CONFIG_QUOTA
If you say Y here, you will be able to set per user limits for disk
usage (also called disk quotas). Currently, it works for the
ext2, ext3, and reiserfs file system. You need additional software
in order to use quota support (you can download sources from
<http://www.sf.net/projects/linuxquota/>). For further details, read
the Quota mini-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>. Probably the quota
support is only useful for multi user systems. If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_QFMT_V1
This quota format was (is) used by kernels earlier than 2.4.??. If
you have quota working and you don't want to convert to new quota
format say Y here.
CONFIG_QFMT_V2
This quota format allows using quotas with 32-bit UIDs/GIDs. If you
need this functionality say Y here. Note that you will need latest
quota utilities for new quota format with this kernel.
CONFIG_MINIX_FS
Minix is a simple operating system used in many classes about OS's.
The minix file system (method to organize files on a hard disk
partition or a floppy disk) was the original file system for Linux,
but has been superseded by the second extended file system ext2fs.
You don't want to use the minix file system on your hard disk
because of certain built-in restrictions, but it is sometimes found
on older Linux floppy disks. This option will enlarge your kernel
by about 28 KB. If unsure, say N.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called minix.o. Note that the file system of your root
partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot be compiled as
a module.
CONFIG_REISERFS_FS
Stores not just filenames but the files themselves in a balanced
tree. Uses journaling.
Balanced trees are more efficient than traditional file system
architectural foundations.
In general, ReiserFS is as fast as ext2, but is very efficient with
large directories and small files. Additional patches are needed
for NFS and quotas, please see <http://www.reiserfs.org/> for links.
It is more easily extended to have features currently found in
database and keyword search systems than block allocation based file
systems are. The next version will be so extended, and will support
plugins consistent with our motto ``It takes more than a license to
make source code open.''
Read <http://www.reiserfs.org/> to learn more about reiserfs.
Sponsored by Threshold Networks, Emusic.com, and Bigstorage.com.
If you like it, you can pay us to add new features to it that you
need, buy a support contract, or pay us to port it to another OS.
CONFIG_REISERFS_CHECK
If you set this to Y, then ReiserFS will perform every check it can
possibly imagine of its internal consistency throughout its
operation. It will also go substantially slower. More than once we
have forgotten that this was on, and then gone despondent over the
latest benchmarks.:-) Use of this option allows our team to go all
out in checking for consistency when debugging without fear of its
effect on end users. If you are on the verge of sending in a bug
report, say Y and you might get a useful error message. Almost
everyone should say N.
CONFIG_REISERFS_PROC_INFO
Create under /proc/fs/reiserfs a hierarchy of files, displaying
various ReiserFS statistics and internal data at the expense of
making your kernel or module slightly larger (+8 KB). This also
increases the amount of kernel memory required for each mount.
Almost everyone but ReiserFS developers and people fine-tuning
reiserfs or tracing problems should say N.
CONFIG_EXT2_FS
This is the de facto standard Linux file system (method to organize
files on a storage device) for hard disks.
You want to say Y here, unless you intend to use Linux exclusively
from inside a DOS partition using the UMSDOS file system. The
advantage of the latter is that you can get away without
repartitioning your hard drive (which often implies backing
everything up and restoring afterwards); the disadvantage is that
Linux becomes susceptible to DOS viruses and that UMSDOS is somewhat
slower than ext2fs. Even if you want to run Linux in this fashion,
it might be a good idea to have ext2fs around: it enables you to
read more floppy disks and facilitates the transition to a *real*
Linux partition later. Another (rare) case which doesn't require
ext2fs is a diskless Linux box which mounts all files over the
network using NFS (in this case it's sufficient to say Y to "NFS
file system support" below). Saying Y here will enlarge your kernel
by about 44 KB.
The Ext2fs-Undeletion mini-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>, gives information about
how to retrieve deleted files on ext2fs file systems.
To change the behavior of ext2 file systems, you can use the tune2fs
utility ("man tune2fs"). To modify attributes of files and
directories on ext2 file systems, use chattr ("man chattr").
Ext2fs partitions can be read from within DOS using the ext2tool
command line tool package (available from
<ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/ext2/>) and from
within Windows NT using the ext2nt command line tool package from
<ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/utils/dos/>. Explore2fs is a
graphical explorer for ext2fs partitions which runs on Windows 95
and Windows NT and includes experimental write support; it is
available from
<http://jnewbigin-pc.it.swin.edu.au/Linux/Explore2fs.htm>.
If you want to compile this file system as a module ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called ext2.o. Be aware however that the file system
of your root partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot
be compiled as a module, and so this could be dangerous. Most
everyone wants to say Y here.
CONFIG_EXT3_FS
This is the journaling version of the Second extended file system
(often called ext3), the de facto standard Linux file system
(method to organize files on a storage device) for hard disks.
The journaling code included in this driver means you do not have
to run e2fsck (file system checker) on your file systems after a
crash. The journal keeps track of any changes that were being made
at the time the system crashed, and can ensure that your file system
is consistent without the need for a lengthy check.
Other than adding the journal to the file system, the on-disk format
of ext3 is identical to ext2. It is possible to freely switch
between using the ext3 driver and the ext2 driver, as long as the
file system has been cleanly unmounted, or e2fsck is run on the file
system.
To add a journal on an existing ext2 file system or change the
behavior of ext3 file systems, you can use the tune2fs utility ("man
tune2fs"). To modify attributes of files and directories on ext3
file systems, use chattr ("man chattr"). You need to be using
e2fsprogs version 1.20 or later in order to create ext3 journals
(available at <http://sourceforge.net/projects/e2fsprogs/>).
If you want to compile this file system as a module ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called ext3.o. Be aware however that the file system
of your root partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot
be compiled as a module, and so this may be dangerous.
CONFIG_JBD
This is a generic journaling layer for block devices. It is
currently used by the ext3 file system, but it could also be used to
add journal support to other file systems or block devices such as
RAID or LVM.
If you are using the ext3 file system, you need to say Y here. If
you are not using ext3 then you will probably want to say N.
If you want to compile this device as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called jbd.o. If you are compiling ext3 into the kernel,
you cannot compile this code as a module.
CONFIG_JBD_DEBUG
If you are using the ext3 journaled file system (or potentially any
other file system/device using JBD), this option allows you to
enable debugging output while the system is running, in order to
help track down any problems you are having. By default the
debugging output will be turned off.
If you select Y here, then you will be able to turn on debugging
with "echo N > /proc/sys/fs/jbd-debug", where N is a number between
1 and 5, the higher the number, the more debugging output is
generated. To turn debugging off again, do
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/fs/jbd-debug".
CONFIG_BFS_FS
Boot File System (BFS) is a file system used under SCO UnixWare to
allow the bootloader access to the kernel image and other important
files during the boot process. It is usually mounted under /stand
and corresponds to the slice marked as "STAND" in the UnixWare
partition. You should say Y if you want to read or write the files
on your /stand slice from within Linux. You then also need to say Y
to "UnixWare slices support", below. More information about the BFS
file system is contained in the file
<file:Documentation/filesystems/bfs.txt>.
If you don't know what this is about, say N.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called bfs.o. Note that the file system of your root
partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot be compiled as
a module.
CONFIG_CRAMFS
Saying Y here includes support for CramFs (Compressed ROM File
System). CramFs is designed to be a simple, small, and compressed
file system for ROM based embedded systems. CramFs is read-only,
limited to 256MB file systems (with 16MB files), and doesn't support
16/32 bits uid/gid, hard links and timestamps.
See <file:Documentation/filesystems/cramfs.txt> and
<file:fs/cramfs/README> for further information.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called cramfs.o. Note that the root file system (the one
containing the directory /) cannot be compiled as a module.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_TMPFS
Tmpfs is a file system which keeps all files in virtual memory.
Everything in tmpfs is temporary in the sense that no files will be
created on your hard drive. The files live in memory and swap
space. If you unmount a tmpfs instance, everything stored therein is
lost.
See <file:Documentation/filesystems/tmpfs.txt> for details.
CONFIG_RAMFS
Ramfs is a file system which keeps all files in RAM. It allows
read and write access.
It is more of an programming example than a useable file system. If
you need a file system which lives in RAM with limit checking use
tmpfs.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called ramfs.o.
CONFIG_ISO9660_FS
This is the standard file system used on CD-ROMs. It was previously
known as "High Sierra File System" and is called "hsfs" on other
Unix systems. The so-called Rock-Ridge extensions which allow for
long Unix filenames and symbolic links are also supported by this
driver. If you have a CD-ROM drive and want to do more with it than
just listen to audio CDs and watch its LEDs, say Y (and read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/isofs.txt> and the CD-ROM-HOWTO,
available from <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>), thereby
enlarging your kernel by about 27 KB; otherwise say N.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called isofs.o.
CONFIG_JOLIET
Joliet is a Microsoft extension for the ISO 9660 CD-ROM file system
which allows for long filenames in unicode format (unicode is the
new 16 bit character code, successor to ASCII, which encodes the
characters of almost all languages of the world; see
<http://www.unicode.org/> for more information). Say Y here if you
want to be able to read Joliet CD-ROMs under Linux.
CONFIG_ZISOFS
This is a Linux-specific extension to RockRidge which lets you store
data in compressed form on a CD-ROM and have it transparently
decompressed when the CD-ROM is accessed. See
<http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/fs/zisofs/> for the tools
necessary to create such a filesystem. Say Y here if you want to be
able to read such compressed CD-ROMs.
