1 | # vi: set sw=4 ts=4:
|
---|
2 |
|
---|
3 | =head1 NAME
|
---|
4 |
|
---|
5 | BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux
|
---|
6 |
|
---|
7 | =head1 SYNTAX
|
---|
8 |
|
---|
9 | BusyBox <function> [arguments...] # or
|
---|
10 |
|
---|
11 | <function> [arguments...] # if symlinked
|
---|
12 |
|
---|
13 | =head1 DESCRIPTION
|
---|
14 |
|
---|
15 | BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single
|
---|
16 | small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most of the utilities
|
---|
17 | you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc. The utilities in BusyBox
|
---|
18 | generally have fewer options than their full-featured GNU cousins; however, the
|
---|
19 | options that are included provide the expected functionality and behave very
|
---|
20 | much like their GNU counterparts.
|
---|
21 |
|
---|
22 | BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind.
|
---|
23 | It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or exclude commands (or
|
---|
24 | features) at compile time. This makes it easy to customize your embedded
|
---|
25 | systems. To create a working system, just add /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel.
|
---|
26 | BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or embedded
|
---|
27 | system.
|
---|
28 |
|
---|
29 | BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the
|
---|
30 | components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or 'make
|
---|
31 | menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable. Then run
|
---|
32 | 'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration.
|
---|
33 |
|
---|
34 | After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to install
|
---|
35 | BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the target directory
|
---|
36 | specified by CONFIG_PREFIX. CONFIG_PREFIX can be set when configuring BusyBox,
|
---|
37 | or you can specify an alternative location at install time (i.e., with a
|
---|
38 | command line like 'make CONFIG_PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you enabled
|
---|
39 | any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or hardlinks), these will
|
---|
40 | also be installed in the location pointed to by CONFIG_PREFIX.
|
---|
41 |
|
---|
42 | =head1 USAGE
|
---|
43 |
|
---|
44 | BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable program
|
---|
45 | that performs the same job as more than one utility program. That means there
|
---|
46 | is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single binary acts like a large
|
---|
47 | number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to be smaller since all the built-in
|
---|
48 | utility programs (we call them applets) can share code for many common operations.
|
---|
49 |
|
---|
50 | You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the
|
---|
51 | command line. For example, entering
|
---|
52 |
|
---|
53 | /bin/busybox ls
|
---|
54 |
|
---|
55 | will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.
|
---|
56 |
|
---|
57 | Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful. So most
|
---|
58 | people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.
|
---|
59 |
|
---|
60 | For example, entering
|
---|
61 |
|
---|
62 | ln -s /bin/busybox ls
|
---|
63 | ./ls
|
---|
64 |
|
---|
65 | will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled
|
---|
66 | into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to make all these
|
---|
67 | links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this for you when you run
|
---|
68 | the 'make install' command.
|
---|
69 |
|
---|
70 | If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a list of the
|
---|
71 | applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.
|
---|
72 |
|
---|
73 | =head1 COMMON OPTIONS
|
---|
74 |
|
---|
75 | Most BusyBox commands support the B<--help> argument to provide a terse runtime
|
---|
76 | description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VERBOSE_USAGE option has
|
---|
77 | been enabled, more detailed usage information will also be available.
|
---|
78 |
|
---|
79 | =head1 COMMANDS
|
---|
80 |
|
---|
81 | Currently defined functions include:
|
---|
82 |
|
---|