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

	$NetBSD: contents,v 1.3 1998/01/09 18:45:32 perry Exp $	

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 the INSTALL kernel (which is booted from
        the install floppy or the network) is not usable for anything
        other than installing; it will always use as root an internal
        ramdisk with the install tools. Also, currently the INSTALL
        image only supports systems that are likely to have a floppy
        drive (the NoName, EB64+, EB164, AS500/600; the DECStation
        3000 systems and the 8200/8400 are not supported by this
        floppy). If booting the INSTALL kernel from the network
        proves popular, we will generate another network version
        of the INSTALL kernel that supports more systems.

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 one-way encryption 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.