CONFIG_UDF_FS
This is the new file system used on some CD-ROMs and DVDs. Say Y if
you intend to mount DVD discs or CDRW's written in packet mode, or
if written to by other UDF utilities, such as DirectCD. This UDF
file system support is read-only. If you want to write to UDF
file systems on some media, you need to say Y to "UDF read-write
support" below in addition. Please read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/udf.txt>.
This file system support is also available as a module ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want). The module is called udf.o. If you want to
compile it as a module, say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_UDF_RW
Say Y if you want to test write support for UDF file systems.
Due to lack of support for writing to CDR/CDRW's, this option
is only supported for hard discs, DVD-RAM, and loopback files.
CONFIG_FAT_FS
If you want to use one of the FAT-based file systems (the MS-DOS,
VFAT (Windows 95) and UMSDOS (used to run Linux on top of an
ordinary DOS partition) file systems), then you must say Y or M here
to include FAT support. You will then be able to mount partitions or
diskettes with FAT-based file systems and transparently access the
files on them, i.e. MSDOS files will look and behave just like all
other Unix files.
This FAT support is not a file system in itself, it only provides
the foundation for the other file systems. You will have to say Y or
M to at least one of "MSDOS fs support" or "VFAT fs support" in
order to make use of it.
Another way to read and write MSDOS floppies and hard drive
partitions from within Linux (but not transparently) is with the
mtools ("man mtools") program suite. You don't need to say Y here in
order to do that.
If you need to move large files on floppies between a DOS and a
Linux box, say Y here, mount the floppy under Linux with an MSDOS
file system and use GNU tar's M option. GNU tar is a program
available for Unix and DOS ("man tar" or "info tar").
It is now also becoming possible to read and write compressed FAT
file systems; read <file:Documentation/filesystems/fat_cvf.txt> for
details.
The FAT support will enlarge your kernel by about 37 KB. If unsure,
say Y.
If you want to compile this as a module however ( = code which can
be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called fat.o. Note that if you compile the FAT
support as a module, you cannot compile any of the FAT-based file
systems into the kernel -- they will have to be modules as well.
The file system of your root partition (the one containing the
directory /) cannot be a module, so don't say M here if you intend
to use UMSDOS as your root file system.
CONFIG_MSDOS_FS
This allows you to mount MSDOS partitions of your hard drive (unless
they are compressed; to access compressed MSDOS partitions under
Linux, you can either use the DOS emulator DOSEMU, described in the
DOSEMU-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>, or try dmsdosfs in
<ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/dosfs/>. If you
intend to use dosemu with a non-compressed MSDOS partition, say Y
here) and MSDOS floppies. This means that file access becomes
transparent, i.e. the MSDOS files look and behave just like all
other Unix files.
If you want to use UMSDOS, the Unix-like file system on top of a
DOS file system, which allows you to run Linux from within a DOS
partition without repartitioning, you'll have to say Y or M here.
If you have Windows 95 or Windows NT installed on your MSDOS
partitions, you should use the VFAT file system (say Y to "VFAT fs
support" below), or you will not be able to see the long filenames
generated by Windows 95 / Windows NT.
This option will enlarge your kernel by about 7 KB. If unsure,
answer Y. This will only work if you said Y to "DOS FAT fs support"
as well. If you want to compile this as a module however ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want), say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
The module will be called msdos.o.
CONFIG_VFAT_FS
This option provides support for normal Windows file systems with
long filenames. That includes non-compressed FAT-based file systems
used by Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and the Unix
programs from the mtools package.
You cannot use the VFAT file system for your Linux root partition
(the one containing the directory /); use UMSDOS instead if you
want to run Linux from within a DOS partition (i.e. say Y to
"Unix like fs on top of std MSDOS fs", below).
The VFAT support enlarges your kernel by about 10 KB and it only
works if you said Y to the "DOS FAT fs support" above. Please read
the file <file:Documentation/filesystems/vfat.txt> for details. If
unsure, say Y.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called vfat.o.
CONFIG_UMSDOS_FS
Say Y here if you want to run Linux from within an existing DOS
partition of your hard drive. The advantage of this is that you can
get away without repartitioning your hard drive (which often implies
backing everything up and restoring afterwards) and hence you're
able to quickly try out Linux or show it to your friends; the
disadvantage is that Linux becomes susceptible to DOS viruses and
that UMSDOS is somewhat slower than ext2fs. Another use of UMSDOS
is to write files with long unix filenames to MSDOS floppies; it
also allows Unix-style soft-links and owner/permissions of files on
MSDOS floppies. You will need a program called umssync in order to
make use of UMSDOS; read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/umsdos.txt>.
To get utilities for initializing/checking UMSDOS file system, or
latest patches and/or information, visit the UMSDOS home page at
<http://www.voyager.hr/~mnalis/umsdos/>.
