Kernel/Upgrading

From Gentoo Linux Wiki

Upgrading your kernel is very much the same as installing a new kernel. However, the kernel provides a useful tool for upgrading that will automatically update your kernel configuration for many changes.

To run the tool, switch to the directory containing the kernel sources you wish to install. You want to copy the configuration for your current kernel to this directory. There are 2 ways you can do this:

• Copy the .config file from the kernel source directory
• If your kernel supports it, you may obtain its configuration from /proc/config.gz with: zcat /proc/config.gz > .config

Now run the upgrade utility with: make oldconfig

The oldconfig utility will check your configuration. You will be asked for each new feature whether you want feature in your kernel. You are generally offered 4 options:

• y - Include the support built into the kernel
• m - Include the support as a module
• n - Do not include support
•  ? - Displays the help information for the feature

One of the first 3 options will be shown in uppercase. This is the default. For example, if offered [Y/m/n/?] then the default is to include support built into the kernel.