diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'README.win32')
| -rw-r--r-- | README.win32 | 763 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 763 deletions
diff --git a/README.win32 b/README.win32 deleted file mode 100644 index 6fd14b23dc..0000000000 --- a/README.win32 +++ /dev/null @@ -1,763 +0,0 @@ -How to build Erlang/OTP on Windows. ------------------------------------ -Table of contents - -1. Introduction -2. Answers to some "frequently asked questions" -3. Tools you need and their environment -4. The shell environment -5. Building and installing -6. Development -7. Final words - -%CopyrightBegin% - -Copyright Ericsson AB 2003-2009. All Rights Reserved. - -The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License, -Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in -compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the -Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be -retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/. - -Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" -basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See -the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations -under the License. - -%CopyrightEnd% - - - -Introduction ------------- - -This file describes how to build the Erlang emulator and the OTP -libraries on Windows. The instructions apply to versions of Windows -supporting the Cygwin emulated gnuish environment for Windows. We've -built on the following platforms: Windows 2000 Professional, Windows -2003 server, Windows XP Home/Professional, and Windows Vista. Any -Windows95'ish platform will surely get you into trouble, what I'm not -sure of, but it certainly will... - -The procedure described uses Cygwin as a build environment, you run -the bash shell in Cygwin and uses gnu make/configure/autoconf etc to -do the build. The emulator C-source code is, however, mostly compiled -with Microsoft Visual C++(tm), producing a native Windows binary. This -is the same procedure as we use to build the pre-built binaries. The -fact that we use VC++ and not gcc is explained further in the FAQ -section. - -I describe the build procedure to make it possible for open source -customers to build the emulator, given that they have the needed -tools. The binary Windows releases is still a preferred alternative if -one does not have Microsoft's development tools and/or don't want to -install Cygwin. - -To use Cygwin, one needs basic experience from a Unix environment, if -one does not know how to set environment variables, run programs etc -in a Unix environment, one will be quite lost in the Cygwin -ditto. I can unfortunately not teach all the world how to use -Cygwin and bash, neither how to install Cygwin nor perform basic tasks -on a computer. Please refer to other documentation on the net for -help, or use the binary release instead if you have problems using the -tools. - -However, if you feel comfortable with the environment and build -system, and have all the necessary tools, you have a great opportunity -to make the Erlang/OTP distribution for Windows better. Please submit -any suggestions and patches to the appropriate mailing lists (see -http://www.erlang.org) to let them find their way into the next -version of Erlang. If making changes to the build system (like -makefiles etc) please bear in mind that the same makefiles are used on -Unix/VxWorks/OSEDelta, so that your changes don't break other -platforms. That of course goes for C-code too, system specific code -resides in the $ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/sys/win32 and $ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32 -directories mostly. The $ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/beam directory is for -common code. - -Before the R9C release of Erlang/OTP, the Windows release was built -partly on a Unix (Solaris) box and partly on a Windows box, using Perl -hacks to communicate and sync between the two machines. R9C was the -first release ever built solely on Windows, where no Unix machine is -needed at all. Now we've used this build procedure for a couple of -releases, and it has worked fine for us. Still, there might be all -sorts of troubles on different machines and with different -setups. I'll try to give hints wherever I've encountered difficulties, -but please share your experiences by using the mailing list [email protected]. I cannot of course help everyone with all -their problems, please try to solve the problems and submit -solutions/workarounds. Remember, it's all about sharing, not about -demanding... - -Lets go then, I'll start with a little FAQ, based on in house questions -and misunderstandings. - - -Answers