This option enlarges your kernel by about 28 KB and it only works if
you said Y to both "DOS FAT fs support" and "MSDOS fs support"
above. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can
be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called umsdos.o. Note that the file system of your
root partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot be a
module, so saying M could be dangerous. If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_PROC_FS
This is a virtual file system providing information about the status
of the system. "Virtual" means that it doesn't take up any space on
your hard disk: the files are created on the fly by the kernel when
you try to access them. Also, you cannot read the files with older
version of the program less: you need to use more or cat.
It's totally cool; for example, "cat /proc/interrupts" gives
information about what the different IRQs are used for at the moment
(there is a small number of Interrupt ReQuest lines in your computer
that are used by the attached devices to gain the CPU's attention --
often a source of trouble if two devices are mistakenly configured
to use the same IRQ). The program procinfo to display some
information about your system gathered from the /proc file system.
Before you can use the /proc file system, it has to be mounted,
meaning it has to be given a location in the directory hierarchy.
That location should be /proc. A command such as "mount -t proc proc
/proc" or the equivalent line in /etc/fstab does the job.
The /proc file system is explained in the file
<file:Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt> and on the proc(5) manpage
("man 5 proc").
This option will enlarge your kernel by about 67 KB. Several
programs depend on this, so everyone should say Y here.
CONFIG_DEVFS_FS
This is support for devfs, a virtual file system (like /proc) which
provides the file system interface to device drivers, normally found
in /dev. Devfs does not depend on major and minor number
allocations. Device drivers register entries in /dev which then
appear automatically, which means that the system administrator does
not have to create character and block special device files in the
/dev directory using the mknod command (or MAKEDEV script) anymore.
This is work in progress. If you want to use this, you *must* read
the material in <file:Documentation/filesystems/devfs/>, especially
the file README there.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_DEVFS_MOUNT
This option appears if you have CONFIG_DEVFS_FS enabled. Setting
this to 'Y' will make the kernel automatically mount devfs onto /dev
when the system is booted, before the init thread is started.
You can override this with the "devfs=nomount" boot option.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_DEVFS_DEBUG
If you say Y here, then the /dev file system code will generate
debugging messages. See the file
<file:Documentation/filesystems/devfs/boot-options> for more
details.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_NFS_FS
If you are connected to some other (usually local) Unix computer
(using SLIP, PLIP, PPP or Ethernet) and want to mount files residing
on that computer (the NFS server) using the Network File Sharing
protocol, say Y. "Mounting files" means that the client can access
the files with usual UNIX commands as if they were sitting on the
client's hard disk. For this to work, the server must run the
programs nfsd and mountd (but does not need to have NFS file system
support enabled in its kernel). NFS is explained in the Network
Administrator's Guide, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#guide>, on its man page: "man
nfs", and in the NFS-HOWTO.
A superior but less widely used alternative to NFS is provided by
the Coda file system; see "Coda file system support" below.
If you say Y here, you should have said Y to TCP/IP networking also.
This option would enlarge your kernel by about 27 KB.
This file system is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module is called nfs.o. If you want to compile it as a module,
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If you are configuring a diskless machine which will mount its root
file system over NFS at boot time, say Y here and to "Kernel
level IP autoconfiguration" above and to "Root file system on NFS"
below. You cannot compile this driver as a module in this case.
There are two packages designed for booting diskless machines over
the net: netboot, available from
<http://ftp1.sourceforge.net/netboot/>, and Etherboot,
available from <http://ftp1.sourceforge.net/etherboot/>.
If you don't know what all this is about, say N.
CONFIG_NFS_V3
Say Y here if you want your NFS client to be able to speak the newer
version 3 of the NFS protocol.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_NFS_DIRECTIO
This option enables applications to perform uncached I/O on files
in NFS file systems using the O_DIRECT open() flag. When O_DIRECT
is set for a file, its data is not cached in the system's page
cache. Data is moved to and from user-level application buffers
directly. Unlike local disk-based file systems, NFS O_DIRECT has
no alignment restrictions.
Unless your program is designed to use O_DIRECT properly, you are
much better off allowing the NFS client to manage data caching for
you. Misusing O_DIRECT can cause poor server performance or network
storms. This kernel build option defaults OFF to avoid exposing
system administrators unwittingly to a potentially hazardous
feature.
For more details on NFS O_DIRECT, see fs/nfs/direct.c.
If unsure, say N. This reduces the size of the NFS client, and
causes open() to return EINVAL if a file residing in NFS is
opened with the O_DIRECT flag.
CONFIG_ROOT_NFS
If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root file system (the
one containing the directory /) from some other computer over the
net via NFS (presumably because your box doesn't have a hard disk),
say Y. Read <file:Documentation/nfsroot.txt> for details. It is
likely that in this case, you also want to say Y to "Kernel level IP
autoconfiguration" so that your box can discover its network address
at boot time.
