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<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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<!DOCTYPE sections SYSTEM "/dtd/book.dtd">
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<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
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<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
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<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-x86+amd64-kernel.xml,v 1.24 2008/05/09 10:33:08 nightmorph Exp $ -->
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<sections>
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<abstract>
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The Linux kernel is the core of every distribution. This chapter
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explains how to configure your kernel.
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</abstract>
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<version>6.3</version>
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<date>2008-05-19</date>
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<section>
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<title>Timezone</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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You first need to select your timezone so that your system knows where it is
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located. Look for your timezone in <path>/usr/share/zoneinfo</path>, then copy
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it to <path>/etc/localtime</path>. Please avoid the
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<path>/usr/share/zoneinfo/Etc/GMT*</path> timezones as their names do not
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indicate the expected zones. For instance, <path>GMT-8</path> is in fact
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GMT+8.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Setting the timezone information">
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# <i>ls /usr/share/zoneinfo</i>
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<comment>(Suppose you want to use GMT)</comment>
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# <i>cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/GMT /etc/localtime</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Installing the Sources</title>
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<subsection>
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<title>Choosing a Kernel</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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The core around which all distributions are built is the Linux kernel. It is the
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layer between the user programs and your system hardware. Gentoo provides its
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users several possible kernel sources. A full listing with description is
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available at the <uri link="/doc/en/gentoo-kernel.xml">Gentoo Kernel
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Guide</uri>.
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</p>
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<p>
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For <keyval id="arch"/>-based systems we have <c>gentoo-sources</c>
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(kernel source patched for extra features).
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</p>
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<p>
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Choose your kernel source and install it using <c>emerge</c>.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Installing a kernel source">
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# <i>emerge gentoo-sources</i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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When you take a look in <path>/usr/src</path> you should see a symlink called
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<path>linux</path> pointing to your kernel source. In this case, the installed
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kernel source points to <c>gentoo-sources-<keyval id="kernel-version"/></c>.
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Your version may be different, so keep this in mind.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Viewing the kernel source symlink">
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# <i>ls -l /usr/src/linux</i>
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lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Oct 13 11:04 /usr/src/linux -> linux-<keyval id="kernel-version"/>
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</pre>
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<p>
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Now it is time to configure and compile your kernel source. You can use
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<c>genkernel</c> for this, which will build a generic kernel as used by the
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Installation CD. We explain the "manual" configuration first though, as it is
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the best way to optimize your environment.
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</p>
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<p>
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If you want to manually configure your kernel, continue now with <uri
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link="#manual">Default: Manual Configuration</uri>. If you want to use
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<c>genkernel</c> you should read <uri link="#genkernel">Alternative: Using
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genkernel</uri> instead.
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</p>
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</body>
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</subsection>
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</section>
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<section id="manual">
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<title>Default: Manual Configuration</title>
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<subsection>
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Manually configuring a kernel is often seen as the most difficult procedure a
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Linux user ever has to perform. Nothing is less true -- after configuring a
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couple of kernels you don't even remember that it was difficult ;)
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</p>
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<p>
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However, one thing <e>is</e> true: you must know your system when you start
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configuring a kernel manually. Most information can be gathered by emerging
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pciutils (<c>emerge pciutils</c>) which contains <c>lspci</c>. You will now
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be able to use <c>lspci</c> within the chrooted environment. You may safely
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ignore any <e>pcilib</e> warnings (like pcilib: cannot open
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/sys/bus/pci/devices) that <c>lspci</c> throws out. Alternatively, you can run
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<c>lspci</c> from a <e>non-chrooted</e> environment. The results are the same.
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You can also run <c>lsmod</c> to see what kernel modules the Installation CD
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uses (it might provide you with a nice hint on what to enable).
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</p>
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<p>
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Now go to your kernel source directory and execute <c>make menuconfig</c>. This
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will fire up an ncurses-based configuration menu.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Invoking menuconfig">
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# <i>cd /usr/src/linux</i>
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# <i>make menuconfig</i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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You will be greeted with several configuration sections. We'll first list some
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options you must activate (otherwise Gentoo will not function, or not function
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properly without additional tweaks).
