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| FAQs |
The FAQs have recently been updated and expanded. These questions and issues have come up in the UNIX Tools Forum and in emails sent to us. We hope you find them useful. If these answers don't do it for you, feel free to ask for clarification in the Forum. (Please quote the FAQ number in your post).
Special thanks to Rodney Ruddock for compiling this list of frequent questions and common issues.
Installation FAQs
1.01 SFU 3.5 installation suggestions
When you are installing Services for UNIX 3.5 we suggest that you select the "Custom" install choice. With Custom install as a general user (not a developer) you should install Interix Perl. This will allow you to install packages from the "/Tools Warehouse." If you are a developer you should also choose to install Interix Perl plus the Interix SDK and GNU SDK (both). When the appropriate box appears asking if you would like "Case Sensitive Pathnames" active and "Setuid Binaries" active select both boxes. By selecting both boxes you will get the best UNIX behavior.
Do not install SFU 3.5 under an absolute junction point; you may install under a relative junction point, but we recommend you avoid this."
If you are installing on Windows 2003 you should use the SFU 3.5 download from November, 2004 because it has a fix.
If you have SP1 for 2003 you will need to obtain Hotfix Q899522 from MS Support/PSS (it's free, but you still have to get it from PSS). Q899522 corrects a system problem with shell scripts executing/completing. Also refer to notes below about DEP."
1.02 Cannot connect to Interix subsystem, Interix will not start
After an upgrade to Interix 3.5 or with a new installation you encounter a problem with Interix starting. The most common reason is that a security script has been run at some point that disallows any subsystem from starting other than the Win32 subsystem. This can be corrected by resetting the registry key HKLM->SYSTEM->CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Posix to "%SystemRoot%\system32\psxss.exe" and the registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Optional to "Posix". Then reboot the system. If you are on Windows 2003 refer to the note in FAQ 1.01 also.
1.03 Setuid at install or after?
We recommend that during installation you select the box of enabling "setuid behavior". There are several programs that work best with setuid behavior being active (ssh/sshd for example). If you need to change it after you have installed, then you can through the registry editor. Go to the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Services for UNIX\EnableSetuidBinaries and set the value to 1 to turn on; set the value to 0 (zero) to it turn off.
1.04 Installing /Tools packages
To install packages from the /Tools Warehouse (which are available via ftp or by CD for a small fee) you need to install the installer. The installer comes as a package for people upgrading to a newer version; the installer can update itself. For people who have freshly installed SFU, the installer will need to be 'bootstrapped' onto the machine. There is a special shell script to do this. Current instructions for bootstrapping the installer are located at the top of the Tool Warehouse web page..
1.05 I tried to install package XXXX and it failed
Check that you spelled everything correctly. Check that you are using "current" rather than an actual version number in the name. Check that the filename ending is ".tgz". Typos happen. Before installing the installer you must have installed Microsoft Services for UNIX (SFU) 3.5. You can download SFU freely from the SFU 3.5 download page then follow our suggestions in FAQ 1.01.
1.06 Can't find package "env_XXX-bin.tgz" when installing another package
You likely downloaded just the packages you wanted to install. We always recommend you use the FTP URL whenever possible so this error does not happen. Otherwise you need to download this "env_XXX-bin.tgz" package too into the same directory as your other packages. Then try to install again.
Packages at /Tools that need a common action to be taken during an installation depend on another package. This reduces errors and the amount of clutter on your machine.
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1.07 I'm behind a firewall / I use an FTP Proxy
The ftp utility is used to transfer packages from the ftp site to your machine. You can set ftp to work with an FTP Proxy server by setting the environment variable "ftp_proxy" to the URL of your FTP Proxy server. You will find this information on the ftp manual page.
1.08 Can I save the packages locally and install them?
Yes, you can. If you do, try and keep all of the packages in one directory. When you do an installation (using pkg_add) do it from this directory or be sure to set the PKG_PATH environment variable to this directory. Download all of the "env_*.tgz" packages too.
1.09 I'm not allowed to use FTP
Some people are at secure locations and are not allowed direct access to the /Tools ftp site. You may be interested in ordering the Interop Toolworks CD instead. This CD will correctly install from itself all of the packages or just the packages that you choose. This CD is regularly accepted after going through a "clean room" check so that it may enter a facility. The Toolworks CD is updated regularly. If you have a special need please let us know so that we can help you.
1.10 How can I avoid always typing "ftp://ftp.interopsystems.com/pkgs/3.5"
You can set the environment variable PKG_PATH to this URL. Refer to the pkg_add manual page for more information. Or instead of using pkg_add you can use pkg_update to install or update packages (refer to the manual page).
