The core around which all distributions are built is the Linux kernel. It is the layer between the user programs and your system hardware. Gentoo provides its users several possible kernel sources. A full listing with description is available at the Gentoo Kernel Guide.

For x86-based systems we have, amongst other kernels, vanilla-sources (the default kernel source as developed by the linux-kernel developers), gentoo-sources (kernel source patched with performance-enhancing features), ...

For AMD64-based systems we have gentoo-sources (kernel v2.6 source patched with amd64 specific fixes for stability, performance and hardware support).

Choose your kernel source and install it using emerge. The USE="-doc" is necessary to avoid installing xorg-x11 or other dependencies at this point. USE="symlink" is not necessary for a new install, but ensures proper creation of the /usr/src/linux symlink.

# USE="-doc symlink" emerge gentoo-sources

When you take a look in /usr/src you should see a symlink called linux pointing to your kernel source. In this case, the installed kernel source points to gentoo-sources-. Your version may be different, so keep this in mind.

# ls -l /usr/src/linux
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root   root    12 Oct 13 11:04 /usr/src/linux -> linux-

Now it is time to configure and compile your kernel source. You can use genkernel for this, which will build a generic kernel as used by the Installation CD. We explain the "manual" configuration first though, as it is the best way to optimize your environment.

If you want to manually configure your kernel, continue now with Default: Manual Configuration. If you want to use genkernel you should read Alternative: Using genkernel instead.

Manually configuring a kernel is often seen as the most difficult procedure a Linux user ever has to perform. Nothing is less true -- after configuring a couple of kernels you don't even remember that it was difficult ;)

However, one thing is true: you must know your system when you start configuring a kernel manually. Most information can be gathered by emerging pciutils (emerge pciutils) which contains lspci. You will now be able to use lspci within the chrooted environment. You may safely ignore any pcilib warnings (like pcilib: cannot open /sys/bus/pci/devices) that lspci throws out. Alternatively, you can run lspci from a non-chrooted environment. The results are the same. You can also run lsmod to see what kernel modules the Installation CD uses (it might provide you with a nice hint on what to enable).

Now go to your kernel source directory and execute make menuconfig. This will fire up an ncurses-based configuration menu.

# cd /usr/src/linux
# make menuconfig

You will be greeted with several configuration sections. We'll first list some options you must activate (otherwise Gentoo will not function, or not function properly without additional tweaks).

First of all, activate the use of development and experimental code/drivers. You need this, otherwise some very important code/drivers won't show up:

Code maturity level options --->
  [*] Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers

Make sure that every driver that is vital to the booting of your system (such as SCSI controller, ...) is compiled in the kernel and not as a module, otherwise your system will not be able to boot completely.

We shall then select the exact processor type. The x86_64 kernel maintainer strongly recommends users enable MCE features so that they are able to be notified of any hardware problems. On x86_64, these errors are not printed to dmesg like on other architectures, but to /dev/mcelog. This requires the app-admin/mcelog package.

Processor type and features  --->
   [ ] Intel MCE Features
   [ ] AMD MCE Features
  Processor family (AMD-Opteron/Athlon64)  --->
    ( ) AMD-Opteron/Athlon64
    ( ) Intel EM64T
    ( ) Generic-x86-64

Now select the correct processor family:

Processor type and features --->
  (Change according to your system)
  (Athlon/Duron/K7) Processor family

Now go to File Systems and select support for the filesystems you use. Don't compile them as modules, otherwise your Gentoo system will not be able to mount your partitions. Also select Virtual memory and /proc file system.

If you are using a 2.4 kernel, you need to select /dev file system as 2.4 kernels do not support udev.

(With a 2.4.x kernel)
File systems --->
  [*] Virtual memory file system support (former shm fs)
  [*] /proc file system support
  [*] /dev file system support (EXPERIMENTAL)
  [*]   automatically mount /dev at boot
  [ ] /dev/pts file system for Unix98 PTYs

(With a 2.6.x kernel)
File systems --->
  Pseudo Filesystems --->
    [*] /proc file system support
    [*] Virtual memory file system support (former shm fs)

(Select one or more of the following options as needed by your system)
  <*> Reiserfs support
  <*> Ext3 journalling file system support
  <*> JFS filesystem support
  <*> Second extended fs support
  <*> XFS filesystem support

