on Sun, Jul 29, 2001 at 03:34:47PM -0600, Michael Blood (Michael@CustomDB.net) wrote:
> Rich,
> I am unfamiliar with applying patches, recompiling kernels or otherwise
> messing with the "Guts of the installation process". I have, however, been
> working on a debian 2.2 box for about 8 months though.
I'd start learning. It's a useful skill, and not as daunting as you may
think.
For patches: download appropriate patch (ask if you need a specific URL
pointer) to /usr/src, apply it with the 'patch' command, usually:
$ patch -p0 < patchfile
Naturally, you need your Linux kernel image:
$ apt-get install kernel-source-<version>
$ cd /usr/src
$ tar -xjvf kernel-source-<version>.tar.bz2
$ ln -sf kernel-source-<version> linux # removes any existing link
# patch now:
$ patch -p0 < patchfile
$ cd linux
$ less README # RTFM!
$ make mrproper
The next part is the interesting one: you configure your kernel.
Options are 'config', 'menuconfig', 'xconfig', and 'oldconfig'. I tend
to like menuconfig. Here you get to select options for your kernel --
the key is that you *only* need to select the options you're going to
use -- but it helps to select *all* the options you need. Following the
guidance provided in the accompanying help usually works, as does the
"when in doubt, compile as module" doctrine.
$ make menuconfig
When done, save your changes. I like to keep my configurations in
/usr/src as config-YYYYMMDD-<version>, that is, timestamped, by kernel
version. This convention is strictly for your convenience, it has no
significance for your system.
$ make dep
At this point, the Debian method departs from the traditional GNU/Linux
kernel configuration. Under Debian, the make-kpkg package allows you to
create your own Debian package, of your own kernel,
$ make-kpkg <options>
...the options bit varies, I tend to use:
$ make-kpkg --bzimage --revision custom.<major>.<minor> binary modules
e.g.:
$ make-kpkg --bzimage --revision custom.1.0 binary modules
...the '--revision' option allows you to differentiate between different
configurations of the same kernel version.
To install a given kernel, e.g., all of the packages produced by the
above make-kpkg command:
$ cd /usr/src
$ dpkg -i kernel-*_custome.1.0*.deb
You might also want to refer to http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-kernel.html
Corrections appreciated, I think I've got most of that about right.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
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