1.11 Is there a GUI I can use to manage application packages instead of the shell command line?
Yes, there is an X11 Tcl/Tk script that is part of the 'pkg' installer. You will need to have an X11 server for the GUI to be displayed. The GUI program is named 'tkpkg' and can be started from a shell command line. You will need to have the installer package ("pkg") and the Tk package already installed of course.
1.12 Don't use Windows Explorer (Win32 File Explorer) for file permissions
Yes, this is correct. Don't use Windows Explorer to change file/directory permissions for Interix-created files/directories unless you really know what you are doing. If you are reading this FAQ entry for the first time, then you likely don't know what you are doing. Windows Explorer will incorrectly changes the ACEs in the ACL and also change the order of the ACEs in the ACL. File Explorer also knows nothing about setuid/setgid, character/block special files or symbolic links. Windows Explorer is a very blunt tool. So just don't. (This message is brought to you on behalf of members who have suffered the pain!)
1.13 How do I turn filesystem Case Sensitivity ON after installation?
We always recommend you turn filesystem case sensitivity ON during installation. If you didn't (or couldn't because of an unattended installation) you can turn it on now by editing the registry.
Go to the location HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel and key "obcaseinsensitive" should get set to 0x0 to turn case sensitivity ON. Now reboot the system.
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User FAQs
2.01 Pathnames with spaces
If you have a path with spaces in the name you should quote the pathname so that the spaces are understood to be part of the name instead of as a delimiter between commands. Otherwise the command shells tend to treat space as word delimiters.
2.02 Can I run a BSD/Linux/AIX/etc. binary using Interix?
No. Binary emulation is not supported. You will need to recompile the program first. Use the two SDKs plus available /Tools Warehouse libraries to help with this process. You can post questions about porting in the /Tools Forum. For long or detailed help we suggested you hire someone on a per hour basis. We can provide recommendations.
2.03 Xterm "-e" not working
Using the command 'xterm -e {utilitypath}' is not working. The xterm with X11R6 exhibits this problem. Use the X11R5 xterm instead. /usr/X11R5/bin/xterm.
2.04 Running X11 programs
Services for UNIX comes with X11R5 and X11R6 utilities and libraries. SFU does not come with a X-server to display the graphical output of these X11 utilities. You can set your "DISPLAY" environment variable to the name of a machine on your network to display the X11 utilities. If you would like to display X11 locally then you will need to purchase an X-server. There are several X-servers available. You should look for an X-server that will handle X11R6 (X11R6.6 is preferred since this is the best match). You can purchase an X-server from Interop Systems at the Products page.
2.05 What is the "interix" terminal?
The "interix" terminal is a fully capable color terminal similar to a color DEC VT series or rxvt terminal. You can run color curses programs on it, scroll, buffer, 64 function keys, etc. Shortcuts for scrolling include <shift-pgup>, <shift-pgdn>, <ctrl-up> and <ctrl-down>. Escape codes can be sent to it for inserting, deleting, etc. as with most fully capable terminals.
2.06 - The "interix" terminal type is not recognized when I telnet.
Get a more up-to-date version of the Terminfo database installed on the machine you are telnet'ing into and install it. The "interix" terminal type has been included in the terminfo database for many years.
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2.07 I'm running on a new machine and my program core dumps, but it's fine on other machines.
You need to turn the Data Execution Prevention (aka DEP, the NX flag) off.
There are some programs, most notably 'gcc', that place some executable code in the stack. With DEP/NX on, these programs are stopped. With Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows 2003 SP1 this flag was turned on. This affects AMD and Intel 64-bit hardware in particular, but also 32-bit machines. A good write-up of DEP and controlling it can be found at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2mempr.mspx
With 2003 SP1, in addition to DEP, there is a system problem with running shell scripts that is corrected with Hotfix Q899522 that can be obtained for free from Microsoft PSS/Support. What you need to do is edit the file "C:\Boot.ini" and add the line "/noexecute=AlwaysOff". Then reboot the system.
2.08 What is this file ".netrc" about?
The ".netrc" file has been around for a long, long time. It is not a new invention. You can find full details on the ftp manual page. The ".netrc" file stores ftp login names and passwords for ftp sites. It is similar to the ".rhosts" file for rlogin and rsh. For security it needs to be owned by the user and should have a permission mode of 0600 (rw-------). Having your /Tools member name and password in the ".netrc" file makes installation of packages (and dependent packages) happen in an easier manner.
