Linux From Scratch - Version 11.3

Chapter 8. Installing Basic System Software

8.73. Util-linux-2.38.1

The Util-linux package contains miscellaneous utility programs. Among them are utilities for handling file systems, consoles, partitions, and messages.

Approximate build time: 0.5 SBU
Required disk space: 283 MB

8.73.1. Installation of Util-linux

Prepare Util-linux for compilation: 

./configure ADJTIME_PATH=/var/lib/hwclock/adjtime \
            --bindir=/usr/bin    \
            --libdir=/usr/lib    \
            --sbindir=/usr/sbin  \
            --disable-chfn-chsh  \
            --disable-login      \
            --disable-nologin    \
            --disable-su         \
            --disable-setpriv    \
            --disable-runuser    \
            --disable-pylibmount \
            --disable-static     \
            --without-python     \
            --without-systemd    \
            --without-systemdsystemunitdir \
            --docdir=/usr/share/doc/util-linux-2.38.1

The --disable and --without options prevent warnings about building components that either require packages not in LFS, or are inconsistent with programs installed by other packages.

Compile the package: 

make

If desired, run the test suite as a non-root user:

[Warning]

Warning

Running the test suite as the root user can be harmful to your system. To run it, the CONFIG_SCSI_DEBUG option for the kernel must be available in the currently running system and must be built as a module. Building it into the kernel will prevent booting. For complete coverage, other BLFS packages must be installed. If desired, this test can be run by booting into the completed LFS system and running: 

bash tests/run.sh --srcdir=$PWD --builddir=$PWD
chown -Rv tester .
su tester -c "make -k check"

The hardlink tests will fail if the host's kernel does not have the option CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_HASH set. In addition, two sub-tests from misc: mbsencode and one sub-test from script: replay are known to fail.

Install the package: 

make install

8.73.2. Contents of Util-linux

Installed programs: addpart, agetty, blkdiscard, blkid, blkzone, blockdev, cal, cfdisk, chcpu, chmem, choom, chrt, col, colcrt, colrm, column, ctrlaltdel, delpart, dmesg, eject, fallocate, fdisk, fincore, findfs, findmnt, flock, fsck, fsck.cramfs, fsck.minix, fsfreeze, fstrim, getopt, hardlink, hexdump, hwclock, i386 (link to setarch), ionice, ipcmk, ipcrm, ipcs, irqtop, isosize, kill, last, lastb (link to last), ldattach, linux32 (link to setarch), linux64 (link to setarch), logger, look, losetup, lsblk, lscpu, lsipc, lsirq, lsfd, lslocks, lslogins, lsmem, lsns, mcookie, mesg, mkfs, mkfs.bfs, mkfs.cramfs, mkfs.minix, mkswap, more, mount, mountpoint, namei, nsenter, partx, pivot_root, prlimit, readprofile, rename, renice, resizepart, rev, rfkill, rtcwake, script, scriptlive, scriptreplay, setarch, setsid, setterm, sfdisk, sulogin, swaplabel, swapoff, swapon, switch_root, taskset, uclampset, ul, umount, uname26 (link to setarch), unshare, utmpdump, uuidd, uuidgen, uuidparse, wall, wdctl, whereis, wipefs, x86_64 (link to setarch), and zramctl
Installed libraries: libblkid.so, libfdisk.so, libmount.so, libsmartcols.so, and libuuid.so
Installed directories: /usr/include/blkid, /usr/include/libfdisk, /usr/include/libmount, /usr/include/libsmartcols, /usr/include/uuid, /usr/share/doc/util-linux-2.38.1, and /var/lib/hwclock

Short Descriptions

addpart

Informs the Linux kernel of new partitions

agetty

Opens a tty port, prompts for a login name, and then invokes the login program

blkdiscard

Discards sectors on a device

blkid

A command line utility to locate and print block device attributes

blkzone

Is used to manage zoned storage block devices

blockdev

Allows users to call block device ioctls from the command line

cal

Displays a simple calendar

cfdisk

Manipulates the partition table of the given device

chcpu

Modifies the state of CPUs

chmem

Configures memory

choom

Displays and adjusts OOM-killer scores, used to determine which process to kill first when Linux is Out Of Memory

chrt

Manipulates real-time attributes of a process

col

Filters out reverse line feeds

colcrt

Filters nroff output for terminals that lack some capabilities, such as overstriking and half-lines

colrm

Filters out the given columns

column

Formats a given file into multiple columns

ctrlaltdel

Sets the function of the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination to a hard or a soft reset

delpart

Asks the Linux kernel to remove a partition

dmesg

Dumps the kernel boot messages

eject

Ejects removable media

fallocate

Preallocates space to a file

fdisk

Manipulates the partition table of the given device

fincore

Counts pages of file contents in core

findfs

Finds a file system, either by label or Universally Unique Identifier (UUID)

findmnt

Is a command line interface to the libmount library for working with mountinfo, fstab and mtab files

