kernel-package/9.008.4/kernel-package.5

.\" Hey, Emacs! This is an -*- nroff -*- source file.
.\" Copyright (c) 1997 Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>
.\"
.\" This is free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or
.\" modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
.\" published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
.\" the License, or (at your option) any later version.
.\"
.\" The GNU General Public License's references to "object code"
.\" and "executables" are to be interpreted as the output of any
.\" document formatting or typesetting system, including
.\" intermediate and printed output.
.\"
.\" This manual is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
.\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
.\"
.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
.\" License along with this manual; if not, write to the Free
.\" Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139,
.\" USA.
.\"
.\" $Id: kernel-package.5,v 1.6 2001/12/21 21:46:29 srivasta Exp $
.\"
.TH KERNEL\-PACKAGE 5 "May  25 1999" "Debian" "Debian GNU/Linux manual" 
.\" NAME should be all caps, SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
.\" other parms are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
.SH NAME
kernel\-package \- A system for creating kernel related packages
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
The 
.B kernel\-package
package grew out of desire to automate the routine steps required to
compile and install a custom kernel. If you are looking for
instructions on how to use 
.B kernel\-package,
please have a look at the manual 
.B make\-kpkg (1).
Configuring instructions are to be found in
.B kernel\-pkg.conf(5).
.SH "Advantages of using kernel\-package"
.RS
.TP 
.B i) Convenience. 
I used to compile kernels manually, and it involved a series of steps
to be taken in order; kernel\-package was written to take all the
required steps (it has grown beyond that now, but essentially, that is
what it does). This is especially important to novices: 
.B make\-kpkg
takes all the steps required to compile a kernel, and installation of
kernels is a snap.
.TP
.B ii) Multiple images support
It allows you to keep multiple version of kernel images on your
machine with no fuss.
.TP
.B iii) Multiple Flavours of the same kernel version
It has a facility for you to keep multiple flavours of the
same kernel version on your machine (you could have a stable
2.0.36 version, and a 2.0.36 version patched with the latest
drivers, and not worry about contaminating the modules in
.I /lib/modules).
.TP
.B iv) Built in defaults
It knows that some architectures do not have vmlinuz (using
vmlinux instead), and other use zImage rather than bzImage,
and calls the appropriate target, and takes care of moving the
correct file into place.
.TP
.B v) Module hooks
Several other kernel module packages are hooked into 
.B kernel\-package,
so one can seamlessly compile, say, 
.B pcmcia 
modules at the same time as one compiles a kernel, and be assured that
the modules so compiled are compatible.
.TP
.B vi) dpkg support
It enables you to use the package management system to keep track of
the kernels created. Using make\-kpkg creates a .deb file, and dpkg can
track it for you. This facilitates the task of other packages that
depend on the kernel packages. 
.TP
.B vii) Configuration tracking
It keeps track of the configuration file for each kernel image
in 
.I /boot,
which is part of the image package, and hence is the kernel image and
the configuration file are always together.
.TP
.B viii) Multiple config files
It allows you to specify a directory with config files, with separate
config files for each sub\-architecture (even allows for different
config files for i386, i486, etc). It is really neat for people who
need to compile kernels for a variety of sub architectures.
.TP
.B ix) Auxiliary kernel .deb packages
It allows to create a package with the headers, or the sources, also
as a deb file, and enables the package management system to keep track
of those (and there are packages that depend on the package management
system being aware of these packages).
.TP
.B x) Maintainer script services
Since the kernel image package is a full fledged Debian package, it
comes with maintainer scripts, which take care of details like
offering to make a boot disk, manipulating symbolic links in / so that
you can make boot loader scripts static (just refer to the symbolic
links, rather than the real image files; the names of the symbolic
links do not change, but the kernel image file names change with the
version).
.TP
.B xi) Sub architecture support
There is support for the multitudinous sub architectures that have
blossomed under the umbrella of the m68k and power\-PC architectures.
.TP
.B xii) kernel\-patch support
There is support there for optionally applying patches to the kernel
provided as a kernel\-patch .deb file, and building a patched kernel
auto\-magically, and still retain an UN\-patched kernel source tree.
.TP
.B xiii) Portable kernel images
Allows one to compile a kernel for another computer, for example using
a fast machine to compile the kernel for installation on a slower
machine. This is really nice since the modules are all included in
the .deb; and one does not have to deal with modules manually.