2.09 What are the application packages that have been updated most recently or are new?
Subscribe to the /Tools Forum "Tool Warehouse Updates." We post here when new packages become available for installation. We also post here when packages have been updated to a newer version or for bug fixes. Starting with version 2.0 of the 'pkg' installer you can use the pkg_update utility to regularly check for this information too ("pkg_update -ni"). Refer to the pkg_update manual page for more detailed information.
2.10 How do I set tab completion with 'ksh'?
The short answer is "set -o vi-tabcomplete" at the command line or in your ".profile" in your home directory. For a longer answer read the 'ksh' manual page and search for "tabcomplete."
2.11 Can I access files greater than 2G?
The current limit with Interix with version 3.5 is 2G for APIs that take or report in-file locations such as lseek() and stat(). With some slight of coding you can extend this to 4G with stat(). The read() and write() API's have no size limits per se. But all of the STDIO file APIs are limited to the 2G boundary because internal STDIO structures keep track of the file pointer location. The /Tools version of 'rcp' is an example of some "slight of coding" to avoid the 2G limit. 'rcp' can send up a file up to 4G outbound and accept inbound an unlimited size.
Future versions of Interix beyond version 3.5 do support large file sizes. However, currently, this is only available with Windows 2003/R2 (not XP, 2000, or 2003).
2.12 How can I get 'ftp' to do proxy?
Refer to the 'ftp' man page and look for "ftp_proxy". "Ftp_proxy" is an environment variable that you can set to have 'ftp' go through an FTP proxy server.
2.13 Cpio isn't handling symbolic links
There is a minor bug in one of the system calls that causes symbolic links to not be handled correctly when using cpio to write or read an archive. The updated cpio in the /Tools warehouse works around this small difficulty. So we recommend you update to using this version of cpio.
2.14 On non-English systems csh/tcsh scripts are crashing
"Version 6.08.03 of tcsh/csh ships with SFU 3.0 and 3.5.
It has been reported several times about scripts crashing on non-English systems (that's the only relationship we can see).
If you install the current /Tools version of tcsh this will correct the problem. You can see the tcsh version by typing 'echo $version'. The /Tools version is currently 6.14.0.0.
2.15 Need an update of utility/library
"If you need a newer version of a utility or library for Interix you may find that it is already available in the /Tools warehouse (link at top of page). Alternatively you can make a request to us about your needs. Requests are added to our great "to do" list. If an update is very important you can become a sponsor for the project. Examples of sponsored packages are gnuplot and Xview. If you prefer the package to be privately available to you only, this can be arranged.
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Administrative FAQs
3.01 Running a command without a windows opening
Typically when you run a command it is at a shell prompt. When you start a shell from the desktop menu or desktop shortcut it uses the program POSIX.EXE to set up the communication with the Interix subsystem and a window is opened to display. When you would like to run a command without opening a window for display you should use the program PSXRUN.EXE. There is a man page "psxrun" with full information. For example, to start an xterm from a shortcut the usage of PSXRUN will be 'PSXRUN -u -p /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -- xterm -ls -sb'.
3.02 What is "$$psxjunk"?
The directory "$$psxjunk" is a special directory that is used by the Interix subsystem to help it provide correct file system characteristics when performing certain Posix/UNIX actions.
3.03 How do I change my default shell?
Use the utility 'chsh.' Verify that the shell you are specifying is listed as a valid shell in the file "/etc/shells." There is a man page you can read for 'chsh'.
3.04 Setting the principal domain
By default when you install the Principal Domain for Interix, it is set to the name of the domain that the machine belongs to. If the machine is a stand-alone workstation then the name of the machine is the domain. To set or adjust the value, use the registry editor to set the key: "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Services for UNIX\PrincipalDomain". When a user logs in via telnet, ssh or rsh and the username is not fully qualified (domain+user) then the username is assumed to be prepended with the Principal Domain.
3.05 What shells are available with SFU/Interix?
The 'ksh' (sh) and 'tcsh' (csh) shells ship with SFU 3.5. The 'ksh' shell is based on "pdksh" and has several Interix-specific modifications including a special treatment of the environment variable PATH_WINDOWS (refer to the ksh man page for details). An updated version of 'tcsh' is available from the /Tools Warehouse. Also available from the /Tools Warehouse are versions of 'bash', 'zsh' and 'sch'. These are the most commonly used shells. If you have a shell that you are interested in please let us know.
3.06 Using Clearcase with Interix shows some problems.
Correct. Clearcase did not properly write its driver. Sadly, too many people don't seem to write filesystem drivers correctly. It's documented in the DDK what is "correct" but the advice does not get followed. Clearcase users have experienced mounted filesystems "crashing". A workaround has been found: add the mount point to your Interix PATH environment variable (export PATH="${PATH}:/dev/fs/C/Program Files/Clearcase/bin". Java (JVM) applications using the JFileChooser need to do the same workaround.
