Provided by: module-assistant_0.11.10_all 
NAME
module-assistant - manage kernel modules packages
SYNOPSIS
module-assistant [ -fihnqstv ] [ -k source/headers directory ] [ -l kernel versions ] { update | search |
prepare | auto-install | list | list-available | list-installed | auto-unpacked | get | build | install |
clean | purge | fakesource } [ pkg ... ]
m-a ...
DESCRIPTION
module-assistant is the command-line tool for handling module-source packages that have been prepared for
the Debian distribution. It helps users to build and install module package(s) easily for one or more
custom kernels.
Unless the -h, or --help option is given, one of the commands below should be present to invoke a
function explicitly. If no (or no valid) command is specified and the dialog tool is available, a simple
graphical user interface will pop up and guide you trough the available functionality.
NOTE: don't even think about using some random linux-source-x.y.z package contents (or linux-x.y.z
tarball from the Internet) to specify the kernel source for your currently running kernel. Don't! Those
source is not exactly what have been used to build the running kernel and its configuration most likely
does not match yours. You need the configured kernel source directory or at least the derived linux-
headers-... package containing the kernel configuration for the exact kernel version (complete version
string). If you do not understand anything of the above, run "m-a prepare" and/or look at the
description and contents of some linux-headers-... package. Please run the module-assistant prepare
command once before you do anything else.
For some packages, linux-headers (reduced source) is not enough. You will have the choice to run a
completely customized kernel, or to recreate the source that have been used to build the current one. The
fakesource function may be useful, see below.
In order to configure a kernel source properly, you need to make sure that the file version.h is
generated. To get it, configure the options as usual (make menuconfig etc.) and run make dep (for kernel
2.4.x) or make prepare (for newer ones).
COMMANDS
Most commands require a specification of the package names that they should be applied on. pkg can be a
single word (package name) or multiple names. The word all will be expanded to the list of all available
packages, the word alli to the list of currently installed (source) packages and the word allu will be
expanded to the list of packages that seem to be installed and unpacked in the base source directory. If
a source package with the given name is not available, module-assistant (abbreviated: m-a) will extend
the package name with the popular suffixes like -kernel, -driver, -module, -source and combinations of
them.
Multiple commands can be specified in one invocation, eg. "m-a clean,get,build arla cdfs" is the short
way to write "module-assistant clean arla-modules-source ; module-assistant clean cdfs-src ; module-
assistant get arla-modules-source cdfs-src ; module-assistant build arla-modules-source cdfs-src" (or
similar).
If you do not like the dialog/whiptail GUI, feel free to use the -t switch to disable it.
update update is used to resynchronize the version index files from their sources. This happens with
helper scripts provided by the packages. module-assistant has a default built-in list of the
packages that it should look for but other packages can be registered by module-assistant if the
maintainer adds the helper script.
prepare
Tries to determine the name of the required linux-headers package (either the one matching the
currently running kernel or for the versions specified with -l), installs it if needed and creates
the /usr/src/linux symlink if needed. Also installs the build-essential package to ensure that a
sane compiler environment is established.
fakesource
Experimental function which tries to determine the name of the required/compatible linux-source
package, installs it, modifies the Makefile to look like the original source and runs
configuration routines as needed. Warning: DO NOT RELY ON THE RESULTING SOURCE. It may be very
different from the original version.
list | list-available | la
list-available (abbreviated with la) presents a list of details about specified packages,
including installed version, installable versions and recently built binary packages. If the
package names are omitted, shows all known packages. With -v, prints long package paths.
list-installed | li
Synonym to list alli. Acts like list-available but limits the list to the installed source
packages.
search Synonym to list -s. Looks for locally compiled packages first and (if none found) searches for
alternative installation candidates with apt-cache.
get get followed by the package list installs the package source, downloading source packages when
needed.
build build is followed by one or more source packages that should be built. It chooses the kernel
source appropriate for the currently running kernel unless different directories have been
specified. If the build fails, look for the most recent log file in /var/cache/modass (or the
user-specified location).
install
install is followed by one or more packages desired for installation. The last built package for
the current running kernel is chosen.
auto-install | a-i
auto-install is followed by one or more packages desired for installation. It will run prepare to
configure your system to build packages, get the package source, try to build it for the current
kernel and install it. You can use alli or allu shortcuts to select all installed modules source
packages or only those that have been unpacked before (similar to the make-kpkg tool normally
does, looking in $MODULE_LOC)
auto-build | a-b
like auto-install but does not install the package immediately
clean clean clears the build directories of the kernel packages.
purge purge clears the information cache of a source package and removes all binary packages locally
built from it (that module-assistant knows about). USE WITH CARE!
OPTIONS
-t
--text-mode
Show pure build/install/update logs, no progress bars.
