Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.


Installation

(A copy of this chapter is in the distribution file `kpathsea/INSTALL'.) The procedure for Kpathsea (and Web2c, etc.) configuration and installation follows. If trouble, see section Common problems, a copy of which is in the file `kpathsea/BUGS'.

Simple installation

Installing TeX and friends for the first time can be a daunting experience. Thus, you may prefer to skip this whole thing and just get precompiled executables: see section `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX. This section explains what to do if you wish to take the defaults for everything (installing under `/usr/local'), and generally to install in the simplest possible way. Most steps here refer to corresponding subsection in the next section which explains how to override defaults and generally gives more details.

  1. Be sure you have enough disk space: approximately 8 megabytes for the compressed archives, 15MB for sources, 45MB for compilation, 40MB for the (initial) installed system (including library files). See section Disk space.
  2. Retrieve these two distribution archives:
    @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/texk.tar.gz}
    These are the sources, which you will be compiling.
    @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/texmflib.tar.gz}
    This is a basic set of input files. You should unpack it in the directory `/usr/local/share'; doing so will create a `texmf' subdirectory there.
    See section Kpathsea application distributions.
  3. When using the default search paths, there is no need to edit any distribution files. See section Changing search paths.
  4. At the top level of the distribution, run `sh configure'. (If you have the GNU Bash shell installed, run `bash configure'.) See section Running configure.
  5. `make'. See section Running make.
  6. `make install'. See section Installing files.
  7. `make distclean'. See section Cleaning up.
  8. Set up a cron job to rebuild the filename database that makes searching faster. This line will rebuild it every midnight:
    0 0 * * * cd /usr/local/share/texmf && /bindir/MakeTeXls-R
    
    See section Filename database generation, and section Filename database (ls-R).
  9. If you're installing Dvips, you also need to set up configuration files for your printers and make any additional PostScript fonts available. See section `Installation' in Dvips. If you have any color printers, see section `Color device configuration' in Dvips.
  10. The first time you run a DVI driver, a bunch of PK fonts will be built by Metafont via MakeTeXPK (and added to the filename database). This will take some time. Don't be alarmed; they will be created only this first time (unless something is wrong with your path definitions). By default, MakeTeXPK assumes `/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts' is globally writable. If you need a different arrangement, see section `MakeTeX' configuration. See section `MakeTeX' scripts.
  11. For some simple tests, try `tex story \\bye' and `latex sample2e'. Then run `xdvi story' or `dvips sample2e' on the resulting DVI files to preview/print the documents. See section Installation testing.

Custom installation

Most sites need to modify the default installation procedure in some way, perhaps merely changing the prefix from `/usr/local', perhaps adding extra compiler or loader options to work around configure bugs. This section explains how to override default choices. For additional distribution-specific information:

These instructions are for Unix systems. Other operating-system specific distributions have their own instructions. The code base itself supports Amiga, DOS, OS/2, and VMS. Following are the same steps as in the previous section (which describes the simplest installation), but with much more detail.

Disk space

Here is a table showing the disk space needed for each distribution (described in the next section). The `(totals)' line reflects the `texk' source distribution and `texmflib'; the individual distributions don't enter into it. Sizes are in megabytes. All numbers are approximate. @multitable {distribution} {.tar.gz} {unpacked} {compiled} {installed}

  • Distribution @tab .tar.gz @tab Unpacked @tab Compiled @tab Installed
  • dviljk @tab .9 @tab 3.8 @tab
  • dvipsk @tab .9 @tab 3.2 @tab
  • xdvik @tab .7 @tab 2.5 @tab
  • web2c @tab 1.3 @tab 5.0 @tab
  • web @tab 1.9 @tab 6.5 @tab - @tab -
  • texk @tab 3.8 @tab 14.1 @tab 43.1 @tab 23.5
  • texmflib @tab 3.8 @tab 15.0 @tab - @tab 15.0
  • (totals) @tab 7.6 @tab 29.1 @tab 43.1 @tab 38.5

    Kpathsea application distributions

    The archive @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/texk.tar.gz} contains all of the Kpathsea applications I maintain, and the library itself. For example, since NeXT does not generally support X11, you'd probably want to skip `xdvik' (or simply remove it after unpacking `texk.tar.gz'. If you are not interested in all of them, you can also retrieve them separately:

    `dviljk.tar.gz'
    DVI to PCL, for LaserJet printers.
    `dvipsk.tar.gz'
    DVI to PostScript, for previewers, printers, or PDF generation.
    `web2c.tar.gz'
    The software needed to compile TeX and friends.
    `web.tar.gz'
    The original WEB source files, also used in compilation.
    `xdvik.tar.gz'
    DVI previewing under the X window system.

    If you want to use the Babel LaTeX package for support of non-English typesetting, you may need to retrieve additional files. See the file `install.txt' in the Babel distribution.

    Changing search paths

    If the search paths for your installation differ from the standard TeX directory structure (see section `Introduction' in A Directory Structure for TeX files), edit the file `kpathsea/texmf.cnf.in' as desired, before running configure. For example, if you have all your fonts or macros in one big directory. You may also wish to edit the file `MakeTeXnames.cnf', either before or after installation, to control various aspects of MakeTeXPK and friends. See section `MakeTeX' configuration. You do not need to edit `texmf.cnf.in' to change the default top-level or other installation directories (only the paths). You can and should do that when you run configure (next step). You also do not need to edit `texmf.cnf.in' if you are willing to rely on `texmf.cnf' at runtime to define the paths, and let the compile-time default paths be incorrect. Usually there is no harm in doing this. The section below explains default generation in more detail.

