BUILDING.txt

NOTE
====

The rEFInd Makefiles are complex, in order to support building in three ways
(described shortly). As a consequence (and, likely, because I'm not exactly
a Makefile guru), tracking of header files is basically non-existent.
Therefore, if you use git to update to a later version of rEFInd, you should
do a "make clean" before building a new version of rEFInd, to be sure any
changed data structures are cleanly applied to all the object files that use
them.

Requirements
============

To compile rEFInd, you'll need the following:

* A Linux installation. Note that this installation does NOT need to be
  EFI-based. It can use IA32 (aka x86, i386, or other things), X64 (aka
  x86-64, AMD64, or EM64T), or AA64 (aka AARCH64 or ARM64), but unless you
  use a cross-compiler, it must use the same CPU type and bit depth as your
  EFI implementation. (Normally that means 64-bit X64.) If you don't
  normally run Linux, you can run it in a VirtualBox or similar virtual
  machine. (I describe some unsupported non-Linux build options later.)

* A standard set of Linux development tools, based on GCC. (I've tried
  using Clang 3.4 under Ubuntu, with partial success. The main rEFInd
  binary, gptsync, and some drivers compile successfully; but only gptsync
  runs normally. The drivers I've tried and the main rEFInd binary crash.)
  Install required packages:
  
```  
sudo apt-get install build-essential git uuid-dev iasl nasm
```

* One of the following:

  * The TianoCore EDK2/UDK package (https://github.com/tianocore/edk2). This
    toolkit is available in an unstable development version (EDK2) or in
    "frozen" forms (UDK2014, UDK2017, UDK2018, and so on); however, the term
    "EDK2" is often used in reference to the TianoCore toolkit generally. To
    simplify matters, I officially support only one UDK version at any given
    moment. Currently (rEFInd 0.12.1), this version is UDK2018; however, I
    used UDK2017 for rEFInd 0.10.9 through 0.11.2, and UDK2014 may
    unofficially work via a different build procedure (see below), which is
    now deprecated. (This build process is broken with Ubuntu 20.04 and GCC
    9.3.) The UDK2018 version I use is available from
    https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/UDK2018. I tried a
    newer version in February of 2021 (edk2-edk2-stable202011), but it
    failed to compile because of the removal of in-tree libraries and other
    problems.
    
  * The GNU-EFI package (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnu-efi/). You can
    install this from a package called "gnu-efi"; however, rEFInd relies on
    features that were added sometime between version 3.0s and 3.0u, so I
    recommend using 3.0u or later. The latest versions of GNU-EFI have
    abandoned the trailing letter and switched to a more traditional
    additional number, as in 3.0.4. You should check your GNU-EFI version
    number; you may need to download the latest source code, compile it, and
    install it locally. The Makefiles assume a GNU-EFI package installed via
    a package manager. If you install from source code, you may need to
    adjust those Makefiles' paths.

Of the two toolkits, I recommend using GNU-EFI if you're compiling for your
native architecture (e.g., X64 on an X64/x86-64/AMD64 system). GNU-EFI is
*MUCH* easier to install, particularly if you're using an unsupported
version of TianoCore -- the TianoCore developers keep making changes that
break its ability to compile; and even the procedures I document here can
break on distributions other than what I use -- Ubuntu 20.04, currently. (I
suspect the TianoCore developers are trying to support too many build
platforms.). In the past, TianoCore-based rEFInd binaries supported some
features didn't work when building with GNU-EFI; but these GNU-EFI
limitations have long been in the past. Because GNU-EFI is a standard part
of most Linux distributions but TianoCore's EDK2 is not, binaries built for
most distributions and in archives like my own Ubuntu PPA for rEFInd are
built with GNU-EFI. TianoCore still has some advantages, though. One of
these is that cross-compiling with it is easier (if you can get the
TianoCore package to build). For this reason, I use it to build my binary
.zip files, since I can build the X64, IA32, and AARCH64 binaries on one
computer. Also, I've had problems on a 32-bit Mac Mini with the drivers
produced by GNU-EFI hanging the system. (I haven't encountered this problem
on UEFI-based PCs.) The TianoCore EDK2 is also usable on a wide variety of
OSes, including macOS and Windows, so you might be able to get rEFInd to
compile on these OSes using TianoCore, although I do not provide support for
such attempts. (The upcoming section, "Compiling rEFInd Under MacOS," does
provide some pointers, though.)