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3.07 I can't find the /etc/passwd and/or the /etc/group file. What's up?
The user database of information for UNIX was long ago set in /etc/passwd. This was easy to implement and manage at the time it was originally designed. The number of computer users has grown and technology has changed. Unfortunately people continue to misunderstand that things have evolved. The portable method of obtaining user information is through the user and group API's (getpwnam(), getgrgid(), etc.). These API's are a standard with POSIX and SUS. No one, or no program, should be relying on a file named /etc/passwd. Information may now be distributed across several differently named files, stored with NIS, LDAP or Kerberos.
With Windows the user database is managed through Active Directory and/or
the local LSA. That some UNIX systems running on Windows continue to use and/or create /etc/passwd file just shows a bad design. As an example, U/Win originally did the same thing with periodic refreshes of /etc/passwd. During one conference when it was pointed out to the U/Win folks that Interix was regularly dealing with Domains of 40,000+ users. They realized that the file could be out of date before it was regenerated
(ignoring all of the processing and network time to do this work). Having it integrated works best for size, speed, security, etc.
3.08 How can I verify what a user's home directory is in the user database?
The easiest way is to run an application that will display this information. The most commonly available is the 'finger' utility. If "/" is displayed as the user's home directory then a home directory has not been set for the user.
3.09 How do I properly set a user's home directory?
The correct solution is to add a home directory for each user in the user database. You'll need to open Active Directory (AD) for Users & Groups for a Domain or Computer Management for a local computer (standalone). Then find the user and open the Properties Panel for that user. Go to the Profile tab and set the home directory. You set it in Win32 syntax or UNC syntax. This path will be translated by the system during the API call(s) to UNIX syntax. We recommend that you set the home directory with a UNC path. This allows for easy access by all machines across the network without the filesystem being mounted to a specific drive letter.
3.10 I'm running Windows 2000 and just installed SP1 and Interix won't run now.
There is a hotfix available from Microsoft for this. You need to contact Microsoft support (aka PSS, Professional Support Services) to get the hotfix. You should be able to get it without a service charge, but Microsoft likes to keep track of hotfix distribution. The most current CD image that installs SFU has been updated to include this fix. So newer installations on Windows 2000 with SP1 should not be affected.
3.11 Administrator doing "su <user>" can't access network drive.
With Interix three user accounts have a power very similar to Unix "root": System, Domain Administrator and local administrator. These accounts have the power to create a process with a security token of any user without a password (just like Unix "root"). But the security token is limited to the local machine and the local machine's filesystems. By default if you are Administrator and do "su" to a user you will not be asked for a password and therefore will not have access to remote filesystems. If you update to the /Tools "su" you can use the "-l" (ell) option to always ask for a password. With a password a security token will be create that allows for remote filesystem access as that user.
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Building / Developer FAQs
4.01 Debugging Interix processes
You will need to build your program using 'gcc' as the compiler and linker using the '-g' option (refer to the gcc man page for more information). Then you can use the 'gdb' debugger to examine the process. Currently there is not a known configuration for using the Microsoft Visual Studio debugger. You can also use 'truss' to help debug a process.
4.02 Using GNUs configure
When using GNU's configure script to configure a build environment for an application it is suggested that you set the following environment variables before running configure.
CFLAGS="-D_ALL_SOURCE -D_REENTRANT"
CPPFLAGS="-D_ALL_SOURCE -D_REENTRANT -I/usr/local/include"
LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/lib"
If GNU's configure complains that the type of system is not recognized then you need to update the file "config.guess." Some applications have multiple copies of "config.guess" so be sure to find all of them. An updated "config.guess" can be downloaded from "ftp://ftp.interopsystems.com/pub/config.guess". You may also need to update your LD_LIBRARY_FLAGS if you are using shared object libraries (DSOs), but this is likely already done for you if you have installed a /Tools packaged library.
4.03 Is there a GUI for looking at manual (man) pages?
Yes. You will need to have an X11 server for the GUI to be displayed. The 'tkman' program is part of the 'tkman' package available from the /Tools warehouse. It allows you to expand and collapse subsections of a man page and to follow links/references.
4.04 Does SFU/Interix come with a compiler?
SFU comes with the ability to use MSVC and gcc/g++. The gcc compiler comes with the SFU installation when you select from the Custom install option. Note that BOTH the Interix SDK and the GNU SDK must be installed. The MSVC compiler is a separate download that is now free. It is recommended that you have MSVC installed before installing SFU, but you can do it after. You need to have at least the Interix SDK installed. The utilities cc and c89 are used to control MSVC compiling programs. You can get more information on downloading MSVC from: http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/vctoolkit2003/.