    Default path features

    The purpose of having all the different files described in the section above is to avoid having the same information in more than one place. If you change the installation directories or top-level prefix at configure-time, those changes will propagate through the whole sequence. And if you change the default paths in `texmf.cnf.in', those changes are propagated to the compile-time defaults. The Make definitions are all repeated in several Makefile's; but changing the top-level `Makefile' should suffice, as it passes down all the variable definitions, thus overriding the submakes. (The definitions are repeated so you can run Make in the subdirectories, if you should have occasion to.) By default, the bitmap font paths end with `/$MAKETEX_MODE', thus including the device name (usually a Metafont mode name such as `ljfour'). This distinguishes two different devices with the same resolution--a write/white from a write/black 300dpi printer, for example. However, since most sites don't have this complication, Kpathsea (specifically, the kpse_init_prog function in `kpathsea/proginit.c') has a special case: if the mode has not been explicitly set by the user (or in a configuration file), it sets MAKETEX_MODE to /. This makes the default PK path, for example, expand into .../pk//, so fonts will be found even if there is no subdirectory for the mode (if you arranged things that way because your site has only one printer, for example) or if the program is mode-independent (e.g., pktype). To make the paths independent of the mode, simply edit `texmf.cnf.in' before installation, or the installed `texmf.cnf', and remove the `$MAKETEX_MODE'. See section `MakeTeX' script arguments, for how this interacts with MakeTeXPK. See section TeX directory structure, for a description of the default arrangement of the input files that comprise the TeX system. The file `kpathsea/HIER' is a copy of that section.

    Default path generation

    This section describes how the default paths are constructed. You may wish to ignore the whole mess and simply edit `texmf.cnf' after it is installed, perhaps even copying it into place beforehand so you can complete the installation, if it seems necessary. To summarize the chain of events that go into defining the default paths:

    1. `configure' creates a `Makefile' from each `Makefile.in'.
    2. When Make runs in the `kpathsea' directory, it creates a file `texmf.sed' that substitutes the Make value of $(var) for a string @var@. The variables in question are the one that define the installation directories.
    3. `texmf.sed' (together with a little extra magic--see `kpathsea/Makefile') is applied to `texmf.cnf.in' to generate `texmf.cnf'. This is the file that will eventually be installed and used.
    4. The definitions in `texmf.cnf' are recast as C #define's in `paths.h'. These values will be the compile-time defaults; they are not used at runtime unless no `texmf.cnf' file can be found. (That's a lie: the compile-time defaults are what any extra :'s in `texmf.cnf' expand into; but the paths as distributed have no extra :'s, and there's no particular reason for them to.)

    Running configure

    Run sh configure options (in the top-level directory, the one containing `kpathsea/'), possibly using a shell other than sh (see section configure shells). configure adapts the source distribution to the present system via #define's in `*/c-auto.h', which are created from the corresponding `c-auto.h.in'. It also creates a `Makefile' from the corresponding `Makefile.in', doing `@var@' and `ac_include' substitutions). configure is the best place to control the configuration, compilation, and installed location of the software, either via command-line options, or by setting environment variables before invoking it. For example, you can disable MakeTeXPK by default with the option `--disable-maketexpk'. See section configure options.

    configure shells

    If you have Bash, the GNU shell, use it if sh runs into trouble (see section `Top' in Bash Features). Most Bourne shell variants other than Bash cannot handle configure scripts as generated by GNU Autoconf (see section `Top' in Autoconf). Specifically:

    ksh
    The Korn shell may be installed as `/bin/sh' on AIX. `/bin/bsh' may serve instead.
    ash
    Ash is sometimes installed as `/bin/sh' on NetBSD, FreeBSD, and Linux systems. `/bin/bash' should be available.
    Ultrix /bin/sh
    `/bin/sh' under Ultrix is a DEC-grown shell that is notably deficient in many ways. `/bin/sh5' may be necessary.

    configure options

    For a complete list of all configure options, run `configure --help' or see section `Running configure scripts' in Autoconf (a copy is in the file `kpathsea/CONFIGURE'). The generic options are listed first in the `--help' output, and the package-specific options come last. The environment variables configure pays attention to are listed below. Options particularly likely to be useful are `--prefix', `--datadir', and the like; see section configure scenarios. This section gives pointers to descriptions of the `--with' and `--enable' options to configure that Kpathsea-using programs accept.

    `--without-maketexmf-default'
    `--without-maketexpk-default'
    `--without-maketextfm-default'
    `--with-maketextex-default'
    Enable or disable the dynamic generation programs. See section `MakeTeX' configuration.
    `--enable-shared'
    Build Kpathsea as a shared library, and link against it. Also build the usual static library. See section Shared library.
    `--disable-static'
    Build only the shared library.

    configure environment

    configure uses the value of the following environment variables in determining your system's characteristics, and substitutes for them in Makefile's:

    `CC'
    The compiler to use: default is gcc if it's installed, otherwise cc.
    `CFLAGS'
    Options to give the compiler: default is `-g -O2' for gcc, `-g' otherwise. CFLAGS comes after any other options. You may need to include -w here if your compilations commonly have useless warnings (e.g., NULL redefined), or configure may fail to detect the presence of header files (it takes the messages on standard error to mean the header file doesn't exist).
    `CPPFLAGS'
    Options to pass to the compiler preprocessor; this matters most for configuration, not the actual source compilation. The configure script often does only preprocessing (e.g., to check for the existence of #include files), and CFLAGS is not used for this. You may need to set this to something like `-I/usr/local/include/wwwhatever' if you have the libwww library installed for hyper-xdvik (see `xdvik/INSTALL').
    `DEFS'
    Additional preprocessor options, but not used by configure. Provided for enabling or disabling program features, as documented in the various program-specific installation instructions. DEFS comes before any compiler options included by the distribution `Makefile's or by configure.
    `LDFLAGS'
    Additional options to give to the loader. LDFLAGS comes before any other linker options.
    `LIBS'
    Additional libraries to link with.

