FAQ

This FAQ is [[Article description::a collection of questions and answers collected from the gentoo-dev mailing list and from Gentoo channels on Internet Relay Chat (IRC).]]

Introduction
Please note that many of these questions are answered within the official Gentoo documents and guides. This is simply a list of common questions. Please read the Gentoo documentation and man pages to gain a greater understanding of how Gentoo and GNU/Linux works, and for answers to questions which may not be answered here.

How is Gentoo pronounced, and what does it mean?
Gentoo is pronounced "gen-too" (the "g" in "Gentoo" is a soft "g", as in "gentle"). The scientific name of the Gentoo penguin is Pygoscelis papua. The name Gentoo has been given to the penguin by the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands.

What makes Gentoo different?
Gentoo uses a BSD ports-like system called Portage. Portage is a package management system that allows great flexibility while installing and maintaining software on a Gentoo system. It provides compile-time option support (through USE flags), conditional dependencies, pre-package installation summary, safe installation of software (through sandboxing), system profiles, and configuration file protection amongst several other features.

By default in Gentoo the entire system is built from source code, using the user's choice of optimizations. The user has complete control over which packages are or are not installed. Gentoo provides numerous choices, so users can install Gentoo to their own preferences, which is why Gentoo is called a meta-distribution.

Gentoo is actively developed. The entire distribution uses a rapid pace development style: patches to packages are quickly integrated in the mainline tree, documentation is updated on daily basis, Portage features are added frequently, and official releases occur twice per year.

See also the pages on the website about Gentoo, the philosophy of Gentoo, and the article on the benefits of Gentoo.

Things are really unstable when using '-O9 -ffast-math -fomit-frame-pointer' optimizations. What gives?
Do not bother using anything higher than  since it is not supported by current versions of GCC. Very aggressive optimizations sometimes cause the compiler to streamline the assembly code to the point where it does not quite do the same thing anymore.

Please try to compile using  with CFLAGS / CXXFLAGS before reporting a bug.

See the GCC optimization article for more details.

How do I change the root (or any other user's) password?
Use the command to change the password for the user that is logged in. The root user can change user's password by issuing the command. For extra options and settings see 's manual page.

How do I add a normal user?
The command will add a user called "larry". However, this method does not give the user many of the rights needed to work properly on the system, so the following command is preferred:

This will add a user called "larry". The  option adds the user to a number of groups:
 * which is the standard group for interactive users on the system
 * which allows the user to access sound devices
 * which allows the user to execute the command to gain root privileges (if he/she knows the root password)

Why can't a user su to root?
For security reasons, users may only to root if they belong to the  group. To add a username to the group, issue the following command as root:

Can I upgrade Gentoo from one release to another without reinstalling?
In fact, there is no difference between the various releases after they have been installed. Gentoo 1.4 and later are  (or higher) based. As such, running will bring the entire system up to speed with the "latest Gentoo". The differences between individual releases lie in the installation medium and pre-compiled packages. See the Gentoo Upgrading Guide for more information about profiles and their role in upgrading.

Also note that the command updates the installed packages as well as their dependencies.

My kernel does not boot, what should I do now?
It isn't obligatory to redo every step of the installation. However, investigating the kernel and all associated steps is necessary. Suppose that Gentoo is installed on  and   with  being the swap space.

Boot from the install CD and wait until a command prompt shows up.

First all the partitions:

Then into the Gentoo environment and configure the kernel:

Now (de)select anything that was (de)selected wrongly on the previous attempt, quit, and compile and install the kernel:

If LILO has been used as the bootloader, rerun - GRUB users should skip this step:

Exit the and reboot the system.

Please see this article from the Knowledge Base for further details.

If, on the other hand, the problem lies with the bootloader configuration, follow the same steps, but instead of configuring and compiling the kernel, reconfigure the bootloader (recompilation of the bootloader is usually not necessary).

My proxy requires authentication, what do I have to do?
To have Portage automatically use this scheme, define it in :

Keep in mind that the proxy server must support the CONNECT method for the rsync port(s).

How do I burn an ISO file?
ISO files must be burned in raw mode. This means the file should not just be placed on the CD, but interpreted as an entire CD.

There are lots of CD burning tools available; covering them all would be a Sisyphean problem. However, describing a few popular tools never hurts:


 * With EasyCD Creator select, . Then change the to . Then locate the ISO file and click . After clicking  the ISO image will be burned correctly onto the CD/DVD.