Most people say N here.
CONFIG_NFSD
If you want your Linux box to act as an NFS *server*, so that other
computers on your local network which support NFS can access certain
directories on your box transparently, you have two options: you can
use the self-contained user space program nfsd, in which case you
should say N here, or you can say Y and use the kernel based NFS
server. The advantage of the kernel based solution is that it is
faster.
In either case, you will need support software; the respective
locations are given in the file <file:Documentation/Changes> in the
NFS section.
If you say Y here, you will get support for version 2 of the NFS
protocol (NFSv2). If you also want NFSv3, say Y to the next question
as well.
Please read the NFS-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
The NFS server is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module is called nfsd.o. If you want to compile it as a module,
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. If unsure,
say N.
CONFIG_NFSD_V3
If you would like to include the NFSv3 server as well as the NFSv2
server, say Y here. If unsure, say Y.
CONFIG_NFSD_TCP
Enable NFS service over TCP connections. This the officially
still experimental, but seems to work well.
CONFIG_HPFS_FS
OS/2 is IBM's operating system for PC's, the same as Warp, and HPFS
is the file system used for organizing files on OS/2 hard disk
partitions. Say Y if you want to be able to read files from and
write files to an OS/2 HPFS partition on your hard drive. OS/2
floppies however are in regular MSDOS format, so you don't need this
option in order to be able to read them. Read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/hpfs.txt>.
This file system is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module is called hpfs.o. If you want to compile it as a module,
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. If unsure,
say N.
CONFIG_NTFS_FS
NTFS is the file system of Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP. For more
information see <file:Documentation/filesystems/ntfs.txt>. Saying Y
here would allow you to read from NTFS partitions.
This file system is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module will be called ntfs.o. If you want to compile it as a
module, say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If you are not using Windows NT/2000/XP in addition to Linux on your
computer it is safe to say N.
CONFIG_NTFS_DEBUG
If you are experiencing any problems with the NTFS file system, say
Y here. This will result in additional consistency checks to be
performed by the driver as well as additional debugging messages to
be written to the system log. Note that debugging messages are
disabled by default. To enable them, supply the option debug_msgs=1
at the kernel command line when booting the kernel or as an option
to insmod when loading the ntfs module. Once the driver is active,
you can enable debugging messages by doing (as root):
echo 1 > /proc/sys/fs/ntfs-debug
Replacing the "1" with "0" would disable debug messages.
If you leave debugging messages disabled, this results in little
overhead, but enabling debug messages results in very significant
slowdown of the system.
When reporting bugs, please try to have available a full dump of
debugging messages while the misbehaviour was occurring.
CONFIG_NTFS_RW
This enables the experimental write support in the NTFS driver.
WARNING: Do not use this option unless you are actively developing
NTFS as it is currently guaranteed to be broken and you
may lose all your data!
It is strongly recommended and perfectly safe to say N here.
CONFIG_SYSV_FS
SCO, Xenix and Coherent are commercial Unix systems for Intel
machines, and Version 7 was used on the DEC PDP-11. Saying Y
here would allow you to read from their floppies and hard disk
partitions.
If you have floppies or hard disk partitions like that, it is likely
that they contain binaries from those other Unix systems; in order
to run these binaries, you will want to install linux-abi which is a
a set of kernel modules that lets you run SCO, Xenix, Wyse,
UnixWare, Dell Unix and System V programs under Linux. It is
available via FTP (user: ftp) from
<ftp://ftp.openlinux.org/pub/people/hch/linux-abi/>).
NOTE: that will work only for binaries from Intel-based systems;
PDP ones will have to wait until somebody ports Linux to -11 ;-)
If you only intend to mount files from some other Unix over the
network using NFS, you don't need the System V file system support
(but you need NFS file system support obviously).
Note that this option is generally not needed for floppies, since a
good portable way to transport files and directories between unixes
(and even other operating systems) is given by the tar program ("man
tar" or preferably "info tar"). Note also that this option has
nothing whatsoever to do with the option "System V IPC". Read about
the System V file system in
<file:Documentation/filesystems/sysv-fs.txt>.
Saying Y here will enlarge your kernel by about 27 KB.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called sysv.o.
If you haven't heard about all of this before, it's safe to say N.
CONFIG_AFFS_FS
The Fast File System (FFS) is the common file system used on hard
disks by Amiga(tm) systems since AmigaOS Version 1.3 (34.20). Say Y
if you want to be able to read and write files from and to an Amiga
FFS partition on your hard drive. Amiga floppies however cannot be
read with this driver due to an incompatibility of the floppy
controller used in an Amiga and the standard floppy controller in
PCs and workstations. Read <file:Documentation/filesystems/affs.txt>
and <file:fs/affs/Changes>.