    configure scenarios

    Here are some common installation scenarios:

    Shared library

    You can compile Kpathsea as a shared library on a few systems, by specifying the option `--enable-shared' when you run `configure'. The main advantage in doing this is that the executables can then share the code, thus decreasing memory and disk space requirements. On some systems, you can record the location of shared libraries in a binary, usually by giving certain options to the linker. Then individual users do not need to set their system's environment variable (e.g., LD_LIBRARY_PATH) to find shared libraries. If you want to do this, you will need to add the necessary options to LDFLAGS yourself; for example, on Solaris, include something like `-R${prefix}/lib'. (Unfortunately, making this happen by default is very difficult, because of interactions with an existing installed shared library.) Currently, shared library support is implemented only on SunOS 4 (Solaris 1) and SunOS 5 (Solaris 2). If you're interested and willing in adding support for other systems, please see the `configure' mode in the `klibtool' script, especially the host-specific case statement around line 250.

    Running make

    make (still in the top-level directory). This also creates the `texmf.cnf' and `paths.h' files that define the default search paths, and (by default) the `plain' and `latex' TeX formats. You can override directory names and other values at make-time. `make/paths.make' lists the variables most commonly reset. For example, `make default_texsizes=600' changes the list of fallback resolutions. You can also override each of configure's environment variables (see section configure environment). The Make variables have the same names. Finally, you can supply additional options via the following variables. (configure does not use these.)

    `XCPPFLAGS'
    `XDEFS'
    Preprocessor options.
    `XCFLAGS'
    Compiler options.
    `XLDFLAGS'
    Loader options (included at beginning of link commands).
    `XLOADLIBES'
    More loader options (included at end of link commands).
    `XMAKEARGS'
    Additional Make arguments passed to all sub-make's. You may need to include assignments to the other variables here via XMAKEARGS; for example: `make XMAKEARGS="CFLAGS=-O XDEFS=-DA4"'.

    It's generally a bad idea to use a different compiler (`CC') or libraries (LIBS) for compilation than you did for configuration, since the values configure determined may then be incorrect. Adding compiler options to change the "universe" you are using (typically BSD vs. system V) is generally a cause of trouble. It's best to use the native environment, whatever that is; configure and the software usually adapt best to that. In particular, under Solaris 2.x, you should not use the BSD-compatibility library (`libucb') or include files (`ucbinclude'). If you want to use the Babel LaTeX package for support of non-English typesetting, you need to modify some files before making the LaTeX format. See the file `install.txt' in the Babel distribution.

    Installing files

    The basic command is the usual make install. For security issues, see section Security. The first time you install any manual in the GNU Info system, you should add a line (you choose where) to the file `dir' in your `$(infodir)' directory. Sample text for this is given near the top of the Texinfo source files (`kpathsea/kpathsea.texi', `dvipsk/dvips.texi', and `web2c/doc/web2c.texi'). If you have a recent version of the GNU Texinfo distribution installed (@url{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/texinfo-3.9.tar.gz} or later), this should happen automatically. On the offchance that this is your first Info installation, the `dir' file I use is included in the distribution as `etc/dir-example'. You may wish to use one of the following targets, especially if you are installing on multiple architectures:

    If you use the Andrew File System, the normal path (e.g., prefix/bin) only gets you to a read-only copy of the files, and you must specify a different path for installation. The best way to do this is by setting the `prefix' variable on the make command line. The sequence becomes something like this:

    configure --prefix=/whatever
    make
    make install prefix=/afs/.system.name/system/1.3/@sys/whatever
    

    With AFS, you will definitely want to use relative filenames in `ls-R' (see section Filename database (ls-R)), not absolute filenames. This is done by default, but check anyway.

    Cleaning up

    The basic command is make distclean. This removes all files created by the build. Alternatively,

    Filename database generation

    You will probably want to set up a cron entry on the appropriate machine(s) to rebuild the filename database nightly or so, as in:

    0 0 * * * cd texmf && /bindir/MakeTeXls-R
    

    See section Filename database (ls-R). Although the MakeTeX... scripts make every effort to add newly-created files on the fly, it can't hurt to make sure you get a fresh version every so often.

    `MakeTeX' scripts

    If Kpathsea cannot otherwise find a file, for some file types it is configured by default to invoke an external program to create it dynamically (see section `MakeTeX' configuration). This is most useful for fonts (bitmaps, TFM's, and arbitrarily-sizable Metafont sources such as the Sauter and DC fonts), since any given document can use fonts never before referenced. Trying to build all fonts in advance is therefore impractical, if not impossible. The script is passed the name of the file to create and possibly other arguments, as explained below. It must echo the full pathname of the file it created (and nothing else) to standard output; it can write diagnostics to standard error.

    `MakeTeX' configuration

    The following file types can run an external program to create missing files: `pk', `tfm', `mf', `tex'; the scripts are named `MakeTeXPK', `MakeTeXTFM', `MakeTeXMF', and `MakeTeXTeX'. In the absence of configure options specifying otherwise, everything but `MakeTeXTeX' will be enabled by default. The configure options to change the defaults are:

    --without-maketexmf-default
    --without-maketexpk-default
    --without-maketextfm-default
    --with-maketextex-default
    

    The configure setting is overridden if the environment variable or configuration file value named for the script is set; e.g., `MAKETEXPK' (see section `MakeTeX' script arguments). As distributed, all the scripts source a file `texmf/web2c/MakeTeX.site' if it exists, so you can override various defaults. See `MakeTeXcommon', for instance, which defines the default mode, resolution, directory permissions, some special directory names, etc. If you prefer not to change the distributed scripts, you can simply create `MakeTeX.site' with the appropriate definitions (you do not need to create it if you have nothing to put in it). `MakeTeX.site' has no special syntax; it's an arbitrary Bourne shell script. The distribution contains a sample `MakeTeX.site' for you to copy and modify as you please (it is not installed anywhere). In addition, you can configure a number of features with the MT_FEATURES variable, which you can define:

    By default, MakeTeXPK installs fonts into the standard TeX directory structure (see section TeX directory structure). It uses aliases and directory names from the Fontname distribution (see section `Introduction' in Fontname). Most of the options here change that.

