Thank you very much that fills in a few gaps in my knowledge. Christopher G. Stach II wrote: > ----- "Ben M." <cen...@rivint.com> wrote: > >> I do not have a comprehensive grasp on startup scripts, as well as >> what files are not rolled into the kernel itself. >> >> In other words, I don't understand yet when a new kernel is installed, >> whether there are any support files that come with it, or whether >> everything that, for instance, the Xen kernel needs, are entirely >> within that kernel file (hardware drivers). > > Kernels in major distros are usually distributed with most drivers compiled > as modules in a package that contains those modules and an initrd, or script > that makes an initrd, that contains the drivers necessary to boot your > system. This isn't always the case, as drivers may be compiled right into the > kernel or they may be completely excluded for whatever reason (mini distros, > appliances). > > After booting, depmod resolves the kernel module dependencies in > /lib/modules/<kernel version> only for the kernel that is currently running. > As long as you don't install a kernel package that has the same version > string (e.g., 2.6.18-128.4.1.el5xen) as a kernel you care about, you have > nothing to worry about. If someone is distributing third party kernel > packages that collide with a major distribution's without a really good > reason, you should probably avoid using their packages altogether. > >> If it is just a matter of having a section for it in grub.conf. > > Many kernel packages will set up grub.conf for you. If it's just a tarball, > you will have to do this manually. You may also need to build a new initrd. >
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