 * With Nero Burning ROM, cancel the wizard which automatically pops up and select from the  menu. Select the image to burn and click . Now click the  button and watch the brand new Gentoo Live CD being burnt.


 * With, simply type (replace  with the CDROM drive's device path) followed by the path to the ISO file.


 * With K3B, select →  → . Then locate the ISO file within the 'Image to Burn' area. Click  to begin the burn process.


 * With Mac OS X Panther, launch from, select  from the  menu, select the mounted disk image in the main window and select  in the  menu.


 * With Mac OS X Jaguar, launch from, select  from the  menu, select the ISO and click the  button.

What CD/stage should I use for my CPU?
First find out what CPU is in the system Gentoo is to be installed on (for instance a Pentium-M). Next find out what CPU type it is compatible with (instruction-wise) to find a proper match with Gentoo's CD or stages. Consulting the CPU's vendor website for this information usually works, although querying a search engine of choice is usually more efficient.

When uncertain, take a "lower" CD/stage file, for instance a i686 or even generic x86 (or the equivalent in the system's arch). This will ensure that the system will work, but may not be as fast as further optimizations.

Please note that many more options exist than those for which Gentoo builds binary stages. Please see the GCC guide for setting the  flag.

The Handbook has further information on selecting the correct tarball and choosing the right installation medium.

The Internet does not work after rebooting. What is wrong?
First verify that the network card is discovered properly by the kernel. Run and look for network interfaces. Something such as eth0, eno1, enp2s0, enp0s8, wlan0, wlp5s6 (in case of certain wireless network cards) should be present. Specific kernel modules may be required for the kernel to properly detect the network card. If that is the case, make sure that the required kernel modules are listed via a file ending in  in.

If support for the system's network card has been left out of the kernel, it will need to be reconfigured and, in some cases, recompiled.

If the network card is found by the kernel, but the network configuration has been set to use DHCP, a DHCP client might not have been installed on the system. There are many DHCP clients available in Gentoo, a common one being. If necessary to get the connection to the Internet working reboot to the installation CD and install.

Information on how to rescue the system using the installation CD is available here as well.

The Handbook contains information on network setup, while the wiki has information on Ethernet, WiFi, and network management.

Can I dual boot with Windows or other operating systems?
Yes! Probably the fastest way to do so is to install GRUB2 with. Read about it in the GRUB2 article and specifically about dual booting with GRUB2 here.

Attempting to boot Windows from GRUB Legacy or LILO only shows a black screen. What should I do?
This is a known problem and only applies to older bootloaders such as GRUB Legacy and LILO. Windows refuses to boot when it is not installed on the first hard drive and shows a black/blank screen. To handle this, it is necessary to "fool" Windows into believing that it is installed on the first hard drive with a little tweak in the boot loader configuration. Please note that in the below example, Gentoo is installed on (first disk) and Windows on  (second disk). Adjust the configuration as needed:

This will make Windows believe it is installed on the first hard drive and boot without problems. More information can be found in official GRUB documentation and in.

How do I install Gentoo using a stage1 or stage2 tarball?
The Gentoo Handbook only describes a Gentoo installation using a stage3 tarball. Stage1 and stage2 tarballs are for development purposes only (the Release Engineering team starts from a stage1 tarball to obtain a stage3) and should not be used by users. A stage3 tarball can very well be used to bootstrap the system. A working Internet connection is a requirement.

Bootstrapping means building the toolchain (the C library and compiler) for the system after which all core system packages are installed. To bootstrap the system, perform a stage3 installation. Before starting the chapter on Configuring the Kernel, it might be necessary to modify the script to match personal requirements:

After modifications, run the script.

Next, rebuild all core system packages with the newly built toolchain. We need to rebuild them since the stage3 tarball already offers them:

Now continue with Configuring the Kernel.

In what form are the packages stored?
Packages are not "stored" per se. Instead, Gentoo provides a set of scripts which can resolve dependencies, fetch source code, and compile a version of the package tailored to the user's needs. Generally Gentoo only builds binaries for releases and snapshots. The Gentoo Developer Manual covers the contents of an ebuild script in detail.

For full ISO releases, a full suite of binary packages will be created using an enhanced format, which is  compatible with meta-information attached to the end of the file. These can be used to install a working (though not fully optimized) version of the package quickly and efficiently.

It is possible to create RPMs (Red Hat package manager files) using Gentoo's Portage, but it is not currently possible to use existing RPMs to install packages.