to "frequently asked questions" ---------------------------------------- - -Q: So, now I can build Erlang using GCC on Windows? - -A: No, unfortunately not. You'll need Microsoft's Visual C++ still, a -Bourne-shell script (cc.sh) wraps the Visual C++ compiler and runs it -from within the Cygwin environment. All other tools needed to build -Erlang are free-ware/open source, but not the C compiler. - -Q: Why haven't you got rid of VC++ then, you ****** - -A: Well, partly because it's a good compiler - really! Actually it's -been possible in late R11-releases to build using mingw instead of -visual C++ (you might see the remnants of that in some scripts and -directories). Unfortunately the development of the SMP version for -Windows broke the mingw build and we chose to focus on the VC++ build -as the performance has been much better in the VC++ versions. The -mingw build will be back, but as long as VC++ gives better -performance, the commercial build will be a VC++ one. - -Q: OK, VC++ you need, but now you've started to demand a very recent -(and expensive) version of Visual studio, not the old and stable VC++ -6.0 that was used in earlier versions. Why? - -A: The SMP version of Erlang needs features in the Visual Studio -2005. Can't live without them. Besides the new compiler gives the -Erlang emulator a ~40% performance boost(!) - -Q: Can/will I build a Cygwin binary with the procedure you describe? - -A: No, the result will be a pure Windows binary, and as far as I know, -it's not possible to make a Cygwin binary yet. That is of course -something desirable, but there are still some problems with the -dynamic linking (dynamic Erlang driver loading) as well as the TCP/IP -emulation in Cygwin, which, I'm sure of, will improve, but still has -some problems. Fixing those problems might be easy or might be hard. -I suggest you try yourself and share your experience. No one would be -happier if a simple ./configure && make would produce a fully fledged -Cygwin binary. Ericsson does however not pay me to do a Cygwin port, so -such a port would have to happen in spare time, which is a limited resource... - -Q: Hah, I saw you, you used GCC even though you said you didn't! - -A: OK, I admit, one of the files is compiled using Cygwin's GCC and -the resulting object code is then converted to MS VC++ compatible coff -using a small C hack. It's because that particular file, beam_emu.c -benefits immensely from being able to use the GCC labels-as-values -extension, which boosts emulator performance by up to 50%. That does -unfortunately not (yet) mean that all of OTP could be compiled using -GCC, that particular source code does not do anything system specific -and actually is adopted to the fact that GCC is used to compile it on -Windows. - -Q: So now there's a MS VC++ project file somewhere and I can build OTP -using the nifty VC++ GUI! - -A: No, never. The hassle of keeping the project files up to date and -do all the steps that constitute an OTP build from within the VC++ GUI -is simply not worth it, maybe even impossible. A VC++ project -file for Erlang/OTP will never happen, at least I will never make -one. Clicking around in super-multi-tab'd dialogs to add a file or -compiler option when it's so much easier in a makefile is simply not -my style. - -Q: So how does it all work then? - -A: Cygwin is the environment, which closely resembles the environments -found on any Unix machine. It's almost like you had a virtual Unix -machine inside Windows. Configure, given certain parameters, then -creates makefiles that are used by the Cygwin gnu-make to built the -system. Most of the actual compilers etc are not, however, Cygwin -tools, so I've written a couple of wrappers (Bourne-shell scripts), -which reside in $ERL_TOP/etc/win32/cygwin_tools and they all do -conversion of parameters and switches common in the Unix environment -to fit the native Windows tools. Most notable is of course the paths, -which in Cygwin are Unix-like paths with "forward slashes" (/) and no -drive letters, the Cygwin specific command 'cygpath' is used for most -of the path conversions. Luckily most compilers accept forward slashes -instead of backslashes as path separators, one still have to get the -drive letters etc right, though. The wrapper scripts are not general -in the sense that, for example, cc.sh would understand and translates -every possible gcc option and passes correct options to cl.exe. The -principle is that the scripts are powerful enough to allow building of -Erlang/OTP, no more, no less. They might need extensions to cope with -changes during the development of Erlang, that's one of the reasons I -made them into shell-scripts