Debian Kernel version 2.4 Compiling

In your Debian machine on the command line as root. Install the prerequisites that we need to compile the new kernel:

#apt-get install kernel-package ncurses-dev fakeroot wget bzip2

Then go to /usr/src:

#cd /usr/src

Then get the latest Linux kernel source  from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/:

#wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.32.tar.bz2

Unpack the kernel sources:

#tar xjf linux-2.4.32.tar.bz2

#cd linux-2.4.32/

It is normally a good idea to take the configuration of your existing  kernel as a starting point for the configuration of your new kernel. Usually the current kernel configuration is saved in a file under /boot, e.g. /boot/config-2.4.18-bf2.4.23.We will load this configuration and then do the changes we desire (e.g. add quota support, iptables support, etc.).

#make menuconfig

This will appear a GUI and from this select Load an Alternate Configuration File and enter the location of the configuration file of your current kernel.

The configuration of your current kernel will be loaded, and you can now browse through the menu and change the configuration to suit your needs. When you are finished, save your new kernel configuration

Then run the following commands:

#make dep
#make-kpkg clean
#fakeroot make-kpkg --revision=custom.1.0 kernel_image

If the compilation stops with an error, run

#make clean

and then re-run the previous commands starting with

#make menuconfig

Change the kernel configuration where the error occurs (e.g., the compilation often gives back errors for some WAN modules, so leave them out if you do not need them). If no error occurs you will find the new kernel as a Debian package called kernel-image-2.4.32_custom.1.0_i386.deb under /usr/src.

#cd ../

Now you can install the new kernel by doing the following:

#dpkg -i kernel-image-2.4.32_custom.1.0_i386.deb
 

We are near to finished now. Run

#lilo

to update your boot loader and reboot your machine:

#shutdown -r now

and if everything is ok your machine should come up with the new kernel. You can run

#uname -a

There are so many ways to compile debian kernel i think this is the easiest way