Kernel configuration

Forum: Tour of the Linux kernel source
Re: Kernel Configuration and Makefile Structure (Steffen Moeller)
Keywords: configuration
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 12:30:00 GMT
From: Venkatesha Murthy G. <gvmt@csa.iisc.ernet.in>

I really haven't *understood* kernel configutarion but i can tell you what i do when i want to add a config option. I first edit arch/i386/config.in and add a line that looks like bool 'whatever explanation' CONFIG_WHATEVER default this is supposed to mean that CONFIG_WHATEVER is a boolean taking values y or n. When you 'make config' you'll get something like 'whatever explanation (CONFIG_WHATEVER) [default]' and you type in y or n. Now this automagically #defines CONFIG_WHATEVER in <linux/autoconf.h>. Code that is specefic to the configuration can now be enclosed in #ifdef CONFIG_WHATEVER ... #endif so it will be compiled in only when configured. If you want any more explanation than can be given on one line, you can have a set of 'comment ...." lines before the 'bool ....' line and that will be displayed for you during configuration. I don't know if you'll find it useful but still ..... Venkatesha Murthy (gvmt@csa.iisc.ernet.in)