compile-kernel.html

Compile and Install Linux Kernel

Why Build a Custom Kernel: Compiling a custom Linux kernel has its advantages and disadvantages. To change the kernel’s behavior, one had to compile and then reboot into a new Linux. Most of the functionality in the Linux kernel contained in modules that can be dynamically loaded and unloaded from the kernel as necessary.
Prerequisites:You need to install the following packages on a Debian or Ubuntu Linux to compiler the Linux kernel:
- git : Fast, scalable, distributed revision control system. You can grab the latest source code using the git command.
- fakeroot: Tool for simulating superuser privileges. Useful to build .deb files.
- build-essential : Tools for building the Linux kernel such as GCC compiler and related tools on a Debian or Ubuntu Linux based system.
- ncurses-dev: Developer’s libraries for ncurses. This is used by menuconfig while configuring the kernel options.
- kernel-package: Utility for building Linux kernel related Debian packages.
- xz-utils: XZ-format compression utilities to decompress the Linux kernel tar ball.
- Disk space: 10 GB or more free disk space.
- Time: Kernel compilation may take quite a while, depending on the power of your machine.
Using the following commands to install some tools:
```
$ sudo apt-get install git fakeroot build-essential ncurses-dev xz-utils libssl-dev bc kernel-package wget
```
Compile Kernel: Download kernel source code using the following command:
```
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
$ git checkout v4.7.2
```
and then compile kernel as following:
```
$ cd linux-4.7.2
$ cp /boot/config-$(uname -r) .config
$ make menuconfig
$ make-kpkg clean
$ fakeroot make-kpkg  —initrd —revision jiangxianliang.001 —append-to-version -20160906 kernel_image kernel_headers
```
To speed up the compile process pass the -j option (-j 16 means you are using all 16 cores to compile the Linux kernel):
```
$ fakeroot make-kpkg  —initrd —revision jiangxianliang.001 —append-to-version -20160906 kernel_image kernel_headers -j 16
```
- —initrd : Create an initrd image.
- —revision=jiangxianliang.001 : Set custom revision for your kernel such as jiangxianliang.001 or -jiangxianliang.001-custom-kernel etc.
- —append-to-version
- kernel_image : This target produces a Debian package of the Linux kernel source image, and any modules configured in the kernel configuration file .config.
- kernel_headers : This target produces a Debian package of the Linux kernel header image.
Verify kernel deb files:
```
$ ls  ../*.deb
```

Installing a Custom Kernel: Type the following dpkg command to install a custom kernel on your system:


$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.7.2-20160906_jiangxianliang.001_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i linux-image-4.7.2-20160906_jiangxianliang.001_amd64.deb

Reboot and verify the new kernel.