With this driver you can also mount disk files used by Bernd
Schmidt's Un*X Amiga Emulator
(<http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~uae/>).
If you want to do this, you will also need to say Y or M to "Loop
device support", above.
This file system is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module is called affs.o. If you want to compile it as a module,
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. If unsure,
say N.
CONFIG_HFS_FS
If you say Y here, you will be able to mount Macintosh-formatted
floppy disks and hard drive partitions with full read-write access.
Please read <file:fs/hfs/HFS.txt> to learn about the available mount
options.
This file system support is also available as a module ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want). The module is called hfs.o. If you want to
compile it as a module, say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
CONFIG_ROMFS_FS
This is a very small read-only file system mainly intended for
initial ram disks of installation disks, but it could be used for
other read-only media as well. Read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/romfs.txt> for details.
This file system support is also available as a module ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want). The module is called romfs.o. If you want to
compile it as a module, say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>. Note that the file system of your
root partition (the one containing the directory /) cannot be a
module.
If you don't know whether you need it, then you don't need it:
answer N.
CONFIG_QNX4FS_FS
This is the file system used by the real-time operating systems
QNX 4 and QNX 6 (the latter is also called QNX RTP).
Further information is available at <http://www.qnx.com/>.
Say Y if you intend to mount QNX hard disks or floppies.
Unless you say Y to "QNX4FS read-write support" below, you will
only be able to read these file systems.
This file system support is also available as a module ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want). The module is called qnx4.o. If you want to
compile it as a module, say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If you don't know whether you need it, then you don't need it:
answer N.
CONFIG_QNX4FS_RW
Say Y if you want to test write support for QNX4 file systems.
It's currently broken, so for now:
answer N.
CONFIG_AUTOFS_FS
The automounter is a tool to automatically mount remote file systems
on demand. This implementation is partially kernel-based to reduce
overhead in the already-mounted case; this is unlike the BSD
automounter (amd), which is a pure user space daemon.
To use the automounter you need the user-space tools from the autofs
package; you can find the location in <file:Documentation/Changes>.
You also want to answer Y to "NFS file system support", below.
If you want to use the newer version of the automounter with more
features, say N here and say Y to "Kernel automounter v4 support",
below.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called autofs.o.
If you are not a part of a fairly large, distributed network, you
probably do not need an automounter, and can say N here.
CONFIG_AUTOFS4_FS
The automounter is a tool to automatically mount remote file systems
on demand. This implementation is partially kernel-based to reduce
overhead in the already-mounted case; this is unlike the BSD
automounter (amd), which is a pure user space daemon.
To use the automounter you need the user-space tools from
<ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/daemons/autofs/testing-v4/>; you also
want to answer Y to "NFS file system support", below.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called autofs4.o. You will need to add "alias autofs
autofs4" to your modules configuration file.
If you are not a part of a fairly large, distributed network or
don't have a laptop which needs to dynamically reconfigure to the
local network, you probably do not need an automounter, and can say
N here.
CONFIG_EFS_FS
EFS is an older file system used for non-ISO9660 CD-ROMs and hard
disk partitions by SGI's IRIX operating system (IRIX 6.0 and newer
uses the XFS file system for hard disk partitions however).
This implementation only offers read-only access. If you don't know
what all this is about, it's safe to say N. For more information
about EFS see its home page at <http://aeschi.ch.eu.org/efs/>.
If you want to compile the EFS file system support as a module ( =
code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want), say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module will be called efs.o.
CONFIG_JFFS_FS
JFFS is the Journaling Flash File System developed by Axis
Communications in Sweden, aimed at providing a crash/powerdown-safe
file system for disk-less embedded devices. Further information is
available at (<http://developer.axis.com/software/jffs/>).
CONFIG_JFFS_FS_VERBOSE
Determines the verbosity level of the JFFS debugging messages.
CONFIG_JFFS2_FS
JFFS2 is the second generation of the Journalling Flash File System
for use on diskless embedded devices. It provides improved wear
levelling, compression and support for hard links. You cannot use
this on normal block devices, only on 'MTD' devices.
Further information should be made available soon at
<http://sources.redhat.com/jffs2/>.
CONFIG_JFFS2_FS_DEBUG
This controls the amount of debugging messages produced by the JFFS2
code. Set it to zero for use in production systems. For evaluation,
testing and debugging, it's advisable to set it to one. This will
enable a few assertions and will print debugging messages at the
KERN_DEBUG loglevel, where they won't normally be visible. Level 2
is unlikely to be useful - it enables extra debugging in certain
areas which at one point needed debugging, but when the bugs were
located and fixed, the detailed messages were relegated to level 2.
If reporting bugs, please try to have available a full dump of the
messages at debug level 1 while the misbehaviour was occurring.
CONFIG_JFFS_PROC_FS
Enabling this option will cause statistics from mounted JFFS file systems
to be made available to the user in the /proc/fs/jffs/ directory.