and not Perl-scripts, I believe they are -easier to understand and change that way. I might be wrong though, -cause another reason I didn't write them in Perl is because I've never -liked Perl and my Perl code is no pleasant reading... - -In $ERL_TOP, there is a script called otp_build, that script handles -the hassle of giving all the right parameters to configure/make and -also helps you set up the correct environment variables to work with -the Erlang source under Cygwin. - -Q: You use and need Cygwin, but then you haven't taken the time to -port Erlang to the Cygwin environment but instead focus on your -commercial release, is that really ethical? - -A: No, not really, but see this as a step in the right direction. I'm -aiming at GCC compiled emulators and a Cygwin version, but I really -need to do other things as well... In time, but don't hold your -breath... - -Q: Can I build something that looks exactly as the commercial release. - -A: Yes, we use the exactly same build procedure. - -Q: Which version of Cygwin and other tools do you use then? - -A: For Cygwin we try to use the latest releases available when -building. What versions you use shouldn't really matter, I try to -include workarounds for the bugs I've found in different Cygwin -releases, please help me to add workarounds for new Cygwin-related -bugs as soon as you encounter them. Also please do submit bug reports -to the appropriate Cygwin developers. The Cygwin GCC we used for R13B -was version 3.4.4. We used VC++ 8.0 (i.e. Visual studio 2005 SP1), -Sun's JDK 1.5.0_17, NSIS 2.37, and Win32 OpenSSL 0.9.8e. Please read -the next section for details on what you need. - -Q: Can you help me setup X in Cygwin? - -A: No, unfortunately I haven't got time to help with Cygwin related -user problems, please read Cygwin related web sites, newsgroups and -mailing lists. - -Q: Why is the instruction so long? Is it really that complicated? - -A: Partly it's long because I babble too much, partly because I've -described as much as I could about the installation of the needed -tools. Once the tools are installed, building is quite easy. I also -have tried to make this instruction understandable for people with -limited Unix experience. Cygwin is a whole new environment to some -Windows users, why careful explanation of environment variables etc -seemed to be in place. The short story, for the experienced and -impatient is: - -* Get and install complete Cygwin (latest) -* (Buy and) Install Microsoft Visual studio 2005 and SP1 (or higher) -* Get and install Sun's JDK 1.4.2 -* Get and install NSIS 2.01 or higher (up to 2.30 tried and working) -* Get and install OpenSSL 0.9.7c or higher -* Get and unpack wxWidgets-2.8.9 or higher to /opt/local/pgm inside cygwin - - open /cygwin/opt/local/pgm/wxWidgets-2.8.9/build/msw/wx.dsw - - enable wxUSE_GLCANVAS, wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT and wxUSE_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT - in include/wx/msw/setup.h - - build all unicode release (and unicode debug) packages - - open /cygwin/opt/local/pgm/wxWidgets-2.8.9/contrib/build/stc/stc.dsw - - build the unicode release (and unicode debug) packages -* Get and unpack the erlang source distribution with Cygwin's tar. -* set ERL_TOP to where you unpacked the source distribution -* $ cd $ERL_TOP -* Get (from http://www.erlang.org/download/tcltk85_win32_bin.tar.gz) -and unpack the prebuilt TCL/TK binaries for windows with cygwin tar, -standing in $ERL_TOP -* Modify PATH and other environment variables so that all these tools -are runnable from a bash shell. Still standing in $ERL_TOP, issue the following -commands: -$ eval `./otp_build env_win32` -$ ./otp_build autoconf -$ ./otp_build configure -$ ./otp_build boot -a -$ ./otp_build release -a -$ ./otp_build installer_win32 -$ release/win32/otp_win32_<OTP version> /S - -Voila! "Start->Programs->Erlang OTP <OTP version>->Erlang" starts the Erlang -Windows shell. - - -Tools you need and their environment ------------------------------------- - -You need some tools to be able to build Erlang/OTP on Windows. Most -notably you'll need Cygwin and Microsoft VC++, but you also might want -a Java compiler, the NSIS install system and OpenSSL. Only VC++ costs -money, but then again it costs a lot of money, I know... -Well' here's the list: - -* Cygwin, the very latest is usually best. Get all the development -tools and of course all the basic ditto. In fact getting the complete -package might be a good idea, as you'll start to love Cygwin after a -while if you're accustomed to Unix. Make sure to get jar and also make -sure *not* to install a Cygwin'ish Java... The Cygwin jar command is -used but