Re: [Outreachy kernel] Question regarding installation of kernel

[Stefano Brivio <sbrivio@redhat.com>]

On Wed, 11 Mar 2020 07:25:13 +0100 (CET)
Julia Lawall <julia.lawall@inria.fr> wrote:

> On Wed, 11 Mar 2020, Soumyajit Deb wrote:
> 
> > Hii
> > This is my first mail to the outreachy-kernel list. I am Soumyajit Deb.
> > I am currently following the first patch tutorial and accordingly I have
> > downloaded the Kernel source tree.
> >  I have doubt whether I have to build the kernel source code I have
> > downloaded as I am using ubuntu already?  
> 
> You should start with modifying a driver in the kernel you downloaded and
> checking that it is executed.  For that you will need to compile and
> install the kernel you downloaded.

Also note that, while this is not mentioned in the tutorial (I plan to
add some notes when I have a bit more time), it might be a good idea to
set up a Linux virtual machine (running in your existing Linux system)
so that you can test any non-trivial changes by installing (and also
building, if you wish) your kernel there.

This way, you'll need to reboot your virtual machine instead of the
system you're working on, especially in case it's your primary/only
system or if you're using it to communicate, without having the concern
that your new kernel might not boot up.

-- 
Stefano