-k
--kernel-dir
The kernel source directories to be used for builds. You can specify multiple directories with
multiple options or separated by commas or line separators (e.g using -k "`echo /usr/src/linux-
headers-*`" ). The kernel versions detected in this directories are automatically added to the
list of target kernel versions (see --kvers-list for details).
-l
--kvers-list
List of kernel version strings (as in KVERS) to act on. If omitted, the version string of the
currently running kernel is inserted. If --kernel-dir specifies additional source directories, the
kernel versions that belong to them will be inserted too.
The locations of the kernel source (or headers) that belong to this kernel versions are either
detected by a lookup in the "usual" locations on Linux systems, or they must be specified with the
--kernel-dir option.
-v
--verbose
Shows a bit more information, like full paths of the binary packages.
-n
--no-rebuild
If a package that is to be generated does already exist in the target directory (maybe in on older
version), -n prevents from building the package again.
The default behaviour is to skip when exactly the same file (with the same filename) is to be
generated as the one that already exists, and the new filename could be detected before starting
the build process (depends on the module package).
-f
--force
Never look for target file (in another version) and force a build. For the get command, download
a newer version of a package even if it is already installed.
-u
--userdir
All relevant environment variables with paths will be redirected to new directories under the one
specified with this option.
-i
--non-inter
When the package build was not successful, just continue with other candidates. By default,
module-assistant will suggest to examine the build log. This option may also modify the behaviour
of dpkg and apt-get to reduce the need for human interaction and install build dependencies as
needed.
-o
--unpack-once
Try to not unpack twice. The option needs to be also specified when the package is being unpacked
for the first time. Experimental option, don't rely on it.
-O
--not-unpack
Never unpack the source tarball. Useful after manual manipulation of module source.
-q
--quiet
Suppress some of the noisy messages during the processing.
-S
--sudo-cmd
A replacement command for superuser commands to be used instead of sudo.
-s
--apt-search
See search command for details.
-h
--help Prints the usage overview.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
You can export the following environment variables to modify the behaviour of the build scripts. Some
packages may ignore them or interpret them differently.
KPKG_DEST_DIR
KPKG_DEST_DIR specify the target directory where the resulting Debian package should be installed
into. However, many packages ignore this variable and install the file into the directory above
the kernel source directory or above the current directory.
KERNELDIRS
KERNELDIRS specifies or extends the list of kernel source/header directory which m-a should build
modules for. See /-k/-Option for details.
SIGNCHANGES
If SIGNCHANGES is set, .changes files will be generated (calling kdist_image rule instead of
kdist) and debsign (or gpg or pgp) will be executed to sign the changes.
KMAINT | DEBFULLNAME | DEBNAME
Specifies the realname of the person building the package (interesting for .changes file only)
KEMAIL | DEBEMAIL
Specifies the email address of the person building the package (interesting for .changes file
only).
MODULE_LOC
A different location for the (already extracted) module source directories. Default is
/usr/src/modules.
MA_VARDIR
A different location for cached data, used by helper scripts from module-assistant. Default is
/var/cache/modass.
MA_APTCMD
Command to download install packages, to use instead of the apt-get.
MOD_SRCDIR
A different location for module source tarballs. Default is /usr/src.
ROOT_CMD
Wrapper command to execute command as root. If you are not root, fakeroot is chosen automatically.
This variable must be interpreted by individual packages so some of them may ignore it. However,
you can still run module-assistant inside of the ROOT_CMD wrapper.
NON-ROOT USAGE
module-assistant can work without being root. However you won't be able to use apt-get or dpkg to install
the packages, and you cannot write to /var/cache/modass on a normal Debian system. So the commands are
get, install, auto-install and prepare are taboo for regular users. However, if the sudo program is
installed, it will be invoked for apt-get and dpkg operations. All remaining commands except of list
require additional environment variables to move the target paths to locations writable for the user.
They all can be trimmed to a certain location (a writable directory) using the -u switch.
FILES
/usr/share/modass/packages/*
List of helper scripts shipped with the module-assistant package.
/usr/share/modass/overrides/*
Helper scripts installed by other packages.
SEE ALSO
make-kpkg(1), /usr/share/doc/module-assistant/README
BUGS
See the module-assistant bug page <URL:http://bugs.debian.org/src:module-assistant>. If you wish to
report a bug in module-assistant, please use the reportbug(1) command.
RETURN CODES
0 Success
1..249 various errors during the build process
254 problem with permissions
255 fixable error after user intervention
TODO
Quicklist (fast output without details)
Integration into APT and/or into the init system
"Aggressive" debianisation using the templates set (to generate a package with guessed name from any
source that looks like being compatible with kernel 2.6 build system)
Automatic transformation of kernel sources to generate .udeb packages
AUTHOR
Module-Assistant was written by Eduard Bloch <blade@debian.org> for the Debian distribution.
06 September 2003 MODULE-ASSISTANT(8)