Preparing Your Development Kit
==============================

If you're using Linux, GNU-EFI is the easiest way to compile rEFInd. I
don't describe GNU-EFI's setup here because it's likely to be fairly easy.
If your distribution provides a recent enough version, you should be able
to install a package called gnu-efi and be done with it. If not, you'll
need to download the source code tarball, build it, and install it. This
process is fairly typical of Linux packages. Read the GNU-EFI documentation
if you need help. If you're using GNU-EFI, you can skip the rest of this
section.

You might want to use the TianoCore toolkit if you have problems with
GNU-EFI or if you want to build rEFInd on a non-Linux platform.
Unfortunately, the TianoCore toolkit is weird by Linux programming
standards. It's also quite large -- it's intended as a means to develop a
complete EFI firmware implementation, so it contains much more code than is
needed to develop standalone EFI applications. I don't know of any Linux
distribution packages for it in RPM, Debian package file, or other formats;
you MUST install the kit from source code using its own unusual compilation
procedure. The installation documentation also omits at least one step and
is a bit unclear about others. Here's how to install the toolkit (note that
you'll need to be root to do this in the specified location):

1. Download UDK2018 from
   https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/UDK2018:
   
cd /usr/local   
git clone -b UDK2018 "https://github.com/tianocore/edk2" edk2-vUDK2018
git -C edk2-vUDK2018 submodule update --init

   (If you
   must use it for some reason, you can download the older
   UDK2014.SR1.UP1.P1 from
   https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/UDK2014-Releases
   instead.) If you want to live on the "bleeding edge," you can use an EDK2
   daily release version from https://github.com/tianocore/edk2. This
   document describes three distinct compilation methods for TianoCore, each
   of which has compatibility problems with some architectures.
   Specifically, the "make tiano" target fails with EDK2 and UDK2018 for all
   architectures; and the "make edk2" and "build" procedures work with EDK2
   and UDK2018 for all architectures but require modifications of project
   files to work with AARCH64.

2. Preparation procedures deviate depending on which development kit you're
   using. For UDK2018 or an EDK2 daily build, follow these steps:

   A. Type "cd /usr/local/".

   B. Unzip the downloaded file (edk2-vUDK2018.zip) in the current directory
      (/usr/local), or use git to pull down the latest source code. This
      creates a subdirectory tree called edk2-vUDK2018. If you already 
      cloned UDK2018 branch and initialized it as outlined in step 1 of
      "Preparing Your Development Kit" skip this step.

   C. Type "cd edk2-vUDK2018" to change into the extracted directory.

3. If you're using the older UDK2014, follow these steps:

   A. Type "mkdir /usr/local/UDK2014". You can use another directory, but
      the rEFInd Makefile assumes this location. You'll need to edit the
      TIANOBASE variable in the top-level Makefile if you install somewhere
      else.

   B. Type "cd /usr/local/UDK2014".

   C. Unzip the downloaded file
      (UDK2014.SR1.UP1.P1.Complete.MyWorkSpace.zip) in the current directory
      (/usr/local/UDK2014). This creates a handful of files, including a
      tarball and a couple of .zip files.

   D. Type "unzip UDK2014.SR1.UP1.MyWorkSpace.zip". This extracts the
      platform-neutral portion of the development kit.

   E. Type "cd MyWorkSpace".

   F. Type "tar xvf ../BaseTools\(Unix\).tar". This extracts the
      Linux/Unix-specific portions of the toolkit.

4. With any TianoCore version, type "source edksetup.sh BaseTools". This
   sets up some environment variables, so subsequent steps (NOT including
   compiling rEFInd or its drivers) must be typed in the shell you use for
   this step.

