library manual pages.
		[ 6M gzipped, 31M uncompressed ]

	etc	This distribution set contains the system
		configuration files that reside in /etc and in several
		other places.  This set MUST be installed if you are
		installing the system from scratch, but should NOT be
		used if you are upgrading.  (If you are upgrading,
		it's recommended that you get a copy of this set and
		CAREFULLY upgrade your configuration files by hand.)
		[ 50K gzipped, 320K uncompressed ]

	games	This set includes the games and their manual pages.
		[ 3M gzipped, 8M uncompressed ]

	kern	This set contains a NetBSD/alpha _VER GENERIC kernel,
		named "/netbsd". You MUST install this distribution
		set.
		[ 1M gzipped, 2M uncompressed ]

	man	This set includes all of the manual pages for the
		binaries and other software contained in the base set.
		Note that it does not include any of the manual pages
		that are included in the other sets.
		[ 2.5M gzipped, 10M uncompressed ]

	misc	This set includes the system dictionaries (which are
		rather large), the typesettable document set, and
		man pages for other architectures which happen to be
		installed from the source tree by default.
		[ 2M gzipped, 9M uncompressed ]

	text	This set includes NetBSD's text processing tools,
		including groff, all related programs, and their
		manual pages.
		[ 1M gzipped, 4M uncompressed ]


The alpha security distribution set is named "secr" and can be found in
the "alpha/binary/security" subdirectory of the NetBSD _VER
distribution tree.  It contains security related binaries which depend
on cryptographic source code. You do not need this distribution set to
use encrypted passwords in your password file; the "base" distribution
includes a crypt library which can perform only the decryption
function.  The security distribution includes a version of the
Kerberos IV network security system, and a Kerberized version of the
"telnet" program.  The "secr" distribution set can be found only on
those sites which carry the complete NetBSD distribution and which can
legally obtain it.  (Remember, because of United States law, it may
not be legal to distribute this set to locations outside of the United
States and Canada.)
	[ 1M gzipped, 3M uncompressed ]

The instructions given for extracting the source sets work equally
well for the binary sets, but it is worth noting that if you use that
method, the files are extracted "below" the current directory.  That
is, if you want to extract the binaries "into" your system, i.e.
replace the system binaries with them, you have to run the "tar xfp"
from /.  Also note that if you upgrade or install this way, those
programs that you are using at the time will NOT be replaced unless
you run "tar" with the "--unlink" option.  If you follow the normal
installation or upgrade procedures, this will be taken care of for
you.