Re: Upgrading kernel

[Bob Koss <koss@objectmentor.com>]

>>>>> "Daniel" == Daniel Toffetti <dtoffe@softhome.net> writes:

    Daniel> 	I never installed a kernel using the woody mirrors
    Daniel> yet. Whenever I upgrade a package using dselect, it simply
    Daniel> unpacks it and configures it. I guess whether the
    Daniel> installation of a kernel package is somewhat different in
    Daniel> that it would require user interactive configuration (in
    Daniel> the middle of dselect activities).  Could you please
    Daniel> explain a bit about how would you install and configure
    Daniel> the kernel this way ?? I mean, how do dpkg operates when
    Daniel> the package is a kernel.

Hi Daniel,

I just went through this process yesterday. It's really pretty easier
and as a former RedHat user, it is way cool!

First, you want to have the Debian FAQ by your side :
www.debian.org/doc/FAQ. Chapter 9 covers kernel stuff. 

Then grab the package kernel-package. This is the thing that makes
upgrading kernels really easy.

Now you need kernel source. You can get this from kernel.org, or you
can get a deb package containing the source. I did the latter
yesterday and upgraded to 2.4.7. Doing an apt-get for the kernel
source package just gets you a compressed file for the kernel
sources. You have to unpack it by hand. No biggie.

Now comes the "hard" part. You have to select your kernel build
options. Do a 'make xconfig' and you'll get a gui that presents you
with endless choices to make. If you have a .config file, you can
click on the button that reads this file and it will show the options
set in your running kernel. If you don't have a .config, then you need 
to go through each of the choices and decide what you want in your new 
kernel. The process takes about 10 minutes of clicking.

Now, following the faq, you'll do a 'make-kpkg -rev, followed by a
dpkg --install, reboot, and you have a new kernel running.

Always have a working boot floppy, just in case ;-)

-- 

Robert Koss, Ph.D.     | Training, Mentoring, Contract Development
Senior Consultant      | Object Oriented Design, C++, Java
www.objectmentor.com   | Extreme Programming