updated changelog for branch/3.4

[irc/kvirc/KVIrc.git] / INSTALL

Szymon Stefanek                                                    October 2008
###############################################################################
General notes for the installation of the 3.4.3 release of KVIrc 
###############################################################################

    This document contains the procedures to compile and install
    the version 3.4.3 of KVIrc.

###############################################################################
# 0. Table of contents
###############################################################################

    1. Introduction
    2. Guru-level installation
    3. Hacker-level installation
    4. Human (detailed) installation instructions
    5. How to compile KVIrc with Qt-embedded
    6. Compiling KVIrc on Mac OS X
    7. A note about Windows 95/98/ME

###############################################################################
# 1. Introduction
###############################################################################

    This document contains the procedures to compile and install
    the version 3.4.3 of KVIrc.

    If you have found this document in a binary distribution then
    KVIrc has been probably already installed by your favorite package
    manager and maybe something is not working as expected. In this case
    this document and the accompanying FAQ can help you in guessing
    what's wrong.

    If you have found this document in a source distribution or you
    have downloaded it by using the svn then well...
    this is a standard INSTALL file :)

###############################################################################
# 2. Guru installation:
###############################################################################

    # ./configure
    # make install

###############################################################################
# 3. Hacker installation:
###############################################################################

    If you're compiling the svn version of KVirc run ./autogen.sh
    (You NEED automake >= 1.5 for autogen.sh to run).

    # export QTDIR="your qtlibrary path"

    eventually:

    # export KDEDIR="your kde library path"

    We're using GNU tools here.

    # ./configure --help
    # ./configure [your options]
    # make
    # make install

###############################################################################
# 4. Human (detailed) installation:
###############################################################################

        If you're not a guru, or have problems with the installation
        read these instructions carefully.

    ###
    ### Step 0 (ONLY FOR THE SVN VERSION)
    ###

        If (*** AND ONLY IF ***) you're compiling the svn version of kvirc
        you need to generate the configure script. If you're compiling
        a downloaded tar.gz (or tar.bz2) package or you don't know what
        svn is then jump directly to step 1!

        You need a recent automake and autoconf installed on your system.
        It is also reccomended to have a recent (matching) libtool installed
        (libtool is not strictly necessary since KVIrc has a bundled one,
        but a libtool matching your automake/autoconf versions will probably
        run better on your system).

        Anyway, run:
    
        # ./autogen.sh

        If it runs without any error (it will tell you "Done") then
        you may skip to step 1, otherwise read on.

        First of all check your auomake version.
        You need automake >= 1.5: older versions will NOT WORK.
        You can check the automake version with the command

        # automake --version

        If your automake version is lower than 1.5 upgrade it.
        You can find it at http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/ (source)
        or on your favorite distribution site as auto-installing package.

            Automake installation tip: automake installs in /usr/local/
            by default. If you have an older automake installation that
            resides in /usr/ it's better to remove it or (better) overwrite it
            with the new installation.
            If you choose to overwrite the old installation with the new
            one then just use "./configure --prefix=/usr" as the automake's
            configure command.
            If you choose to remove the old version then the files to be
            removed are /usr/bin/automake /usr/bin/aclocal /usr/share/automake
            /usr/share/aclocal. If you feel unsure about removing it, rename it.

        If the script fails to run then you might try

        # ./autogen.sh --bundled-libtool

        to force the usage of the bundled libtool version.
        If you later have unexplicable problems with the compilation tools
        you might also try the bundled libtool.

    ###
    ### Step 1 : Matching the requirements
    ###

        - You NEED a fully working C++ compiler.
        
        Most linux distributions have it pre-installed and if you have
        already compiled other programs before then you're probably ok,
        so actually skip this check and go ahead. If anything fails
        in the following steps then this is the very first thing to verify.
        A broken compiler installation usually manifests itself
        in failed ./configure tests (dlopen capabilities).
        Try
        
        # gcc -v
        # g++ -v

        on the commandline. If it says something about "command not found"
        then you miss some gcc related package. Install it from the distro cd.


        - You NEED the Qt library.

