Building the Linux kernel

The Linux kernel is required to execute systems using haskus-system. Leaving aside modules and firmwares, a compiled Linux kernel is a single binary file that you can use with QEMU to execute your own systems.

To build Linux, you first need to download it from http://kernel.org and to unpack it:

wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/linux-4.9.8.tar.xz
tar xf linux-4.9.8.tar.xz

Then you need to configure it. We recommend at least the following:

cd linux-4.9.8

# default configuration for the X86-64 target
make x86_64_defconfig

# enable some DRM (graphics) drivers
./scripts/config -e CONFIG_DRM_BOCHS
./scripts/config -e CONFIG_DRM_RADEON
./scripts/config -e CONFIG_DRM_NOUVEAU
./scripts/config -e CONFIG_DRM_VIRTIO_GPU

# fixup configuration (use default values)
make olddefconfig

If you know what you are doing, you can configure it further with:

make xconfig

Finally, build the kernel with:

make -j8

Copy the resulting kernel binary that you can use with QEMU for instance:

cp arch/x86/boot/bzImage linux-4.9.8.bin

You can also copy built modules and firmwares with:

make modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/path/where/to/copy/modules
make firmware_install INSTALL_FW_PATH=/path/where/to/copy/firmwares