.TP
.B xiv) Customizations on the target host
The postinst looks at a configuration file on the installation machine
(as opposed to the machine that the image was compiled on), and allows
the local admin to decide on issues of symbolic links, and whether the
boot loader stuff must be run, and whether one wants to create a boot
floppy or not.
.TP
.B  xv) runtime hooks
The postinst and the postrm scripts allow the local admin on the
installation machine to add a script into runtime hooks; this can
allow, amongst other things, grub users to add and remove kernel image
stanzas from the grub menu (example scripts to do this are in the
package). 
.TP
.B xvi) Append descriptive bits to the kernel version
One can append to the kernel version on the command line, or by
setting an environment variable. So if your kernel is called
kernel\-image\-2.4.1John.Home; it is unlikely to be overridden by the
official 2.4.1 kernel, since they are not the same version.
.RE
.SH "Disadvantages of using make\-kpkg"
.TP
.B i) Automation.
This is a cookie cutter approach to compiling kernels, and there are
people who like being close to the bare metal.
.TP
.B ii) Non traditional
This is not how it is done in the non\-Debian world. This flouts
tradition. (It has been pointed out, though, that this is fast
becoming Debian tradition).
.TP
.B  iii) Needs superuser
It forces you to use 
.B fakeroot 
or 
.B sudo
or 
.B super 
or be root to create a kernel image .deb file (this is not as bad as
it used to be before 
.B fakeroot)
.RE
.SH FILES
.I /etc/kernel\-pkg.conf.
.I /etc/kernel\-img.conf.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR make\-kpkg (1),
.BR make (1),
.B The GNU Make manual.
.SH BUGS
There are no bugs.  Any resemblance thereof is delirium. Really.
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>,
for the Debian GNU/Linux system.
1	.\" Hey, Emacs! This is an -- nroff -- source file.
2	.\" Copyright (c) 1997 Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>
3	.\"
4	.\" This is free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or
5	.\" modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
6	.\" published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
7	.\" the License, or (at your option) any later version.
8	.\"
9	.\" The GNU General Public License's references to "object code"
10	.\" and "executables" are to be interpreted as the output of any
11	.\" document formatting or typesetting system, including
12	.\" intermediate and printed output.
13	.\"
14	.\" This manual is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
15	.\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
16	.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
17	.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
18	.\"
19	.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
20	.\" License along with this manual; if not, write to the Free
21	.\" Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139,
22	.\" USA.
23	.\"
24	.\" $Id: kernel-package.5,v 1.6 2001/12/21 21:46:29 srivasta Exp $
25	.\"
26	.TH KERNEL\-PACKAGE 5 "May 25 1999" "Debian" "Debian GNU/Linux manual"
27	.\" NAME should be all caps, SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
28	.\" other parms are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
29	.SH NAME
30	kernel\-package \- A system for creating kernel related packages
31	.SH "DESCRIPTION"
32	The
33	.B kernel\-package
34	package grew out of desire to automate the routine steps required to
35	compile and install a custom kernel. If you are looking for
36	instructions on how to use
37	.B kernel\-package,
38	please have a look at the manual
39	.B make\-kpkg (1).
40	Configuring instructions are to be found in
41	.B kernel\-pkg.conf(5).
42	.SH "Advantages of using kernel\-package"
43	.RS
44	.TP
45	.B i) Convenience.
46	I used to compile kernels manually, and it involved a series of steps
47	to be taken in order; kernel\-package was written to take all the
48	required steps (it has grown beyond that now, but essentially, that is
49	what it does). This is especially important to novices:
50	.B make\-kpkg
51	takes all the steps required to compile a kernel, and installation of
52	kernels is a snap.
53	.TP
54	.B ii) Multiple images support
55	It allows you to keep multiple version of kernel images on your
56	machine with no fuss.
57	.TP
58	.B iii) Multiple Flavours of the same kernel version
59	It has a facility for you to keep multiple flavours of the
60	same kernel version on your machine (you could have a stable
61	2.0.36 version, and a 2.0.36 version patched with the latest
62	drivers, and not worry about contaminating the modules in
63	.I /lib/modules).
64	.TP
65	.B iv) Built in defaults
66	It knows that some architectures do not have vmlinuz (using
67	vmlinux instead), and other use zImage rather than bzImage,
68	and calls the appropriate target, and takes care of moving the
69	correct file into place.