        You can download the latest version from ftp://ftp.trolltech.com.
        The main Qt www site is http://www.trolltech.com.
        Note for the GPL maniacs: Qt IS GPL.
        The minimum required version is 3.1.2 (older versions *might* work)
        Download and install it by following the rules
        explained in the excellent documentation that comes with the library.


        - You need a decent pthread implementation.

        This is usually included in your distribution and is probably
        already installed. The library is called libpthread.so.
        You can look for it with the "find" command:

        # find / -name libpthread.so

        On my system the output is:

        # /usr/lib/libpthread.so 

        If you don't have it (the configure script will tell you)
        you can download it from your favorite GNU mirror.

        On Solaris you can use the native libthread.so library instead
        but you will have to pass the specific option to configure (see below).
        FreeBSD has a native implementation of pthreads in libc_r and
        the gcc compiler has a special -pthread flag to link to it.
        If you're on FreeBSD, use the --with-freebsd-pthread configure
        option and make sure that you don't have other pthread wrappers
        installed (that might collide with the native header files).

        The configure script will also fail if the library is
        hidden somewhere on your system (eg. not in /lib , /usr/lib or
        /usr/local/lib): you should probably move it.


        - You need the dynamic linker interface library libdl.so.

        This is usually installed on your system , so don't care until
        configure complatins about it. Some system have the interface
        builtin in libc. The configure script can detect it.


        - (Optional) If you want to compile the KDE integration support
        you obviousy need KDE. The kdelibs package should suffice.


        - (Optional) If you want the translations to non-english languages to work
        then you need the GNU gettext package. In particular KVIrc uses
        the msgfmt program.

        This is usually included in your distribution and is probably
        already installed. You can check it by running 

        # msgfmt --version

        KVIrc will not complain if the command above is missing: it will
        just skip the creation of the translation files.
        If the command above fails then you need to install the gettext package
        if you want any language other than english.


        - (Optional) If you want DCC VOICE to support the gsm codec,
        you need a recent copy of libgsm. This is not strictly required
        at compile time since KVIrc will look for the library at run-time,
        and only if the DCC VOICE with the gsm codec is requested.
        You can check for libgsm using the 'find' command.

        # find / -name libgsm*

        The output should be sometihg like

        # /usr/lib/libgsm.so

        This library is included in most distributions. Some distros ship
        only the static version of the library "libgsm.a": if the previous
        find returned only something similar to "/usr/lib/libgsm.a" , you might
        create manually the shared archive by running:

        # cd /usr/lib
        # ld --whole-archive -shared -o libgsm.so.1 libgsm.a
        # ln -s libgsm.so.1 libgsm.so
        # ldconfig

        If you don't have it installed at all, you might have a look in your
        distribution CD, or download it from the web.


        - (Optional) If you want the /snd plugin to play various audio formats
        you either need a running artsd, a running esd or a reasonably recent
        audiofile library. Without these KVIrc will be only able to play *.au
        files.


        - (Optional) If you want to generate the on-line documentation
        you also need perl: any version will do (I guess).


        - (Optional) If you want the secure socket layer support to be compiled
        you need the OpenSSL library and headers. (libssl.so and openssl/ssl.h)


        - (Optional) If you want perl scripting support to be compiled
        you need a working perl installation. Your libperl.so MUST be compiled
        with the MULTIPLICITY option. (You can check it with perl -V).

    ###
    ### Step 2 : Running the configure script (mandatory)
    ###

        First of all you must run the configure script that will guess some
        info about your system and prepare the compilation.
        You may try to "simply run" it and check if it works...the configure
        script tries to be smart , but in some cases it will fail.

