Cross-Compiled Linux From Scratch - Version 1.0.0rc6-ALPHA

Chapter 5. Constructing Cross-Compile Tools

5.8. Glibc-2.4

The Glibc package contains the main C library. This library provides the basic routines for allocating memory, searching directories, opening and closing files, reading and writing files, string handling, pattern matching, arithmetic, and so on.

5.8.1. Installation of Glibc

It should be noted that compiling Glibc in any way other than the method suggested in this book puts the stability of the system at risk.

The following patch fixes some inline assembler in glibc: 

patch -Np1 -i ../glibc-2.4-alpha_ioperm_fix-1.patch

Disable linking to libgcc_eh: 

patch -Np1 -i ../glibc-2.4-libgcc_eh-1.patch

The following patch fixes an issue that can cause localdef to segfault: 

patch -Np1 -i ../glibc-2.4-localedef_segfault-1.patch

The following sed fixes a build issue with Glibc. This will prevent nscd from trying to link to libraries that don't exist: 

cp -v nscd/Makefile{,.orig}
sed -e "/nscd_stat.o: sysincludes = # nothing/d" nscd/Makefile.orig > \
    nscd/Makefile

The Glibc documentation recommends building Glibc outside of the source directory in a dedicated build directory: 

mkdir -v ../glibc-build
cd ../glibc-build

The following lines need to be added to config.cache for Glibc to support NPTL: 

echo "libc_cv_forced_unwind=yes" > config.cache
echo "libc_cv_c_cleanup=yes" >> config.cache

Prepare Glibc for compilation: 

BUILD_CC="gcc" CC="${CLFS_TARGET}-gcc" \
    AR="${CLFS_TARGET}-ar" RANLIB="${CLFS_TARGET}-ranlib" \
    ../glibc-2.4/configure --prefix=/tools \
    --host=${CLFS_TARGET} --build=${CLFS_HOST} \
    --disable-profile --enable-add-ons \
    --with-tls --enable-kernel=2.6.0 --with-__thread \
    --with-binutils=/cross-tools/bin --with-headers=/tools/include \
    --cache-file=config.cache

The meaning of the new configure options:

BUILD_CC="gcc"

This sets Glibc to use the current compiler on our system. This is used to create the tools Glibc uses during its build.

CC="${CLFS_TARGET}-gcc"

This forces Glibc to use the GCC compiler that we made for our target architecture.

AR="${CLFS_TARGET}-ar"

This forces Glibc to use the ar utility we made for our target architecture.

RANLIB="${CLFS_TARGET}-ranlib"

This forces Glibc to use the ranlib utility we made for our target architecture.

--disable-profile

This builds the libraries without profiling information. Omit this option if profiling on the temporary tools is necessary.

--enable-add-ons

This tells Glibc to utilize all add-ons that are available.

--with-tls

This tells Glibc to use Thread Local Storage.

--with-__thread

This tells Glibc to use use the __thread for libc and libpthread builds.

--with-binutils=/cross-tools/bin

This tells Glibc to use the Binutils that are specific to our target architecture.

--cache-file=config.cache

This tells Glibc to utilize a premade cache file.

During this stage the following warning might appear: 

configure: WARNING:
*** These auxiliary programs are missing or
*** incompatible versions: msgfmt
*** some features will be disabled.
*** Check the INSTALL file for required versions.

The missing or incompatible msgfmt program is generally harmless. This msgfmt program is part of the Gettext package which the host distribution should provide.

Compile the package: 

make

Install the package: 

make install

Details on this package are located in Section 10.7.5, “Contents of Glibc.”