5. Edit Conf/target.txt and change the following:
    - ACTIVE_PLATFORM = MdePkg/MdePkg.dsc
    - TARGET = RELEASE (DEBUG might work, but I've not tested it).
    - TARGET_ARCH = X64 (on x86-64; leave this as IA32 on x86 or change it
      to AARCH64 on ARM64). If you plan to build multiple architectures,
      you can set this to "IA32 X64" or some other combination.
    - TOOL_CHAIN_TAG = GCC5 (or other value depending on your GCC version;
      type "gcc -v" to learn your GCC version number). Note that support
      for the latest GCC version takes a while to make it into the
      TianoCore toolkit, so if you're using a very recent GCC, you may need
      to specify an earlier version and hope for the best or modify
      Conf/tools_def.txt, as described shortly.
    - MAX_CONCURRENT_THREAD_NUMBER = {#CPUs + 1}; set this to one more
      than the number of CPUs in your computer to optimize build time
      when using the "edk2" targets with UDK2018 or an EDK2 daily build.
      This setting has no effect when using the "tiano" targets with
      UDK2014.
   The TianoCore Makefiles read some of these variables from this file
   and use them when accessing directories, so be sure to type these
   entries in the case specified.

6. The documentation refers to editing Conf/tools_def.txt in addition to
   Conf/target.txt, but doesn't specify what to change in
   Conf/tools_def.txt. Some of the changes I've needed to make in various
   build environments include:

    * When using GCC 4.7 on a Fedora 17 system with the original UDK2014,
      GCC 4.7 was newer than the most recent GCC that TianoCore supported at
      that time. With that setup, I found it necessary to change the
      following line:
        *_GCC46_X64_ASM_FLAGS            = DEF(GCC46_ASM_FLAGS) -m64 -melf_x86_64
        to:
        *_GCC46_X64_ASM_FLAGS            = DEF(GCC46_ASM_FLAGS) -m64
      Although GCC 4.7 and Fedora 17 are both ancient, something similar may
      be necessary if you're using a very recent GCC or some other compiler.

    * When cross-compiling for ARM64 (AARCH64) on an x86-64 system,
      I needed to edit various entries to point to the cross-compiler
      rather than the usual compilers. For instance:
        *_GCC49_AARCH64_CC_PATH           = ENV(GCC49_AARCH64_PREFIX)gcc
        to:
        *_GCC49_AARCH64_CC_PATH          = /usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc
      Similar changes for other variables in the same block are necessary.

    * When compiling for x86 (IA32) on an x86-64 system running Ubuntu
      20.04, I needed to add "-fno-pie -fno-pic" to the GCC5_IA32_CC_FLAGS
      definition. (At this time, TianoCore's UDK2018 and November 2020
      snapshots' GCC definitions maxed out at GCC5, but Ubuntu 20.04 shipped
      with GCC 9.3.)

    * When compiling for ARM64 (AARCH64) on an x86-64 system running
      Ubuntu 20.04, I needed to add "-fno-unwind-tables" to the
      GCC5_AARCH64_CC_FLAGS definition.

7. You may need to remove "-Werror" from two locations in
   BaseTools/Source/C/Makefiles/header.makefile. I found this to be
   necessary under Ubuntu 20.04 (using GCC 9.3), but not under Ubuntu 18.04
   (using GCC 7.5).

8. Type "make -C BaseTools/Source/C". (This step is not documented on the
   EDK Web page.) Note that this requires the g++ compiler and UUID
   development libraries.

9. Type "build" to build the main set of EDK2 files. This process is
   likely to take a few minutes. This step requires Python 2; if you have
   Python 3 installed, you may need to adjust the default python for this
   build (for instance, by typing "eselect python set python2.7" in
   Gentoo).
   
10. Type:
"git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/refind/code RefindPkg && cd RefindPkg && make edk2" for edk2 builds.

If you installed in a location other than the one I've specified, you must
edit the EDK2BASE (for "make edk2" builds) or TIANOBASE (for the deprecated
"make tiano" builds) variable in the top-level Makefile in the rEFInd source
package. Once the toolkit is installed, you can build the filesystem drivers
or rEFInd, as described below.


Compiling rEFInd the Unix/Linux Way
===================================

With your development system set up, you can compile rEFInd as follows:

1. Download and uncompress the rEFInd source code archive. (If you're
   reading this file, you've probably already done this task.)

2. Open a Linux shell prompt

3. Change into the archive's main directory. You should see several files
   including this BUILDING.txt file and several subdirectories such as
   "refind", "libeg", "mok", "filesystems", and "include".

