In our last issue of LinuxProNews, we looked at what data you need to collect before attempting to build a Linux kernel. This is very important information so you may want to take a look at the first article if you are a little rusty. I have also written an article about using the command line in Linux that may be helpful for you.

The first thing that you will probably need to do is unpack the kernel source in the /usr/src directory. The source does not have to be placed here, however this is the convention and the remainder of this article will assume that that is where you put it.

Before you actually unpack the source, make sure that there is not a directory or symlink to a directory named "linux". A symlink (symbolic link) is very much like a shortcut. In the case of the kernel source code, you would use a symbolic link to point to the actual source code tree that you are using, especially if you have more than one source code tree (i.e. You may have several different versions of the kernel that you use. Rather than rename source code trees which can become confusing, use a symlink to point to the tree that you want to use).

If there is a directory named "linux" rename it to "linux-X.Y.Z", where "X.Y.Z" is the actual version number of that kernel. If there is a symbolic link to a kernel source tree, simply delete it (from /usr/src/ type "rm linux").

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