If you are using an Alpha system with version 6.0 or greater of Red Hat Linux, pre-compiled kernels are available from ftp://updates.redhat.com/. Unless you want to compile the kernel from source on your machine, you can download the pre-compiled kernel RPMs and move directly to the section called Installing the Kernel RPM for the correct RPM command.
Due to the many Alpha motherboards available and the differences between them, you may want to download the kernel headers and kernel source RPM packages to compile a kernel specific to your system. For versions earlier than 6.0, this is the only option available.
If you have trouble booting your system after installing a pre-compiled kernel RPM, try downloading the source and headers packages and compiling the kernel manually.
If you want to compile the kernel on your system, you will need to download the appropriate source and header kernel RPMs for your system. For Red Hat Linux 5.2, download these files:
kernel-headers-2.0.36-1.alpha.rpm
kernel-source-2.0.36-1.alpha.rpm
As with the Intel platform, you need to update to the latest initscripts and other system RPMs that have been made available for the Alpha. Check http://www.redhat.com/support/errata for these RPMs.
After making sure you have the latest system RPMs installed, you will need to find out what hardware you have in the system for choosing the proper options before compiling the kernel. You should pay particular attention to the type of SCSI controller used with your system and any other special options the kernel would need to know for your machine.
If you aren't sure where to turn for this information, http://www.alphalinux.org/ may be able to point you in the right direction.
If your version of Red Hat Linux has pre-compiled version of the kernel RPMs available, you can download them. Once you have confirmed their self-consistency, change to the directory containing them and use the following command to install them:
rpm -Uvh kernel-*rpm |
If this command finishes successfully, you can skip ahead to the section called Setting up MILO or aboot to configure your system to boot using the new kernel.
If you have supported hardware and are able to use our pre-compiled kernel RPMs available with Red Hat Linux version 6.0 and greater, you can skip this part. For people who are generally familiar with compiling Linux kernels, the following quick rundown of commands for the Alpha will step you through the process.
make mrproper make oldconfig make config |
During the make config, you will make changes that are appropriate to your particular Alpha system.
make dep make clean make make boot |
The instructions for using MILO or aboot to start up using the new kernel are available in detail here:
However, a quick explanation is given below. This example assumes a Red Hat Linux 6.0 system that is being upgraded to the 2.2.17-14 kernel:
A default milo.conf looks like this:
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.5-22
label=linux
root=/dev/sdc2 |
Add the appropriate information for the new kernel:
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.17-14
label=linux
root=/dev/sdc2
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.5-15
label=backup
root=/dev/sdc2 |
If you are using aboot to start Red Hat Linux, your aboot.conf file may look like this:
0:2/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.5-15 root=/dev/sdc2 |
Add the new kernel information to the aboot.conf using the following format:
entry#:partition#/path/to/kernel root=/root/partition |
Therefore, adding the new kernel information would change your aboot.conf file to look like this:
0:2/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.17-14 root=/dev/sdc2 1:2/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.5-22 root=/dev/sdc2 |
 | Note: |
|---|---|
If the user has kernel images stored in the Alpha BIOS prom or SRM console (that is - if they have set the environment variables to boot with a full path to the kernel instead of using /etc/milo.conf or /etc/aboot.conf - then the user needs to update those variables to point at the correct kernel). |
After making the configuration changes to allow you to designate the new kernel to boot your Alpha system, restart the machine.