Chapter 5. Working with the Linux Kernel

Because the Linux kernel plays such a critical role in the operation of your Linux system, it is important to know how to obtain and build a new kernel. You'll also want to know how to make adjustments to your existing kernel. When your system is installed, you get a kernel that is for general purpose use. You may want to completely update your kernel to a newer version or modify your existing kernel to meet special needs.

In this chapter, I'll cover installing a new kernel and then talk about modifying your existing kernel. We'll start by looking at kernel building on IA-32 systems running Red Hat 8.x, and then look at some of the options available for Integrity servers running Advanced Server. The Advanced Server, for example, has a different processor type (IA-64), EFI support, and other advanced settings. The process for building a kernel is the same in the two releases, so the basic procedure applies to either type of system. As a side note, the "retail" versions of Red Hat, such as 8.x, used in this section, has been replaced by Fedora. Fedora Project is a Red Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source project. Fedora Core 2 is available at the time of this writing.

Please keep in mind that new kernels are not usually supported on Integrity servers, and other systems for that matter, so if there is any way that you can avoid building a new kernel, you'll want to consider it. Having said that, the following procedure provides some of the fundamentals of building a new kernel.