CONFIG_UFS_FS
BSD and derivate versions of Unix (such as SunOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD,
OpenBSD and NeXTstep) use a file system called UFS. Some System V
Unixes can create and mount hard disk partitions and diskettes using
this file system as well. Saying Y here will allow you to read from
these partitions; if you also want to write to them, say Y to the
experimental "UFS file system write support", below. Please read the
file <file:Documentation/filesystems/ufs.txt> for more information.
If you only intend to mount files from some other Unix over the
network using NFS, you don't need the UFS file system support (but
you need NFS file system support obviously).
Note that this option is generally not needed for floppies, since a
good portable way to transport files and directories between unixes
(and even other operating systems) is given by the tar program ("man
tar" or preferably "info tar").
When accessing NeXTstep files, you may need to convert them from the
NeXT character set to the Latin1 character set; use the program
recode ("info recode") for this purpose.
If you want to compile the UFS file system support as a module ( =
code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want), say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module will be called ufs.o.
If you haven't heard about all of this before, it's safe to say N.
CONFIG_UFS_FS_WRITE
Say Y here if you want to try writing to UFS partitions. This is
experimental, so you should back up your UFS partitions beforehand.
CONFIG_ADFS_FS
The Acorn Disc Filing System is the standard file system of the
RiscOS operating system which runs on Acorn's ARM-based Risc PC
systems and the Acorn Archimedes range of machines. If you say Y
here, Linux will be able to read from ADFS partitions on hard drives
and from ADFS-formatted floppy discs. If you also want to be able to
write to those devices, say Y to "ADFS write support" below.
The ADFS partition should be the first partition (i.e.,
/dev/[hs]d?1) on each of your drives. Please read the file
<file:Documentation/filesystems/adfs.txt> for further details.
This code is also available as a module called adfs.o ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_ADFS_FS_RW
If you say Y here, you will be able to write to ADFS partitions on
hard drives and ADFS-formatted floppy disks. This is experimental
codes, so if you're unsure, say N.
JFS filesystem support
CONFIG_JFS_FS
This is a port of IBM's Journaled Filesystem . More information is
available in the file Documentation/filesystems/jfs.txt.
If you do not intend to use the JFS filesystem, say N.
JFS Debugging
CONFIG_JFS_DEBUG
If you are experiencing any problems with the JFS filesystem, say
Y here. This will result in additional debugging messages to be
written to the system log. Under normal circumstances, this
results in very little overhead.
JFS Statistics
CONFIG_JFS_STATISTICS
Enabling this option will cause statistics from the JFS file system
to be made available to the user in the /proc/fs/jfs/ directory.
CONFIG_DEVPTS_FS
You should say Y here if you said Y to "Unix98 PTY support" above.
You'll then get a virtual file system which can be mounted on
/dev/pts with "mount -t devpts". This, together with the pseudo
terminal master multiplexer /dev/ptmx, is used for pseudo terminal
support as described in The Open Group's Unix98 standard: in order
to acquire a pseudo terminal, a process opens /dev/ptmx; the number
of the pseudo terminal is then made available to the process and the
pseudo terminal slave can be accessed as /dev/pts/<number>. What was
traditionally /dev/ttyp2 will then be /dev/pts/2, for example.
The GNU C library glibc 2.1 contains the requisite support for this
mode of operation; you also need client programs that use the Unix98
API. Please read <file:Documentation/Changes> for more information
about the Unix98 pty devices.
Note that the experimental "/dev file system support"
(CONFIG_DEVFS_FS) is a more general facility.
CONFIG_VXFS_FS
FreeVxFS is a file system driver that support the VERITAS VxFS(TM)
file system format. VERITAS VxFS(TM) is the standard file system
of SCO UnixWare (and possibly others) and optionally available
for Sunsoft Solaris, HP-UX and many other operating systems.
Currently only readonly access is supported.
NOTE: the file system type as used by mount(1), mount(2) and
fstab(5) is 'vxfs' as it describes the file system format, not
the actual driver.
This file system is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module is called freevxfs.o. If you want to compile it as a
module, say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. If
unsure, say N.
CONFIG_SMB_FS
SMB (Server Message Block) is the protocol Windows for Workgroups
(WfW), Windows 95/98, Windows NT and OS/2 Lan Manager use to share
files and printers over local networks. Saying Y here allows you to
mount their file systems (often called "shares" in this context) and
access them just like any other Unix directory. Currently, this
works only if the Windows machines use TCP/IP as the underlying
transport protocol, and not NetBEUI. For details, read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/smbfs.txt> and the SMB-HOWTO,
available from <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
Note: if you just want your box to act as an SMB *server* and make
files and printing services available to Windows clients (which need
to have a TCP/IP stack), you don't need to say Y here; you can use
the program SAMBA (available from <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/samba/>)
for that.
