Is there anything like GENKERNEL for debian?

[Guest]

Thanks Advanced!

BTW genkernel is a Gentoo autokernel script.

[Wolven]

Genkernel just does what the Debian kernel maintaners have already done. Configure a kernel that will recognice most hardware, so you don't need genkernel.
It may be that Debian has some other tool to assist in making a kernel, but If you want to make your own kernel why not just dive in and configure it your self. It's not that hard if you know what hardware you have.

[Guest]

It's not hard but it takes too much time...

[wiktorw]

So, another Gentooist . Hello!

1) In case of creating a custom kernel, you have to do as follows:

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# apt-get install kernel-tree-2.6.8

... if you want to use Debian-provided kernel, of course (the above one is heavily patched and generally known to work).
Of course, you can try another kernel as you like.

2) Then do:

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# apt-get install kernel-package

This is the nearest tool to genkernel, I think.

3) Then you should go to /usr/src and create a proper linux symlink to the kernel of your choice.
But first, if you installed Debian's kernel, you must unpack it:

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# cd /usr/src
# tar -xvjf kernel-source-2.6.8.tar.bz2

Then the symlink:

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# cd /usr/src
# rm -f linux
# ln -s kernel-source-2.6.8 linux

4) Configure your kernel (you may also wish to copy .config file before):

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# make menuconfig

5) And the most interesting part:

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# cd /usr/src/linux
# fakeroot make-kpkg --revision=custom.1.01 kernel_image

As you can see, there is a --revision option. You can also use the --append-to-revision option (like: --append-to-revision=20050504). But use only dots! Hyphens ('-' characters) are parsed by Debian installation tools so don't fool them!

6) The above will produce a Debian package, which can be installed alongside Debian-provided kernel, without any conflicts. After compilation, you should find a package ready to install in /usr/src:

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# cd /usr/src
# ls *.deb
kernel-image-2.6.8-i586_custom.1.01_i386.deb

Installation:

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dpkg -i kernel-image-2.6.8-i586_custom.1.01_i386.deb

What's interesting, lilo/grub configuration will be automatically updated to reflect the fact that a new kernel has been installed.

Recommended reading:
* Preliminary Sarge Installation Manual, 8.5. Compiling a New Kernel
* Creating custom kernels with Debian's kernel-package system

[Josh]

The kernel-package app is an excellent tool for configuring a new kernel; I've used it for everything from personal builds to production and release builds.