diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'OS/os.Configuring')
| -rw-r--r-- | OS/os.Configuring | 215 |
1 files changed, 215 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/OS/os.Configuring b/OS/os.Configuring new file mode 100644 index 0000000..465bc26 --- /dev/null +++ b/OS/os.Configuring @@ -0,0 +1,215 @@ +Configuring Exim for different Operating Systems +------------------------------------------------ + +These notes describe the way in which Exim is configured at the C program level +for different operating systems. The normal configuration options that apply +independently of the operating system are specified by creating files in the +Local directory, as described in chapter 4 of the manual. + +These notes cover the os.* files in the OS directory, and contain information +for people who want to port the program to some new OS, or to modify the +configuration for an existing port. If you are just wanting to compile Exim on +a system that it already knows about, you do not need to read further unless +there are problems. + +The os.c-<ostype> files +----------------------- + +There may be an os.c-<ostype> file for each operating system, but for many of +them it is not necessary. No error occurs is there isn't one. There is a +generic file called os.c which contains code that is common to two or more OS +for setting a restarting or a non-restarting signal, for computing the load +average, and for finding all the network interface addresses. A few OS have +their own individual code for one or more of these. When they do, the code is +put into an os.c-<ostype> file, which also defines a macro such as +OS_RESTARTING_SIGNAL (for example) to cut out the common code in the generic +os.c. + +The os.h-<ostype> files +----------------------- + +For each OS that Exim knows about, there is an os.h-<ostype> file, where +<ostype> is the OS name. The relevant file is included as a C header file for +all Exim compilation by pointing a symbolic link called os.h at it from the +build directory. The settings are as follows: + +The select() function +--------------------- + +There is a difference in the data type for the second argument to the select() +function in some OS. The macro SELECT_ARG2_TYPE can be used to define the type. +If it is not defined in os.h, then it is defaulted to fs_set in exim.h. + +The dn_expand() function +------------------------ + +There is a difference in the data type for the fourth argument to the +dn_expand() function in some OS. The macro DN_EXPAND_ARG4_TYPE can be used to +define the type. If it is not defined in os.h, then it is defaulted to char * +in exim.h. + +The h_errno variable +-------------------- + +If NEED_H_ERRNO is defined, then a definition of the form + +extern int h_errno + +is included in the compiled code of Exim. + +The strerror() function +----------------------- + +Most systems provide the ANSI standard strerror() function; older systems may +instead have an errlist[] variable in which to look up error texts. Defining +STRERROR_FROM_ERRLIST causes Exim to build its own strerror() function that +mimics the ANSI function by lookup up the error code in errlist. + +Truncating files +---------------- + +The fcntl() option for truncating the length of a file is called F_FREESP in +most systems; in some, however, it is called O_TRUNC. Some os.h files define +F_FREESP to be O_TRUNC for this reason. + +Finding local interfaces +------------------------ + +The SIOCGIFCONF ioctl for finding local interfaces behaves differently on BSD +systems. It returns a vector of ifreq blocks containing sockaddr structures +that can be longer than their sizeof definition, making the returned ifreq +blocks longer than their sizeof definitions. BSD sockaddrs structures contain +an sa_len field giving the actual size. To cope with difference, there is a +macro called HAVE_SA_LEN. If it is defined, code that works on BSD systems is +used. Otherwise, the objects returned by SIOCGIFCONF are assumed to be of +length sizeof(struct ifreq). + +On some operating systems, the SIOCGIFCONF ioctl returns the IP addresses +with the list of interfaces, and there is no need to call SIOCGIFADDR for each +individual address. Mostly, making the second call does no harm, but on Linux +when there are IP aliases, it causes things to go wrong. This also happens on +BSDI and GNU Hurd. Therefore, there is now a macro to cut it out, called +SIOCGIFCONF_GIVES_ADDR. + +Note that, if IPv6 support is configured, Exim cannot find the IPv6 addresses +on local interfaces by itself. You need to set the local_interfaces option in +this situation. + +Computing load averages +----------------------- + +There are