Previous chapters showed you how to download and build your kernel. Now that you have an executable file—along with any modules you built—it is time to install the kernel and attempt to boot it. In this chapter, unlike earlier ones, all of the commands need to be run as the root user. This can be done by prefixing each command with sudo, by using the su command to become root, or actually by logging in as root. To see whether you have sudo installed and the proper access set up, do the following: $ sudo ls ˜/linux/linux-2.6.17.11/Makefile Password: Makefile Enter either your own password at the password prompt, or the password of the system administrator (root). The choice depends on how the sudo command is set up. If this is successful, and you see the line containing: Makefile then you can skip to the next section. If sudo is not installed or giving you the proper rights, try using the su command: $ su Password: # exit exit $ At the password prompt, enter the password of the system administrator (root). When the su program successfully accepts the password, you are transferred to running everything with full root privileges. Be very careful while as root, and do only the minimum needed; then exit the program to continue back as your normal user account. modules, kernelinstalling make utilityinstalling the kernel installing the kernelusing distribution's installation scripts images, kernelautomatic creation of initial ramdisk image bootloader programnotification of new kernel installation /boot directoryinstallation of static kernel portion Almost all distributions come with a script called installkernel that can be used by the kernel build system to automatically install a built kernel into the proper location and modify the bootloader so that nothing extra needs to be done by the developer.Notable exceptions to this rule are Gentoo and other "from scratch" types distributions, which expect users to know how to install kernels on their own. These types of distributions include documentation on how to install a new kernel, so consult it for the exact method required. Distributions that offer installkernel usually put it in a package called mkinitrd, so try to install that package if you cannot find the script on your machine. If you have built any modules and want to use use this method to install a kernel, first enter: # make modules_install This will install all the modules that you have built and place them in the proper location in the filesystem for the new kernel to properly find. Modules are placed in the /lib/modules/kernel_version directory, where kernel_version is the kernel version of the new kernel you have just built. After the modules have been successfully installed, the main kernel image must be installed: # make install This will kick off the following process: The kernel build system will verify that the kernel has been successfully built properly. The build system will install the static kernel portion into the /boot directory and name this executable file based on the kernel version of the built kernel. Any needed initial ramdisk images will be automatically created, using the modules that have just been installed during the modules_install phase. The bootloader program will be properly notified that a new kernel is present, and it will be added to the appropriate menu so the user can select it the next time the machine is booted. After this is finished, the kernel is successfully installed, and you can safely reboot and try out your new kernel image. Note that this installation does not overwrite any older kernel images, so if there is a problem with your new kernel image, the old kernel can be selected at boot time. versions, kernel If your distribution does not have a installkernel command, or you wish to just do the work by hand installing the kernelby hand to understand the steps involved, here they are: The modules must be installed: # make modules_install The static kernel image must be copied into the /boot directory. For an i386-based kernel, do the following: # make kernelversion 2.6.17.11 Note that the kernel version will probably be different for your kernel. Use this value in place of the text KERNEL_VERSION in the following steps: # cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/bzImage-KERNEL_VERSION # cp System.map /boot/System.map-KERNEL_VERSION Modify the bootloader so it knows about the new kernel. This involves editing a configuration file for the bootloader you use, and is covered later in "Modifying the Bootloader for the New Kernel" for the GRUB and LILO bootloaders. If the boot process does not work properly, it's usually because an initial ramdisk image is needed. To create this properly, use the steps in the beginning of this chapter for installing a kernel automatically, because the distribution install scripts know how to properly create the ramdisk using the needed scripts and tools. Because each distribution does this differently, it is beyond the scope of this book to cover all of the different methods of building the ramdisk image. Here is a handy script that can be used to install the kernel automatically instead of having to type the previous commands all the time: #!/bin/sh # # installs a kernel # make modules_install # find out what kernel version this is for TAG in VERSION PATCHLEVEL SUBLEVEL EXTRAVERSION ; do eval `sed -ne "/^$TAG/s/ //gp" Makefile` done SRC_RELEASE=$VERSION.$PATCHLEVEL.