Practitioner Level

Compiling a Linux Kernel (Ubuntu)

45 minutes

5 Learning Objectives

For most Linux administrators, updating a kernel is done through the package manager for the Linux distribution that is being used. However, there can be situations where a particular kernel version or specific kernel configurations are needed. In this lab, you will be tasked with downloading the full kernel source tree, updating the kernel configuration to certain specifications, and then compiling a new kernel image.

Learning Objectives

Successfully complete this lab by achieving the following learning objectives:

Enable source URIs for apt repositories.

Open the sources.lst file in /etc/apt/:
```
vim /etc/apt/sources.lst
```
Uncomment deb-src URIs manually or by substitution — :%s/# deb-src/deb-src/g
Resynchronize the package index files:
```
apt-get update
```

Install dependencies

Install additional dependencies:

apt-get install -y make gcc libncurses5-dev dpkg-dev

Build dependencies for the kernel image:

apt-get build-dep -y linux-image-$(uname -r)

Download the Kernel source tree to /usr/src

Switch to the /usr/src directory:
```
cd /usr/src/
```
Download the kernel source tree:
```
apt-get source linux-image-$(uname -r)
```

Update the kernel configuration

Switch to the kernel source tree directory:
```
cd /usr/src/linux-aws-[kernel_version]/
```
Update the kernel configuration with the make menuconfig command:
```
make menuconfig
```
Navigate with your arrow keys and use enter to go to Device Drivers > Block devices
Using the “n” key, exclude the following two drivers – DRBD Distributed Replicated Block Device support and Packet writing on CD/DVD media (DEPRECATED)
Exit the menu and save your configuration changes.

Compile the kernel image (this step can take 15-20 minutes to complete)

Create the compressed kernel image by calling the bzImage target:
```
make bzImage
```

Note: This can take 15-20 minutes to complete

Additional Resources

As one of the lead Linux administrators on your team, you are tasked with compiling a new kernel image that will be used for all of the servers in your data center. In order to accomplish this, you will need to enable the deb-src URIs to allow the kernel source to be downloaded. Once the kernel source has been downloaded (ensure that it is downloaded to the /usr/src directory for consistency), you will need to install any dependencies that are necessary for configuring and compiling the kernel. The Distributed Replicated Block Device (DRBD) support should be excluded since your company will no longer be using this utility. In addition to DRBD, the Packet writing on CD/DVD media should also be excluded, given that it is now deprecated. Once these configuration changes have been made, compile a new compressed kernel image using the bzImage target.

Note: All tasks should be performed as the root user.

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