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author | Bjørn Mork <bjorn@mork.no> | 2015-05-15 10:20:47 +0200 |
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committer | Bjørn Mork <bjorn@mork.no> | 2015-05-15 10:20:47 +0200 |
commit | 73b16af8feec390afbabd9356d6e5e83c0390838 (patch) | |
tree | 3730020ba2f9caeb9d7815a975af51830b51ce11 /docs/busybox_header.pod |
busybox: imported from http://www.busybox.net/downloads/busybox-1.13.3.tar.bz2busybox-1.13.3
Signed-off-by: Bjørn Mork <bjorn@mork.no>
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/busybox_header.pod')
-rw-r--r-- | docs/busybox_header.pod | 83 |
1 files changed, 83 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/busybox_header.pod b/docs/busybox_header.pod new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f2ffc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/busybox_header.pod @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +# vi: set sw=4 ts=4: + +=head1 NAME + +BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux + +=head1 SYNTAX + + busybox <applet> [arguments...] # or + + <applet> [arguments...] # if symlinked + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single +small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most of the utilities +you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc. The utilities in BusyBox +generally have fewer options than their full-featured GNU cousins; however, the +options that are included provide the expected functionality and behave very +much like their GNU counterparts. + +BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind. +It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or exclude commands (or +features) at compile time. This makes it easy to customize your embedded +systems. To create a working system, just add /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. +BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or embedded +system. + +BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the +components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or 'make +menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable. Then run +'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration. + +After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to install +BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the target directory +specified by CONFIG_PREFIX. CONFIG_PREFIX can be set when configuring BusyBox, +or you can specify an alternative location at install time (i.e., with a +command line like 'make CONFIG_PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you enabled +any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or hardlinks), these will +also be installed in the location pointed to by CONFIG_PREFIX. + +=head1 USAGE + +BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable program +that performs the same job as more than one utility program. That means there +is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single binary acts like a large +number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to be smaller since all the built-in +utility programs (we call them applets) can share code for many common +operations. + +You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the +command line. For example, entering + + /bin/busybox ls + +will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'. + +Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful. So most +people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary. + +For example, entering + + ln -s /bin/busybox ls + ./ls + +will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled +into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to make all these +links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this for you when you run +the 'make install' command. + +If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a list of the +applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary. + +=head1 COMMON OPTIONS + +Most BusyBox applets support the B<--help> argument to provide a terse runtime +description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VERBOSE_USAGE option has +been enabled, more detailed usage information will also be available. + +=head1 COMMANDS + +Currently available applets include: + |