several different ways that load averages are computed. One-off code +is put in the os.c-<ostype>, but several OS use similar methods, and these +are coded in the generic os.c, using a number of parameters to make variations +between OS. + +Sometimes the load average is not available to unprivileged callers. If +LOAD_AVG_NEEDS_ROOT is set, Exim ensures that it is root before trying to +obtain a load average value. + +(1) If HAVE_BSD_GETLOADAVG is defined, Exim uses a simple call to the +getloadavg() function. + +(2) If HAVE_KSTAT is defined, Exim uses the kstat package as found in Solaris 2 +(but nowhere else as yet). It uses some supplementary definitions: + + LOAD_AVG_KSTAT the kstat to use + LOAD_AVG_KSTAT_MODULE the module to access + LOAD_AVG_KSTAT_SYMBOL the symbol containing the value we want + LOAD_AVG_KSTAT_FIELD the field identity + +(3) If HAVE_DEV_KMEM is defined, Exim reads load average values from the +/dev/kmem device. It uses some supplementary definitions: + + LOAD_AVG_TYPE the data type + LOAD_AVG_SYMBOL the symbol to look up + KERNEL_PATH the name of the kernel + FSCALE a scaling factor + +Sometimes FSCALE is defined in system headers so need not be defined in the +os.h-<ostype> file. + +Glibc systems and IP options +---------------------------- + +The code for inspecting IP options is the same in all OS except for systems +using glibc (e.g. Linux), which uses a different structure to return data from +getsockopt(). To handle this, there is a macro called + + GLIBC_IP_OPTIONS + +which should be set for Linux (in os.h-Linux) and any other operating system +that uses glibc. + +Options for statvfs() +--------------------- + +The following settings apply to the compilation of the Exim monitor as well as +to the main Exim binary. + +#undefine HAVE_STATFS + +Exim has options for checking the amount of space in the spool partition +before accepting a message, and the monitor has the ability to display a +stripchart of the percentage fullness of a particular disc partition, usually +/var/spool/mail. The standard way of finding out the data is to call the +statvfs() function, but some operating systems use statfs() and some may not +have the ability at all. The Exim code uses STATVFS() for this function and +this gets defined appropriately. HAVE_STATFS is defined before including the +os.h file; undefining it suppresses the code for checking a partition in the +main binary, and for monitoring disc partition in the monitor. + +When HAVE_STATFS is defined, the distinction between statvfs() and statfs() is +made by checking HAVE_SYS_STATVFS_H. If it is defined, then sys/statvfs.h is +included. Otherwise, STATVFS() is defined as a macro for statfs(), and some +further includes are done, according to the following definitions: + +#define HAVE_SYS_MOUNT_H +#define HAVE_VFS_H + +Each of those definitions causes the inclusion of the corresponding system +header file in the Exim monitor compilation. For example, the first one causes + +#include <sys/mount.h> + +to be obeyed. Different systems may require different combinations of these +headers. + +The sys/resource.h header +------------------------- + +One OS does not have the sys/resource.h header. If NO_SYS_RESOURCE_H is defined +in an os.h-<ostype> file, then the #include for this header is skipped in +exim.h. + +Support for login_cap functions +------------------------------- + +Some of the BSD systems support functions for controlling the resources that +user processes can use (e.g. login_getpwclass). If HAVE_SETCLASSRESOURCES is +defined, Exim supports this feature for running pipe deliveries, using the +setclassresources() function. + +The crypt_h header +------------------ + +Some OS require crypt.h to be included to get a prototype for the crypt() +function. This is needed only when compiling with AUTH support. If CRYPT_H is +defined, then this header is included. + +mmap() support +-------------- + +The CDB support includes the option of handling file operations by using +mmap()/munmap(). This gives a reasonable performance increase which will +probably scale over multiple processes (since the files are mapped read-only +shared). The vast majority of modern operating systems will support mmap +(certainly in the simplified way that it is being used here). For example any +BSD 4.x derived or POSIX compliant system will support it, as will pretty much +any system using dynamically shared link libraries. + +If the OS is believed to support mmap() then the symbol HAVE_MMAP is defined. +Not all systems that support mmap will have had their config files updated to +reflect this. Currently Linux, Sun, BSD and SGI/mips systems have been updated. + +*** End *** |