    `appendonlydir'
    Tell MakeTeXmkdir to create directories append-only, i.e., set their sticky bit (see section `Mode Structure' in GNU File Utilities). This feature is silently ignored on non-Unix platforms (e.g. Windows/NT and MS-DOS) which don't support similar functionality.
    `dosnames'
    Use 8.3 names; e.g., `dpi600/cmr10.pk' instead of `cmr10.600pk'. Note that this feature only affects filenames that would otherwise clash with other TeX-related filenames; `MakeTeX' scripts do nothing about filenames which exceed the 8+3 MS-DOS limits but remain unique when truncated (by the OS) to these limits, and nether do the scripts care about possible clashes with files which aren't related with TeX. For example, `cmr10.600pk' would clash with `cmr10.600gf' and is therefore changed when `dosnames' is in effect, but `mf.pool' and `mp.base' don't clash with any TeX-related files and are therefore unchanged. This feature is turned on by default on MS-DOS if your MT_FEATURES variable is empty (i.e., `MakeTeX' scripts behave as if the original `MakeTeXnames.cnf' defines `MT_FEATURES="dosnames"'). However, if you set MT_FEATURES on `MakeTeX.site' or in the environment, or edit `MakeTeXnames.cnf', you need to set `dosnames' explicitly.
    `nomode'
    Omit the directory level for the mode name (e.g., `ljfour'); this is fine as long as you generate fonts for only one mode.
    `strip'
    Omit the font supplier and typeface name (e.g., `ams/euler') directory levels.
    `varfonts'
    Put MakeTeXPK-generated fonts under the directory named by VARTEXFONTS; the default value in `kpathsea/texmf.cnf.in' is `/var/tex/fonts', as recommended by the Linux File System Standard (but unless `varfonts' is enabled, nothing cares about that value). The `varfonts' setting in MT_FEATURES is overridden by the USE_VARTEXFONTS environment variable: if set to `1', the feature is enabled, and if set to `0', the feature is disabled.

    `MakeTeX' script names

    The following table shows the default name of the script for each possible file types. (The source is the variable kpse_make_specs in `kpathsea/tex-make.c'.)

    `MakeTeXPK'
    Glyph fonts.
    `MakeTeXTeX'
    TeX input files.
    `MakeTeXMF'
    Metafont input files.
    `MakeTeXTFM'
    TFM files.

    Some of these names are overridden by an environment variable specific to the program--for example, DVIPSMAKEPK for Dvipsk. Currently, only the name of `MakeTeXPK' script can be customized in this way. If a MakeTeX... script fails, the invocation is appended to a file `missfont.log' (by default) in the current directory. You can then execute the log file to create the missing files after fixing the problem. If the current directory is not writable and the environment variable or configuration file value TEXMFOUTPUT is set, its value is used. Otherwise, nothing is written. The name `missfont.log' is overridden by the MISSFONT_LOG environment variable or configuration file value.

    `MakeTeX' script arguments

    The first argument to a `MakeTeX' script is always the name of the file to be created. In the default `MakeTeXPK' implementation, from three to five additional arguments may also passed, via environment variables:

    1. The resolution to make the font at (KPATHSEA_DPI).
    2. The "base dpi" the program is operating at (MAKETEX_BASE_DPI), i.e., the assumed resolution of the output device.
    3. A "magstep" string suitable for the Metafont mag variable (MAKETEX_MAG).
    4. Optionally, a Metafont mode name to assign to the Metafont mode variable (MAKETEX_MODE). Otherwise, (the default) MakeTeXPK guesses the mode from the resolution. See section TeX directory structure.
    5. Optionally, a directory name. If the directory is absolute, it is used as-is. Otherwise, it is appended to the root destination directory set in the script (from environment variables DESTDIR or MTP_DESTDIR or a compile-time default). If this argument is not supplied, the mode name is appended to the root destination directory.

    Kpathsea sets KPATHSEA_DPI appropriately for each attempt at building a font. It's up to the program using Kpathsea to set the others. (See section Calling sequence.) You can change the way the external scripts are called by setting the environment variable named as the script name, but all capitals---MAKETEXMF, for example. If you've changed the script name by setting (say) DVIPSMAKEPK to `foo', then the spec is taken from the environment variable FOO. The value of the variable that defines how to call the script (MAKETEXMF in our example) can contain any variable references, to the above variables or any others; when the script is invoked, the name of the file to be created is put after whatever this variable expands to. For example, if you have set `MAKETXMF=my_private_maketexmf foo bar' then Kpathsea will issue the following command to build `cmr11.mf':

      my_private_maketexmf foo bar cmr11
    

    You can use names of other variables in the above definition of MAKETEXMF above, in which case these variables are expanded when Kpathsea processes the definition of MAKETEXMF. For MakeTeXPK only, you can further tailor the specification for the arguments passed to the script. By default, the spec for MakeTeXPK as built into Kpathsea is this:

    $KPATHSEA_DPI $MAKETEX_BASE_DPI $MAKETEX_MAG $MAKETEX_MODE
    

    In contrast to what happens when you define MAKETEXPK, the name of the file to be created is put on the command line before the expansion of these variables. By defining your own values for some or all of these variables, you can change how the script that produces `.pk' files is invoked. Since this feature is not needed for scripts other than MakeTeXPK (and indeed is rarely used even in that case), it is not currently supported for other scripts. The convention of passing the name of the file to be created as the first argument cannot be changed.