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</p>
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</body>
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</subsection>
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<subsection>
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<title>Activating Required Options</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Make sure that every driver that is vital to the booting of your system (such as
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SCSI controller, ...) is compiled <e>in</e> the kernel and not as a module,
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otherwise your system will not be able to boot completely.
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</p>
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</body>
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<body test="func:keyval('arch')='AMD64'">
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<p>
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We shall then select the exact processor type. The x86_64 kernel maintainer
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strongly recommends users enable MCE features so that they are able to be
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notified of any hardware problems. On x86_64, these errors are not printed to
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<c>dmesg</c> like on other architectures, but to <path>/dev/mcelog</path>. This
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requires the <c>app-admin/mcelog</c> package. Make sure you select IA32
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Emulation if you want to be able to run 32-bit programs. Gentoo will install a
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multilib system (mixed 32-bit/64-bit computing) by default, so you probably
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want this option.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Selecting processor type and features">
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Processor type and features --->
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[ ] Intel MCE Features
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[ ] AMD MCE Features
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Processor family (AMD-Opteron/Athlon64) --->
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( ) AMD-Opteron/Athlon64
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( ) Intel EM64T
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( ) Generic-x86-64
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Executable file formats / Emulations --->
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[*] IA32 Emulation
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</pre>
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</body>
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<body test="func:keyval('arch')='x86'">
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<p>
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Now select the correct processor family:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Selecting correct processor family">
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Processor type and features --->
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<comment>(Change according to your system)</comment>
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(<i>Athlon/Duron/K7</i>) Processor family
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</pre>
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</body>
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<body>
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<p>
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Now go to <c>File Systems</c> and select support for the filesystems you use.
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<e>Don't</e> compile them as modules, otherwise your Gentoo system will not be
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able to mount your partitions. Also select <c>Virtual memory</c> and <c>/proc
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file system</c>.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Selecting necessary file systems">
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File systems --->
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Pseudo Filesystems --->
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[*] /proc file system support
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[*] Virtual memory file system support (former shm fs)
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<comment>(Select one or more of the following options as needed by your system)</comment>
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<*> Reiserfs support
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<*> Ext3 journalling file system support
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<*> JFS filesystem support
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<*> Second extended fs support
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<*> XFS filesystem support
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</pre>
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<p>
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If you are using PPPoE to connect to the Internet or you are using a dial-up
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modem, you will need the following options in the kernel:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Selecting PPPoE necessary drivers">
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Device Drivers --->
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Networking Support --->
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<*> PPP (point-to-point protocol) support
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<*> PPP support for async serial ports
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<*> PPP support for sync tty ports
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</pre>
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<p>
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The two compression options won't harm but are not definitely needed, neither
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does the <c>PPP over Ethernet</c> option, that might only be used by <c>ppp</c>
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when configured to do kernel mode PPPoE.
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</p>
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<p>
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If you require it, don't forget to include support in the kernel for your
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ethernet card.
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</p>
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<p test="func:keyval('arch')='x86'">
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If you have an Intel CPU that supports HyperThreading (tm), or you have a
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multi-CPU system, you should activate "Symmetric multi-processing support":
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</p>
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<p test="func:keyval('arch')='AMD64'">
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If you have a multi-CPU Opteron or a multi-core (e.g. AMD64 X2) system, you
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should activate "Symmetric multi-processing support":
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</p>
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<pre caption="Activating SMP support">
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Processor type and features --->
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[*] Symmetric multi-processing support
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</pre>
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<note>
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In multi-core systems, each core counts as one processor.
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</note>
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<p test="func:keyval('arch')='x86'">
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If you have more than 4GB of RAM, you need to enable "High Memory Support
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(64G)".
