Tips for Compiling/Building Software for Solaris

If the configure process needs to know your system type and Solaris 2.6 (or SunOS 5.6) is not an option, the best bet fallbacks are:

• Solaris 2.5.1/SunOS 5.5.1
• Solaris 2.5/SunOS 5.5
• Solaris 2.x/SunOS 5.x
• X/Open Programmer's Guide Release 4 (XPG4)
• POSIX
• SysVR4

Make sure /usr/ucb is either not in your path (preferred) or at the end of it when configuring/building. Never use /usr/ucb/cc to compile software - always use the SparcWorks Pro cc or gcc. Avoid linking with -lucb whenever possible - if you must use it (and you should almost never have to with software written/modified anytime in the last 3 or 4 years), add it to the end of the LDFLAGS or LIBS like this:

• -lc -L/usr/ucblib -R/usr/ucblib -lucb

However, most ``make install'' scripts expect the /usr/ucb/install or /usr/local/gnu/bin/install behavior, not the bizzare /usr/sbin/install behavior - if you get strange "not found" errors from install, it's probably because you're using the wrong one. And NEVER run install as root without specifying the full path to the install program since you can easily blow away system software with the sbin install program if you're not careful.

Tips for answering configuration questions (these are just general guidelines, and may not always be the best answer for a particular package - the symbol ``>'' is used to mean ``is preferred over''):

• Sparcs are big-endian (like Motorola 68k processors)
• waitpid > wait3/wait4 > wait
• signal handling:
  • sigaction > sigset > signal
  • sig{set,long}jmp > {set,long}jmp (when appropriate)
• reading directories: readdir/dirent.h > getdents/getdirentries/[n]dir.h
• finding # of file descriptors: sysconf > getdtablesize > NOFILE
• open() flags: O_NONBLOCK > O_NDELAY
• file system stats: statvfs > statfs
• file locking: fcntl > lockf > flock
• tty interface: POSIX/termios > termio > sgtty/ioctl
• getting the current time: time > gettimeofday
• formatting the time: strftime > asc[f]time/c[f]time
• getting current dir: getcwd > getwd
• getting the hostname: gethostname > uname
• terminal info: terminfo > termcap
• string matching: strcasecmp > stricmp
• process creation: fork > vfork

For some information about what the various system libraries are, run ``man -s 3 intro''

Some configure scripts will find -lmalloc and try using it - you probably want to discourage this since the -lmalloc versions of the memory routines are slower (more space-efficient, yes, but slower - see ``man -s 3c malloc'' for more info on the different versions).).

Always link with any shared libraries available instead of the equivalent static libraries, so that when bugs are fixed in the shared libraries they will be automatically fixed in your programs, and so that your programs work after OS upgrades.

If you need to link with shared libraries in non-standard paths, always use ``cc -R'' to specify the path instead of requiring that LD_*_PATH environment variables be set (don't just try writing a wrapper to set the variables and call the program).

To link with the Motif libraries, add this to your LDFLAGS or LIBS before -lXt or other X11 libraries:

• -L/usr/dt/lib -R/usr/dt/lib -lXm

Check out Sun's Solaris Migration Site when you're looking for already ported source or porting hints. Read the comp.unix.solaris FAQ and the Solaris Porting FAQ for answers to other questions.

Disclaimer: This site is not maintained by Sun Microsystems, Inc. No warranty is provided as to the accuracy or usability of the information provided. Nothing here should be construed as representing the official position of Sun Microsystems, Inc., the Open Computing Facility, or the University of California.