If your BIOS can't handle large hard drives and you jumpered the hard drive to report a limited size you have to enable the following option to gain access to your whole hard drive:

(2.4.x kernel only)
ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support --->
  IDE, ATA and ATAPI Block devices --->
    <*>   Include IDE/ATA-2 DISK support
    [ ]     Use multi-mode by default
    [*]     Auto-Geometry Resizing support

File systems --->
  Pseudo Filesystems --->
    [*] /proc file system support
    [*] Virtual memory file system support (former shm fs)

(Select one or more of the following options as needed by your system)
  <*> Reiserfs support
  <*> Ext3 journalling file system support
  <*> JFS filesystem support
  <*> Second extended fs support
  <*> XFS filesystem support

Do not forget to enable DMA for your drives:

Device Drivers --->
  ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support --->
    [*] Generic PCI bus-master DMA support
    [*]   Use PCI DMA by default when available

If you are using PPPoE to connect to the Internet or you are using a dial-up modem, you will need the following options in the kernel:

Device Drivers --->
  Networking Support --->
    <*> PPP (point-to-point protocol) support
    <*>   PPP support for async serial ports
    <*>   PPP support for sync tty ports

(With a 2.4.x kernel)
Network device support --->
  <*> PPP (point-to-point protocol) support
  <*>   PPP support for async serial ports
  <*>   PPP support for sync tty ports

(With a 2.6.x kernel)
Device Drivers --->
  Networking support --->
    <*> PPP (point-to-point protocol) support
    <*>   PPP support for async serial ports
    <*>   PPP support for sync tty ports

The two compression options won't harm but are not definitely needed, neither does the PPP over Ethernet option, that might only be used by rp-pppoe when configured to do kernel mode PPPoE.

If you require it, don't forget to include support in the kernel for your ethernet card.

If you have an Intel CPU that supports HyperThreading (tm), or you have a multi-CPU system, you should activate "Symmetric multi-processing support":

If you have a multi-CPU Opteron or a multi-core (e.g. AMD64 X2) system, you should activate "Symmetric multi-processing support":

Processor type and features  --->
  [*] Symmetric multi-processing support

If you use USB Input Devices (like Keyboard or Mouse) don't forget to enable those as well:

Device Drivers --->
  USB Support --->
    <*>   USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support

Laptop-users who want PCMCIA support should not use the PCMCIA drivers if they choose to use a 2.4 kernel. More recent drivers are available through the pcmcia-cs package which will be installed later on. 2.6-kernel users however should use the PCMCIA drivers from the kernel.

Besides compiling in PCMCIA support in the 2.6 kernel, don't forget to enable support for the PCMCIA card bridge present in your system:

Bus options (PCI, PCMCIA, EISA, MCA, ISA)  --->
  PCCARD (PCMCIA/CardBus) support  --->
    <*> PCCard (PCMCIA/CardBus) support
(select 16 bit if you need support for older PCMCIA cards. Most people want this.)
    <*>   16-bit PCMCIA support
    [*]   32-bit CardBus support
(select the relevant bridges below)
    --- PC-card bridges
    <*> CardBus yenta-compatible bridge support (NEW)
    <*> Cirrus PD6729 compatible bridge support (NEW)
    <*> i82092 compatible bridge support (NEW)
    <*> i82365 compatible bridge support (NEW)
    <*> Databook TCIC host bridge support (NEW)

When you've finished configuring the kernel, continue with Compiling and Installing.

Now that your kernel is configured, it is time to compile and install it. Exit the configuration and start the compilation process:

(For 2.4 kernel)
# make dep && make bzImage modules modules_install

(For 2.6 kernel)
# make && make modules_install

# make && make modules_install

When the kernel has finished compiling, copy the kernel image to /boot. Use whatever name you feel is appropriate for your kernel choice and remember it as you will need it later on when you configure your bootloader. Remember to replace with the name and version of your kernel.

# cp arch//boot/bzImage /boot/

Now continue with Kernel Modules.

You should list the modules you want automatically loaded in /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6. You can add extra options to the modules too if you want.

To view all available modules, run the following find command. Don't forget to substitute with the version of the kernel you just compiled:

# find /lib/modules// -type f -iname '*.o' -or -iname '*.ko'

For instance, to automatically load the 3c59x.o module, edit the kernel-2.6 file and enter the module name in it.

# nano -w /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

3c59x

Continue the installation with Configuring your System.