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Re: Procedure - SystemTap install from source modules on Fedora core 5


On Thu, 2006-07-20 at 13:53 -0500, Kevin Feliksa wrote:
> Hi, 
> 
> Following is a formalized procedure to install SystemTap from source 
> modules on
> Fedora core 5.  Your comments are very much appreciated. 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Kevin Feliksa (feliksa@us.ibm.com)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> SystemTap install from source modules on Fedora core 5  
> SystemTap is tool that enables application developers and system 
> administrators
> to write instrumentation that monitors the performance of the Linux 
> kernel. 
> The following procedure is for SystemTap installation from source modules 
> on 
> a released Fedora core 5 ISO system. 
> Installation of SystemTap requires the following: 
> root (superuser) login privileges 
> kernel - updated to the latest release 
> kernel-devel or kernel-[smp-]devel RPM - kernel module build environment 
> kernel-debuginfo RPM - kernel debugging information 

You don't need kernel-debuginfo to compile/install - only to run.

... stuff deleted ...

> 13.     Untar the systemtap snapshot.
> a.      Go to the directory were the systemtap snapshot is saved 
> and enter the command:
> tar -jxf systemtap-YYYYMMDD.tar.bz2
> The systemtap snapshot will be decompressed to a sub-directory named src. 
> 14.     Check the systemtap.spec.in file for required elements. 
> a.      Go to the src directory that contains the decompressed systemtap 
> files. 
> Enter the command:
> less systemtap.spec.in 
> b.      Check the current Linux system configuration to verify that it 
> meets 
> the requirements indicated in the systemtap.spec.in file. If it does 
> not, make all necessary changes to the system before proceeding. 

I'm a bit confused about why a user is supposed to look at the spec.in
file, but then never actually use it...

On a fedora system, I'd consider actually using the spec file
(configure, make dist-gzip, rpmbuild ...) if you aren't planning on
doing systemtap development.

> 15.     Build systemtap with elfutils.
> a.      In the src directory where systemtap was decompressed, enter the 
> command:
> ./configure --with-elfutils=PATCHED-ELFUTILS-DIR [add other autoconf 
> options]
> where PATCHED-ELFUTILS-DIR is the directory path where the 
> patched elfutils files are saved.
> Check the messages issued by the configure process to ensure that no 
> errors 
> occurred. Resolve all problems before continuing.
> b.      Enter the following make command:
> make all check
> This process could last several minutes. If programs "FAIL" during the 
> testing (ending) phase of this process, make the necessary corrections to 
> your installation. Then execute the make all check command again to 
> verify that systemtap is ready to install.

A couple of problems with the above.

You shouldn't be doing the make as the root user - too dangerous.

You tell the user to "make the necessary corrections" to any failed
tests, but the user probably won't have any idea what to do (and most
errors probably aren't his fault).  I'd tell the user to just expect 4
or less test failures, based on his system configuration.

> c.      Enter the following command to install systemtap: make install 
> Check the messages issued by the make command to ensure that 
> no errors occurred. Resolve all problems before continuing.
> d.      Change directories and enter a SystemTap command to test the 
> install. Enter the following:
> cd /
> stap -e 'probe begin { log ("hello world") }'
> After a few seconds, stap should produce the message "hello world" 
> if systemtap installed properly. Press Ctl-c to exit the process.

Grammar nit - the above should be "if systemtap is installed properly".

-- 
David Smith
dsmith@redhat.com
Red Hat, Inc.
http://www.redhat.com
256.217.0141 (direct)
256.837.0057 (fax)



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