4. If you want to build with the TianoCore toolkit and you installed in a
   location other than the one specified in "Preparing Your Development
   Kit," you must edit Makefile in the main rEFInd directory: change the
   EDK2BASE and/or TIANOBASE variables to point to your toolkit's location.
   The EDK2BASE variable is used with the "edk2" target, which is useful
   with all versions of TianoCore, with some caveats (described later), and
   TIANOBASE is used with the "tiano" target (which can be used with
   UDK2014, but not later versions).

5. Type "make" to build rEFInd and gptsync, or "make fs" to build the
   filesystem drivers. The Makefile checks for the TianoCore toolkit and
   tries to use it if it's present. Additional "make" targets enable you to
   fine-tune how rEFInd is built and what components are built, as described
   shortly. With any luck, rEFInd will compile without error, leaving the
   "refind_ia32.efi", "refind_x64.efi", or "refind_aa64.efi" file, depending
   on your platform, in the "refind" subdirectory. This same step builds the
   "gptsync_ia32.efi", "gptsync_x64.efi", or "gptsync_aa64.efi" program
   file, in the "gptsync" subdirectory. If you want to build IA32 binaries
   on an x86-64 (X64) system and if you're using TianoCore, type "ARCH=ia32
   make". Similarly, you can specify "ARCH=aarch64" to cross-compile for
   ARM64, but this works only if you're using the TianoCore build kit, and
   only if you set up TianoCore for cross-compiling. If you plan to build
   multiple architectures, be sure to copy the .efi file for the first build
   out of the refind subdirectory and type "make clean" before building the
   second architecture.

The top-level rEFInd Makefile supports three toolchains, each of which
provides several options to compile a subset of rEFInd's programs. (Note
that I specify AMD64/x86-64/X64 filenames in the below for simplicity.) The
"make" targets are:

* gnuefi -- This target builds refind_x64.efi and gptsync_x64.efi with
  the GNU-EFI toolkit.
* gptsync_gnuefi -- This target builds just the gptsync.efi program
  with the GNU-EFI toolkit.
* fs_gnuefi -- This target builds all the filesystem drivers with the
  GNU-EFI toolkit.
* all_gnuefi -- This target builds everything (refind_x64.efi,
  gptsync_x64.efi, and the filesystem drivers) with the GNU-EFI toolkit.
* tiano -- This deprecated, and increasingly unreliable, target builds
  refind_x64.efi and gptsync_x64.efi with the TianoCore toolkit by using
  custom Makefile rules, bypassing the TianoCore toolkit's "build" command.
  The result is slightly faster compilation in a more traditional Unix/Linux
  way; but the compilation rules are fragile and work only with the UDK2014
  toolkit. They worked with Ubuntu 18.04 and GCC 7.5, but now fail with
  Ubuntu 20.04 and GCC 9.3. Also, the gptsync_x64.efi program is not built
  on ARM64/AARCH64 because the build process fails. (As hybrid MBRs are
  likely to be useless on this platform, the inability to build
  gptsync_aa64.efi is no great loss.)
* gptsync_tiano -- This target works like the preceding one, but builds
  only gptsync_x64.efi.
* fs_tiano -- This target works like the preceding two, but builds the
  filesystem drivers.
* all_tiano -- This target builds refind_x64.efi, gptsync_x64.efi, and
  the filesystem drivers using custom Makefile rules.
* edk2 -- Like the "tiano" target, this one builds with the TianoCore
  toolkit; but it employs a build method more like that favored by
  TianoCore. It relies on .dsc, .dec, and .inf files as well as the "build"
  program that comes with TianoCore. This method works with UDK2014 and
  UDK2018. It might work with more recent EDK2 snapshots, but as noted
  earlier, my attempt to use a November 2020 snapshot failed because I
  couldn't get it to compile. This method also works under macOS, if
  TianoCore is properly prepared. One limitation is that building with
  UDK2014 for ARM64/AARCH64 requires modifying the .inf files to remove the
  reference to CompilerIntrinsicsLib. This build method is also a little bit
  slower than the preceding ones, in part because EVERYTHING is built;
  narrower targets simply copy fewer of the resulting files from within the
  TianoCore directory tree. Note that this method, unlike the preceding
  ones, requires WRITE access to the TianoCore build tree, or at least to
  the Build and Conf subdirectories of that tree, as well as to the root of
  the tree. (This method creates a symbolic link of the main rEFInd
  directory into the root of the TianoCore tree, and the build process
  creates a subdirectory called Build/Refind to hold temporary files and the
  final .efi files. The "make" utility then copies these files to the same
  locations used by the tiano and gnuefi targets.)
* gptsync_edk2 -- This target copies just the gptsync_x64.efi binary to its
  final destination.
* fs_edk2 -- This target works like the "edk2" target, but copies only
  the filesystem drivers to their destination.
* all_edk2 -- This target builds and copies everything using the
  TianoCore-style build process.
* all -- This is the default target. It runs the "edk2" target if
  the EDK2BASE variable points to a valid TianoCore toolkit. If not, it runs
  the "tiano" target if the TIANOBASE variable points to a valid TianoCore
  toolkit. If neither of these variables points to a valid TianoCore
  toolkit, the "gnuefi" target is tried.
* gptsync -- This target builds the gptsync_x64.efi program using the
  same precedence for toolkits as the "all" target.
* fs -- This target builds the filesystem drivers using the same precedence
  for toolkits as the "all" target.
* clean -- This target deletes intermediate build files. Note that it
  deletes intermediate files generated by ALL the build methods (gnuefi,
  tiano, and edk2).
* install -- This target runs the refind-install script with no
  arguments.

