1
If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you
2
see. It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is
3
specially designed to be readable as is.
7
README.cygwin - Perl for Cygwin
11
This document will help you configure, make, test and install Perl
12
on Cygwin. This document also describes features of Cygwin that will
13
affect how Perl behaves at runtime.
15
B<NOTE:> There are pre-built Perl packages available for Cygwin and a
16
version of Perl is provided on the Cygwin CD. If you do not need to
17
customize the configuration, consider using one of these packages:
19
http://cygutils.netpedia.net/
23
=head2 Cygwin = GNU+Cygnus+Windows (Don't leave UNIX without it)
25
The Cygwin tools are ports of the popular GNU development tools for Win32
26
platforms. They run thanks to the Cygwin library which provides the UNIX
27
system calls and environment these programs expect. More information
28
about this project can be found at:
30
http://www.cygwin.com/
32
A recent net or commercial release of Cygwin is required.
34
At the time this document was last updated, Cygwin 1.1.5 was current.
36
B<NOTE:> At this point, minimal effort has been made to provide
37
compatibility with old (beta) Cygwin releases. The focus has been to
38
provide a high quality release and not worry about working around old
39
bugs. If you wish to use Perl with Cygwin B20.1 or earlier, consider
40
using perl5.005_03, which is available in source and binary form at
41
C<http://cygutils.netpedia.net/>. If there is significant demand,
42
a patch kit can be developed to port back to earlier Cygwin versions.
44
=head2 Cygwin Configuration
46
While building Perl some changes may be necessary to your Cygwin setup so
47
that Perl builds cleanly. These changes are B<not> required for normal
50
B<NOTE:> The binaries that are built will run on all Win32 versions.
51
They do not depend on your host system (Win9x/WinME, WinNT/Win2K)
52
or your Cygwin configuration (I<ntea>, I<ntsec>, binary/text mounts).
53
The only dependencies come from hard-coded pathnames like C</usr/local>.
54
However, your host system and Cygwin configuration will affect Perl's
55
runtime behavior (see L</"TEST">).
61
Set the C<PATH> environment variable so that Configure finds the Cygwin
62
versions of programs. Any Windows directories should be removed or
63
moved to the end of your C<PATH>.
67
If you do not have I<nroff> (which is part of the I<groff> package),
68
Configure will B<not> prompt you to install I<man> pages.
72
On WinNT with either the I<ntea> or I<ntsec> C<CYGWIN> settings, directory
73
and file permissions may not be set correctly. Since the build process
74
creates directories and files, to be safe you may want to run a `C<chmod
75
-R +w *>' on the entire Perl source tree.
77
Also, it is a well known WinNT "feature" that files created by a login
78
that is a member of the I<Administrators> group will be owned by the
79
I<Administrators> group. Depending on your umask, you may find that you
80
can not write to files that you just created (because you are no longer
81
the owner). When using the I<ntsec> C<CYGWIN> setting, this is not an
82
issue because it "corrects" the ownership to what you would expect on
89
The default options gathered by Configure with the assistance of
90
F<hints/cygwin.sh> will build a Perl that supports dynamic loading
91
(which requires a shared F<libperl.dll>).
93
This will run Configure and keep a record:
95
./Configure 2>&1 | tee log.configure
97
If you are willing to accept all the defaults run Configure with B<-de>.
98
However, several useful customizations are available.
100
=head2 Strip Binaries
102
It is possible to strip the EXEs and DLLs created by the build process.
103
The resulting binaries will be significantly smaller. If you want the
104
binaries to be stripped, you can either add a B<-s> option when Configure
107
Any additional ld flags (NOT including libraries)? [none] -s
108
Any special flags to pass to gcc to use dynamic linking? [none] -s
109
Any special flags to pass to ld2 to create a dynamically loaded library?
112
or you can edit F<hints/cygwin.sh> and uncomment the relevant variables
113
near the end of the file.
115
=head2 Optional Libraries
117
Several Perl functions and modules depend on the existence of
118
some optional libraries. Configure will find them if they are
119
installed in one of the directories listed as being used for library
120
searches. Pre-built packages for most of these are available at
121
C<http://cygutils.netpedia.net/>.
127
The crypt package distributed with Cygwin is a Linux compatible 56-bit
128
DES crypt port by Corinna Vinschen.
130
Alternatively, the crypt libraries in GNU libc have been ported to Cygwin.
132
The DES based Ultra Fast Crypt port was done by Alexey Truhan:
134
ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/win32/develop/gnuwin32/cygwin/porters/Okhapkin_Sergey/cw32crypt-dist-0.tgz
136
NOTE: There are various export restrictions on DES implementations,
137
see the glibc README for more details.
