Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Reconfigure the kernel

Previously, we used the make menuconfig or gconfig or xconfig method to change different configuration options. But once you have a working configuration, the only thing that is necessary is to update it with any new options that have been added to the kernel since the last release. To do this, the make oldconfig and make silentoldconfig options should be used.

make oldconfig takes the current kernel configuration in the .config file, and updates it based on the new kernel release. To do this, it prints out all configuration questions, and provides an answer for them if the option is already handled in the configuration file. If there is a new option, the program stops and asks the user what the new configuration value should be set to. After answering the prompt, the program continues on until the whole kernel configuration is finished.

make silentoldconfig works exactly the same way as oldconfig does, but it does not print anything to the screen, unless it needs to ask a question about a new configuration option.

Usually, when upgrading between different versions of the stable releases, no new configuration options are added, as this is supposed to be a stable kernel series. If this happens, there are no new questions that need to be answered for the kernel configuration, so the program continues successfully without any need for user intervention. An example of this is moving from the 2.6.17.9 to 2.6.17.11 release:

$ cd linux-2.6.17.11
$ make silentoldconfig ...