    Installation testing

    Besides the tests listed in section Simple installation, you can try running `make check'. This includes the torture tests (trip, trap, and mptrap) that come with Web2c (see section `Torture tests' in Web2c).

    Security

    None of the programs in the TeX system require any special system privileges, so there's no first-level security concern of people gaining illegitimate root access. A TeX document, however, can write to arbitrary files, e.g., `~/.rhosts', and thus an unwitting user who runs TeX on a random document is vulnerable to a trojan horse attack. This loophole is closed by default, but you can be permissive if you so desire in `texmf.cnf'. See section `tex invocation' in Web2c. MetaPost has the same issue. Dvips, Xdvi, and TeX can also execute shell commands under some circumstances. To disable this, see the `-R' option in section `Option details' in Dvips, the xdvi man page, and section `tex invocation' in Web2c, respectively. Another security issue arises because it's very useful--almost necessary--to make arbitrary fonts on user demand with MakeTeXPK and friends. Where do these files get installed? By default, the MakeTeXPK distributed with Kpathsea assumes a globally writable `texmf' tree; this is the simplest and most convenient approach, but it may not suit your situation. The first restriction you can apply is to make newly-created directories under `texmf' be append-only with an option in `MakeTeXnames.cnf'. See section `MakeTeX' configuration. Another approach is to establish a group (or user) for TeX files, make the `texmf' tree writable only to that group (or user), and make MakeTeXPK et al. setgid to that group (or setuid to that user). Then users must invoke the scripts to install things. (If you're worried about the inevitable security holes in scripts, then you could write a C wrapper to exec the script.) Finally, using a central writable `texmf' tree may be completely impossible, because it's on an NFS filesystem that you cannot export read/write, or AFS is in use, or simply because "it's policy". Then you must resort to each user's machine having its own local directory of dynamically-created fonts; again, `MakeTeXnames.cnf' has an option to do this, and again, see section `MakeTeX' configuration.

    TeX directory structure

    This section describes the default installation hierarchy of the distribution. It conforms to both the GNU coding standards and the TeX directory structure (TDS) standard. For rationale and further explanation, please see those documents. The GNU standard is available as @url{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/standards/standards.texi} and mirrors. The TDS document is available from `CTAN:/tex-archive/tds' (see section `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX).

    You can change the default paths in many ways (see section Changing search paths). One common desire is to put everything (binaries and all) under a single top-level directory such as `/usr/local/texmf' or `/opt/texmf'---in the terms used below, make prefix and texmf the same. For specific instructions on doing that, see section configure scenarios.

    Here is a skeleton of the default directory structure, extracted from the TDS document:

    prefix/      installation root (`/usr/local' by default)
     bin/         executables
     man/         man pages
     include/     C header files
     info/        GNU info files
     lib/         libraries (`libkpathsea.*')
     share/       architecture-independent files
      texmf/      TDS root
       bibtex/     BibTeX input files
        bib/        BibTeX databases
         base/       base distribution (e.g., `xampl.bib')
         misc/       single-file databases
         pkg/       name of a package
        bst/        BibTeX style files
         base/       base distribution (e.g., `plain.bst', `acm.bst')
         misc/       single-file styles
         pkg/       name of a package
       doc/         additional documentation
       dvips/       `.pro', `.ps', `psfonts.map'
       fonts/       font-related files
        type/         file type (e.g., `tfm', `pk')
         mode/          type of output device (types `pk' and `gf' only)
          supplier/       name of a font supplier (e.g., `public')
           typeface/        name of a typeface (e.g., `cm')
            dpinnn/           font resolution (types `pk' and `gf' only)
       metafont/    Metafont (non-font) input files
        base/        base distribution (e.g., `plain.mf')
        misc/        single-file packages (e.g., `modes.mf')
        pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `mfpic')
       metapost/    MetaPost input files
        base/        base distribution (e.g., `plain.mp')
        misc/        single-file packages
        pkg/           name of a package
        support/     support files for MetaPost-related utilities (e.g., `trfonts.map')
       mft/         `MFT' inputs (e.g., `plain.mft')
       tex/         TeX input files
        format/         name of a format (e.g., `plain')
         base/        base distribution for format (e.g., `plain.tex')
         misc/        single-file packages (e.g., `webmac.tex')
         local/       local additions to or local configuration files for format
         pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `graphics', `mfnfss')
        generic/     format-independent packages
         hyphen/      hyphenation patterns (e.g., `hyphen.tex')
         images/      image input files (e.g., Encapsulated PostScript)
         misc/        single-file format-independent packages (e.g., `null.tex').
         pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `babel')
       web2c/        implementation-dependent files (`.pool', `.fmt', `texmf.cnf', etc.)
    