Sun's Java compiler and virtual machine... - -URL: http://www.cygwin.com - -- get the installer from the web site and use that to install -Cygwin. Be sure to have fair privileges. If you're on a NT domain you -should consider running "mkpasswd -d" and "mkgroup -d" after the -installation to get the user databases correct. See their respective -manual pages. - -When you start you first bash shell, you will get an awful prompt. You -might also have a PATH environment variable that contains backslashes -and such. Edit $HOME/.profile and $HOME/.bashrc to set fair prompts -and set a correct PATH. Also do a "export SHELL" in .profile. For some -non-obvious reason the environment variable $SHELL is not exported in -bash. Also note that .profile is run at login time and .bashrc when -sub shells are created. You'll need to explicitly source .bashrc from -.profile if you want the commands there to be run at login time (like -setting up aliases, shell functions and the like). I personally -usually do like this at the end of .profile: ------------------- -ENV=$HOME/.bashrc -export ENV -. $ENV ----------------- - -You might also, if you're a hard core type of person at least, want to -setup X-windows (XFree86), that might be as easy as running startx -from the command prompt and it might be much harder. Use Google to -find help... - -If you don't use X-windows, you might want to setup the Windows -console window by selecting properties in the console system menu -(upper left corner of the window, the Cygwin icon in the title -bar). Especially setting a larger screen buffer size (lines) is useful -as it gets you a scrollbar so you can see whatever error messages -that might appear... - -If you want to use (t)csh instead of bash you're on your own, I -haven't tried and know of no one that has. I expect -that you use bash in all shell examples. - -* Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 SP1. Please don't skip the service -pack! The installer might update your environment so that you can run -the 'cl' command from the bash prompt, then again it might -not... There is always a BAT file in VC\Bin under the installation -directory (default C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8) called -VCVARS32.BAT. Either add the environment settings in that file to the -global environment settings in Windows or add the corresponding BASH -environment settings to your .profile/.bashrc. For example, in my case -I could add the following to .profile ------------------------------------------------------------- -#Visual C++ Root directory as Cygwin style pathname -VCROOT=/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/Microsoft\ Visual\ Studio 8 - -# Visual C++ Root directory as Windows style pathname -WIN_VCROOT="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio 8" - -# The PATH variable should be Cygwin'ish -PATH=$VCROOT/Common7/IDE:$VCROOT/VC/BIN:$VCROOT/Common7/Tools:\ -$VCROOT/Common7/Tools/bin:$VCROOT/VC/PlatformSDK/bin:$VCROOT/SDK/v2.0/bin:\ -$VCROOT/VC/VCPackages:$PATH - -# Lib and INCLUDE should be Windows'ish -# Note that semicolon (;) is used to separate Windows style paths but -# colon (:) to separate Cygwin ditto! - -LIBPATH=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\LIB - -LIB=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\LIB\;$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\LIB\;\ -$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\PlatformSDK\\lib\;$WIN_VCROOT\\SDK\\v2.0\\lib - -INCLUDE=$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\ATLMFC\\INCLUDE\;$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\INCLUDE\;\ -$WIN_VCROOT\\VC\\PlatformSDK\\include - -export PATH LIB INCLUDE --------------------------------------------------------------- - -Make a simple hello world and try to compile it with the 'cl' command -from within bash. If that does not work, your environment needs -fixing. Also remember to fix up the PATH environment, especially old -Erlang installations might have inserted quoted paths that Cygwin does -not understand. Remove or correct such paths. There should be no -backslashes in your path environment variable in Cygwin bash, but LIB -and INCLUDE should contain Windows style paths with semicolon, -drive letters and backslashes. - -If you wish to use Visual Studio 2008, a couple things need to be tweaked, -namely the fact that some of the SDK stuff is installed in (by default) -C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A . Just ensure that that -C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A\Lib is in LIB and -C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\v6.0A\Include is in INCLUDE. A symptom of not -doing