        So before running the script make sure that the enviroinement
        variable $QTDIR points to the right location. This will help
        in finding the correct version of Qt.
        You might eventually set it with the command:

        # export QTDIR="your qt dir"

        On my system qt is installed in /usr/local/kde/qt
        so I actually execute

        # export QTDIR="/usr/local/kde/qt"

        If you want to compile the KDE support you might want to do the same
        with KDEDIR

        # export KDEDIR="your kde dir"

        In my case KDE is installed in /usr/local/kde so I use

        # export KDEDIR="/usr/local/kde"
   
        The configure script has a lot of options that can be listed by using

        # ./configure --help

        Here's a list with explainations (the most common are at the top):

        --enable-debug
            This is for debugging and reporting problems.
            It sets the compiler options in order to leave the debugging
            informations into the kvirc executable and the libraries.
            In this way you will be able to produce a gdb backtrace
            in case of a crash.
            YOU NEED THIS OPTION IF YOU WANT TO REPORT A PROGRAM CRASH.

        --enable-pipes
            Asks the compiler to use pipes instead of files for the
            compilation stage. The pipes will help in reducing disk usage and
            will probably shorten the compilation a bit. Use this option if
            your platform supports it.

        --with-qt-library-dir=<DIR>
            Look for the qt library in <DIR>.
            You might want to use this if the configure script has trouble
            in finding the qt library.
            You should have no problems if you use export QTDIR="<DIR>"
            before launching the configure script, but it might help you
            if you have a non standard Qt installation.
        
        --with-qt-include-dir=<DIR>
            Look for the qt headers in <DIR>.
            You might want to use this if the configure script has trouble
            in finding the qt headers. It may especially help if your headers
            are in a place different than $QTDIR/include (and thus you have
            a non standard installation)
         
        --with-qt-moc=<PATH>
            Use the qt meta-object compiler found in <PATH>
            The path is usually $QTDIR/bin/moc , and the
            configure script will find it if you have a standard
            Qt installation and $QTDIR points to the right directory.
            Thus should have no problems if you use export QTDIR="<DIR>"
            before launching the configure script, but it might help you
            if you have a non standard Qt installation.
            This will also help if you have the moc compiler renamed
            in some way: like "moc2" or sth...
            <PATH> in this case is a FULL path: directory/program_name!
        
        --disable-qt-check
            This disables Qt checking at compilation time.
            If this is the only way to compile and run
            the kvirc executable , then there is something
            wrong with the configure script.

        --without-kde-support
            The configure script will look for the KDE headers and libraries
            and if found it will enable the KDE support. If you don't want
            the KDE support even if KDE is detected, just use this switch.
        
        --with-kde-library-dir=<DIR>
            Look for the KDE libraries in <DIR>
            If $KDEDIR points to the right place, you shouldn't need this.
        
        --with-kde-include-dir=<DIR>
            Look for the KDE headers in <DIR>
            If $KDEDIR points to the right place, you shouldn't need this.

        --with-kde-services-dir=<DIR>
            Install the kde service protocol files in <DIR>
            If $KDEDIR points to the right place, you shouldn't need this.
            This is also non-critical for kvirc: if the configure script
            can't find this directory, you will only looose the support for
            irc:// urls in konqueror

        --without-kde-check
            Similar to --without-qt-check but for KDE.

        --enable-optimisation=<NUMBER>
            Enables the compiler optimisation flag -o<NUMBER>.
            Possible values are 0 , 1, 2 and 3 (but if you compiler supports
            more optimisation levels , you might use other numbers here).
            Increases compilation time but may produce a slightly faster
            executable. 

        --with-other-libs=<libraries>
            Explicitly link to the specified libraries.
            Example: --with-other-libs="-lmylib -lstrangesystemsupport"
        
        --with-other-ldirs=<paths>
            Explicitly add the specified library search paths
            Example: --with-other-ldirs="-L/home/pippo/lib/ -L/my/library/"
        
        --with-other-idirs
            Explicitly add the specified include search path
            Example: --with-other-idirs="-I/home/pippo/include/ -I/tmp/inc/"

        --enable-objprelink
            This is an experimental support for object prelinking that improves
            significantly the executable startup time. In order to use it you
            need to have the "objprelink" program in the PATH. The objprelink
            program is included in the distribution in the admin directory.
            In order to use it, you will need to:

            # cd admin
            # make objprelink
            # cp objprelink /somewhere_on_your_path

            All this AFTER running ./configure and BEFORE running make.