    Some concrete examples for most file types:

    /usr/local/bin/tex
    /usr/local/man/man1/xdvi.1
    /usr/local/info/kpathsea.info
    /usr/local/lib/libkpathsea.a
    /usr/local/share/texmf/bibtex/bst/base/plain.bst
    /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmr10.600pk
    /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/source/public/pandora/pnr10.mf
    /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/tfm/public/cm/cmr10.tfm
    /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/type1/adobe/utopia/putr.pfa
    /usr/local/share/texmf/metafont/base/plain.mf
    /usr/local/share/texmf/metapost/base/plain.mp
    /usr/local/share/texmf/tex/plain/base/plain.tex
    /usr/local/share/texmf/tex/generic/hyphen/hyphen.tex
    /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.pool
    /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.fmt
    /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf
    

    `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX

    This chapter is @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/unixtex.ftp}, last updated 1 February 1997. Also available as @url{http://www.tug.org/unixtex.ftp}. The IP address is currently [158.121.106.10], and the canonical host name is currently `tug.cs.umb.edu'. It is also in Kpathsea source distributions as `etc/unixtex.ftp' (although the network version is usually newer). Mail @email{kb@mail.tug.org} with comments or questions.

    Following are general instructions for Unix or other sites who wish to acquire the Web2c distribution, (plain) TeX, LaTeX (2e), BibTeX, Metafont, MetaPost, DVI processors for the X window system, PostScript, the PCL language in the HP LaserJet, and related programs. They are oriented towards building from the original sources, though some information on alternative packages is included in the last section. See also @url{http://www.tug.org/web2c}, the Web2c and Kpathsea home page.

    Please consider joining the TeX Users Group (TUG) to help support the maintenance and development of the programs you retrieve. Email @email{tug@tug.org} or see @url{http://www.tug.org} for information and a membership form.

    For actual installation instructions after obtaining the necessary sources, see section Installation. A copy is in the distribution file `kpathsea/INSTALL'.

    Electronic distribution

    In many places we refer to CTAN:. This is both a host name and a directory name. Here are some primary locations:

    @url{ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan}  (California, USA)
    @url{ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive}    (Germany)
    @url{ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive}   (England)
    

    CTAN has many mirrors worldwide; see the top-level file `README.mirrors' from one of the sites above, or finger @email{ctan@ftp.tug.org}, or see @url{http://www.tug.org/CTAN.sites}. A list current as of the time of distribution is in the top-level file `./MIRROR'.

    You can also access CTAN via the World Wide Web, Gopher, electronic mail, or NFS. The same `README.mirrors' file explains how.

    You will need to retrieve some or all of the following archives, depending on your needs (don't forget to set binary mode for file transfers):

    `CTAN:/systems/web2c/lib.tar.gz'
    A basic collection of fonts (TFM files only) and macro packages (including Texinfo and LaTeX 2e). It unpacks into `texmf/'; if you change the structure of this hierarchy, you will also have to change the default search paths (see section Changing search paths). It is required unless you already have these files, in which case you should change the default paths as necessary to find them.
    `CTAN:/systems/web2c/web.tar.gz'
    The original WEB source files, written mostly by Don Knuth. Required unless you already have this `web' version. (The WEB sources change irregularly with respect to Web2c itself.) Unpacks into `web2c-version'.
    `CTAN:/systems/web2c/web2c.tar.gz'
    The Web2c system. Required. Also unpacks into `web2c-version'.
    `CTAN:/dviware/dvipsk.tar.gz'
    DVI-to-PostScript translator. Unpacks into `dvipsk-version'. Optional.
    `CTAN:/dviware/xdvik.tar.gz'
    X window system DVI previewer. Unpacks into `xdvik-version'. Optional.
    `CTAN:/dviware/dviljk.tar.gz'
    DVI-to-PCL (HP LaserJet) translator. Unpacks into `dviljk-version'. Optional.

    All that said, the originating host for the software above is `ftp.tug.org'. You can retrieve these distributions (but not much else) from the `tex/' directory on that host.

    CD-ROM distribution

    Numerous organizations distribute various TeX CD-ROM's:

    If you know of additional TeX CD-ROM distributions to add to this list, please inform @email{kb@mail.tug.org}.

    Tape distribution

    You can obtain a complete TeX distribution, including Web2c, on tape. Contact:

    Pierre MacKay / Denny Hall, Mail Stop DH-10 / Department of Classics
    University of Washington / Seattle, WA 98195 / USA
    phone: 206-543-2268; email: @email{unixtex@u.washington.edu}
    

    At this writing, the distribution is available in tar format on 1/4 inch 4-track QIC-24 cartridges and 4mm DAT cartridges, and the cost is US$210. Make checks payable to the University of Washington, drawn on a U.S. bank. Purchase orders are acceptable, but they carry an extra charge of $10 to pay for invoice processing. Overseas sites, please add $20 for shipment via air parcel post, or $30 for shipment via courier.

    Other TeX packages

    Many other TeX implementations are available in `CTAN:/systems', including ready-to-run distributions for Unix, Amiga, Acorn, VMS, Macintosh, DOS, and Windows (in various forms). Although Web2c has support in the source code for many operating systems, and in fact some of the other distributions are based on it, it's unlikely to work as distributed on anything but Unix. (Please contribute improvements!)

    The Unix distribution alluded to above is the teTeX distribution. This includes both complete sources and precompiled binaries for many popular Unix variants, including Linux. It is based on Web2c, and contains many other TeX-related programs as well.

    The host labrea.stanford.edu is the original source for the files for which Donald Knuth is directly responsible: `tex.web', `plain.tex', etc. However, unless you want to build your TeX library tree ab initio, it is more reliable and less work to retrieve these files as part of the above packages. In any case, labrea is not the canonical source for anything except what was created by Stanford TeX project, so do not rely on all the files available at that ftp site being up-to-date.

    Reporting bugs

    (A copy of this chapter is in the file `kpathsea/BUGS'.) If you have problems or suggestions, please report them to @email{tex-k@mail.tug.org} using the bug checklist below. Please report bugs in the documentation; not only factual errors or inconsistent behavior, but unclear or incomplete explanations, typos, wrong fonts, ...

