lfs-book/chapter08/kernel.xml

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<sect1 id="ch-bootable-kernel" role="wrap">
  <?dbhtml filename="kernel.html"?>

  <title>Linux-&linux-version;</title>

  <indexterm zone="ch-bootable-kernel">
    <primary sortas="a-Linux">Linux</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <sect2 role="package">
    <title/>

    <para>The Linux package contains the Linux kernel.</para>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>&buildtime;</segtitle>
      <segtitle>&diskspace;</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>&linux-ch8-sbu;</seg>
        <seg>&linux-ch8-du;</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="installation">
    <title>Installation of the kernel</title>

    <para>Building the kernel involves a few steps&mdash;configuration,
    compilation, and installation. Read the <filename>README</filename> file
    in the kernel source tree for alternative methods to the way this book
    configures the kernel.</para>

    <para>Prepare for compilation by running the following command:</para>

<screen><userinput>make mrproper</userinput></screen>

    <para>This ensures that the kernel tree is absolutely clean. The
    kernel team recommends that this command be issued prior to each
    kernel compilation. Do not rely on the source tree being clean after
    un-tarring.</para>

    <!-- Support for compiling a keymap into the kernel is deliberately removed -->

    <para>Configure the kernel via a menu-driven interface. BLFS has some
    information regarding particular kernel configuration requirements of
    packages outside of LFS at <ulink
    url="&blfs-root;view/svn/longindex.html#kernel-config-index"/>:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>make LANG=<replaceable>&lt;host_LANG_value&gt;</replaceable> LC_ALL= menuconfig</userinput></screen>

    <variablelist>
      <title>The meaning of the make parameters:</title>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>LANG=&lt;host_LANG_value&gt; LC_ALL=</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This establishes the locale setting to the one used on the host.
          This is needed for a proper menuconfig ncurses interface line
          drawing on UTF-8 linux text console.</para>

          <para>Be sure to replace <replaceable>&lt;host_LANG_value&gt;</replaceable>
          by the value of the <envar>$LANG</envar> variable from your host.
          If not set, you could use instead the host's value of <envar>$LC_ALL</envar>
          or <envar>$LC_CTYPE</envar>.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

    <para>Alternatively, <command>make oldconfig</command> may be more
    appropriate in some situations. See the <filename>README</filename>
    file for more information.</para>

    <para>If desired, skip kernel configuration by copying the kernel
    config file, <filename>.config</filename>, from the host system
    (assuming it is available) to the unpacked <filename
    class="directory">linux-&linux-version;</filename> directory. However,
    we do not recommend this option. It is often better to explore all the
    configuration menus and create the kernel configuration from
    scratch.</para>

    <para>Compile the kernel image and modules:</para>

<screen><userinput>make</userinput></screen>

    <para>If using kernel modules, an <filename>/etc/modprobe.conf</filename>
    file may be needed. Information pertaining to modules and kernel
    configuration is located in <xref linkend="ch-scripts-udev"/> and in the
    kernel documentation in the <filename
    class="directory">linux-&linux-version;/Documentation</filename> directory.
    Also, <filename>modprobe.conf(5)</filename> may be of interest.</para>

    <para>Install the modules, if the kernel configuration uses them:</para>

<screen><userinput>make modules_install</userinput></screen>

    <para>After kernel compilation is complete, additional steps are
    required to complete the installation. Some files need to be copied to
    the <filename class="directory">/boot</filename> directory.</para>

    <para>The path to the kernel image may vary depending on the platform
    being used. The following command assumes an x86 architecture:</para>

<screen><userinput>cp -v arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/lfskernel-&linux-version;</userinput></screen>

    <para><filename>System.map</filename> is a symbol file for the kernel.
    It maps the function entry points of every function in the kernel API,
    as well as the addresses of the kernel data structures for the running
    kernel. Issue the following command to install the map file:</para>

<screen><userinput>cp -v System.map /boot/System.map-&linux-version;</userinput></screen>

    <para>The kernel configuration file <filename>.config</filename>
    produced by the <command>make menuconfig</command> step
    above contains all the configuration selections for the kernel
    that was just compiled. It is a good idea to keep this file for future
    reference:</para>

<screen><userinput>cp -v .config /boot/config-&linux-version;</userinput></screen>

    <para>Install the documentation for the Linux kernel:</para>

<screen><userinput>install -d /usr/share/doc/linux-&linux-version; &amp;&amp;
cp -r Documentation/* /usr/share/doc/linux-&linux-version;</userinput></screen>

    <para>It is important to note that the files in the kernel source
    directory are not owned by <emphasis>root</emphasis>. Whenever a
    package is unpacked as user <emphasis>root</emphasis> (like we did
    inside chroot), the files have the user and group IDs of whatever
    they were on the packager's computer. This is usually not a problem
    for any other package to be installed because the source tree is
    removed after the installation. However, the Linux source tree is
    often retained for a long time.  Because of this, there is a chance
    that whatever user ID the packager used will be assigned to somebody
    on the machine. That person would then have write access to the kernel
    source.</para>

    <para>If the kernel source tree is going to be retained, run
    <command>chown -R 0:0</command> on the <filename
    class="directory">linux-&linux-version;</filename> directory to ensure
    all files are owned by user <emphasis>root</emphasis>.</para>

    <warning>
      <para>Some kernel documentation recommends creating a symlink from
      <filename class="symlink">/usr/src/linux</filename> pointing to the kernel
      source directory.  This is specific to kernels prior to the 2.6 series and
      <emphasis>must not</emphasis> be created on an LFS system as it can cause
      problems for packages you may wish to build once your base LFS system is
      complete.</para>
    </warning>

    <warning>
      <para>The headers in the system's
      <filename class="directory">include</filename> directory should
      <emphasis>always</emphasis> be the ones against which Glibc was compiled,
      that is, the sanitised headers from this Linux kernel tarball.
      Therefore, they should <emphasis>never</emphasis> be replaced by either
      the raw kernel headers or any other kernel sanitized headers.</para>
    </warning>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="contents-kernel" role="content">
    <title>Contents of Linux</title>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>Installed files</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>config-&linux-version;, lfskernel-&linux-version;, and
        System.map-&linux-version;</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <variablelist>
      <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
      <?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
      <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

      <varlistentry id="config">
        <term><filename>config-&linux-version;</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Contains all the configuration selections for the kernel</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-bootable-kernel config">
            <primary sortas="e-/boot/config">/boot/config-&linux-version;</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="lfskernel">
        <term><filename>lfskernel-&linux-version;</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The engine of the Linux system. When turning on the computer,
          the kernel is the first part of the operating system that gets loaded.
          It detects and initializes all components of the computer's hardware,
          then makes these components available as a tree of files to the
          software and turns a single CPU into a multitasking machine capable
          of running scores of programs seemingly at the same time</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-bootable-kernel lfskernel">
            <primary sortas="b-lfskernel">lfskernel-&linux-version;</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="System.map">
        <term><filename>System.map-&linux-version;</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A list of addresses and symbols; it maps the entry points and
          addresses of all the functions and data structures in the
          kernel</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-bootable-kernel System.map">
            <primary sortas="e-/boot/System.map">/boot/System.map-&linux-version;</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </sect2>

</sect1>