What steps do I need to take to compile and install a Linux kernel?

Question

What are the correct steps to compile a Linux kernel? Are these steps the same or different for different kernel versions i.e for 2.2, 2.4 and 2.6.

Answer 1

You can follow this guide from the Ubuntu Help Community,
you might want to go for the "Alternate Build Method: The Old-Fashioned Debian Way".

It does not mather what version you take, just don't go too old... The best option is to pick the newest.

Answer 2

Best howto I've EVER read. This is for Ubuntu or Debian.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=311158

(It's been there for almost years and it's being updated constantly so don't worry it won't disappear. But yeah you can save it just to make sure.)

Answer 3

I never compiler kernel older than 2.6, so I can't help you there, but here is part of Gentoo's manual which discusses how to compile kernel. Please note that some distributions may have their own means of kernel compilation. Telling us exactly what you want to do will help us answer your question.

Answer 4

Use

make

will compile the kernel, but there is a bit more to it.

Here is a nice write up on how to do it.

I wouldn't bother with the older kernels, but I don't think the ideas behind the process have changed much, but stuff like make menuconfig may not work with the old stuff (and you may have to replace it with make config) etc...