CSC 660: Lab #1: Kernel Build

All labs are done using a VMWare virtual machine. If you haven't set up your VM yet, follow the instructions in VMWare Setup.

To build a new kernel, use the following procedure:

1. Start VMWare Player
2. Open the virtual machine from within the CSC660 directory.
3. Login as student.
4. Start X Windows.

   startx
   

5. Open a terminal window and change to your src/ subdirectory.

   cd src
   

6. Download a copy of the Linux kernel.

   wget ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.10.tar.bz2
   

7. Unpack the kernel

   tar -xjf linux-2.6.10.tar.bz2
   

8. Change into the kernel directory

   cd linux-2.6.10
   

9. Generate tags database for source browsing

   make tags
   

10. Configure the kernel

    make xconfig
    

11. Select the following configuration options

    Code maturity level options
        Y Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers
            Y Select only drivers expected to compile cleanly
    Processor type and features
        Y Pentium 4
        N Math Emulation
    Power management options
        N Power Management support
    Bus options
        PCCARD
            Y ISA support
                N EISA support
            N MCA support
            N NatSemi SCx200 support
        N PCI Hotplug support
    Device Drivers
        N Old CD-ROM drivers
        N IEEE 1394 (FireWire) support
        Networking support
            N Amateur Radio
            N IrDA (infrared)
            N Bluetooth
        N ISDN subsystem
        N Telephony Support
        N Sound
    File systems
        N Miscellaneous filesystems (disable all except cramfs)
        Network File Systems
            N SMB
            N CIFS
            N NCP
            N Coda
            N AFS
    Kernel hacking
        We'll want to turn on many of these later.
    

12. Build the kernel

    make bzImage
    

13. Build kernel modules

    make modules
    

14. Become root to install the kernel

    su -
    

15. Install kernel and kernel modules

    make install
    make modules_install
    

16. Add your new kernel to GRUB's boot menu

    vim /boot/grub/menu.lst
    

    Add a new entry of the form before the two pre-existing Debian GNU/Linux entries:

    title   Test Kernel (2.6.10)
    root    (hd0,0)
    kernel  /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10 root=/dev/sda ro
    savedefault
    boot
    

17. Reboot your system to try out the new kernel.

    reboot