flock

Acquires a file lock and then executes a command with the lock held

fsck

Is used to check, and optionally repair, file systems

fsck.cramfs

Performs a consistency check on the Cramfs file system on the given device

fsck.minix

Performs a consistency check on the Minix file system on the given device

fsfreeze

Is a very simple wrapper around FIFREEZE/FITHAW ioctl kernel driver operations

fstrim

Discards unused blocks on a mounted filesystem

getopt

Parses options in the given command line

hardlink

Consolidates duplicate files by creating hard links

hexdump

Dumps the given file in hexadecimal, decimal, octal, or ascii

hwclock

Reads or sets the system's hardware clock, also called the Real-Time Clock (RTC) or Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) clock

i386

A symbolic link to setarch

ionice

Gets or sets the io scheduling class and priority for a program

ipcmk

Creates various IPC resources

ipcrm

Removes the given Inter-Process Communication (IPC) resource

ipcs

Provides IPC status information

irqtop

Displays kernel interrupt counter information in top(1) style view

isosize

Reports the size of an iso9660 file system

kill

Sends signals to processes

last

Shows which users last logged in (and out), searching back through the /var/log/wtmp file; it also shows system boots, shutdowns, and run-level changes

lastb

Shows the failed login attempts, as logged in /var/log/btmp

ldattach

Attaches a line discipline to a serial line

linux32

A symbolic link to setarch

linux64

A symbolic link to setarch

logger

Enters the given message into the system log

look

Displays lines that begin with the given string

losetup

Sets up and controls loop devices

lsblk

Lists information about all or selected block devices in a tree-like format

lscpu

Prints CPU architecture information

lsfd

Displays information about open files; replaces lsof

lsipc

Prints information on IPC facilities currently employed in the system

lsirq

Displays kernel interrupt counter information

lslocks

Lists local system locks

lslogins

Lists information about users, groups and system accounts

lsmem

Lists the ranges of available memory with their online status

lsns

Lists namespaces

mcookie

Generates magic cookies (128-bit random hexadecimal numbers) for xauth

mesg

Controls whether other users can send messages to the current user's terminal

mkfs

Builds a file system on a device (usually a hard disk partition)

mkfs.bfs

Creates a Santa Cruz Operations (SCO) bfs file system

mkfs.cramfs

Creates a cramfs file system

mkfs.minix

Creates a Minix file system

mkswap

Initializes the given device or file to be used as a swap area

more

A filter for paging through text one screen at a time

mount

Attaches the file system on the given device to a specified directory in the file-system tree

mountpoint

Checks if the directory is a mountpoint

namei

Shows the symbolic links in the given paths

nsenter

Runs a program with namespaces of other processes

partx

Tells the kernel about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions

pivot_root

Makes the given file system the new root file system of the current process

prlimit

Gets and sets a process's resource limits

readprofile

Reads kernel profiling information

rename

Renames the given files, replacing a given string with another

renice

Alters the priority of running processes

resizepart

Asks the Linux kernel to resize a partition

rev

Reverses the lines of a given file

rkfill

Tool for enabling and disabling wireless devices

rtcwake

Used to enter a system sleep state until the specified wakeup time

script

Makes a typescript of a terminal session

scriptlive

Re-runs session typescripts using timing information

scriptreplay

Plays back typescripts using timing information

setarch

Changes reported architecture in a new program environment, and sets personality flags

setsid

Runs the given program in a new session

setterm

Sets terminal attributes

sfdisk

A disk partition table manipulator

sulogin

Allows root to log in; it is normally invoked by init when the system goes into single user mode

swaplabel

Makes changes to the swap area's UUID and label

swapoff

Disables devices and files for paging and swapping

swapon

Enables devices and files for paging and swapping, and lists the devices and files currently in use

switch_root

Switches to another filesystem as the root of the mount tree

taskset

Retrieves or sets a process's CPU affinity

uclampset

Manipulates the utilization clamping attributes of the system or a process

ul

A filter for translating underscores into escape sequences indicating underlining for the terminal in use

umount

Disconnects a file system from the system's file tree

uname26

A symbolic link to setarch

unshare

Runs a program with some namespaces unshared from parent

utmpdump

Displays the content of the given login file in a user-friendly format

uuidd

A daemon used by the UUID library to generate time-based UUIDs in a secure and guaranteed-unique fashion

uuidgen

Creates new UUIDs. Each new UUID is a random number likely to be unique among all UUIDs created, on the local system and on other systems, in the past and in the future, with extremely high probability (~340 trillion trillion trillion unique UUIDs are possible)

uuidparse

A utility to parse unique identifiers

wall

Displays the contents of a file or, by default, its standard input, on the terminals of all currently logged in users

wdctl

Shows hardware watchdog status

whereis

Reports the location of the binary, source, and man page files for the given command

wipefs

Wipes a filesystem signature from a device

x86_64

A symbolic link to setarch

zramctl

A program to set up and control zram (compressed ram disk) devices

libblkid

Contains routines for device identification and token extraction

libfdisk

Contains routines for manipulating partition tables

libmount

Contains routines for block device mounting and unmounting

libsmartcols

Contains routines for aiding screen output in tabular form

libuuid

Contains routines for generating unique identifiers for objects that may be accessible beyond the local system