documentation/platform-linux.html

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   5 <title>Platform Details: Linux</title>
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  15 <h1>Platform Details: Linux</h1>
  16
  17 <p>
  18 Although Native Client modules are platform independent,
  19 the instructions for installing and building Native Client
  20 differ a bit between platforms.
  21 This page has details about the Linux environment.
  22 </p>
  23
  24 <p>
  25 For instructions on installing and using Native Client,
  26 see <a href="getting_started.html">Getting Started</a>.
  27 That page and others,
  28 such as <a href="building.html">Building Native Client</a>,
  29 link to this page as needed.
  30 </p>
  31
  32 <h3>
  33 Contents:
  34 </h3>
  35
  36 <ul>
  37 <li><a href="#testedconfigs">Tested configurations</a> </li>
  38 <li> <a href="#run">Running on Linux</a>
  39   <ul>
  40   <li><a href="#run-python">Getting Python</a> </li>
  41   <li><a href="#run-pythonpath">Checking the Python path</a> </li>
  42   <li><a href="#run-64bit">64-bit Linux: 32-bit vs. 64-bit browsers</a>
  43   </li>
  44   </ul></li>
  45 <li> <a href="#dev">Developing on Linux</a>
  46   <ul>
  47   <li><a href="#dev-env">Setting up your development environment</a></li>
  48   <li><a href="#dev-64bit">64-bit Linux: prep script</a></li>
  49   </ul></li>
  50 </ul>
  51
  52 <h2> <a name="testedconfigs" id="testedconfigs"> </a> Tested configurations </h2>
  53 <p>
  54 Native Client has been tested with the following Linux configurations:
  55 </p>
  56
  57 <ul>
  58 <li> OS
  59   <ul>
  60   <li> Ubuntu 8.04 <!-- and soon 8.10 --> (Hardy Heron): 32-bit and 64-bit </li>
  61   </ul></li>
  62 <li> Browser
  63   <ul>
  64   <li> Firefox 3 </li>
  65   </ul> </li>
  66 <li> Python
  67   <ul>
  68   <li> 2.4 </li>
  69   <li> 2.5 </li>
  70   </ul> </li>
  71 </ul>
  72
  73
  74 <h2><a name="run" id="run"> </a> Running on Linux </h2>
  75
  76 <h3><a name="run-python" id="run-python"> </a> Getting Python </h3>
  77
  78 <p>
  79 On Debian-based distributions such as Ubuntu,
  80 you can use the following command to get Python 2.4:
  81 </p>
  82
  83 <pre class="platform-linux">
  84 <kbd>sudo apt-get install python2.4</kbd>
  85 </pre>
  86
  87 <p>
  88 Or use Synaptic (<code>sudo synaptic</code>)
  89 for a friendlier interface to APT.
  90 </p>
  91
  92 <p>
  93 You can also download Python from
  94 <a href="http://www.python.org/download/">http://www.python.org/download/</a>.
  95 </p>
  96
  97 <h3><a name="run-pythonpath" id="run-pythonpath"> </a> Checking the Python path </h3>
  98
  99 <p>
 100 The path to <code>python</code> must have <b>no spaces</b>.
 101 You can use the <code>which</code> command
 102 to see the path:
 103 </p>
 104
 105 <pre>
 106 $ <kbd>which python</kbd>
 107 /usr/bin/python
 108 </pre>
 109
 110 <h3><a name="run-64bit" id="run-64bit"> </a> 64-bit Linux: 32-bit vs. 64-bit browsers </h3>
 111
 112 <p>
 113 Native Client works best in 32-bit browsers.
 114 For instructions on using a 32-bit browser on a 64-bit Linux system, search for
 115 [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?&amp;q=linux+32-bit+64-bit+browser">linux 32-bit 64-bit browser</a>].
 116 </p>
 117
 118 <p>
 119 An alternative is to use
 120 <a href="http://gwenole.beauchesne.info/en/projects/nspluginwrapper">NSPluginWrapper</a>
 121 (version 1.1.2 or newer),
 122 which makes the Native Client plug-in work
 123 in 64-bit browsers.
 124 Here's an example of the command you'd use:
 125 </p>
 126
 127 <pre>
 128 <kbd>/usr/bin/nspluginwrapper -i ~/.mozilla/plugins/libnpGoogleNaClPlugin.so</kbd>
 129 </pre>
 130
 131 <p>
 132 You might have to rerun that command
 133 when you install a new version of the plug-in.
 134 </p>
 135
 136 <p>
 137 <strong>Note:</strong>
 138 Avoid NSPluginWrapper if you need to run modules that depend on NPAPI.
 139 The performance impact of NSPluginWrapper's NPAPI forwarding can be huge.
 140 </p>
 141
 142 <h2><a name="dev"> </a> Developing on Linux </h2>
 143
 144 <h3><a name="dev-env" id="dev-env"> </a> Setting up your development environment </h3>
 145
 146 <p>
 147 If you're using a 32-bit system,
 148 you shouldn't have to do anything to set up your environment,
 149 thanks to the software that comes with
 150 most Linux systems.
 151 </p>
 152
 153 <p>
 154 If you're using a 64-bit system,
 155 you need to run a prep script.
 156 </p>
 157
 158 <h3><a name="dev-64bit" id="dev-64bit"> </a> 64-bit Linux: prep script </h3>
 159
 160 <p>
 161 To build on 64-bit Linux, you first need to run the prep script.
 162 Run this script
 163 every time you download a new version of Native Client.
 164 (You could get away with running the script just once,
 165 but if the script changes,
 166 you should run it again.)
 167 Here's how to run the script:
 168 </p>
 169
 170 <pre class="platform-linux">
 171 <kbd>cd <em>install_dir</em>/nacl/googleclient/native_client/tools</kbd>
 172 <kbd>./linux.x86_64.prep.sh</kbd>
 173 </pre>
 174
 175 <p>
 176 <b>Note:</b>
 177 The script is Ubuntu-specific &mdash;
 178 using <code>apt-get</code> and Ubuntu file locations, for example.
 179 It might not work
 180 if you have another distribution of Linux.
 181 </p>
 182
 183
 184
 185 <p id="license">
 186 Except as otherwise
 187 <a href="http://code.google.com/policies.html#restrictions">noted</a>,
 188 the content of this page is licensed under a
 189 <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/">Creative Commons
 190 Attribution 2.5 license</a>.
 191 </p>
 192
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