139
The MD5 port was done by Andy Piper:
141
ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/win32/develop/gnuwin32/cygwin/porters/Okhapkin_Sergey/libcrypt.tgz
143
=item * C<-lgdbm> (C<use GDBM_File>)
145
GDBM is available for Cygwin. GDBM's ndbm/dbm compatibility feature
146
also makes C<NDBM_File> and C<ODBM_File> possible (although they add
149
NOTE: The ndbm/dbm emulations only completely work on NTFS partitions.
151
=item * C<-ldb> (C<use DB_File>)
153
BerkeleyDB is available for Cygwin. Some details can be found in
154
F<ext/DB_File/DB_File.pm>.
156
NOTE: The BerkeleyDB library only completely works on NTFS partitions.
158
=item * C<-lcygipc> (C<use IPC::SysV>)
160
A port of SysV IPC is available for Cygwin.
162
NOTE: This has B<not> been extensively tested. In particular,
163
C<d_semctl_semun> is undefined because it fails a Configure test
164
and on Win9x the I<shm*()> functions seem to hang. It also creates
165
a compile time dependency because F<perl.h> includes F<<sys/ipc.h>>
166
and F<<sys/sem.h>> (which will be required in the future when compiling
171
=head2 Configure-time Options
173
The F<INSTALL> document describes several Configure-time options. Some of
174
these will work with Cygwin, others are not yet possible. Also, some of
175
these are experimental. You can either select an option when Configure
176
prompts you or you can define (undefine) symbols on the command line.
182
Undefining this symbol forces Perl to be compiled statically.
184
=item * C<-Uusemymalloc>
186
By default Perl uses the malloc() included with the Perl source. If you
187
want to force Perl to build with the system malloc() undefine this symbol.
189
=item * C<-Dusemultiplicity>
191
Multiplicity is required when embedding Perl in a C program and using
192
more than one interpreter instance. This works with the Cygwin port.
194
=item * C<-Duseperlio>
196
The PerlIO abstraction works with the Cygwin port.
198
=item * C<-Duse64bitint>
200
I<gcc> supports 64-bit integers. However, several additional long long
201
functions are necessary to use them within Perl (I<{strtol,strtoul}l>).
202
These are B<not> yet available with Cygwin.
204
=item * C<-Duselongdouble>
206
I<gcc> supports long doubles (12 bytes). However, several additional
207
long double math functions are necessary to use them within Perl
208
(I<{atan2,cos,exp,floor,fmod,frexp,isnan,log,modf,pow,sin,sqrt}l,strtold>).
209
These are B<not> yet available with Cygwin.
211
=item * C<-Dusethreads>
213
POSIX threads are B<not> yet implemented in Cygwin.
215
=item * C<-Duselargefiles>
217
Although Win32 supports large files, Cygwin currently uses 32-bit integers
218
for internal size and position calculations.
222
=head2 Suspicious Warnings
224
You may see some messages during Configure that seem suspicious.
230
I<ld2> is needed to build dynamic libraries, but it does not exist
231
when dlsym() checking occurs (it is not created until `C<make>' runs).
232
You will see the following message:
234
Checking whether your dlsym() needs a leading underscore ...
236
I can't compile and run the test program.
237
I'm guessing that dlsym doesn't need a leading underscore.
239
Since the guess is correct, this is not a problem.
241
=item * Win9x and C<d_eofnblk>
243
Win9x does not correctly report C<EOF> with a non-blocking read on a
244
closed pipe. You will see the following messages:
246
But it also returns -1 to signal EOF, so be careful!
247
WARNING: you can't distinguish between EOF and no data!
249
*** WHOA THERE!!! ***
250
The recommended value for $d_eofnblk on this machine was "define"!
251
Keep the recommended value? [y]
253
At least for consistency with WinNT, you should keep the recommended
256
=item * Compiler/Preprocessor defines
258
The following error occurs because of the Cygwin C<#define> of
261
Guessing which symbols your C compiler and preprocessor define...
262
try.c:<line#>: parse error
264
This failure does not seem to cause any problems.
270
Simply run I<make> and wait:
272
make 2>&1 | tee log.make
276
Warnings like these are normal:
278
warning: overriding commands for target <file>
279
warning: ignoring old commands for target <file>
281
dllwrap: no export definition file provided
282
dllwrap: creating one, but that may not be what you want
286
During `C<make>', I<ld2> will be created and installed in your $installbin
287
directory (where you said to put public executables). It does not
288
wait until the `C<make install>' process to install the I<ld2> script,
289
this is because the remainder of the `C<make>' refers to I<ld2> without
290
fully specifying its path and does this from multiple subdirectories.
291
The assumption is that $installbin is in your current C<PATH>. If this
292
is not the case `C<make>' will fail at some point. If this happens,
293
just manually copy I<ld2> from the source directory to somewhere in
298
There are two steps to running the test suite:
300
make test 2>&1 | tee log.make-test
302
cd t;./perl harness 2>&1 | tee ../log.harness
304
The same tests are run both times, but more information is provided when
305
running as `C<./perl harness>'.
