Thanks Brad; On Sat, 2007-12-15 at 16:16 -0500, Bart Trojanowski wrote: > * William Case <billlinux [ at ] rogers [ dot ] com> [071215 15:52]: > > I am about to do a fresh install of Fedora 8. I want to begin exploring > > the kernel so if I need new partitions etc. now would be a good time to > > set up properly. > > You don't need separate partitions if you are just swapping a kernel > with one that is relatively close to it. You can run just about any > 2.6.x kernel with the same modern userspace (such as FC8). > My poor wording. I know how to fresh install. But I thought I should install (copy?) a second separate kernel to play with but not get mixed up with my working kernel. > ls /boot/vmlinuz* | wc -l > 18 > > I seem to have 18 of them. > > > I need some advice on how to set up so that I can: > > 1) download a separate kernel -- binary, source and documentation. > > I don't use (and avoid) rpm based systems, but you should be able to > install a different kernel using rpm/yum. You would then select the > right one using grub (or another boot loader) at boot time. > > > 2) have access to it from my home directory -- if possible. > > You want to have the files in $HOME ? Well that's not really how linux > distros are setup to boot. I was hoping (maybe its not necessary) to keep my play kernel separate and not really have to boot it. But then what do I know. > > You can however build the kernel in your $HOME dir and install it in the > system directories (/boot and /lib/modules/). You probably want to use > git. > > > 3) trace various trees -- operations from first mention of symbol to > > end. > > So you want source, not binaries? This is a new place for me; maybe I don't need a second set of binaries? > > Let me recommend git. > > > 4) make sure anything I might do does not screw up my existing system. > > Use virtualization or another harddisk. > > If you have a modern CPU, you should get a kernel that supports KVM and > run another distro inside a virtual machine. You can then hack up the > virtualized kernel and not worry about breaking things. Ah! That's what I want. My cpu is an AMD Athlon 64 x 2 Dual-Core. > > See http://kvm.qumranet.com/ for more info. Feel free to ask if you > want some help on KVM. I may need help to get started. Since I don't need a new partition, my project for today and tomorrow is to get F8 installed, updates downloaded and my desktop rearranged. I will add git and kvm. Do you have other tools to recommend for downloading while I am at it? > > > The advice that I have found even on Linux Kernel Newbies seems to be > > for hackers who are building drivers etc. as contributions (ie. using > > git). I just want to play and explore -- maybe viewing C and some asm. > > You want to use git, even if you just view the source. > > Here is how you build a kernel: > > # I assume that you have build tools installed, if not something > # like this will cure it > # - substitute apt with your favorite method of getting packages > apt-get install build-essential > > # get the git software: > # - again, substitute apt with your favorite method of getting packages > apt-get install git-core > > # get the linux kernel > git clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git > cd linux-2.6 > > # checkout the last release (or any release you want) > git reset --hard v2.6.23 > > # get the config file from the running kernel: > zcat /proc/config.gz > .config > > # configure the kernel > # - note many questions are answered from the .config file above > # - you can use any of the following > make oldconfig # text based > make menuconfig # curses based > make xconfig # X based > > # build the kernel > make bzImage modules > > # install the kernel > make modules-install install > > # build a new initramfs for the kernel > # - substitute the <new version> with the version you just built, or with "all" > update-initramfs -c -k <new version> > > # get grub to see the new kernel > update-grub > > # reboot > Are these build instructions above for the Fedora install or are they for my extra play kernel? > Please note that the update-* tools above are Debian specific. The > actual build steps are distro agnostic. > Understand. I will probably be going to Debian in the future but for now I have other fish to fry as it were and would rather stay with the familiar Fedora. -- Regards Bill