this is errors about finding kernel32.lib and windows.h. - -Additionally, if you encounter errors about mc.exe not being found, you must -install the entire Windows SDK (the partial SDK included in visual studio -apparently does not include it). After installing it you'll want to add -something like: /c/cygdrive/Program\ Files/Microsoft\ SDKs/v7.0/bin to your -PATH to allow the environment to find mc.exe. The next Visual Studio (2010) is -expected to include this tool. - -* Sun's Java JDK 1.5.0 or higher. Our Java code (jinterface, ic) is -written for JDK 1.5.0. Get it for Windows and install it, the JRE is -not enough. If you don't care about Java, you can skip this step, the -result will be that jinterface is not built. - -URL: http://java.sun.com - -Add javac *LAST* to your path environment in bash, in my case this means: --------------------------------------------------------------- -PATH="$PATH:/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Java/jdk1.5.0_17/bin" --------------------------------------------------------------- -No CLASSPATH or anything is needed. Type "javac" at the bash prompt -and you should get a list of available Java options. Make sure by -typing "which java" that you use the Java you installed. Note however that -Cygwin's jar.exe is used, that's why the JDK bin-directory should be -added last in the PATH. - -* Nullsoft NSIS installer system. You need this to build the self -installing package. It's a free open source installer that's much -nicer to use than the commercial Wise and Install shield -installers. This is the installer we use for commercial releases as -well from R9C an on. -URL: http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis -Install the lot, especially the modern user interface components, as -it's definitely needed. Put "makensis" in your path, in my case: --------------------------------------------------------------- -PATH=/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/NSIS:$PATH --------------------------------------------------------------- -type makensis at the bash prompt and you should get a list of options -if everything is OK. - -* OpenSSL for Windows. This is if you want the SSL and crypto -applications to compile (and run). Go to http://www.openssl.org, click -on the "Related" link and then on the "Binaries" link (upper right -corner of the page last time I looked), you can then reach the -"Shining Lights Productions" Web site for Windows binaries -distributions. Get the latest or 0.9.7c if you get trouble with the -latest. It's a nifty installer. The rest should be handled by -configure, you needn't put anything in the path or anything. - -If you want to build openssl for windows yourself (which might be -possible, as you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't a -compile-it-yourself person), you either have to put the resulting -DLL's in your path or in the windows system directory and either -specify where you put the includes etc with the configure-parameter ---with-ssl=<cygwin path to the root> or put your installation directly -under c:\OpenSSL. The directory structure under the installation root -for OpenSSL is expected to be one with subdirectories named "include", -"bin" and "lib", possibly with a "VC" subdirectory of "lib" containing -the actual .lib files. Note that the cygwin distributed OpenSSL cannot be -used, it results in cygwin depending binaries and it has unix style -archives (.a, not .lib). - -* Building with wxWidgets. Download wxWidgets-2.8.9 or higher patch -release (2.9.* is a developer release which currently does not work -with wxErlang). -Install or unpack it to DRIVE:/PATH/cygwin/opt/local/pgm -Open from explorer (i.e. by double clicking the file) -C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.10\build\msw\wx.dsw -In Microsoft Visual Studio, click File/Open/File, locate and -open: C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.10\include\wx\msw\setup.h -enable wxUSE_GLCANVAS, wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT and wxUSE_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT -Build it by clicking Build/Batch Build and select all unicode release -(and unicode debug) packages. -Open C:\cygwin\opt\local\pgm\wxMSW-2.8.10\contrib/build/stc/stc.dsw -and batch build all unicode packages. - -* The Erlang source distribution. The same as for Unix -platforms. Preferably use tar from within Cygwin to unpack the source -tar.gz (tar zxf otp_src_R13B03.tar.gz). - -set the environment ERL_TOP to point to the root directory of the -source distribution. Let's say I stood in $HOME/src and unpacked -otp_src_R13B03.tar.gz, I then add the following to .profile: --------------------------------------------------------- -ERL_TOP=$HOME/src/otp_src_R13B03 -export $ERL_TOP --------------------------------------------------------- - -* The TCL/TK binaries. You could compile Tcl/Tk for windows yourself, -but you can get a stripped down version from our website which is -suitable to include in the final binary package. If you want to supply -tcl/tk yourself, read the instructions about how the tcl/tk tar file -used in the build is constructed under $ERL_TOP/lib/gs/tcl. The easy -way is to download -http://www.erlang.org/download/tcltk85_win32_bin.tar.gz and unpack it -standing in the $ERL_TOP directory. This will create the file -win32.tar.gz in $ERL_TOP/lib/gs/tcl/binaries. - -One last alternative is to create a file named 'SKIP' in the -$ERL_TOP/lib/gs/ after configure is run, but that will give you an -erlang system without gs (which might be okay as you probably will use -wx anyway). - -The shell environment ---------------------- - -So, if you have followed the instructions above, when you start a bash -shell, you should have an INCLUDE environment with a Windows style -path, a LIB environment variable also in Windows style, and finally a -PATH that let's you reach cl, makensis, javac etc from the -command prompt (use "which cl" etc to verify from bash). - -You should also have an ERL_TOP environment variable that is *Cygwin -style*, and points to a directory containing, among other files, the -script "otp_build". - -A final massage of the environment is needed, and that is done by -the script $ERL_TOP/otp_build. Start bash and do the following, note -the "back-ticks" (`), can be quite hard to get on some keyboards, but -pressing the back-tick key followed by the space bar might do it... - ------------------------- -$ cd $ERL_TOP -$ eval `./otp_build env_win32` ------------------------- -If you're unable to produce back-ticks on your keyboard, you can use -the ksh variant: ------------------------- -$ cd $ERL_TOP -$ eval $(./otp_build env_win32) ------------------------- - -This should do the final touch to the environment and building should -be easy after this. You could run "./otp_build env_win32" without -"eval" just to see what it does, and to see that the environment it -sets seems OK. The path is cleaned of spaces if possible (using DOS -style short names instead), the variables OVERRIDE_TARGET, CC, CXX, AR -and RANLIB are set to their respective wrappers and the directories -$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc and -$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tool are added first in the PATH. - -Try now a "which erlc". That should result in the erlc wrapper script -(which does not have the .sh extension, for reasons best kept -untold...). It should reside in $ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools. -You could also try "which cc.sh", which "ar.sh" etc. - -Now you're ready to build... - - -Building and installing ------------------------ -Now it's assumed that you have executed "eval `./otp_build env_win32`" -for this particular shell... - -Building is easiest using the otp_build script. That script takes care -of running configure, bootstrapping etc on Windows in a simple -way. The otp_build script is the utility we use ourselves to build on -different platforms and it therefore contains code for all sorts of -platforms. The principle is, however, that for non-Unix platforms, one -uses "./otp_build env_<target>" to set up environment and then the -script knows how to build on the platform "by itself". You've already -run "./otp_build env_win32" in the step above, so now it's mostly like -we build on any platform. OK, here are then steps; Assuming you will -want to build a full installation executable with NSIS, you can omit -<installation directory> and the release will be copied to -$ERL_TOP/release/win32: and there is where the packed self installing -executable will reside too. - -$ ./otp_build autoconf # Ignore the warning blob about versions of autoconf -$ ./otp_build configure <optional configure options> -$ ./otp_build boot -a -$ ./otp_build release -a <installation directory> -$ ./otp_build installer_win32 <installation directory> # optional - -Now you will have a file called otp_win32_R12B.exe in the <installation -directory>, i.e. $ERL_TOP/release/win32. - -Lets get into more detail: - -$ ./otp_build autoconf - This step rebuilds the configure scripts to -work correctly in the cygwin environment. In an ideal world, this -would not be needed, but alas, we have encountered several -incompatibilities between our distributed configure scripts (generated -on a Linux platform) and the cygwin environment over the -years. Running