+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Debian Kernel compilation                                |
|                                                          |
| Tutorial by Philip Iezzi <pipo at iezzi dot ch>          |
| based on:                                                |
| http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/system/kernel-pkg.html  |
|                                                          |
| changed on 2004-03-06                                    |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

sample commands are based on a new 2.4.25 Kernel while 2.4.xx stands for the old kernel.
You can get it from a mirror, for Switzerland, e.g. Switch:
ftp://sunsite.cnlab-switch.ch/mirror/debian/pool/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.25/kernel-source-2.4.25_2.4.25-1_all.deb


packages you definitely need:
-----------------------------
libncurses5-dev
kernel-package (contains make-kpkg)


$> dpkg -i kernel-source-2.4.25_2.4.25-1_all.deb
$> cd /usr/src
$> tar -jxf kernel-source-2.4.25.tar.bz2
$> rm linux
$> ln -s kernel-source-2.4.25 linux
$> cd linux
$> make menuconfig

(load old config from /boot/config-2.4.xx, 
"Load an Alternate Configuration File")


COMPILATION:
I'm using --append-to-version to identify the kernel. 040305 is a shorthand for "2004 March 05". I did not use the --revision option of make-kpkg as I don't care about debian package version. Defaults to "10.00.Custom". If you want, you could add e.g. --revision="custom.foo.bar.1.1"

-----------------------------------------------------

$> make-kpkg clean
$> make-kpkg --append-to-version=.040305 kernel_image

or (all in one line with a nice logfile, running in background):

$> make-kpkg clean && make-kpkg --append-to-version=.040305 kernel_image > COMPILE.LOG 2>&1 &

-----------------------------------------------------

this is usually not required:
$> make-kpkg --append-to-version=.040305 modules_image

-----------------------------------------------------



$> cd ..
$> dpkg -i kernel-image-2.4.25.040305_10.00.Custom_i386.deb



LILO configuration:
If you use a separate partition for /boot, better use your own symlinks inside /boot instead of the default one's in /
sample configuration...

---------------------------------
/etc/lilo.conf
---------------------------------
default=Linux

image=/boot/vmlinuz
        label=Linux
        read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz.old
        label=LinuxOLD
        read-only
        optional

image=/boot/vmlinuz.test
        label=LinuxTEST
        read-only
        optional
---------------------------------


$> cd /boot
$> rm vmlinuz.old
$> ln -s vmlinuz-2.4.xx vmlinuz.old
$> rm vmlinuz.test
$> ln -s vmlinuz-2.4.25.040305 vmlinuz.test
(currently keep the link vmlinuz->vmlinuz-2.4.xx)


To test the kernel, first run:


$> lilo
$> lilo -R LinuxTEST
$> reboot


Then test it for a week or so and finally set it as default kernel:


$> cd /boot
$> rm vmlinuz
$> ln -s vmlinuz-2.4.25.040305 vmlinuz
$> lilo
$> reboot


if you don't believe anything is new...

$> uname -a

We're all done! Get a beer and relax... And wait for the next kernel panic! :)