If rEFInd doesn't compile correctly, you'll need to track down the source
of the problem. Double-check that you've got all the necessary development
tools installed, including GCC, make, and either GNU-EFI or TianoCore EDK2.
You may also need to adjust the Makefile or Make.common file; or possibly
Make* files in code subdirectories. (The main Makefile controls the process
for both toolkits, while Make.common holds most common options.) The most
likely thing you'll need to change is the path to the various GNU-EFI
include files and libraries. Since rEFInd 0.6.2, the default Make.common
file includes the following GNU-EFI definitions:

EFIINC          = /usr/include/efi
GNUEFILIB       = /usr/lib
EFILIB          = /usr/lib
EFICRT0         = /usr/lib

If you've installed GNU-EFI from source code, you may need to add "local" to
those paths, as in "/usr/local/include/efi". You might need to change
references to "lib" to "lib32" or "lib64" on some systems. Recall that you
need at least GNU-EFI version 3.0u to build rEFInd, and some older or
behind-the-times distributions might provide out-of-date versions of this
package.

If you're using TianoCore's EDK2, as noted earlier, you may need to adjust
the TIANOBASE or EDKBASE variable in Makefile.

Compiling rEFInd through Docker
==================================
cd "`mktemp -d`"

mkdir -m 1777 /tmp/RefindPkg-build

git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/refind/code RefindPkg

docker pull xaionaro2/edk2-builder:vUDK2018

docker run --rm \
    -e CFLAGS=-Wno-error \
    -e TOOLCHAIN=GCC5 \
    -e BUILD_TARGET=DEBUG \
    -e DSC_PATH=RefindPkg/RefindPkg.dsc \
    -v "$PWD/RefindPkg/:/home/edk2/edk2/RefindPkg/" \
    -v "/tmp/RefindPkg-build:/home/edk2/Build" \
    xaionaro2/edk2-builder:vUDK2018
    
docker run --rm \
    -e CFLAGS=-Wno-error \
    -e TOOLCHAIN=GCC5 \
    -e BUILD_TARGET=RELEASE \
    -e DSC_PATH=RefindPkg/RefindPkg.dsc \
    -v "$PWD/RefindPkg/:/home/edk2/edk2/RefindPkg/" \
    -v "/tmp/RefindPkg-build:/home/edk2/Build" \
    xaionaro2/edk2-builder:vUDK2018

A Note about NTFS
=================

Over the years, I've received far too many queries from people who've had
problems with rEFInd hanging because of the NTFS driver. Thus, beginning
with rEFInd 0.11.5, the NTFS driver is NOT compiled by default. (If using
Tianocore EDK2, the file is actually compiled, but it's not copied to the
output directory.) If you need it, you can still compile it manually by
changing into the filesystems directory and typing "make ntfs_gnuefi" if
you're using GNU-EFI; or by copying the file from
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC5/X64/ntfs.efi (or the equivalent for other
architectures) in the Tianocore EDK2 installation location if you're using
Tianocore EDK2. Alternatively, you can look at the NTFS driver in Pete
Batard's efifs project (http://efi.akeo.ie). I can't promise this driver
will be more reliable than rEFInd's, but it might be.