70	.TP
71	.B v) Module hooks
72	Several other kernel module packages are hooked into
73	.B kernel\-package,
74	so one can seamlessly compile, say,
75	.B pcmcia
76	modules at the same time as one compiles a kernel, and be assured that
77	the modules so compiled are compatible.
78	.TP
79	.B vi) dpkg support
80	It enables you to use the package management system to keep track of
81	the kernels created. Using make\-kpkg creates a .deb file, and dpkg can
82	track it for you. This facilitates the task of other packages that
83	depend on the kernel packages.
84	.TP
85	.B vii) Configuration tracking
86	It keeps track of the configuration file for each kernel image
87	in
88	.I /boot,
89	which is part of the image package, and hence is the kernel image and
90	the configuration file are always together.
91	.TP
92	.B viii) Multiple config files
93	It allows you to specify a directory with config files, with separate
94	config files for each sub\-architecture (even allows for different
95	config files for i386, i486, etc). It is really neat for people who
96	need to compile kernels for a variety of sub architectures.
97	.TP
98	.B ix) Auxiliary kernel .deb packages
99	It allows to create a package with the headers, or the sources, also
100	as a deb file, and enables the package management system to keep track
101	of those (and there are packages that depend on the package management
102	system being aware of these packages).
103	.TP
104	.B x) Maintainer script services
105	Since the kernel image package is a full fledged Debian package, it
106	comes with maintainer scripts, which take care of details like
107	offering to make a boot disk, manipulating symbolic links in / so that
108	you can make boot loader scripts static (just refer to the symbolic
109	links, rather than the real image files; the names of the symbolic
110	links do not change, but the kernel image file names change with the
111	version).
112	.TP
113	.B xi) Sub architecture support
114	There is support for the multitudinous sub architectures that have
115	blossomed under the umbrella of the m68k and power\-PC architectures.
116	.TP
117	.B xii) kernel\-patch support
118	There is support there for optionally applying patches to the kernel
119	provided as a kernel\-patch .deb file, and building a patched kernel
120	auto\-magically, and still retain an UN\-patched kernel source tree.
121	.TP
122	.B xiii) Portable kernel images
123	Allows one to compile a kernel for another computer, for example using
124	a fast machine to compile the kernel for installation on a slower
125	machine. This is really nice since the modules are all included in
126	the .deb; and one does not have to deal with modules manually.
127	.TP
128	.B xiv) Customizations on the target host
129	The postinst looks at a configuration file on the installation machine
130	(as opposed to the machine that the image was compiled on), and allows
131	the local admin to decide on issues of symbolic links, and whether the
132	boot loader stuff must be run, and whether one wants to create a boot
133	floppy or not.
134	.TP
135	.B xv) runtime hooks
136	The postinst and the postrm scripts allow the local admin on the
137	installation machine to add a script into runtime hooks; this can
138	allow, amongst other things, grub users to add and remove kernel image
139	stanzas from the grub menu (example scripts to do this are in the
140	package).
141	.TP
142	.B xvi) Append descriptive bits to the kernel version
143	One can append to the kernel version on the command line, or by
144	setting an environment variable. So if your kernel is called
145	kernel\-image\-2.4.1John.Home; it is unlikely to be overridden by the
146	official 2.4.1 kernel, since they are not the same version.
147	.RE
148	.SH "Disadvantages of using make\-kpkg"
149	.TP
150	.B i) Automation.
151	This is a cookie cutter approach to compiling kernels, and there are
152	people who like being close to the bare metal.
153	.TP
154	.B ii) Non traditional
155	This is not how it is done in the non\-Debian world. This flouts
156	tradition. (It has been pointed out, though, that this is fast
157	becoming Debian tradition).
158	.TP
159	.B iii) Needs superuser
160	It forces you to use
161	.B fakeroot
162	or
163	.B sudo
164	or
165	.B super
166	or be root to create a kernel image .deb file (this is not as bad as
167	it used to be before
168	.B fakeroot)
169	.RE
170	.SH FILES
171	.I /etc/kernel\-pkg.conf.
172	.I /etc/kernel\-img.conf.
173	.SH "SEE ALSO"
174	.BR make\-kpkg (1),
175	.BR make (1),
176	.B The GNU Make manual.
177	.SH BUGS
178	There are no bugs. Any resemblance thereof is delirium. Really.
179	.SH AUTHOR
180	This manual page was written by Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>,
181	for the Debian GNU/Linux system.