        --with-no-pthread-check
            Do not check if the pthread stuff works.
            If configure fails in the pthread library check , you might want to
            try this...(but then you will have really to "pray" that
            the check has been broken by some "unusual" conditions and the
            compilation will succeed).

        --x-includes=DIR
            Specifies explicitly the path to the X header files.
            You might want to use this if the configure script
            has trouble in finding it.
        
        --x-libraries=DIR
            Specifies explicitly the path to the X libraries.
            You might want to use this if the configure script
            has trouble in finding it.

        --with-qt-name=<NAME>
            Use <NAME> instead of "qt" as the Qt library name.
            This is useful on systems where Qt has been installed with
            a name different than the default "qt".
            It happens often that to allow multiple copies of qt to work
            the newest have the version name appended to it.
            For example, on FreeBSD I have found "qt" being Qt1.* and
            "qt2" being Qt 2.*. Since you need Qt 2.* for kvirc to work,
            you will need to use --with-qt-name=qt2.
            If you use this option, you will probably also need to remap
            the moc compiler path/name with --with-qt-moc.

        --disable-qt-mt
            Disable checking for the multithreaded version of Qt.
            By default , KVIrc will try to link to the multithreaded version
            if found on the system.
            NOTE: if you enable the KDE support , KVIrc MUST be linked to the
                  qt library that KDE is linked to.

        --with-ix86-asm
            KVIrc contains some ix86 assembly routines that *could*
            performs some things faster (this is not always true, depends
            on the compiler). You might want to try it if your kvirc seems to
            be really slow...

        --without-ipv6-support
            The IPV6 support is compiled by default on the platforms that
            support it: this option disables it.
            Even if you have a plain IPV4-only connection, you might want to
            keep the IPV6 support: you will be able to lookup IPV6 hostnames.

        --without-system-memmove
            This will disable the use of the system memmove() memcpy() and
            memset() functions and enable the bundled implementations. Use
            it if you have undefined references to these functions while
            compiling.

        --with-ignore-sigalarm
            This is a hack mainly for Solaris.
            Use this option if kvirc exits with no apparent reason and
            the system prints a message related to an "Alarm" :)

            This is a mail that suggests an explaination for the SIGALARM fault.
            If you experience the problem please drop me a mail at pragma at kvirc dot net
            and we'll try to look for a solution.

              From: "Andre Stechert" (astechert at email dot com)
              Date:  26/7/2005 09:36

              Hi,
              I noticed in your readme that you were having problems with sigalarm
              in your solaris port and you weren't sure why.  I quickly scanned your
              source code and noticed that you use usleep and threads.  That's the problem,
              if you haven't already figured it out. On Solaris, usleep is implemented with
              SIGALARM. So is threading. So if you the active thread changes while
              a usleep is in progress, bang, the process is dead.

        --without-crypt-support
            Disables the cryptographic engines and the whole
            cryptography/text-transformation support. Produces a slightly
            smaller executable. Anyway, if you don't know what the
            ctryptography/text-transformation
            support is ,I suggest you to avoid using this option.
        
        --enable-new-kvs
            Developers only!
            This enables the compilation of the new KVS parser, currently
            under heavy development. This will produce a bigger and possibly
            unstable executable: do not use if you don't know what you're doing.

        --enable-new-kvs-only
            Developers only!
            This hardwires the new KVS parser to be used as the main scripting
            engine in KVIrc. Be aware that the new KVS engine is NOT YET 100% COMPLETE
            so some scripts will simply fail.

        --without-transparency
            This option disables pseudo-transparency support.
            The pseudo transparency support makes the KVirc windows
            look like semi-transparent (this is NOT real transparency: this is
            just a nice-looking hack).
            If KDE support is enabled, KVirc will have an option that
            makes all windows use a faded KDE desktop background image
            as background. Without KDE support you will be able to choose
            a fake background image and use it as background. (You can still
            choose your desktop wallpaper: this will (more-or-less) work in
            all the window managers).
            It is cool-looking but usually eats some memory when enabled.
            It also eats some executable size.
            So this option allows to disable the pseudo-transparency.

        --with-solaris-lthread
            If you're on Solaris and don't have the pthread library (A wrapper
            I guess) you might try this option: it attempts to use the native
            Solaris threading support.