307
Test results vary depending on your host system and your Cygwin
308
configuration. If a test can pass in some Cygwin setup, it is always
309
attempted and explainable test failures are documented. It is possible
310
for Perl to pass all the tests, but it is more likely that some tests
311
will fail for one of the reasons listed below.
313
=head2 File Permissions
315
UNIX file permissions are based on sets of mode bits for
316
{read,write,execute} for each {user,group,other}. By default Cygwin
317
only tracks the Win32 read-only attribute represented as the UNIX file
318
user write bit (files are always readable, files are executable if they
319
have a F<.{com,bat,exe}> extension or begin with C<#!>, directories are
320
always readable and executable). On WinNT with the I<ntea> C<CYGWIN>
321
setting, the additional mode bits are stored as extended file attributes.
322
On WinNT with the I<ntsec> C<CYGWIN> setting, permissions use the standard
323
WinNT security descriptors and access control lists. Without one of
324
these options, these tests will fail:
326
Failed Test List of failed
327
------------------------------------
337
op/stat.t 9, 20 (.tmp not an executable extension)
341
FAT partitions do not support hard links (whereas NTFS does), in which
342
case Cygwin implements link() by copying the file. On remote (network)
343
drives Cygwin's stat() always sets C<st_nlink> to 1, so the link count
344
for remote directories and files is not available. In either case,
345
these tests will fail:
347
Failed Test List of failed
348
------------------------------------
352
=head2 Filetime Granularity
354
On FAT partitions the filetime granularity is 2 seconds. The following
357
Failed Test List of failed
358
------------------------------------
361
=head2 Tainting Checks
363
When Perl is running in taint mode, C<$ENV{PATH}> is considered tainted
364
and not used, so DLLs not in the default system directories will not
365
be found. While the tests are running you will see warnings popup from
366
the system with messages like:
369
Error Starting Program
370
A required .DLL file, CYGWIN1.DLL, was not found
373
perl.exe - Unable to Locate DLL
374
The dynamic link library cygwin1.dll could not be found in the
377
Just click OK and ignore them. When running `C<make test>', 2 popups
378
occur. During `C<./perl harness>', 4 popups occur. Also, these tests
381
Failed Test List of failed
382
------------------------------------
383
op/taint.t 1, 3, 31, 37
385
Alternatively, you can copy F<cygwin1.dll> into the directory where the
388
cp /bin/cygwin1.dll t
390
or one of the Windows system directories (although, this is B<not>
395
Cygwin does not require F</etc/group>, in which case the F<op/grent.t>
396
test will be skipped. The check performed by F<op/grent.t> expects to
397
see entries that use the members field, otherwise this test will fail:
399
Failed Test List of failed
400
------------------------------------
403
=head2 Script Portability
405
Cygwin does an outstanding job of providing UNIX-like semantics on top of
406
Win32 systems. However, in addition to the items noted above, there are
407
some differences that you should know about. This is a very brief guide
408
to portability, more information can be found in the Cygwin documentation.
414
Cygwin pathnames can be separated by forward (F</>) or backward (F<\>)
415
slashes. They may also begin with drive letters (F<C:>) or Universal
416
Naming Codes (F<//UNC>). DOS device names (F<aux>, F<con>, F<prn>,
417
F<com*>, F<lpt?>, F<nul>) are invalid as base filenames. However, they
418
can be used in extensions (e.g., F<hello.aux>). Names may contain all
419
printable characters except these:
423
File names are case insensitive, but case preserving. A pathname that
424
contains a backslash or drive letter is a Win32 pathname (and not subject
425
to the translations applied to POSIX style pathnames).
429
When a file is opened it is in either text or binary mode. In text mode
430
a file is subject to CR/LF/Ctrl-Z translations. With Cygwin, the default
431
mode for an open() is determined by the mode of the mount that underlies
432
the file. Perl provides a binmode() function to set binary mode on files
433
that otherwise would be treated as text. sysopen() with the C<O_TEXT>
434
flag sets text mode on files that otherwise would be treated as binary:
436
sysopen(FOO, "bar", O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TEXT)
438
lseek(), tell() and sysseek() only work with files opened in binary mode.
440
The text/binary issue is covered at length in the Cygwin documentation.
444
The Cygwin stat(), lstat() and readlink() functions make the F<.exe>
445
extension transparent by looking for F<foo.exe> when you ask for F<foo>
446
(unless a F<foo> also exists). Cygwin does not require a F<.exe>
447
extension, but I<gcc> adds it automatically when building a program.
448
However, when accessing an executable as a normal file (e.g., I<cp>
449
in a makefile) the F<.exe> is not transparent. The I<install> included
450
with Cygwin automatically appends a F<.exe> when necessary.
