2.2. Host System Requirements
Your host system should have the following software with the minimum versions indicated. This should not be an issue for most modern Linux distributions. Also note that many distributions will place software headers into separate packages, often in the form of “<package-name>-devel” or “<package-name>-dev”. Be sure to install those if your distribution provides them.
Earlier versions of the listed software packages may work, but have not been tested.
-
Bash-3.2 (/bin/sh should be a symbolic or hard link to bash)
-
Binutils-2.25 (Versions greater than 2.37 are not recommended as they have not been tested)
-
Bison-2.7 (/usr/bin/yacc should be a link to bison or small script that executes bison)
-
Bzip2-1.0.4
-
Coreutils-6.9
-
Diffutils-2.8.1
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Findutils-4.2.31
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Gawk-4.0.1 (/usr/bin/awk should be a link to gawk)
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GCC-6.2 including the C++ compiler, g++ (Versions greater than 11.2.0 are not recommended as they have not been tested)
-
Glibc-2.11 (Versions greater than 2.34 are not recommended as they have not been tested)
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Grep-2.5.1a
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Gzip-1.3.12
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M4-1.4.10
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Make-4.0
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Patch-2.5.4
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Perl-5.8.8
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Python-3.4
-
Sed-4.1.5
-
Tar-1.22
-
Texinfo-4.7
-
Xz-5.0.0
![[Important]](../images/important.png)
Important
Note that the symlinks mentioned above are required to build an LFS system using the instructions contained within this book. Symlinks that point to other software (such as dash, mawk, etc.) may work, but are not tested or supported by the LFS development team, and may require either deviation from the instructions or additional patches to some packages.
To see whether your host system has all the appropriate versions, and the ability to compile programs, run the following:
cat > version-check.sh << "EOF"
#!/bin/bash
# Simple script to list version numbers of critical development tools
export LC_ALL=C
bash --version | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f2-4
MYSH=$(readlink -f /bin/sh)
echo "/bin/sh -> $MYSH"
echo $MYSH | grep -q bash || echo "ERROR: /bin/sh does not point to bash"
unset MYSH
echo -n "Binutils: "; ld --version | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f3-
bison --version | head -n1
if [ -h /usr/bin/yacc ]; then
echo "/usr/bin/yacc -> `readlink -f /usr/bin/yacc`";
elif [ -x /usr/bin/yacc ]; then
echo yacc is `/usr/bin/yacc --version | head -n1`
else
echo "yacc not found"
fi
bzip2 --version 2>&1 < /dev/null | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f1,6-
echo -n "Coreutils: "; chown --version | head -n1 | cut -d")" -f2
diff --version | head -n1
find --version | head -n1
gawk --version | head -n1
if [ -h /usr/bin/awk ]; then
echo "/usr/bin/awk -> `readlink -f /usr/bin/awk`";
elif [ -x /usr/bin/awk ]; then
echo awk is `/usr/bin/awk --version | head -n1`
else
echo "awk not found"
fi
gcc --version | head -n1
g++ --version | head -n1
ldd --version | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f2- # glibc version
grep --version | head -n1
gzip --version | head -n1
cat /proc/version
m4 --version | head -n1
make --version | head -n1
patch --version | head -n1
echo Perl `perl -V:version`
python3 --version
sed --version | head -n1
tar --version | head -n1
makeinfo --version | head -n1 # texinfo version
xz --version | head -n1
echo 'int main(){}' > dummy.c && g++ -o dummy dummy.c
if [ -x dummy ]
then echo "g++ compilation OK";
else echo "g++ compilation failed"; fi
rm -f dummy.c dummy
EOF
bash version-check.sh