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>4.20 SBU</seg>
        <seg>181 MB</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>&dependencies;</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>Bash, Binutils, Coreutils, Findutils, GCC, Glibc, Grep, Gzip,
        Make, Modutils, Perl, and Sed</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>

    <para>If, in <xref linkend="ch-scripts-console" role=","/> it was decided to
    compile the keymap into the kernel, issue the command below:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>loadkeys -m /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/<replaceable>[path to  keymap]</replaceable> &gt; \
    drivers/char/defkeymap.c</userinput></screen>

    <para>For example, if using a Dutch keyboard, use
    <filename>/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/nl.map.gz</filename>.</para>

    <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 menuconfig</userinput></screen>

    <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>

    <note>
      <para>NPTL requires the kernel to be compiled with GCC-3.x or later, in
      this case &gcc-version;. It is not recommended to compile the kernel with
      GCC-2.95.x, as this causes failures in the Glibc test suite. Normally,
      this wouldn't be mentioned as LFS doesn't build GCC-2.95.x. Unfortunately,
      the kernel documentation is outdated and still claims GCC-2.95.3 is the
      recommended compiler.</para>
    </note>

    <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 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>Be very careful when reading other documentation relating to kernel
    modules because it usually applies to 2.4.x kernels only. As far as we know,
    kernel configuration issues specific to Hotplug and Udev are not documented.
    The problem is that Udev will create a device node only if Hotplug or a
    user-written script inserts the corresponding module into the kernel, and not
    all modules are detectable by Hotplug. Note that statements like the one below
    in the <filename>/etc/modprobe.conf</filename> file do not work with
    Udev:</para>

<screen><literal>alias char-major-XXX some-module</literal></screen>

    <para>Because of the complications with Hotplug, Udev, and modules, we
    strongly recommend starting with a completely non-modular kernel
    configuration, especially if this is the first time using Udev.</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>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>

      <para>Also, 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 ones from the Linux-Libc-Headers package, and therefore, should
      <emphasis>never</emphasis> be replaced by the kernel 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>