nixpkgs/doc/builders/packages/linux.xml

<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xml:id="sec-linux-kernel">
 <title>Linux kernel</title>

 <para>
  The Nix expressions to build the Linux kernel are in <link
xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel"><filename>pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel</filename></link>.
 </para>

 <para>
  The function that builds the kernel has an argument <varname>kernelPatches</varname> which should be a list of <literal>{name, patch, extraConfig}</literal> attribute sets, where <varname>name</varname> is the name of the patch (which is included in the kernel’s <varname>meta.description</varname> attribute), <varname>patch</varname> is the patch itself (possibly compressed), and <varname>extraConfig</varname> (optional) is a string specifying extra options to be concatenated to the kernel configuration file (<filename>.config</filename>).
 </para>

 <para>
  The kernel derivation exports an attribute <varname>features</varname> specifying whether optional functionality is or isn’t enabled. This is used in NixOS to implement kernel-specific behaviour. For instance, if the kernel has the <varname>iwlwifi</varname> feature (i.e. has built-in support for Intel wireless chipsets), then NixOS doesn’t have to build the external <varname>iwlwifi</varname> package:
<programlisting>
modulesTree = [kernel]
  ++ pkgs.lib.optional (!kernel.features ? iwlwifi) kernelPackages.iwlwifi
  ++ ...;
</programlisting>
 </para>

 <para>
  How to add a new (major) version of the Linux kernel to Nixpkgs:
  <orderedlist>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     Copy the old Nix expression (e.g. <filename>linux-2.6.21.nix</filename>) to the new one (e.g. <filename>linux-2.6.22.nix</filename>) and update it.
    </para>
   </listitem>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     Add the new kernel to <filename>all-packages.nix</filename> (e.g., create an attribute <varname>kernel_2_6_22</varname>).
    </para>
   </listitem>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     Now we’re going to update the kernel configuration. First unpack the kernel. Then for each supported platform (<literal>i686</literal>, <literal>x86_64</literal>, <literal>uml</literal>) do the following:
     <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Make an copy from the old config (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.21-i686-smp</filename>) to the new one (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>).
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Copy the config file for this platform (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>) to <filename>.config</filename> in the kernel source tree.
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Run <literal>make oldconfig ARCH=<replaceable>{i386,x86_64,um}</replaceable></literal> and answer all questions. (For the uml configuration, also add <literal>SHELL=bash</literal>.) Make sure to keep the configuration consistent between platforms (i.e. don’t enable some feature on <literal>i686</literal> and disable it on <literal>x86_64</literal>).
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        If needed you can also run <literal>make menuconfig</literal>:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt>nix-env -i ncurses
<prompt>$ </prompt>export NIX_CFLAGS_LINK=-lncurses
<prompt>$ </prompt>make menuconfig ARCH=<replaceable>arch</replaceable></screen>
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Copy <filename>.config</filename> over the new config file (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </orderedlist>
    </para>
   </listitem>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     Test building the kernel: <literal>nix-build -A kernel_2_6_22</literal>. If it compiles, ship it! For extra credit, try booting NixOS with it.
    </para>
   </listitem>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     It may be that the new kernel requires updating the external kernel modules and kernel-dependent packages listed in the <varname>linuxPackagesFor</varname> function in <filename>all-packages.nix</filename> (such as the NVIDIA drivers, AUFS, etc.). If the updated packages aren’t backwards compatible with older kernels, you may need to keep the older versions around.
    </para>
   </listitem>
  </orderedlist>
 </para>
</section>