AUTHOR: Bruce Dubbs DATE: 2009-05-28 LICENSE: The MIT License SYNOPSIS: Considerations when configuring the Linux kernel PREREQUISITES: None DESCRIPTION: When building an LFS system, the last package built is the kernel itself. This is the most complicated package to configure in LFS and is the most variable among users. This hint is provided to help users decide how to configure their kernel. REFERENCES: In the kernel tarball: README Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt Documentation/cdrom/ Documentation/devices.txt Documentation/filesystems/ Documentation/laptops/ Documentation/pcmcia/ Documentation/sound/ Documentation/networking/ Documentation/scsi/ There are many other files in the documentation tree that can give detailed information about kernel options. HINT: The process of building the kernel is described in Chapter 8 of the LFS book. However, detailed instruction on the configuration of the kernel depend on many factors. This hint is an attempt to help the new user through the complicated process of selecting configuration parameters. The primary output of the configuration process is the .config file, however even if a .config file is placed into the linux package tree, one of the configuration processes must be run to set up other internal files necessary for the build process to complete properly. One rule of thumb to use in selecting configuration items is when in doubt, use the default for that option. 1. Starting the configuration process The configuration file is in the root of the linux directory with the name .config. It is an ascii file with entries such as: # # General setup # CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="" CONFIG_LOCALVERSION_AUTO=y # CONFIG_IPC_NS is not set a. make menuconfig This is the primary user interface to kernel configuration. It is a ncurses based application that generates a menu tree for a user to select configuration items. Using the enter key and the arrow keys, you can examine each item, including a help page. The "Enter" key selects an option from the bottom of the page. Which item that is selected is controlled by the left and right arrow keys.