4.05 I can't find the 'gcc', 'cc' and/or 'c89' compilers with my SFU installation. Where are they?
You likely just installed the default SFU selection of components. At installation time you should have also selected both the "Interix SDK" and "Interix GNU SDK" components from the Custom Installation. Now that you have SFU/Interix installed you can add these components to the current installation by starting the SFU installation ag ain. The SFU installer will see that you have already done an installation and ask if you want to add/remove components.
Check the boxes in the tree-like list of components for *both* the "Interix SDK" and "Interix GNU SDK." This will install all of the developer tools and manual pages including 'gcc', 'cc' and 'c89'.
4.06 I have a program that verifies a user's password to the content of /etc/passwd. How do I port this to Interix?
Use the API setuser() instead. One of the flags you can pass to the setuser() API is SU_CHECK to verify a password. When you want to actually change the user we recommend you use setuser() with the SU_COMPLETE flag rather than a set of setuid(), seteuid(), setgid() and setegid() API calls because it is faster and with create a better security token.
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4.07 Where is the GNU source code for what ships with SFU?
Every CD (or downloaded CD image) has the GNU source code with it. From the root of the CD look in the directory "sources/Interix/gnu." You will find three tar files there with the sources.
4.08 Can I create a software package myself like in the /Tools Warehouse?
Yes, you can! Refer to the 'pkg_create' manual page for most of the information. You can "disassemble" existing packages with 'tar' to see what has been done as a comparison. Once you have done this give it a try! It's pretty straight-forward compared to a lot of other installers. You may always post questions to the Forum as well. If you would like to donate your package to the /Tools Warehouse you can. We'll look at the package and place it available in a "beta" location for a trial period before it goes "live."
4.09 When linking ""__res_state"" is not found
You are compiling/linking software that has been built against a more recent version of the BIND library than what ships with SFU 3.5. You should install the BIND 9 package from the /Tools Warehouse. Then ensure that "-I/usr/local/include" is part of the compile line and that "-L/usr/local/lib" and "-lbind" are part of the link line.
Windows Interop FAQs
5.01 Accessing Win32 APIs
You cannot link Win32 APIs with Interix APIs. You can communicate between Interix and Win32 processes with several methods: common files, memory mapped files, sockets and pipes. This actually gives you a large amount of controlled communications between the two systems. If you are looking to do COM you will need to make a "wrapper" for the Win32 program that will link with COM and handle the communications between Interix and Win32.
Starting with Windows 2003 R2, Interix (aka Windows Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications) is included as part of the OS and Interix and Win32 API's can be both linked into the same program.
5.02 Running Win32 programs from Interix on the glass
When you are logged on to Windows at the screen (aka "the glass") and you are running an Interix terminal (one of the shells: ksh, csh, tcsh, bash, zsh) you can run Win32 programs. If the Win32 program is a command line oriented programs it will display in the same window from which the command was run. If the Win32 program is a GUI (Graphical User Interface; such as notepad) it will open its own graphics display. You are able to do this without a problem because everything is working within the same "window station" (what you see on the glass).
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5.03 Running Win32 programs from Interix "via telent/rlogin/ssh or xterm
When you are logged in to the system via telnet, rlogin or ssh, OR you are working from a locally displayed xterm terminal you cannot run all Win32 programs. When you are logged in this way you do not have access to a "window station." This might change in the future, but this is the way it is now. Without a window station some Win32 programs cannot run, or will run but their output is confused or missing some information. Win32 programs that are GUI (graphically based) cannot run because there is nowhere for them to display. For programs that are command line based the majority run correctly. There are a few that Win32 command line programs that are not well written that attempt to "draw" to the terminal. These command line applications will appear to be missing information in their output.
5.04 Creating a desktop shortcut
The quickest way to create a desktop shortcut is to make a copy of the menu entry for one of the shells (csh or ksh) under "Start->Programs->Windows Services for UNIX". Use the right mouse button to popup a menu to make the copy. Then go to the desktop and click the right mouse button to popup a menu: select paste shortcut. You can then open the properties panel for this shortcut to make any adjustments you would like.
5.05 Junction points
Interix 3.0 and 3.5 can deal with junction points when they have been specified with relative pathnames (not absolute pathnames). Using symbolic links is likely a better method for portability with UNIX scripts and NFS. You should avoid installing Interix/SFU under a junction point. An absolute junction point is not handled by Interix currently and thus your installation will not work (or will have serious problems).
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