BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES AND DOCUMENT YOUR CHANGES

These two steps are very important, especially for mission critical systems. Chances are pretty slim that you will damage something beyond recovery, but it is wise to always be safe

Documenting your progess will help you identify errors or omissions more quickly. It helps to get into this habbit, especially if you change major or minor kernel version and have to reconfigure the kernel entirely. This way, you reduce the possiblity of missing something the first time and having to go back and recompile again.

• If you are compiling a new kernel and you grabbed the kernel source from www.kernel.org, make sure you backup your current kernel sources before decompressing the new kernel. In /usr/src/ there should be a file linux which may be a directory containing the kernel sources or a symbolic link to a directory at the same level named something like: linux-2.2.16. That is linux with the kernel version number after it. If linux is a symbolic link you can delete (rm) this link. If linux is actually a directory, move this to another name:

  mv linux linuxold

• Additionally, if you are recompiling your current kernel, make sure you move your old modules directory to a new name. In /lib/modules/ you should see a directory that is named after your current kernel version (i.e.; 2.2.16):

  mv 2.2.16 2.2.16.old

• Finally, I suggest you make a backup of your /etc/System.map and /etc/config and boot loader configuration files:

  cp /boot/System.map /boot/System.map.o
  cp /boot/config /boot/config.old
  cp /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo.conf.old     (If you are using lilo)

This document is not a substitute for reading the documentation that is included in the kernel sources directory! If you have any questions, please consult the README file and the files in the Documentation directory. Additionally, consult the links located in the Resources and Awknowledgements section of this document.

Know your hardware and software

Before you begin to recompile your kernel, make sure you know the hardware and software installed on your system. The hardware aspect will probably be more important. Know information like your motherboard make and model, motherboard chipset, your network card and the module it uses, your usb chipset, sound card information, etc. Knowing this information beforehand will help make it easier and quicker to configure your kernel the exactly the way you want it.

Make sure you are aware of any special settings your software may require. For instance, if you want to burn cd's with an ide cd-burner, you will need to disable ide-cdrom support and enable scsi cdrom support (among a few other things).

Be especially aware of file systems you are using and/or want to use and the ramifications of setting file system access as a module or compiled directly into the kernel. Also, read up on any networking settings you may not understand.