454
On WinNT chown() can change a file's user and group IDs. On Win9x chown()
455
is a no-op, although this is appropriate since there is no security model.
457
=item * Miscellaneous
459
File locking using the C<F_GETLK> command to fcntl() is a stub that
462
Win9x can not rename() an open file (although WinNT can).
464
The Cygwin chroot() implementation has holes (it can not restrict file
465
access by native Win32 programs).
471
This will install Perl, including I<man> pages.
473
make install | tee log.make-install
475
NOTE: If C<STDERR> is redirected `C<make install>' will B<not> prompt
476
you to install I<perl> into F</usr/bin>.
478
You may need to be I<Administrator> to run `C<make install>'. If you
479
are not, you must have write access to the directories in question.
481
Information on installing the Perl documentation in HTML format can be
482
found in the F<INSTALL> document.
486
These are the files in the Perl release that contain references to Cygwin.
487
These very brief notes attempt to explain the reason for all conditional
488
code. Hopefully, keeping this up to date will allow the Cygwin port to
489
be kept as clean as possible.
495
INSTALL README.cygwin README.win32 MANIFEST
496
Changes Changes5.005 Changes5.004 Changes5.6
497
pod/perl.pod pod/perlport.pod pod/perlfaq3.pod
498
pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5004delta.pod pod/perl56delta.pod
499
pod/perlhist.pod pod/perlmodlib.pod pod/buildtoc.PL pod/perltoc.pod
501
=item Build, Configure, Make, Install
506
ext/IPC/SysV/hints/cygwin.pl
507
ext/NDBM_File/hints/cygwin.pl
508
ext/ODBM_File/hints/cygwin.pl
510
Configure - help finding hints from uname,
511
shared libperl required for dynamic loading
512
Makefile.SH - linklibperl
513
Porting/patchls - cygwin in port list
514
installman - man pages with :: translated to .
515
installperl - install dll/ld2/perlld, install to pods
516
makedepend.SH - uwinfix
520
t/io/tell.t - binmode
521
t/lib/b.t - ignore Cwd from os_extras
522
t/lib/glob-basic.t - Win32 directory list access differs from read mode
523
t/op/magic.t - $^X/symlink WORKAROUND, s/.exe//
524
t/op/stat.t - no /dev, skip Win32 ftCreationTime quirk
525
(cache manager sometimes preserves ctime of file
526
previously created and deleted), no -u (setuid)
528
=item Compiled Perl Source
530
EXTERN.h - __declspec(dllimport)
531
XSUB.h - __declspec(dllexport)
532
cygwin/cygwin.c - os_extras (getcwd, spawn)
535
doio.c - win9x can not rename a file when it is open
536
pp_sys.c - do not define h_errno, pp_system with spawn
539
=item Compiled Module Source
541
ext/POSIX/POSIX.xs - tzname defined externally
542
ext/SDBM_File/sdbm/pair.c
543
- EXTCONST needs to be redefined from EXTERN.h
544
ext/SDBM_File/sdbm/sdbm.c
547
=item Perl Modules/Scripts
549
lib/Cwd.pm - hook to internal Cwd::cwd
550
lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm
551
- require MM_Cygwin.pm
552
lib/ExtUtils/MM_Cygwin.pm
553
- canonpath, cflags, manifypods, perl_archive
554
lib/File/Find.pm - on remote drives stat() always sets st_nlink to 1
555
lib/File/Spec/Unix.pm - preserve //unc
556
lib/File/Temp.pm - no directory sticky bit
557
lib/perl5db.pl - use stdin not /dev/tty
558
utils/perldoc.PL - version comment
564
When I<make> starts, it warns about overriding commands for F<perlmain.o>.
566
`C<make clean>' does not remove library F<.def> or F<.exe.stackdump>
569
The I<ld2> script contains references to the source directory. You should
570
change these to $installbin after `C<make install>'.
572
Support for swapping real and effective user and group IDs is incomplete.
573
On WinNT Cygwin provides setuid(), seteuid(), setgid() and setegid().
574
However, additional Cygwin calls for manipulating WinNT access tokens
575
and security contexts are required.
577
When building DLLs, `C<dllwrap --export-all-symbols>' is used to export
578
global symbols. It might be better to generate an explicit F<.def> file
579
(see F<makedef.pl>). Also, DLLs can now be build with `C<gcc -shared>'.
583
Charles Wilson <cwilson@ece.gatech.edu>,
584
Eric Fifer <egf7@columbia.edu>,
585
alexander smishlajev <als@turnhere.com>,
586
Steven Morlock <newspost@morlock.net>,
587
Sebastien Barre <Sebastien.Barre@utc.fr>,
588
Teun Burgers <burgers@ecn.nl>.
592
Last updated: 9 November 2000
added
removed
t/test_old_perlcygwin.pod