        --with-freebsd-pthread
            If you're on FreeBSD, you NEED this option. This enables the usage
            of the native FreeBSD pthread implementation found in libc_r.
            This requires you to use the native gcc compiler: it has a special
            -pthread flag that enables the linkage to libc_r instead
            of plain libc.

        --with-libresolv
            Link to libresolv. I guess that this is required for Solaris
        
        --with-libsocket
            Link to libsocket. I guess that this is required for Solaris
        
        --with-libnsl
            Link to libnsl. I guess that this is required for Solaris

        --with-libcompat
            Link to libcompat. This might be required for some systems...
            but I have no idea which ones. If you find it useful: mail me.

        --enable-fno-rtti
            Disables compiler runtime type information generation.
            This is probably needed only with qt-embedded.
            DON'T use it if you don't exactly know what it does.
            Actually this may even make KVIrc crash in some situations.
            For example the KDE sources use __dynamic_cast...

        --disable-x-support
            Disables completely the X Windows support.
            This is useful in environments where X is not needed to compile KVIrc
            such as Qt-Mac on MacOSX, QtEmbedded or Windows.
            This switch implies also --without-x-bell

        --without-x-bell
            Disables the usage of the XBell function (needed if you want to
            compile KVIrc with qt-embedded (no X at all))
            This is implied by --disable-x-support

        --with-qt-embedded
            You need this to compile KVIrc with qt-embedded

        --without-ipc
            Disables support for inter-process communication.
            You will be not able to send remote commands to running
            kvirc sessions: this basically means that every time you run
            the kvirc executable , a new session will be started.
            If you don't use this switch, a new session will be started
            only if no session is running on the same display or
            "new session" has been forced by a commandline switch.
            If a session is already running, the commandline will be
            passed to that session via IPC (X-event-based communication).
            This option saves some KB of the KVIrc executable,
            so if you're really short in memory , you might use it,
            otherwise, IPC is a nice feature.
       
        --without-dyn-labels
            You should not need this option.
            It disables compilation of code that relies on a particular
            compiler feature (jumping to a dynamic label with a goto).
            Not all compilers support this , but configure shoud detect
            it automatically. Anyway , if you get compilation errors on
            kvi_ircview.cpp, you may try this option...
            This may also help if the configure script seems to hang
            when checking for the "compiler dynamic label support".

        --without-splash-screen
            Do not compile the splash screen code.
            This will remove you that nice "banner" image that pops up
            while kvirc is starting up. It will maybe help in making an
            executable smaller by a couple of KB and save a couple
            of extra milliseconds during the startup. Use it if you're
            tring to build a performance critical executable and you're
            short both in memory and CPU time :)

        --without-gsm
            Explicitly disable the usage of the GSM library. This will
            disable the DCC VOICE gsm codec but might help when the
            compilation stops complaining of something related to GSM :)

        --without-dcc-sound
            Explicitly disable the DCC VOICE sound support. This might help
            if you have problems in compilation of src/modules/dcc/voice.cpp.
            It will disable the sound support
            (and thus make DCC VOICE not usable).

        --disable-ssl
            Disables the secure socket layer support. The SSL support is
            automatically enabled if OpenSSL is detected at ./configure time.
            This option forces it to be left out.

        --with-memory-profile
            Debug stuff...enables memory allocation profiling (don't use it :)

        --with-memory-checks
            Enables malloc() memory checks. This will print a nice message
            if your system goes out of memory...
            It can't save you from buying new RAM,
            but at least you will know that your system went out of memory
            and it is not a proper kvirc fault. Actually you probably have
            no reason in using it.

        --with-big-channels
            Minor hash table optimisations: higher memory usage but
            faster user lookups. Use it if you often stay in channels with
            a lot of users. (this is not critical anyway)

        --enable-profiling
            Asks the compiler/linker to include profiling informations in the
            executable. This is useful only if you want to profile KVIrc by
            using the gprof program. Note that this will generate a bigger
            and slower executable.

        --disable-perl
            Forcibly disable perl support.