$SUBLEVEL$EXTRAVERSION # figure out the architecture ARCH=`grep "CONFIG_ARCH " include/linux/autoconf.h | cut -f 2 -d "\""` # copy the kernel image cp arch/$ARCH/boot/bzImage /boot/bzImage-"$SRC_RELEASE" # copy the System.map file cp System.map /boot/System.map-"$SRC_RELEASE" echo "Installed $SRC_RELEASE for $ARCH" LILOchecking for presence of installing the kernelmodifying bootloader for new kernel GRUBmodifying for new kernel GRUBchecking for presence of /etc directory, /lilo.conf file bootloader programmodifying for new kernel /boot directory/grub subdirectory There are two common Linux kernel bootloaders: GRUB bootloader programmodifying for new kernelGRUB and LILO. GRUB is the one more commonly used in modern distributions, and does some things a little more easily than LILO, but LILO is still seen as well. We'll cover both in this section. To determine which bootloader your system uses, look in the /boot/ directory. If there is a grub subdirectory: $ ls -F /boot | grep grub grub/ then you are using the GRUB program to boot with. If this directory is not present, look for the presence of the /etc/lilo.conf file: $ ls /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo.conf If this is present, you are using the LILO program to boot with. The steps involved in adding a new kernel to each of these programs are different, so follow only the section that corresponds to the program you are using. To let GRUB know that a new kernel is present, all you need to do is modify the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. For full details on the structure of this file, and all of the different options available, please see the GRUB info pages: $ info grub The easiest way to add a new kernel entry to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file is to copy an existing entry. For example, consider the following menu.lst file from a Gentoo system: timeout 300 default 0 splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz title 2.6.16.11 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.16.11 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 title 2.6.16 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.16 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 The line starting with the word title defines a new kernel entry, so this file contains two entries. Simply copy one block of lines beginning with the title line, such as: title 2.6.16.11 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.16.11 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 Then, add the block to the end of the file, and edit the version number to contain the version number of the new kernel you just installed. The title does not matter, so long as it is unique, but it is displayed in the boot menu, so you should make it something meaningful. In our example, we installed the 2.6.17.11 kernel, so the final copy of the file looks like: timeout 300 default 0 splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz title 2.6.16.11 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.16.11 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 title 2.6.16 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.16 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 title 2.6.17.11 root (hd0,0) kernel /bzImage-2.6.17.11 root=/dev/sda2 vga=0x0305 After you save the file, reboot the system and ensure that the new kernel image's title comes up in the boot menu. Use the down arrow to highlight the new kernel version, and press Enter to boot the new kernel image. bootloader programmodifying for new kernelLILO upgrading a kernel LILOmodifying configuration for new kernel Gentoo Linux, LILO configuration file .config filebacking up before upgrading kernel To let LILO know that a new kernel is present, you must modify the /etc/lilo.conf configuration file and then run the lilo command to apply the changes made to the configuration file. For full details on the structure of the LILO configuration file, please see the LILO manpage: $ man lilo The easiest way to add a new kernel entry to the /etc/lilo.conf file is to copy an existing entry. For example, consider the following LILO configuration file from a Gentoo system: boot=/dev/hda prompt timeout=50 default=2.6.12 image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.15 label=2.6.15 read-only root=/dev/hda2 image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.12 label=2.6.12 read-only root=/dev/hda2 The line starting with the word image= defines a new kernel entry, so this file contains two entries. Simply copy one block of lines beginning with image=, such as: image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.15 label=2.6.15 read-only root=/dev/hda2 Then, add the block to the end of the file, and edit the version number to contain the version number of the new kernel you just installed. The label does not matter, so long as it is unique, but it is displayed in the boot menu, so you should make it something meaningful. In our example, we installed the 2.6.17.11 kernel, so the final copy of the file looks like: boot=/dev/hda prompt timeout=50 default=2.6.12 image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.15 label=2.6.15 read-only root=/dev/hda2 image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.12 label=2.6.12 read-only root=/dev/hda2 image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.17 label=2.6.17 read-only root=/dev/hda2 After you save the file, run the /sbin/lilo program to write the configuration changes out to the boot section of the disk: # /sbin/lilo Now the system can be safely rebooted. The new kernel choice can be seen in the list of kernels that are available at boot time. Use the down arrow to highlight the new kernel version, and press Enter to boot the new kernel image.