On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 09:57:12 -0700 "Mark Knecht" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi, > I've never received an answer for these question in the Redhat > reflectors, and never asked here. Please excuse my ignorance on this > subject. > > I just did a kernel build of gentoo-sources-2.4.20-r7 by hand (make dep > clean bzImage modules modules_install & then copy bzImage to /boot by hand) > and I do not get the System.map, config and vmlinuz files in /boot. However, > I apparently did a build of 2.4.20-r5 some other way (possibly make > install?) and these files, plus their links were created. > > QUESTION 1: What do these files do, and are they necessary? The vmlinuz and bzImage (or other names) in /boot are the kernel used for booting. The System.map files (optional) are really only needed to interpret dumps if your kernel craps out. > > QUESTION 2: What is the process to create these files if I want them? You must build a new kernel to create these files, then copy them from the /usr/src/linux..../ location to /boot. Ask again, if you don't know how to build a kernel, or still betterm RTFM (google, gentoo documentation, redhat documentation, etc., etc.). > > QUESTION 3: What is the difference between booting from a vmlinuz file and a > bzImage file? There is no difference; the names are whatever you pick. The kernel build process creates/usr/src/linux.../System.map (symbols map) and /usr/src/linux.../arch/i386/boot/bzImage (bootable kernel). You then copy these files to /boot and name them whatever you like, example /boot/System-map-latest and /boot/bzImage-latest. Then you update your grub or lilo boot loader controls to allow boot from the /boot/bzImage-latest. Many people like to include symlinks ln -s /boot/System.map-latest /boot/System.map and ln -s /boot/bzImage-lastest /boot/vmlinuz > > QUESTION 4: Does having these -r5 files impact running -r7 if the -r7 > versions don't exist and the links point to the -r5 versions? There is absolutely no impact in having mulitple map and kernel files on /boot. You must specify the appropriate kernel name in a stanza in your boot manager (grub or lilo), and you may have multiple choices. The only problem you are likely to encounter is with modules when you are using something like nvidia which installs for a particular kernel release only. Enjoy, -- Collins Richey - Denver Area if you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
