Building a New Kernel

One distinct advantage of Linux is the capability to truly recompile the complete operating system, rather than just reconfigure some of the system parameters. Because Linux comes complete with the source code, you can optimize the code for a specific hardware configuration as well as design the kernel. The steps to building a new kernel are as follows:

1.
Obtain the kernel source.
2.
Prepare the source tree.
3.
Configure the source.
4.
Build the source and install the modules.
5.
Move the kernel.
6.
Configure and run LILO or GRUB.
7.
Verify module support.
8.
Reboot the system and try out your new kernel.

It is important that all the necessary steps be performed in the correct order.

If you've already performed these steps at one ...

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