    Bug checklist

    Before reporting a bug, please check below to be sure it isn't already known (see section Common problems). Bug reports should be sent via electronic mail to @email{tex-k@mail.tug.org}, or by postal mail to 135 Center Hill Road / Plymouth, MA 02360 / USA. The general principle is that a good bug report includes all the information necessary for reproduction. Therefore, to enable investigation, your report should include the following:

    Mailing lists

    Web2c and Kpathsea in general are discussed on the mailing list @email{tex-k@mail.tug.org}. To join, email @email{tex-k-request@mail.tug.org} with a line consisting of

    subscribe you@your.preferred.email.address
    

    in the body of the message. You do not need to join to submit a report, nor will it affect whether you get a response. There is no Usenet newsgroup equivalent (if you can be the one to set this up, email `tex-k-request'). Traffic on the list is fairly light, and is mainly bug reports and enhancement requests to the software. The best way to decide if you want to join or not is read some of the archives from @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/mail/archives/tex-k/}. Be aware that large data files are sometimes included in bug reports. If this is a problem for you, do not join the list. If you only want announcements of new releases, not bug reports and discussion, join @email{tex-archive@math.utah.edu} (via mail to @email{tex-archive-request@math.utah.edu}). If you are looking for general TeX help, such as how to use LaTeX, please use the mailing list @email{info-tex@shsu.edu} mailing list, which is gatewayed to the `comp.text.tex' Usenet newsgroup (or post to the newsgroup; the gateway is bidirectional).

    Debugging

    Kpathsea provides a number of runtime debugging options, detailed below by their names and corresponding numeric values. When the files you expect aren't being found, the thing to do is enable these options and examine the output. You can set these with some runtime argument (e.g., `-d') to the program; in that case, you should use the numeric values described in the program's documentation (which, for Dvipsk and Xdvik, are different than those below). It's best to give the `-d' (or whatever) option first, for maximal output. Dvipsk and Xdvik have additional program-specific debugging options as well. You can also set the environment variable KPATHSEA_DEBUG; in this case, you should use the numbers below. If you run the program under a debugger and set the variable kpathsea_debug, also use the numbers below. In any case, by far the simplest value to use is `-1', which will turn on all debugging output. This is usually better than guessing which particular values will yield the output you need. Debugging output always goes to standard error, so you can redirect it easily. For example, in Bourne-compatible shells:

    dvips -d -1 ... 2>/tmp/debug
    

    It is sometimes helpful to run the standalone Kpsewhich utility (see section kpsewhich: Standalone path searching), instead of the original program. In any case, you can not use the names below; you must always use somebody's numbers. (Sorry.) To set more than one option, just sum the corresponding numbers.

    KPSE_DEBUG_STAT (1)
    Report `stat'(2) calls. This is useful for verifying that your directory structure is not forcing Kpathsea to do many additional file tests (see section Slow path searching, and see section Subdirectory expansion). If you are using an up-to-date `ls-R' database (see section Filename database (ls-R)), this should produce no output unless a nonexistent file that must exist is searched for.
    KPSE_DEBUG_HASH (2)
    Report lookups in all hash tables: `ls-R' and `aliases' (see section Filename database (ls-R)); font aliases (see section Fontmap); and config file values (see section Config files). Useful when expected values are not being found, e.g.., file searches are looking at the disk instead of using `ls-R'.
    KPSE_DEBUG_FOPEN (4)
    Report file openings and closings. Especially useful when your system's file table is full, for seeing which files have been opened but never closed. In case you want to set breakpoints in a debugger: this works by redefining `fopen' (`fclose') to be `kpse_fopen_trace' (`kpse_fclose_trace').
    KPSE_DEBUG_PATHS (8)
    Report general path information for each file type Kpathsea is asked to search. This is useful when you are trying to track down how a particular path got defined--from `texmf.cnf', `config.ps', an environment variable, the compile-time default, etc. This is the contents of the kpse_format_info_type structure defined in `tex-file.h'.
    KPSE_DEBUG_EXPAND (16)
    Report the directory list corresponding to each path element Kpathsea searches. This is only relevant when Kpathsea searches the disk, since `ls-R' searches don't look through directory lists in this way.
    KPSE_DEBUG_SEARCH (32)
    Report on each file search: the name of the file searched for, the path searched in, whether or not the file must exist (when drivers search for `cmr10.vf', it need not exist), and whether or not we are collecting all occurrences of the file in the path (as with, e.g., `texmf.cnf' and `texfonts.map'), or just the first (as with most lookups). This can help you correlate what Kpathsea is doing with what is in your input file.
    GSFTOPK_DEBUG (64)
    Activates debugging printout specific to gsftopk program.
    MAKETEX_DEBUG (128)
    If you use the optional MakeTeX programs instead of the traditional shell scripts, this will report the name of the site file (`MakeTeX.site' by default) which is read, directories created by MakeTeX-mkdir, the full path of the `ls-R' database built by MakeTeXls-R, font map searches, MT_FEATURES in effect, parameters from MakeTeXnames, filenames added by MakeTeXupdate, and some subsidiary commands run by the programs.
    MAKETEX_FINE_DEBUG (256)
    When the optional MakeTeX programs are used, this will print additional debugging info from functions internal to these programs.

    Debugging output from Kpathsea is always written to standard error, and begins with the string `kdebug:'. (Except for hash table buckets, which just start with the number, but you can only get that output running under a debugger. See comments at the hash_summary_only variable in `kpathsea/db.c'.)