I want to perform the ./configure step myself. Can I?
Yes, but it is not trivial, nor is it recommended. Since the method to do this requires a good understanding of Portage internals and commands, it is instead recommended that the ebuild is patched to do whatever it is that the user wants and place it in a Portage overlay (that is why overlays exist). This is much better for maintainability, and usually easier. See the Gentoo Developer Manual for more information.

What if rsync does not work for me?
When behind a firewall that does not permit rsync traffic through port 873, the command can be used to fetch and install a Portage snapshot through regular HTTP. See this section for information on downloading source files and Portage snapshots via a proxy.

I have a slow (or no) Internet connection at home. Can I download sources somewhere else and add them to my system?
Definitely. Run to see what programs are going to be installed. To find out the sources for those packages and where to download the sources from, run. Download sources and bring them on any media home. Put the sources into the folder and then simply run. Be warned: this can be a very tedious process.

Source tarballs are collecting in /var/cache/distfiles/. Is it safe to delete these files?
Deleting these files will have no negative impact on day-to-day performance. However, it might be wise to keep the most recent version of the files; often several ebuilds will be released for the same version of a specific piece of software. If the archive is deleted and the software is upgraded or rebuilt it will be necessary to download them from the Internet again.

Use the script from  to manage the contents of  and a few other locations. Please read to learn more about its usage, as well as the Gentoolkit article.

What is in /var/tmp/portage? Is it safe to delete the files and directories in /var/tmp/portage?
During compilation, Gentoo saves the sources of the package in (or in  if the default is changed). These files and folder are usually deleted upon a successful emerge, but this sometimes fails. It is safe to clean out all contents of this directory if the command is not running. Be sure to always before cleaning out this directory.

How do I set up an International keyboard layout?
Edit the keymap variable in. To have console working correctly with extended characters in the keymap, it might be necessary to set the consolefont and consoletransation variables in the  file (for further information on localizing the environment, refer to the localization guide). Then, issue a, or restart the and  scripts:

See keyboard layout switching for more information.

DNS name resolution works for root only
has the wrong permissions; fix it as follows:

See also resolv.conf.

Why can't my user use their own crontab?
Add that user to the group:

How do I get numlock to start on boot?
The following command will add the service to the default runlevel, enabling  at boot:

Each GUI provides different tools for this sort of thing; please check the help section or online manuals for the GUI of choice for further assistance.

How do I have my terminal cleared when I log out?
To have the terminal cleared, add the command to the user's  script:

To have this happen automatically when adding a new user, do the same for the file:

ReiserFS and filesystem corruption issues - how to fix them, etc
If the ReiserFS partition is corrupt, try booting the Gentoo Install CD and run on the corrupted filesystem. This should make the filesystem consistent again, although there may be some lost files or directories due to the corruption.

Where can I report bugs?
Use the Bugzilla site to report bugs. Visit on the Libera.Chat IRC network and ask around if it is unclear whether an issue is really a bug or not.

How often are new releases made?
Gentoo's packages are usually updated shortly after the upstream authors release new code. As for when Gentoo itself makes new stage/profile/ISO releases, check the Release Engineering Project page. New releases are announced on the gentoo-announce mailing list. See this section for more information.

My speaker beeps like crazy. How do I disable console beeps?
Console beeps can be turned off using, like this:

To turn off the console beeps on boot, put the following command in the file. However, this only disables beeps for the current terminal. To disable beeps for other terminals, pipe the command output to the target terminal, like this:

Replace with the terminal for which console beeps need to be disabled.

See this article for more details.

Why is the letter 'e' in the name of many Gentoo-specific tools and functions?
The 'e' became a thing because Gentoo originally started as Enoch Linux. Many of Gentoo's tools and function names maintained the prefix 'e' for this reason.

Here's a quote from : "I think the 'e' likely came from enoch, and was picked as a single-character prefix in the vein of the 'iMac', which was initially released in August 1998. Enoch began in early 1999. (see https://www.funtoo.org/Funtoo_Linux_History)."

Where can I find more information about Gentoo Linux?
Much of the official Gentoo documentation can be found here on the wiki.

Can I buy a CD of Gentoo Linux?
Users who are not able to download and burn installation CDs personally might find one through one of our licensed stores. However, most stores have dropped offering CDs and DVDs as these installation media quickly become obsolete.

The licensed stores are listed on the stores page.

This FAQ has not answered my question. What do I do now?
A good first step is to browse through the relevant documentation, failing that, the various Gentoo Linux mailing lists listed here. If all else fails, or to just hang out with Gentoo folks, visit us on the Libera.Chat IRC channel.