Hello Mageia Users, linux-userspace-headers contains the headers for the source code of Linux kernel. All source code necessary to compile a new kernel is included in two packages linux-userspace-headers, and kernel-source. You will need to install both linux-userspace-headers (needed for general Linux compilation), and kernel-source in order to compile a new kernel. The kernel is the central process of your Linux machine, the mediator between the hardware and your programs. It is responsible for memory allocations, process managing, device access... Although modern kernels are very flexible thanks to dynamic modules, you may need to compile your own kernel for various reasons: your found a new module which need a more recent kernel, you need a feature of a new kernel, etc... Here is a short sum-up of what you can find in the Kernel-HOWTO. Consult it in case of a problem or if the shortcut here provided does not meet your needs. You should also consult the README of kernel-sources. 1. Configure your new kernel You should never build a kernel as root, so as a normal user: Copy the source in /usr/src/linux/ to ~/kernel/ Change to ~/kernel/ and clean-up previous compilations, by issuing "make mrproper", In console mode, run "make menuconfig", Under X11, run "make xconfig". Then configure all sections of your kernel making each feature you need available constantly or as a module. Note that you should compile most features as a module, as it consume less memory, taking into account that some of them cannot be modules as you may need them at boot time, before dynamic modules be loaded... 2. Compile it Just issue "make" to create a compressed kernel image and the modules you configured. 3. install your new kernel Now you need root privilegies, so: Issue "su" and enter root password. Issue "make modules_install" This will copy your modules and needed files to /lib/modules/ Issue "make install" This will copy your new kernel and system.map to boot dir (/boot/) with correct names including version, and change respective links. It finally runs lilo to take into account your new kernel. 4. Modify Lilo to allow your booting on old kernel * This step is optional, although recommended * See lilo.conf man page. Your are encouraged during this step to create a new section in your lilo.conf file, in order to enable you to boot on your both kernels, the old and the new one. You need to run lilo then to take your changes into account. You may also use linuxconf to do all that with a nice GUI. 5. Reboot your machine... And pray. Anyway if something goes wrong, you just need to reboot and choose your old kernel with lilo. Enjoy! ======================================================================== (c) 1999-2006 Mandriva, Camille Bégnis (c) 2006 Thomas Backlund (c) 2011 Thomas Backlund