FREE RCHE LESSONS #4 LiLo/GRUB

[RudeCat7]

Hey kids! Having trouble with LiLO? Grub is the default bootloader for Redhat now, so if you chose Lilo, like I usually do, check out....
 lilo lessons      

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Black & White Cat ]

title edited:

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Calum ]

[voidmain]

That must be an outdated RHCE sample. You don't have to edit anything, "make install" does it for you. And on top of that, the default boot loader for RedHat has been GRUB since somewhere around v7.2 so if you had to edit something you would edit /etc/grub.conf.

[RudeCat7]

But isn't this true if you want to boot multiple kernels?

[voidmain]

No, a "make install" adds a new entry for the new kernel, it doesn't delete the old one. In addition it detects if you are running GRUB or LILO and adds it in the appropriate boot loader configuration file automatically. And again, the default boot loader is GRUB now. In fact it might have been 7.1 when they switched to GRUB, it was so loooong ago.  

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]

[RudeCat7]

Darn............I will have to make this lesson useful somehow...I know....

[voidmain]

Well, things used to work the way your sample suggests, but not any more. Actually you still can do it that way but it's much easier just to do a "make install" which copies the new kernel to /boot, modifies the boot loader configuration file by adding a section for the new kernel (without deleting the old one), and if you do happen to be LILO it runs the /sbin/lilo command.

I think I know why they might list it that way though. The RHCE appears to be a certification for Linux in general, not just for RedHat. In which case some distros may not include a /sbin/installkernel command (the system command that the kernel Makefile actually calls to install the kernel). That command is part of the "mkinitrd" package and I'm not sure how many distros use that package.

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]

[RudeCat7]

Lets see....it was reprinted in 2000, and seems to cover up to 6.2, so it may be outdated on some things, so I will have to stay alert.  

[voidmain]

Yes, that would have been accurate for RedHat 6.2, but not for 7.2 on up. See, that's why I don't care for certifications. They are worthless. Actually that's not true. You've learned something right here by studying for it. Now the question is, are you going for a RedHat 6.2 certification or an 8.0 certification?  

[RudeCat7]

We don't need no stinkin' certs!

Besides, Linux is my hobby. My real job deals with mechanical design, prototyping, and optics.

[voidmain]

Oh, you have a *real* job.  

[RudeCat7]

Yessir,

Flaming windoids is only a part-time affair.  

[voidmain]

Looks like as late as RedHat 7.3 they still gave the same advice except prepending a section for GRUB. Makes me wonder if "installkernel" wasn't added until 8.0. I know I didn't discover it until 8.0.

Nope, it's also in the RedHat 8.0 Customization guide. What's up with that? Doesn't RedHat even know about their own software? Why would they make you jump through hoops when you don't have to? Hmmmm....

[edit]
Damn, you cut out the original post. I just figured out what it must mean. If you follow the customization guide for upgrading the kernel you will need to do it the way the question stated. The reason for this is it is not referring to a customized kernel that you recompiled yourself from the kernel source. It is referring to a new kernel that you download from RedHat in a prebuilt format. Then the question would be valid. However, the new default boot loader is still GRUB.      
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[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]