I won't tell you how to build and install a custom Linux kernel on your machine. If you need help with this, you can find many [resources](https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=building+linux+kernel#q=building+linux+kernel+from+source+code) that will help you do it. Instead, we will learn what occurs when you type `make` in the directory of the Linux kernel source code.
I won't tell you how to build and install a custom Linux kernel on your machine. If you need help with this, you can find many [resources](https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=building+linux+kernel#q=building+linux+kernel+from+source+code) that will help you do it. Instead, we will learn what occurs when you execute `make` in the root directory of the Linux kernel source code.
When I started to study the source code of the Linux kernel, the [makefile](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/Makefile) was the first file that I opened. And it was scary :). The [makefile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_%28software%29) contained `1591` lines of code when I wrote this and this was the [4.2.0-rc3](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/52721d9d3334c1cb1f76219a161084094ec634dc) release.
When I started to study the source code of the Linux kernel, the [makefile](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/Makefile) was the first file that I opened. And it was scary :). The [makefile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_%28software%29) contained `1591` lines of code when I wrote this part and the kernel was the [4.2.0-rc3](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/52721d9d3334c1cb1f76219a161084094ec634dc) release.
This makefile is the the top makefile in the Linux kernel source code and the kernel build starts here. Yes, it is big, but moreover, if you've read the source code of the Linux kernel you may have noted that all directories containing source code has its own makefile. Of course it is not possible to describe how each source file is compiled and linked, so we will only study the standard compilation case. You will not find here building of the kernel's documentation, cleaning of the kernel source code, [tags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctags) generation, [cross-compilation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_compiler) related stuff, etc... We will start from the `make` execution with the standard kernel configuration file and will finish with the building of the [bzImage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vmlinux#bzImage).
This makefile is the top makefile in the Linux kernel source code and the kernel building starts here. Yes, it is big, but moreover, if you've read the source code of the Linux kernel you may have noted that all directories containing source code has its own makefile. Of course it is not possible to describe how each source file is compiled and linked, so we will only study the standard compilation case. You will not find here building of the kernel's documentation, cleaning of the kernel source code, [tags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctags) generation, [cross-compilation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_compiler) related stuff, etc... We will start from the `make` execution with the standard kernel configuration file and will finish with the building of the [bzImage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vmlinux#bzImage).
It would be better if you're already familiar with the [make](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_%28software%29) util, but I will try to describe every piece of code in this part anyway.
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9 years ago