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</p>
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<p>
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If you use USB Input Devices (like Keyboard or Mouse) don't forget to enable
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those as well:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Activating USB Support for Input Devices">
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Device Drivers --->
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USB Support --->
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<*> USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support
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</pre>
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</body>
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<body test="func:keyval('arch')='x86'">
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<p>
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If you want PCMCIA support for your laptop, don't forget to enable
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support for the PCMCIA card bridge present in your system:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Enabling PCMCIA support">
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Bus options (PCI, PCMCIA, EISA, MCA, ISA) --->
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PCCARD (PCMCIA/CardBus) support --->
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<*> PCCard (PCMCIA/CardBus) support
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<comment>(select 16 bit if you need support for older PCMCIA cards. Most people want this.)</comment>
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<*> 16-bit PCMCIA support
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[*] 32-bit CardBus support
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<comment>(select the relevant bridges below)</comment>
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--- PC-card bridges
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<*> CardBus yenta-compatible bridge support (NEW)
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<*> Cirrus PD6729 compatible bridge support (NEW)
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<*> i82092 compatible bridge support (NEW)
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<*> i82365 compatible bridge support (NEW)
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<*> Databook TCIC host bridge support (NEW)
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</pre>
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<p>
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When you've finished configuring the kernel, continue with <uri
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link="#compiling">Compiling and Installing</uri>.
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</p>
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</body>
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</subsection>
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<subsection id="compiling">
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<title>Compiling and Installing</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Now that your kernel is configured, it is time to compile and install it. Exit
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the configuration and start the compilation process:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Compiling the kernel">
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# <i>make && make modules_install</i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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When the kernel has finished compiling, copy the kernel image to
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<path>/boot</path>. Use whatever name you feel is appropriate for your kernel
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choice and remember it as you will need it later on when you configure your
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bootloader. Remember to replace <c><keyval id="kernel-name"/></c> with the
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name and version of your kernel.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Installing the kernel">
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# <i>cp arch/<keyval id="arch-sub"/>/boot/bzImage /boot/<keyval id="kernel-name"/></i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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Now continue with <uri link="#kernel_modules">Kernel Modules</uri>.
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</p>
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</body>
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</subsection>
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</section>
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<section id="genkernel">
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<title>Alternative: Using genkernel</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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If you are reading this section, you have chosen to use our <c>genkernel</c>
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script to configure your kernel for you.
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</p>
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<p>
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Now that your kernel source tree is installed, it's now time to compile your
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kernel by using our <c>genkernel</c> script to automatically build a kernel for
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you. <c>genkernel</c> works by configuring a kernel nearly identically to the
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way our Installation CD kernel is configured. This means that when you use
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<c>genkernel</c> to build your kernel, your system will generally detect all
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your hardware at boot-time, just like our Installation CD does. Because
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genkernel doesn't require any manual kernel configuration, it is an ideal
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solution for those users who may not be comfortable compiling their own kernels.
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</p>
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<p>
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Now, let's see how to use genkernel. First, emerge the genkernel ebuild:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Emerging genkernel">
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# <i>emerge genkernel</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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<body test="func:keyval('arch')='x86'">
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<p>
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Next, copy over the kernel configuration used by the Installation CD to the
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location where genkernel looks for the default kernel configuration:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Copying over the Installation CD kernel config">
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# <i>zcat /proc/config.gz > /usr/share/genkernel/x86/kernel-config-2.6</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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<body>
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<p>
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Now, compile your kernel sources by running <c>genkernel all</c>. Be aware
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though, as <c>genkernel</c> compiles a kernel that supports almost all
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hardware, this compilation will take quite a while to finish!
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</p>
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<p>
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Note that, if your boot partition doesn't use ext2 or ext3 as filesystem you
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might need to manually configure your kernel using <c>genkernel --menuconfig
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all</c> and add support for your filesystem <e>in</e> the kernel (i.e.
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<e>not</e> as a module). Users of EVMS2 or LVM2 will probably want to add
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<c>--evms2</c> or <c>--lvm2</c> as argument as well.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Running genkernel">
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# <i>genkernel all</i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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Once <c>genkernel</c> completes, a kernel, full set of modules and
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<e>initial root disk</e> (initrd) will be created. We will use the kernel
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and initrd when configuring a boot loader later in this document. Write
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down the names of the kernel and initrd as you will need it when writing
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the bootloader configuration file. The initrd will be started immediately after
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booting to perform hardware autodetection (just like on the Installation CD)
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before your "real" system starts up.
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</p>
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| 404 |
<pre caption="Checking the created kernel image name and initrd">
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| 405 |
# <i>ls /boot/kernel* /boot/initramfs*</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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| 409 |
</section>
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| 410 |
<section id="kernel_modules">
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<title>Kernel Modules</title>
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<subsection>
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<include href="hb-install-kernelmodules.xml"/>
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</subsection>
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</section>
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</sections>
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