= User's Guide =

 1. [#QuickStart Quick Start]
 2. [#Console Console]
 3. [#Shell Shell]
 4. [#KernelConsole Kernel Console]
 5. [#BuildingFromSource Building From Source]

== Quick Start == #QuickStart

To try out HelenOS, download the latest IA-32 ISO image from the [http://www.helenos.org/download download page]. Install [http://www.nongnu.org/qemu/ QEMU]. In the directory where you downloaded the ISO image run
{{{
qemu -m 32 -cdrom image.iso
}}}

You can also use a different emulator. Just make sure it is configured to emulate a Pentium 4 or later CPU or HelenOS won't boot and it will display a red error message.

== Console == #Console

Press the F1-F11 keys to switch between individual virtual consoles. Pressing F12 will take you to the kernel console.

== Shell == #Shell

Type ''help'' (+Enter) to get a list of built-in commands.

== Kernel Console == #KernelConsole

The kernel console is controlled via a command line. The ''continue'' command will take you back to the user-space console. ''help'' will show a list of commands. The command line supports completion (Tab key) and history (up and down arrow keys).

== Building From Source == #BuildingFromSource

Checkout the latest sources from our central Bazaar repository
{{{
bzr checkout bzr://bzr.helenos.org/head HelenOS
}}}

''Note:'' To access versions older than 0.4.1 you have to access the original Subversion repository

{{{
svn checkout svn://svn.helenos.org/HelenOS/trunk HelenOS
}}}

Use our script to install a supported cross-compiler toolchain

{{{
cd HelenOS/contrib/toolchain
./toolchain.ia32.sh
}}}

Go to the source root and start the build process
{{{
cd ../..
make
}}}

Load preconfigured defaults for the platform you want to build for and select ''Done''. HelenOS will now be built.

'''Important note''': If you don't compile using the supported toolchain, your build may well fail.