Compiling rEFInd the TianoCore Way
==================================

If you use TianoCore, you may know that the standard way to build
applications under that environment does not follow the typical Unix/Linux
development model described above. Instead, the application to be compiled
is dropped into the main TianoCore source tree and compiled there using the
"build" command. rEFInd can be compiled in this way. I am providing
instructions on compiling in this way because it may work better than
rEFInd's Makefiles in some cases, especially if you're using a non-Linux
platform for development. I've successfully compiled rEFInd 0.10.8 under
macOS in this way. (I present details and caveats shortly.) Note that the
"edk2" and related Makefile targets use this method behind the scenes. The
procedure is:

1. Download and prepare the TianoCore toolkit, as described earlier,
   under "Preparing Your Development Kit." Note that you will have to adjust
   this procedure if you're using a non-Linux OS.

2. Change to the directory that holds the BaseTools, MdePkg, ShellPkg, and
   other directories and files. If you use the UDK2014.SR1.UP1.P1 package
   noted earlier, this would be the MyWorkSpace directory.

3. Unpack the rEFInd source tarball in the current directory.

4. Rename the rEFInd directory (refind-{version}, where {version} is the
   version number) to RefindPkg. Alternatively, create a symbolic link
   called RefindPkg that points to the real directory.

5. Type "source edksetup.sh BaseTools". (You can skip this step if you're
   using the same login session you used to build the TianoCore toolkit; you
   need to type this command only if you've logged out and back in again,
   are using a different window from the one you used to build TianoCore, or
   have otherwise modified the environment variables set in edksetup.sh.)

6. If you're using UDK2014 AND you're compiling for AARCH64, you must
   open refind.inf, gptsync.inf, and the .inf files for all the drivers in
   the filesystems subdirectory and comment out the line that reads
   "CompilerIntrinsicsLib". This library is needed for later versions of
   EDK2 but is not present in (and not required for) UDK2014.

7. Type "build -p RefindPkg/RefindPkg.dsc" to build rEFInd. If you've
   properly configured your TianoCore installation for cross-compiling, you
   may add "-a {ARCH}", where {ARCH} is an architecture code, to compile for
   that platform. For instance, "build -a IA32 -p RefindPkg/RefindPkg.dsc"
   builds for IA32 (32-bit x86), even on another type of computer.

The rEFInd package should build, leaving binaries buried ridiculously deep
within the directory tree. For instance, on my test build, the rEFInd
binaries were at:

Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/btrfs.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/ext2.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/ext4.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/gptsync.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/hfs.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/iso9660.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/ntfs.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/refind.efi
Build/Refind/RELEASE_GCC49/X64/reiserfs.efi

I've tested this procedure under Ubuntu 16.04 with GCC 5.4.0 and under macOS
10.11 with both Clang 7.0.0/XCode 7.1.1 and Clang 8.0.0/XCode 8.1.1. (See
below for Mac caveats.) In theory, it might work under Windows, but if you
use anything but a GCC- or Clang-derived compiler, there's a good chance
you'll run into a compiler-specific code incompatibility.


Compiling rEFInd Under MacOS
============================

Building under macOS is *NOT SUPPORTED.* I've tested this procedure and it
seems to work in minimal testing. My build under macOS required several
changes for compilation to succeed:

* A relatively recent TianoCore EDK2 from the TianoCore git repository is
  required; the stable UDK2014 and UDK2015 DO NOT work. I have yet to test
  with the final release of UDK2017 or UDK2018, but I expect they might
  work.

* Setting up the Mac development environment required following instructions
  at https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/Xcode, with the
  caveat that the UnixPkg directory described there is essentially empty;
  instead, I compiled the BaseTools/Source/C code, as described earlier. (I
  don't know if this was strictly necessary, but the tools did compile,
  despite several warnings.) I also skipped installing QEMU.