General information about how to connect Linux, Windows machines and
Macs is on the WWW at <http://www.eats.com/linux_mac_win.html>.
If you want to compile the SMB support as a module ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called smbfs.o. Most people say N, however.
CONFIG_SMB_NLS_DEFAULT
Enabling this will make smbfs use nls translations by default. You
need to specify the local charset (CONFIG_NLS_DEFAULT) in the nls
settings and you need to give the default nls for the SMB server as
CONFIG_SMB_NLS_REMOTE.
The nls settings can be changed at mount time, if your smbmount
supports that, using the codepage and iocharset parameters.
smbmount from samba 2.2.0 or later supports this.
CONFIG_SMB_NLS_REMOTE
This setting allows you to specify a default value for which
codepage the server uses. If this field is left blank no
translations will be done by default. The local codepage/charset
default to CONFIG_NLS_DEFAULT.
The nls settings can be changed at mount time, if your smbmount
supports that, using the codepage and iocharset parameters.
smbmount from samba 2.2.0 or later supports this.
CONFIG_CODA_FS
Coda is an advanced network file system, similar to NFS in that it
enables you to mount file systems of a remote server and access them
with regular Unix commands as if they were sitting on your hard
disk. Coda has several advantages over NFS: support for
disconnected operation (e.g. for laptops), read/write server
replication, security model for authentication and encryption,
persistent client caches and write back caching.
If you say Y here, your Linux box will be able to act as a Coda
*client*. You will need user level code as well, both for the
client and server. Servers are currently user level, i.e. they need
no kernel support. Please read
<file:Documentation/filesystems/coda.txt> and check out the Coda
home page <http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu/>.
If you want to compile the coda client support as a module ( = code
which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel
whenever you want), say M here and read
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module will be called coda.o.
CONFIG_INTERMEZZO_FS
InterMezzo is a networked file system with disconnected operation
and kernel level write back caching. It is most often used for
replicating potentially large trees or keeping laptop/desktop copies
in sync.
If you say Y or M your kernel or module will provide InterMezzo
support. You will also need a file server daemon, which you can get
from <http://www.inter-mezzo.org/>.
CONFIG_NCP_FS
NCP (NetWare Core Protocol) is a protocol that runs over IPX and is
used by Novell NetWare clients to talk to file servers. It is to
IPX what NFS is to TCP/IP, if that helps. Saying Y here allows you
to mount NetWare file server volumes and to access them just like
any other Unix directory. For details, please read the file
<file:Documentation/filesystems/ncpfs.txt> in the kernel source and
the IPX-HOWTO from <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
You do not have to say Y here if you want your Linux box to act as a
file *server* for Novell NetWare clients.
General information about how to connect Linux, Windows machines and
Macs is on the WWW at <http://www.eats.com/linux_mac_win.html>.
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called ncpfs.o. Say N unless you are connected to a Novell
network.
CONFIG_NCPFS_NLS
Allows you to use codepages and I/O charsets for file name
translation between the server file system and input/output. This
may be useful, if you want to access the server with other operating
systems, e.g. Windows 95. See also NLS for more Information.
To select codepages and I/O charsets use ncpfs-2.2.0.13 or newer.
CONFIG_XFS_FS
XFS is a high performance journaling filesystem which originated
on the SGI IRIX platform. It is completely multi-threaded, can
support large files and large filesystems, extended attributes,
variable block sizes, is extent based, and makes extensive use of
Btrees (directories, extents, free space) to aid both performance
and scalability.
Refer to the documentation at <http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/>
for complete details. This implementation is on-disk compatible
with the IRIX version of XFS.
If you want to compile this file system as a module ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called xfs.o. Be aware, however, that if the file
system of your root partition is compiled as a module, you'll need
to use an initial ramdisk (initrd) to boot.
CONFIG_XFS_QUOTA
If you say Y here, you will be able to set limits for disk usage on
a per user and/or a per group basis under XFS. XFS considers quota
information as filesystem metadata and uses journaling to provide a
higher level guarantee of consistency. The on-disk data format for
quota is also compatible with the IRIX version of XFS, allowing a
filesystem to be migrated between Linux and IRIX without any need
for conversion.
If unsure, say N. More comprehensive documentation can be found in
README.quota in the xfsprogs package. XFS quota can be used either
with or without the generic quota support enabled (CONFIG_QUOTA) -
they are completely independent subsystems.
CONFIG_XFS_RT
If you say Y here you will be able to mount and use XFS filesystems
which contain a realtime subvolume. The realtime subvolume is a
separate area of disk space where only file data is stored. The
realtime subvolume is designed to provide very deterministic
data rates suitable for media streaming applications.
See the xfs man page in section 5 for a bit more information.
This feature is unsupported at this time, is not yet fully
functional, and may cause serious problems.
If unsure, say N.