autoconf on cygwin ensures that the configure scripts -are generated in a cygwin-compatible way and that they will work well -in the next step. - -$ ./otp_build configure - This runs the newly generated configure scripts -with options making configure behave nicely. The target machine type is -plainly "win32", so a lot of the configure-scripts recognize this -awkward target name and behave accordingly. The CC variable also makes -the compiler be cc.sh, which wraps MSVC++, so all configure tests -regarding the C compiler gets to run the right compiler. A lot of the -tests are not needed on Windows, but I thought it best to run the -whole configure anyway. The only configure option you might want to -supply is --with-ssl, which might be needed if you have built your own -openssl distribution. The Shining Lights distribution should be found -automatically by configure, if that fails, add a --with-ssl=<dir> that -specifies the root directory of your OpenSSL installation. - -$ ./otp_build boot -a - This uses the bootstrap directory (shipped -with the source, $ERL_TOP/bootstrap) to build a complete OTP -system. It first builds an emulator and sets up a minimal OTP system -under $ERL_TOP/bootstrap, then starts to compile the different OTP -compilers to make the $ERL_TOP/bootstrap system potent enough to be -able to compile all Erlang code in OTP. Then, all Erlang and C code -under $ERL_TOP/lib is built using the bootstrap system, giving a -complete OTP system (although not installed). When this is done, one -can run Erlang from within the source tree, just type $ERL_TOP/bin/erl -and you should have a prompt. If you omit the -a flag, you'll get a -smaller system, that might be useful during development. Now -exit from Erlang and start making a release of the thing: - -$ ./otp_build release -a - Builds a commercial release tree from the -source tree, default is to put it in $ERL_TOP/release/win32, you can -give any directory as parameter (Cygwin style), but it doesn't really matter -if you're going to build a self extracting installer too. You could of -course build release to the final directory and then run ./Install.exe -standing in the directory where the release was put, that will create -a fully functional OTP installation. But let's make the nifty -installer: - -$ ./otp_build installer_win32 - Create the self extracting installer -executable. The executable otp_win32_<OTP version>.exe will be placed -in the top directory of the release created in the previous step. If -no release directory is specified, the release is expected to have -been built to $ERL_TOP/release/win32, which also will be the place -where the installer executable will be placed. If you specified some -other directory for the release (i.e. -./otp_build release -a /tmp/erl_release), you're expected to give the -same parameter here, (i.e. ./otp_build installer_win32 /tmp/erl_release). -You need to have a full NSIS installation and makensis.exe in your -path for this to work of course. Once you have created the installer, -you can run it to install Erlang/OTP in the regular way, just run the -executable and follow the steps in the installation wizard. To get all -default settings in the installation without any questions asked, you -run the executable with the parameter "/S" (capital S). like in: ------------------------------------------------------- -$ cd $ERL_TOP -$ release/win32/otp_win32_R13B03 /S -..... ------------------------------------------------------- -- and after a while Erlang will have been installed in -C:\Program Files\erl5.7.4, with shortcuts in the menu etc. - -*NOTE* Beginning with R9C, the Windows installer does *not* add Erlang -to the system wide path. If one wants to have Erlang in the path, one -has to add it by hand. - -The necessary setup of an Erlang installation is actually done by the -program Install.exe, which resides in the release top. That program -creates ".ini-files" and copies the correct boot scripts. If one has -the correct directory tree (like after a ./otp_build release -a), only -the running of Install.exe is necessary to get a fully functional -OTP. What the self extracting installer adds is (of course) the -possibility to distribute the binary easily, together with adding -shortcuts to the Windows start menu. There is also some adding of -entries in the registry, to associate .erl and .beam files with Erlang -and get nifty icons, but that's not something you'll really need to -run Erlang. The registry is also used to store uninstall information, -but if one has not used the self extracting installer, one cannot -(need not) do any uninstall, one just scratches the release directory -and everything