        So finally you have to run

        # ./configure <your options>

        For example , my common options are:

        # ./configure --enable-pipes --enable-debug

        On FreeBSD I have found useful this command line:

        # ./configure --with-qt-name=qt2 --with-qt-moc=/<PATH_HERE>/moc2 \
                         --with-freebsd-pthread

        Once the configure script ran succesfully you can go to the next step.

    ###
    ### Step 3 : Compiling (mandatory)
    ###

        This step is easy:
        Cross your fingers and run

        # make kvirc

        If your make is not a GNU make (this happens on FreeBSD for example)
        you should use "gmake" instead.
        The compilation process will take from 6-7 minutes to several hours
        depending on the machine capabilities and load.
        If you have a slow cpu but have a couple of computers in a lan you
        might consider using distcc to distribute the compilation.

        Once the compilation has been succesfull, run

        # make install

        Same as above: use "gmake install" if your make is not GNU make.

        This will install the executable in /usr/local/bin
        (if you don't have specified a different --prefix option in
        the configure script) , the libraries in /usr/local/lib
        and the shared data in /usr/local/share/kvirc.
        If you had a previous kvirc installation , the default prefix
        will be referring to the directory where the old kvirc
        executable was found.

        Make sure that /usr/local/lib is in your /etc/ld.so.conf , 
        if it isn't there , put it there and run

        # ldconfig

        If you have decided to use the KDE support the installation
        might have placed all these files in your $KDEDIR tree
        instead of /usr/local. In this case you should be OK since
        KDE requires its library dir to be in /etc/ld.so.conf

    ###
    ### Step 4: Having fun
    ###

        # kvirc &

        That's all folks.


###############################################################################
# 5. Compiling KVIrc on qt-embedded
###############################################################################

    Do you want KVIrc 3 on your hand computer ?
    On your Nokia 9999910 ?
    On your LINUX CONSOLE?

    Well, for the third it's really easy, just follow carefully those steps:

    1. Install qt-embedded libraries (including the development files).
       This can be as easy as: apt-get install libqt-emb-dev on Debian.

    2. cd to the KVIrc3 source directory

    3. run configure with the following parameters:

        # ./configure --with-qt-name=qte --with-fno-rtti --without-x-calls
               --without-ipc --without-splash-screen --without-transparency
               --with-qt-embedded --without-x-bell

       then run make and make install as usual

    4. Try to have a life for the next minutes while kvirc3 compiles

    5. You need your kernel with framebuffer support (it's under 'Console')
       so if your kernel don't have it reconfigure and recompile your kernel.

    6. switch to a console

    7. export QTDIR=[path] On Debian is '/usr'

    8. Read http://doc.trolltech.com/3.0/envvars.html and configure your
       environment vars until kvirc3-emb loads (it will give you an error
       indicating what went wrong else). Pay especial attention to
       QWS_MOUSE_PROTO, QWS_CARD_SLOT and QWS_DISPLAY

    9. Enjoy :)

###############################################################################
# 6. Compiling KVIrc on MacOSX
###############################################################################

    There is a detailed compilation and installation HOWTO for MacOSX systems
    located in the doc dorectory.

###############################################################################
# 7. A note about Windows 95/98/ME
###############################################################################

    On Windows versions prior to 2000 the KVIrc binary may refuse to start
    because of an incompatible msvcrt.dll included in the distribution.

    If this happens to you then you may try the following tricks:

    - Find msvcrt.dll in your C:\Windows directory. It may also be
      in C:\Windows\System or C:\Windows\System32
      Copy it to the KVIrc installation folder overwriting the existing
      msvcrt.dll shipped with kvirc.

    - Find msvcrt.dll somewhere on the net. An url hint might be:
      http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?msvcrt 
      Download the file and copy it to the KVIrc installation folder
      overwriting the existing msvcrt.dll shipped with kvirc.

    If none of the two steps work for you please write a mail to
    pragma at kvirc dot net reporting your exact Windows version and build
    and including the exact messages that the system reports when trying
    to run the KVIrc executable.

    Thanx to Dusan Hokuv for reporting this and suggesting the fixes.