Where to find the kernel source
All of the source code for the Linux kernel can be found on one of the
kernel.org
sites, a worldwide network of servers that mirror the Linux
source code, enabling everyone to find a local server
close to him. This allows the main kernel servers to be
responsive to the mirror sites, and lets users download the needed files as
quickly as possible.
The main https://www.kernel.org.
site shows all of the current kernel versions for the various different
kernel trees, as shown in Figure 4.2, “The main kernel.org web site”.
To download the latest stable kernel version, click on the
F
character on the line for the kernel version. This
will download the full source tree. Or you can navigate to the proper
subdirectory for all of the 2.6 kernel versions,
https://www.us.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/,
shown in Figure 4.3, “The 2.6 kernel source directory”.
It is also possible to download the kernel source from the command line,
using the
wget
or
curl
utilities,
both of which should come with your Linux distribution.
To download the 2.6.17.8 kernel version using
wget
,
enter:
$
wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz
--17:44:55-- https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz
=> `linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz'
Resolving www.kernel.org... 204.152.191.5, 204.152.191.37
Connecting to www.kernel.org|204.152.191.5|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 51,707,742 (49M) [application/x-gzip]
100%[=============================================>] 51,707,742 35.25K/s ETA 00:00
18:02:48 (47.12 KB/s) - `linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz' saved [51707742/51707742]
To download it using
curl
:
$
curl https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz -o linux-2.6.17.8.tar.gz
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 49.3M 100 49.3M 0 0 50298 0 0:17:08 0:17:08 --:--:-- 100k
For a quick and easy way to determine the latest kernel versions, use
the information available at
https://www.kernel.org/kdist/finger_banner,
illustrated by Figure 4.4, “Latest kernel version”.
