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nixpkgs/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/README.md
Valentin Gagarin ea94f6b893
doc: update the kernel config documentation to use nix-shell (#265057) 
this also slightly improves the instructions after working through them
to check that they do what one would expect.

Co-authored-by: alex <source@proof.construction>
2024-01-08 12:10:41 +01:00

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How to add a new (major) version of the Linux kernel to Nixpkgs:

  1. Copy the old Nix expression (e.g., linux-2.6.21.nix) to the new one (e.g., linux-2.6.22.nix) and update it.

  2. Add the new kernel to the kernels attribute set in linux-kernels.nix (e.g., create an attribute kernel_2_6_22).

  3. Update the kernel configuration:

    1. While in the Nixpkgs repository, enter the development shell for that kernel:

      $ nix-shell -A linuxKernel.kernels.linux_2_6_22

    2. Unpack the kernel:

      [nix-shell]$ pushd $(mktemp -d)
[nix-shell]$ unpackPhase

    3. For each supported platform (i686, x86_64, uml) do the following:

      1. Make a copy from the old config (e.g., config-2.6.21-i686-smp) to the new one (e.g., config-2.6.22-i686-smp).

      2. Copy the config file for this platform (e.g., config-2.6.22-i686-smp) to .config in the unpacked kernel source tree.

      3. Run make oldconfig ARCH={i386,x86_64,um} and answer all questions. (For the uml configuration, also add SHELL=bash.) Make sure to keep the configuration consistent between platforms (i.e., don’t enable some feature on i686 and disable it on x86_64).

      4. If needed, you can also run make menuconfig:

        $ nix-shell -p ncurses pkg-config
$ make menuconfig ARCH=arch

      5. Copy .config over the new config file (e.g., config-2.6.22-i686-smp).

  4. Test building the kernel:

nix-build -A linuxKernel.kernels.kernel_2_6_22

If it compiles, ship it! For extra credit, try booting NixOS with it.

  1. It may be that the new kernel requires updating the external kernel modules and kernel-dependent packages listed in the linuxPackagesFor function in linux-kernels.nix (such as the NVIDIA drivers, AUFS, etc.). If the updated packages aren’t backwards compatible with older kernels, you may need to keep the older versions around.