What do tags and links refer to in src/sys/amd64/Makefile

[Stefan Andritoiu]

Hello,
I've just made some changes (added a ioctl request) to the src/sys/amd64/vmm/vmm_dev.c and src/sys/amd64/vmm/vmm_dev.h files, and wanted to test it. I tried to run the src/sys/amd64/Makefile and got:
make links or tags only

Can someone explain to me what links and tags are? And which one I need to make?

 

[woodsb02]

The answer lies within the file sys/amd64/Makefile.

If you just run the make(1) command, it defaults to using the first target specified in the Makefile (in this case the all target). The developers have left a helpful instruction for you in this case, prompting you that only the tags or links targets are valid. In other words you should only run make tags or make links in this directory.

What this essentially comes down to, is that you are not supposed to build the kernel by running make in this directory.

For more information on how to build the kernel, refer to the below handbook page:
https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/kernelconfig-building.html

Good luck!