* Instead of "TOOL_CHAIN_TAG = GCC49", I set "TOOL_CHAIN_TAG = XCODE5" in
  Conf/target.txt.

* I had to edit Conf/tools_def.txt and edit the RELEASE_XCODE5_X64_CC_FLAGS
  line to remove the "-Werror" option. With this option set, the main rEFInd
  binary and several drivers failed to build. **CAUTION:** The warnings that
  prevented the rEFInd binary from compiling with "-Werror" intact related
  to ((sysv_abi)) declarations in mok/mok.h. This makes me think that the
  resulting binary may be incompatible with Shim, although I've not tested
  this; my only testing of the binary built under macOS were on systems with
  Secure Boot disabled or with the Secure Boot system under my complete
  control and without Shim installed.

* I had to edit refind.inf and uncomment the line in the Packages section
  that reads "StdLib/StdLib.dec".

* I've been unable to get the Btrfs driver to build. To adjust the package
  to omit this driver, edit the RefindPkg.dsc file and remove the line near
  the bottom that reads "RefindPkg/filesystems/btrfs.inf". (This limitation
  may be resolved with rEFInd 0.12.1, but I haven't tested it.)

Note that if you want to use macOS or Windows to compile rEFInd, you might
be able to create a project or Makefile for your non-GCC compiler or use a
GCC port, such as MinGW (http://www.mingw.org), along with the procedure
described earlier, under "Compiling rEFInd the Unix/Linux Way." You'd
probably need to adjust the Makefiles in the latter case.


Installing rEFInd
=================

With rEFInd compiled, you can install it. The easiest way to do this is
with the refind-install script, which works on both Linux and macOS.
Alternatively, you can type "make install" to install using this script.
Note that this script copies files to the ESP and uses "efibootmgr" (on
Linux) or "bless" (on macOS) to add rEFInd to the firmware's boot loader
list. The docs/man/refind-install.8 file (and its HTML conversion,
docs/refind/refind-install.html) provides more details on this script and
its use.

If refind-install doesn't work for you or if you prefer to do the job
manually, you may. On a UEFI-based system, you'll want to copy files on the
ESP as follows:

* Create a directory for rEFInd, such as EFI/refind.
* Copy refind/refind_ia32.efi or refind_x64.efi to the ESP's EFI/refind
  directory.
* Copy refind.conf-sample to the EFI/refind directory as refind.conf.
* Copy the icons subdirectory, including all its files, to EFI/refind.

You'll then need to activate rEFInd in your EFI. This can be done with
tools such as "efibootmgr" under Linux or "bless" under macOS. See the
docs/refind/installing.html file for details.


Note to Distribution Maintainers
================================

The refind-install script, and therefore the "install" target in the
Makefile, installs the program directly to the ESP and it modifies the
*CURRENT COMPUTER's* NVRAM. Thus, you should *NOT* use this target as part
of the build process for your binary packages (RPMs, Debian packages, etc.).
(Gentoo could use it in an ebuild, though....) You COULD, however, install
the files to a directory somewhere (/usr/share/refind or whatever) and then
call refind-install as part of the binary package installation process.
Placing the files directly in /boot/efi/EFI/{distname}/refind and then
having a post-install script call efibootmgr could also work, but this
assumes that the ESP is mounted at /boot/efi. Also, Debian packages try to
create symbolic links when updating packages, which won't work on an ESP,
which should use FAT. For packaging examples, see the refind.spec file and
debian subdirectory of the rEFInd source tarball.


Adding Support for Network Boot
===============================

rEFInd provides EXPERIMENTAL support for booting over the network using
iPXE (http://ipxe.org) as a means to receive the payload. In order to
enable this feature you'll want to follow these instructions:

* cd net/
* make source
* make netboot
* copy bin/ipxe.efi and bin/ipxe_discover.efi to the EFI volume at EFI/tools/

Note that you may need to install additional development packages, such as
libiberty-dev and binutils-dev, in addition to those needed to build rEFInd
itself.

My own tests show this support to work under optimal conditions; however,
architecture (EFI vs. BIOS) detection may not work, and some computers will
hang or won't retrieve boot files from the network. For these reasons, this
support is disabled by default in rEFInd, and I do not provide iPXE
binaries.