[PATCH] Add BINFMT_MISC docs for Mono .NET-based binaries

Just as there is documentation for BINFMT_MISC and Java bytecodes
support, I thought it could be interesting to add documentation on how
to add BINFMT_MISC support for directly running .NET ".exe" binaries
using the Mono CLR.

diff --git a/Documentation/java.txt b/Documentation/java.txt
index 4a4f0e1..e4814c2 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/java.txt
+++ b/Documentation/java.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ other program after you have done the following:
    the kernel (CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC) and set it up properly.
    If you choose to compile it as a module, you will have
    to insert it manually with modprobe/insmod, as kmod
-   can not easy be supported with binfmt_misc. 
+   can not easily be supported with binfmt_misc. 
    Read the file 'binfmt_misc.txt' in this directory to know
    more about the configuration process.
 

diff --git a/Documentation/mono.txt b/Documentation/mono.txt
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..6739ab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/mono.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+               Mono(tm) Binary Kernel Support for Linux
+               -----------------------------------------
+
+To configure Linux to automatically execute Mono-based .NET binaries
+(in the form of .exe files) without the need to use the mono CLR
+wrapper, you can use the BINFMT_MISC kernel support.
+
+This will allow you to execute Mono-based .NET binaries just like any
+other program after you have done the following:
+
+1) You MUST FIRST install the Mono CLR support, either by downloading
+   a binary package, a source tarball or by installing from CVS. Binary
+   packages for several distributions can be found at:
+
+       http://go-mono.com/download.html
+
+   Instructions for compiling Mono can be found at:
+
+       http://www.go-mono.com/compiling.html
+
+   Once the Mono CLR support has been installed, just check that
+   /usr/bin/mono (which could be located elsewhere, for example
+   /usr/local/bin/mono) is working.
+
+2) You have to compile BINFMT_MISC either as a module or into
+   the kernel (CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC) and set it up properly.
+   If you choose to compile it as a module, you will have
+   to insert it manually with modprobe/insmod, as kmod
+   can not be easily supported with binfmt_misc. 
+   Read the file 'binfmt_misc.txt' in this directory to know
+   more about the configuration process.
+
+3) Add the following enries to /etc/rc.local or similar script
+   to be run at system startup:
+
+# Insert BINFMT_MISC module into the kernel
+if [ ! -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ]; then
+        /sbin/modprobe binfmt_misc
+       # Some distributions, like Fedora Core, perform
+       # the following command automatically when the
+       # binfmt_misc module is loaded into the kernel.
+       # Thus, it is possible that the following line
+       # is not needed at all. Look at /etc/modprobe.conf
+       # to check whether this is applicable or not.
+        mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
+fi
+
+# Register support for .NET CLR binaries
+if [ -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ]; then
+       # Replace /usr/bin/mono with the correct pathname to
+       # the Mono CLR runtime (usually /usr/local/bin/mono
+       # when compiling from sources or CVS).
+        echo ':CLR:M::MZ::/usr/bin/mono:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
+else
+        echo "No binfmt_misc support"
+        exit 1
+fi
+
+4) Check that .exe binaries can be ran without the need of a
+   wrapper script, simply by launching the .exe file directly
+   from a command prompt, for example:
+
+       /usr/bin/xsd.exe
+
+   NOTE: If this fails with a permission denied error, check
+         that the .exe file has execute permissions.

diff --git a/fs/Kconfig.binfmt b/fs/Kconfig.binfmt
index f116b4a..bd6eb49 100644 (file)
--- a/fs/Kconfig.binfmt
+++ b/fs/Kconfig.binfmt
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ config BINFMT_MISC
        ---help---
          If you say Y here, it will be possible to plug wrapper-driven binary
          formats into the kernel. You will like this especially when you use
-         programs that need an interpreter to run like Java, Python or
+         programs that need an interpreter to run like Java, Python, .NET or
          Emacs-Lisp. It's also useful if you often run DOS executables under
          the Linux DOS emulator DOSEMU (read the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available from
          <http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>). Once you have
@@ -109,8 +109,9 @@ config BINFMT_MISC
 
          You can do other nice things, too. Read the file
          <file:Documentation/binfmt_misc.txt> to learn how to use this
-         feature, and <file:Documentation/java.txt> for information about how
-         to include Java support.
+         feature, <file:Documentation/java.txt> for information about how
+         to include Java support. and <file:Documentation/mono.txt> for
+          information about how to include Mono-based .NET support.
 
           To use binfmt_misc, you will need to mount it:
                mount binfmt_misc -t binfmt_misc /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc