RELEASE(7)

NAME
release - layout of NetBSD releases and snapshots

DESCRIPTION
This document describes the layout of NetBSD releases and snapshots. This layout should be consistent between FTP servers and CD-ROMs, except possibly the path that leads to the release hierarchy.

In this document, the following special words have these definitions:

machine
    The platform for which the release was built, corresponding to the hw.machine sysctl variable, e.g. i386 or amiga.

machine_arch
    The architecture for which a particular installation set was built, corresponding to the hw.machine_arch sysctl variable, e.g. i386 or m68k.

rel The target release.

All README files are descriptions of the various files in directories that have “non-standard” contents. There may also be a README file at the top-level, describing who built the snapshot and under what circumstances (e.g. whether it's an official NetBSD snapshot, or not).

All BSDSUM files are historic BSD checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -o 1 file.

All CKSUM files are POSIX checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum file.

All MD5 files are MD5 digests for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -m file.

All SYSVSUM files are historic AT&T UNIX checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -o 2 file.

The MD5 digest is the safest checksum, followed by the POSIX checksum. The other two checksums are provided only to ensure that the widest possible range of system can check the integrity of the release files.

Files that end in .tgz are gzipped tar archives. This is used in lieu of .tar.gz because the software used to download the sets may incorrectly auto-unpack files ending in .gz and to accommodate systems which only support 3 character extensions to file names.

All tar archives are relative to the target's / directory, and do not include the leading “/”.

All compression of release files is to be performed with the command: gzip -9.

The root of the release hierarchy may be the root directory of a CD-ROM, but in all other cases it should be .../NetBSD- rel /.

The root of the release hierarchy should contain the following files and subdirectories:

SOURCE_DATE
    A file containing the date, in UTC, of the source code from which the release or snapshot was built, in the default format produced by the command: date -u.

iso/
    CDROM images in ISO 9660 format, usually created with “./build.sh ... iso-image ...” after a “./build.sh -x ... release sourcesets ...” in src.

    Images in this directory, unlike images in the .../NetBSD- rel / machine /installation/cdrom/ directory, should contain file systems that have an internal layout that corresponds to a complete release for one or more machine types. These images are usually bootable.

    BSDSUM

    CKSUM

    MD5

    README

    SYSVSUM

        machine_arch cd.iso

shared/
    Files shared by two or more machine types.

    machine_arch/
        Files which may be shared by all systems of the same machine_arch will be located in .../NetBSD- rel /shared/ machine_arch / with symbolic links pointing to these files from the machine subdirectory.

    ALL/
        Files which are completely machine-independent will be located in .../NetBSD-rel/shared/ALL/ with symbolic links pointing to these files from the machine subdirectory.

source/
    Source codes of the operating system and patches for it should be put into .../NetBSD-rel/source/ using the following layout:

    patches/
        This directory contains various patch files appropriate for patch(1). Other patches may exist for fixing critical problems.

        BSDSUM

        CKSUM

        MD5

        README

        SYSVSUM

            diff- lastrel - rel .gz Diff against the last release, usually generated by cvs rdiff. For patch releases, diffs against the last release are included. If the last release was a patch release itself, the diff is against that patch release is included.

    sets/
        Sources for the various system sets, based on their modules in the CVS server.

        BSDSUM

        CKSUM

        MD5

        README

        SYSVSUM

        gnusrc.tgz
            Contains sources for all GPLed and possibly other programs that contains restrictions in their licensing that prevent others from using these programs in closed-source environments.

        pkgsrc.tgz
            Package-sources for third party software ready to compile. See pkgsrc/README for more information.

        sharesrc.tgz
            Contains machine-independent data files that can be shared across architectures/systems.

        src.tgz
            The operating system's userland source code, including all programs, tools, toolchain, etc.

        syssrc.tgz
            Kernel sources for all architectures plus sources of the tools needed to build kernels (like config(1)).

        xsrc.tgz
            Source code of the X Window System used on all NetBSD architectures. Includes X clients and servers.

machine/
    The binary releases in .../NetBSD- rel / machine / follow the following layout:

    INSTALL.txt
        Installation notes, including complete descriptions of files contained within the release hierarchy

    INSTALL.more
        pretty version of this, suited for viewing with more(1)

    INSTALL.html
        HTML version of this

    INSTALL.ps
        PostScript version of this

    binary/
        system binaries

        sets/
            installation sets

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            SYSVSUM

            base.tgz
                The base binary distribution. This set contains the base NetBSD utilities that are necessary for the system to run and be minimally functional. It includes shared libraries for those architectures that support them. This set excludes all things listed in the sets described below.

            comp.tgz
                The compiler tools distribution. This set contains the C and C++ compilers, assembler, linker, other toolchain components, and their manual pages. It also includes the system include files (/usr/include) , and the static system libraries.

            etc.tgz
                This set contains the system configuration files that reside in /etc and in several other places throughout the file system hierarchy.

            games.tgz
                This set includes the games and their manual pages.

            kern.tgz
                This set includes a generic kernel.

            man.tgz
                This set includes all of the manual pages for the binaries and other software contained in the base set which are not included in the other sets.

            misc.tgz
                This set includes the system dictionaries (which are rather large), the typesettable document set, and manual pages for other architectures, which happen to be installed from the source tree by default.

            text.tgz
                This set includes the NetBSD text processing tools, including groff(1), all related programs, and their manual pages.

            xbase.tgz
                This set includes the base X11 distribution, including manual pages and shared libraries for those architectures that support them, and excluding everything contained in the other X11 sets.

            xcomp.tgz
                This set includes the X11 include files and static X11 libraries.

            xcontrib.tgz
                This set includes binaries and manual pages for programs built from the X11 “contrib” sources.

            xfont.tgz
                This set includes the X11 fonts.

            xserver.tgz
                This set includes the X servers and manual pages for machine. Note: this set may not be available on some platforms.

        kernel/
            suitably named, gzipped kernels

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            netbsd-GENERIC.gz
                A kernel built from the GENERIC kernel configuration file. This is meant as an example only; different platforms may have differently named kernels.

    installation/
        installation helper items

        cdrom/
            CDROM images in ISO 9660 format, usually created as part of “build.sh ... release ...” in src.

            Images in this directory will typically be bootable, and will contain one or more of a kernel, installation tools, and rescue tools. They will not contain installation sets, source sets, or other components of a complete release.

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

                netbsd- machine_arch .iso

        diskimage/
            disk images, for those platforms that provide them

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            diskimage-rz25.gz

        floppy/
            floppy images, for those platforms that provide them

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            floppy-144.gz

        miniroot/
            miniroot images, for those platforms that provide them

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            miniroot.gz

        misc/
            miscellaneous installation helper utilities, including boot selectors, floppy writing software, other software that runs under foreign operating systems, etc.

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            ...

        netboot/
            network boot programs

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            netboot.gz

        tapeimage/
            tape images, for those platforms that provide them

            BSDSUM

            CKSUM

            MD5

            README

            SYSVSUM

            tapeimage-hp9144.gz

SEE ALSO
cksum(1), date(1), gzip(1), split(1), tar(1)

HISTORY
The release manual page first appeared in NetBSD 1.3.