1This file contains some assistance for using "make *config". 2 3Use "make help" to list all of the possible configuration targets. 4 5The xconfig ('qconf') and menuconfig ('mconf') programs also 6have embedded help text. Be sure to check it for navigation, 7search, and other general help text. 8 9====================================================================== 10General 11-------------------------------------------------- 12 13New kernel releases often introduce new config symbols. Often more 14important, new kernel releases may rename config symbols. When 15this happens, using a previously working .config file and running 16"make oldconfig" won't necessarily produce a working new kernel 17for you, so you may find that you need to see what NEW kernel 18symbols have been introduced. 19 20To see a list of new config symbols when using "make oldconfig", use 21 22 cp user/some/old.config .config 23 yes "" | make oldconfig >conf.new 24 25and the config program will list as (NEW) any new symbols that have 26unknown values. Of course, the .config file is also updated with 27new (default) values, so you can use: 28 29 grep "(NEW)" conf.new 30 31to see the new config symbols or you can 'diff' the previous and 32new .config files to see the differences: 33 34 diff .config.old .config | less 35 36(Yes, we need something better here.) 37 38______________________________________________________________________ 39Environment variables for '*config' 40 41KCONFIG_CONFIG 42-------------------------------------------------- 43This environment variable can be used to specify a default kernel config 44file name to override the default name of ".config". 45 46KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG 47-------------------------------------------------- 48If you set KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG in the environment, Kconfig will not 49break symlinks when .config is a symlink to somewhere else. 50 51KCONFIG_NOTIMESTAMP 52-------------------------------------------------- 53If this environment variable exists and is non-null, the timestamp line 54in generated .config files is omitted. 55 56______________________________________________________________________ 57Environment variables for '{allyes/allmod/allno/rand}config' 58 59KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG 60-------------------------------------------------- 61(partially based on lkml email from/by Rob Landley, re: miniconfig) 62-------------------------------------------------- 63The allyesconfig/allmodconfig/allnoconfig/randconfig variants can 64also use the environment variable KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG as a flag or a 65filename that contains config symbols that the user requires to be 66set to a specific value. If KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG is used without a 67filename, "make *config" checks for a file named 68"all{yes/mod/no/def/random}.config" (corresponding to the *config command 69that was used) for symbol values that are to be forced. If this file 70is not found, it checks for a file named "all.config" to contain forced 71values. 72 73This enables you to create "miniature" config (miniconfig) or custom 74config files containing just the config symbols that you are interested 75in. Then the kernel config system generates the full .config file, 76including symbols of your miniconfig file. 77 78This 'KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG' file is a config file which contains 79(usually a subset of all) preset config symbols. These variable 80settings are still subject to normal dependency checks. 81 82Examples: 83 KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=custom-notebook.config make allnoconfig 84or 85 KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config make allnoconfig 86or 87 make KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config allnoconfig 88 89These examples will disable most options (allnoconfig) but enable or 90disable the options that are explicitly listed in the specified 91mini-config files. 92 93______________________________________________________________________ 94Environment variables for 'silentoldconfig' 95 96KCONFIG_NOSILENTUPDATE 97-------------------------------------------------- 98If this variable has a non-blank value, it prevents silent kernel 99config updates (requires explicit updates). 100 101KCONFIG_AUTOCONFIG 102-------------------------------------------------- 103This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the 104"auto.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/auto.conf". 105 106KCONFIG_TRISTATE 107-------------------------------------------------- 108This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the 109"tristate.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/tristate.conf". 110 111KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER 112-------------------------------------------------- 113This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the 114"autoconf.h" (header) file. 115Its default value is "include/generated/autoconf.h". 116 117 118====================================================================== 119menuconfig 120-------------------------------------------------- 121 122SEARCHING for CONFIG symbols 123 124Searching in menuconfig: 125 126 The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol 127 names, so you have to know something close to what you are 128 looking for. 129 130 Example: 131 /hotplug 132 This lists all config symbols that contain "hotplug", 133 e.g., HOTPLUG, HOTPLUG_CPU, MEMORY_HOTPLUG. 134 135 For search help, enter / followed TAB-TAB-TAB (to highlight 136 <Help>) and Enter. This will tell you that you can also use 137 regular expressions (regexes) in the search string, so if you 138 are not interested in MEMORY_HOTPLUG, you could try 139 140 /^hotplug 141 142______________________________________________________________________ 143User interface options for 'menuconfig' 144 145MENUCONFIG_COLOR 146-------------------------------------------------- 147It is possible to select different color themes using the variable 148MENUCONFIG_COLOR. To select a theme use: 149 150 make MENUCONFIG_COLOR=<theme> menuconfig 151 152Available themes are: 153 mono => selects colors suitable for monochrome displays 154 blackbg => selects a color scheme with black background 155 classic => theme with blue background. The classic look 156 bluetitle => a LCD friendly version of classic. (default) 157 158MENUCONFIG_MODE 159-------------------------------------------------- 160This mode shows all sub-menus in one large tree. 161 162Example: 163 make MENUCONFIG_MODE=single_menu menuconfig 164 165 166====================================================================== 167xconfig 168-------------------------------------------------- 169 170Searching in xconfig: 171 172 The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol 173 names, so you have to know something close to what you are 174 looking for. 175 176 Example: 177 Ctrl-F hotplug 178 or 179 Menu: File, Search, hotplug 180 181 lists all config symbol entries that contain "hotplug" in 182 the symbol name. In this Search dialog, you may change the 183 config setting for any of the entries that are not grayed out. 184 You can also enter a different search string without having 185 to return to the main menu. 186 187 188====================================================================== 189gconfig 190-------------------------------------------------- 191 192Searching in gconfig: 193 194 None (gconfig isn't maintained as well as xconfig or menuconfig); 195 however, gconfig does have a few more viewing choices than 196 xconfig does. 197 198### 199