gdb: Requirements
C.1 Requirements for Building GDB
=================================
Building GDB requires various tools and packages to be available. Other
packages will be used only if they are found.
Tools/Packages Necessary for Building GDB
=========================================
C++11 compiler
GDB is written in C++11. It should be buildable with any recent
C++11 compiler, e.g. GCC.
GNU make
GDB's build system relies on features only found in the GNU make
program. Other variants of 'make' will not work.
Tools/Packages Optional for Building GDB
========================================
Expat
GDB can use the Expat XML parsing library. This library may be
included with your operating system distribution; if it is not, you
can get the latest version from <http://expat.sourceforge.net>.
The 'configure' script will search for this library in several
standard locations; if it is installed in an unusual path, you can
use the '--with-libexpat-prefix' option to specify its location.
Expat is used for:
* Remote protocol memory maps (
Memory Map Format)
* Target descriptions (Target Descriptions)
* Remote shared library lists (Library List Format, or
alternatively Library List Format for SVR4 Targets)
* MS-Windows shared libraries (Shared Libraries)
* Traceframe info (Traceframe Info Format)
DONTPRINTYET * Branch trace (Branch Trace Format, *noteBranch Trace
Configuration Format::)
Guile
GDB can be scripted using GNU Guile. Guile. By default,
GDB will be compiled if the Guile libraries are installed and are
found by 'configure'. You can use the '--with-guile' option to
request Guile, and pass either the Guile version number or the file
name of the relevant 'pkg-config' program to choose a particular
version of Guile.
iconv
GDB's features related to character sets (Character Sets)
require a functioning 'iconv' implementation. If you are on a GNU
system, then this is provided by the GNU C Library. Some other
systems also provide a working 'iconv'.
If GDB is using the 'iconv' program which is installed in a
non-standard place, you will need to tell GDB where to find it.
This is done with '--with-iconv-bin' which specifies the directory
that contains the 'iconv' program. This program is run in order to
make a list of the available character sets.
On systems without 'iconv', you can install GNU Libiconv. If
Libiconv is installed in a standard place, GDB will automatically
use it if it is needed. If you have previously installed Libiconv
in a non-standard place, you can use the '--with-libiconv-prefix'
option to 'configure'.
GDB's top-level 'configure' and 'Makefile' will arrange to build
Libiconv if a directory named 'libiconv' appears in the top-most
source directory. If Libiconv is built this way, and if the
operating system does not provide a suitable 'iconv'
implementation, then the just-built library will automatically be
used by GDB. One easy way to set this up is to download GNU
Libiconv, unpack it inside the top-level directory of the GDB
source tree, and then rename the directory holding the Libiconv
source code to 'libiconv'.
lzma
GDB can support debugging sections that are compressed with the
LZMA library. MiniDebugInfo. If this library is not
included with your operating system, you can find it in the xz
package at <http://tukaani.org/xz/>. If the LZMA library is
available in the usual place, then the 'configure' script will use
it automatically. If it is installed in an unusual path, you can
use the '--with-lzma-prefix' option to specify its location.
MPFR
GDB can use the GNU MPFR multiple-precision floating-point library.
This library may be included with your operating system
distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
<http://www.mpfr.org>. The 'configure' script will search for this
library in several standard locations; if it is installed in an
unusual path, you can use the '--with-libmpfr-prefix' option to
specify its location.
GNU MPFR is used to emulate target floating-point arithmetic during
expression evaluation when the target uses different floating-point
formats than the host. If GNU MPFR it is not available, GDB will
fall back to using host floating-point arithmetic.
Python
GDB can be scripted using Python language. Python. By
default, GDB will be compiled if the Python libraries are installed
and are found by 'configure'. You can use the '--with-python'
option to request Python, and pass either the file name of the
relevant 'python' executable, or the name of the directory in which
Python is installed, to choose a particular installation of Python.
zlib
GDB will use the 'zlib' library, if available, to read compressed
debug sections. Some linkers, such as GNU gold, are capable of
producing binaries with compressed debug sections. If GDB is
compiled with 'zlib', it will be able to read the debug information
in such binaries.
The 'zlib' library is likely included with your operating system
distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
<http://zlib.net>.
Info Catalog
gdb: Installing GDB
gdb: Running Configure