    Logging

    Kpathsea can record the time and filename found for each successful search. This may be useful in finding good candidates for deletion when your filesystem is full, or in discovering usage patterns at your site. To do this, define the environment or config file variable TEXMFLOG. The value is the name of the file to append the information to. The file is created if it doesn't exist, and appended to if it does. Each successful search turns into one line in the log file: two words separated by a space. The first word is the time of the search, as the integer number of seconds since "the epoch", i.e., UTC midnight 1 January 1970 (more precisely, the result of the time system call). The second word is the filename. For example, after setenv TEXMFLOG /tmp/log, running Dvips on `story.dvi' appends the following lines:

    774455887 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/config.ps
    774455887 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/psfonts.map
    774455888 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/texc.pro
    774455888 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmbx10.600pk
    774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmsl10.600pk
    774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmr10.600pk
    774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/texc.pro
    

    Only filenames that are absolute are recorded, to preserve some semblance of privacy.

    Common problems

    Here are some common problems with configuration, compilation, linking, execution, ...

    Unable to find files

    If a program complains it cannot find fonts (or other input files), any of several things might be wrong. In any case, you may find the debugging options helpful. See section Debugging.

    Slow path searching

    If your program takes an excessively long time to find fonts or other input files, but does eventually succeed, here are some possible culprits:

    In any case, you may find the debugging options helpful in determining precisely when the disk or network is being pounded. See section Debugging.

    Unable to generate fonts

    This can happen if either MakeTeXPK hasn't been installed properly, or if the local installation of Metafont isn't correct. If mf is a command not found by MakeTeXPK, then you need to install Metafont (see section `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX). If Metafont runs, but generates fonts at the wrong resolution, you need to be sure the `M' and `D' lines in your Dvips configuration file match (see section `Config files' in Dvips). For example, if MakeTeXPK is generating 300dpi fonts, but you need 600dpi fonts, you should have:

    M ljfour
    D 600
    

    If Metafont runs but generates fonts at a resolution of 2602dpi (and prints out the name of each character as well as just a character number, and maybe tries to display the characters), then your Metafont base file probably hasn't been made properly. (It's using the default proof mode, instead of an actual device mode.) To make a proper `plain.base', assuming the local mode definitions are contained in a file `modes.mf', run the following command (assuming Unix):

    inimf "plain; input modes; dump"
    

    Then copy the `plain.base' file from the current directory to where the base files are stored on your system (`/usr/local/share/texmf/web2c' by default), and make a link (either hard or soft) from `plain.base' to `mf.base' in that directory. See section `inimf invocation' in Web2c.

    TeX or Metafont failing

    If TeX or Metafont get a segmentation fault or otherwise fail while running a normal input file, the problem is usually a compiler bug (unlikely as that may sound). Even if the trip and trap tests are passed, problems may lurk. Optimization occasionally causes trouble in programs other than TeX and Metafont themselves, too. Insufficient swap space may also cause core dumps or other erratic behavior. For a workaround, if you enabled any optimization flags, it's best to omit optimization entirely. In any case, the way to find the facts is to run the program under the debugger and see where it's failing. Also, if you have trouble with a system C compiler, I advise trying the GNU C compiler. And vice versa, unfortunately; but in that case I also recommend reporting a bug to the GCC mailing list; see section `Bugs' in Using and Porting GNU CC. To report compiler bugs effectively requires perseverance and perspicacity: you must find the miscompiled line, and that usually involves delving backwards in time from the point of error, checking through TeX's (or whatever program's) data structures. Things are not helped by all-too-common bugs in the debugger itself. Good luck.

    XtStrings

    You may find that linking X programs results in an error from the linker that `XtStrings' is undefined, something like this:

    gcc -o virmf ...
    .../x11.c:130: undefined reference to `XtStrings'
    

    This generally happens because of a mismatch between the X include files with which you compiled and the X libraries with which you linked; often, the include files are from MIT and the libraries from Sun. The solution is to use the same X distribution for compilation and linking. Probably `configure' was unable to guess the proper directories from your installation. You can use the configure options `--x-includes=path' and `--x-libraries=path' to explicitly specify them.

    dlopen

    (This section adapted from the file `dlsym.c' in the X distribution.) The Xlib library uses the standard C function wcstombs. Under SunOS 4.1, wcstombs uses the `dlsym' interface defined in `libdl.so'. Unfortunately, the SunOS 4.1 distribution does not include a static `libdl.a' library. As a result, if you try to link an X program statically under SunOS, you may get undefined references to dlopen, dlsym, and dlclose. One workaround is to include these definitions when you link:

    void *dlopen() { return 0; }
    void *dlsym()  { return 0; }
    int dlclose()  { return -1; }
    

    These are contained in the `dlsym.c' file in the MIT X distribution.

    ShellWidgetClass

    (This section adapted from the comp.sys.sun.admin FAQ.) If you are linking with Sun's OpenWindows libraries in SunOS 4.1.x, you may get undefined symbols _get_wmShellWidgetClass and _get_applicationShellWidgetClass when linking. This problem does not arise using the standard MIT X libraries under SunOS. The cause is bugs in the Xmu shared library as shipped from Sun. There are several fixes:

    Here is the information for getting the two patches:

    Patch ID: 100512-02
    Bug ID's: 1086793, 1086912, 1074766
    Description: 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt jumbo patch
    
    Patch ID: 100573-03
    Bug ID: 1087332
    Description: 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined symbols when using shared libXmu.
    

    The way to statically link with libXmu depends on whether you are using a Sun compiler (e.g., cc) or gcc. If the latter, alter the x_libs Make variable to include

    -static -lXmu -dynamic
    

    If you are using the Sun compiler, use `-Bstatic' and `-Bdynamic'.

    Pointer combination warnings

    When compiling with old C compilers, you may get some warnings about "illegal pointer combinations". These are spurious; just ignore them. I decline to clutter up the source with casts to get rid of them.


    Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.