Re: RPM that installs a slightly modified Redhat kernel

[Joe Van Dyk <joevandyk gmail com>]

On 1/3/06, James Olin Oden <james oden gmail com> wrote:
> On 1/3/06, Joe Van Dyk <joevandyk gmail com> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > We're running Redhat Enterprise 3 here, updates between 1 and 5.  I
> > need to modify the kernel (a two line patch that modifies some
> > capabilities).
> >
> > What's the best way to do this?  It needs to work on any RHEL 3 system
> > (up to Update 5).  Do I need to build a kernel (and kernel modules)
> > RPM for each update?
> >
> Start with the kernel srpm.  Do a:
>
>    rpmbuild -bp kernel-*.src.rpm
>
> Replacing * with the approriate version and release.   Then go into
> the directory where the kernel was extracted and generate your patch.
>  Now change the spec file to apply your patch and your done concerning
> the kernel (of course you will need to integrate this into your build
> system du jour).
>
> If you have custom modules you will need to rebuild them against this
> kernel's sources.   If you have questions concerning this, ask and I
> or someone can help.
> Just so you know since its not likely that any symbol changes are
> occuring, the only thing that is forcing the rebuild of the modules is
> the fact that kernel symbol versioning is on, which will cause all
> symbols in the kernel to have some magic number attached to them such
> that your module does call printf but really printf_###### or
> something like that.  This changes each time the kernel is rebuilt (I
> am painting with a broad brush I know).

One of the things I'm changing in the kernel is the timing (to 960hz).
 Would I also need to rebuild an RPM for the kernel modules?

Joe