is gone. Erlang/OTP does not *need* to put anything -in the Windows registry at all, and does not if you don't use the self -extracting installer. In other words the installer is pure cosmetics. - - -Development ------------ - -Once the system is built, you might want to change it. Having a test -release in some nice directory might be useful, but you also can run -Erlang from within the source tree. The target 'local_setup', makes -the program $ERL_TOP/bin/erl.exe usable and it also uses all the OTP -libraries in the source tree. - -If you hack the emulator, you can then build the emulator executable -by standing in $ERL_TOP/erts/emulator and do a simple - -$ make opt - -Note that you need to have run (cd $ERL_TOP && eval `./otp_build env_win32`) -in the particular shell before building anything on Windows. After -doing a make opt you can test your result by running $ERL_TOP/bin/erl. -If you want to copy the result to a release directory (say -/tmp/erl_release), you do this (still in $ERL_TOP/erts/emulator) - -$ make TESTROOT=/tmp/erl_release release - -That will copy the emulator executables. - -To make a debug build of the emulator, you need to recompile both -beam.dll (the actual runtime system) and erlexec.dll. Do like this - -$ cd $ERL_TOP -$ rm bin/win32/erlexec.dll -$ cd erts/emulator -$ make debug -$ cd ../etc -$ make debug - -- and sometimes - -$ cd $ERL_TOP -$ make local_setup - -So now when you run $ERL_TOP/erl.exe, you should have a debug compiled -emulator, which you will see if you do a: - -1> erlang:system_info(system_version). - -- in the erlang shell. If the returned string contains "[debug]", you -got a debug compiled emulator. - -To hack the erlang libraries, you simply do a "make opt" in the -specific "applications" directory, like: - -$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib -$ make opt - -- or even in the source directory... - -$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib/src -$ make opt - -Note that you're expected o have a fresh Erlang in your path when -doing this, preferably the plain R13B03 you have built in the previous -steps. You could also add $ERL_TOP/bootstrap/bin to your PATH before -rebuilding specific libraries, that would give you a good enough -Erlang system to compile any OTP erlang code. Setting up the path -correctly is a little bit tricky, you still need to have -$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc and -$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools *before* the actual emulator -in the path. A typical setting of the path for using the bootstrap -compiler would be: - -$ export PATH=$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools/vc:$ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32/cygwin_tools:$ERL_TOP/bootstrap/bin:$PATH - -That should make it possible to rebuild any library without hassle... - -If you want to copy a library (an application) newly built, to a -release area, you do like with the emulator: - -$ cd $ERL_TOP/lib/stdlib -$ make TESTROOT=/tmp/erlang_release release - -Remember that: - -- Windows specific C-code goes in the -$ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/sys/win32, $ERL_TOP/erts/emulator/drivers/win32 -or $ERL_TOP/erts/etc/win32. - -- Windows specific erlang code should be used conditionally and the -host OS tested in *runtime*, the exactly same beam files should be -distributed for every platform! So write code like: - -case os:type() of - {win32,_} -> - do_windows_specific(); - Other -> - do_fallback_or_exit() -end, - -That's basically all you need to get going. - -Final words ------------ -My hope is that the possibility to build the whole system on Windows -will open up for free development on this platform too. There are many -things one might want to do better in the Windows version, like the -window-style command prompt as well as pure Cygwin porting. Although i -realize it's a much larger step to start building on Windows (with all -the software you need) than for instance on Linux, I sincerely hope -that some of you will make the effort and start submitting Windows -friendly patches. - -The first build system for Erlang using Cygwin on Windows was created -by Per Bergkvist. I haven't used his build system, but it's rumored to -be good. The idea to do this came from his work, so credit is well -deserved. - -Of course this would have been completely impossible without the -excellent Cygwin package. The guys at Cygnus solutions and Redhat -deserves a huge THANKS! as well as all the other people in the free -software community who have helped in creating the magnificent -software that constitutes Cygwin. - -Good luck and Happy Hacking, -Patrik, OTP |