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    Alibaba Cloud Linux:Modify and compile the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel RPM package

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    Alibaba Cloud Linux:Modify and compile the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel RPM package

    Last Updated:Mar 12, 2025

    In specific scenarios, you may need to enable specific features or modules in the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel or disable specific features in the default kernel to meet specific performance or security requirements. To do these, modify the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel source code and use the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) to recompile and re-create custom kernel RPM packages. This ensures that the kernel in use is compatible with Alibaba Cloud Linux releases and able to flexibly meet specific business requirements. This topic describes how to modify and compile RPM packages of the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel in a container based on the Alibaba Cloud Linux Elastic Compute Service (ECS) environment.

    Prerequisites

    An ECS instance that runs Alibaba Cloud Linux is created. For more information, see Create an instance by using the wizard.

    • The instance uses an Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 or 3 image.

    • The instance type that the instance uses has 32 or more vCPUs.

      Note

      The compilation of an RPM package requires an extended period of time to complete. We recommend that you use an instance type that has 32 or more vCPUs to improve compilation efficiency.

    Step 1: Prepare the environment

    1. Connect to the ECS instance for which you want to modify and compile RPM packages of the Alibaba Cloud Linux kernel.

      For more information, see Use Workbench to connect to a Linux instance over SSH.

    2. Run the following commands to download an Alibaba Cloud Linux Docker image and access the Docker container: 

      #Install Docker.
sudo yum install -y docker
#Pull a Docker image.
sudo docker pull <image_url>
#Start the Docker container.
sudo docker run -itd --net host --name alinux-build <image_url> bash
#Access the Docker container.
sudo docker exec -it alinux-build bash

      In the preceding commands, replace <image_url> with the URL of the Docker image that corresponds to Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 or 3. The following table describes the Docker image URLs.

      Image

      Docker image URL

      Alibaba Cloud Linux 2

      alibaba-cloud-linux-2-registry.cn-hangzhou.cr.aliyuncs.com/alinux2/alinux2

      Alibaba Cloud Linux 3

      alibaba-cloud-linux-3-registry.cn-hangzhou.cr.aliyuncs.com/alinux3/alinux3

      In this example, the Docker image that corresponds to Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 is downloaded. Sample commands: 

      sudo yum install -y docker
sudo docker pull alibaba-cloud-linux-3-registry.cn-hangzhou.cr.aliyuncs.com/alinux3/alinux3
sudo docker run -itd --net host --name alinux-build alibaba-cloud-linux-3-registry.cn-hangzhou.cr.aliyuncs.com/alinux3/alinux3 bash
sudo docker exec -it alinux-build bash

    Step 2: Download the source code

    Run the following commands to download the RPM package that you want to modify: 

    # Download the source code package.
yum install -y wget
wget <rpm_url>/<src.rpm_name>
# Install the source code package.
rpm -ivh <src.rpm_name>

    In this example, the src.rpm package that corresponds to Alibaba Cloud Linux 3, which is named kernel-5.10.134-13.1.al8.src.rpm, is downloaded. Sample commands: 

    yum install -y wget
wget https://mirrors.aliyun.com/alinux/3/plus/source/SRPMS/kernels/kernel-5.10.134-13.1.al8.src.rpm
rpm -ivh kernel-5.10.134-13.1.al8.src.rpm

    After you install the src.rpm package, the files of the src.rpm package are stored in the /root/rpmbuild directory. You can run the ls /root/rpmbuild command to query the files. Sample command output:

    image

    Step 3: Modify the source code

    1. Run the following commands to install dependencies: 

      yum install -y rpm-build yum-utils
yum-builddep -y <src.rpm_name>

      In the preceding commands, replace <src.rpm_name> with the name of the src.rpm package that you want to modify. In this example, <src.rpm_name> is replaced by kernel-5.10.134-13.1.al8.src.rpm. 

      yum install -y rpm-build yum-utils
yum-builddep -y kernel-5.10.134-13.1.al8.src.rpm

    2. Run the following commands to decompress the source code package: 

      # Enter the source code directory.
cd /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES
# Decompress the source code package.
tar xf <Name of the compressed source code package>

      In the preceding command, replace <Name of the compressed source code package> based on your business requirements. In this example, <Name of the compressed source code package> is replaced by linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8.tar.xz. 

      cd /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES
tar xf linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8.tar.xz

    3. Run the following command to enter the directory in which the decompressed source code package is located: 

      cd <Name of the decompressed source code package>

      In the preceding command, replace <Name of the decompressed source code package> based on your business requirements. In this example, <Name of the decompressed source code package> is replaced with linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8. 

      cd linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8

    4. (Optional) Modify config configurations.

      Modify the source code or config files (configuration files) based on your business requirements. Select a method to modify the source code based on your business requirements. To modify config files, perform the following operations:

      1. Run the following command to list all config files and select the config files that you want to modify: 

        ls /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES

        image

        The following table describes the config files in the /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES directory.

        config file

        Description

        kernel-5.10.134-aarch64.config

        The configuration file of the Arm architecture and the release version.

        kernel-5.10.134-aarch64-debug.config

        The configuration file of the Arm architecture and the debug version, which can be used only for testing.

        kernel-5.10.134-x86_64.config

        The configuration file of the x86 architecture and the release version.

        kernel-5.10.134-x86_64-debug.config

        The configuration file of the x86 architecture and the debug version, which is used only for testing.

        In most cases, you can select the kernel-5.10.134-aarch64.config or kernel-5.10.134-x86_64.config file based on whether the platform is an Arm or x86 architecture, or modify the configurations of both platforms.

      2. Run the following command to modify the config file:

        In this example, the kernel-5.10.134-x86_64.config file for the x86 architecture is used.

        1. Copy the config file to the source code directory. 

          cd /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES
cp kernel-5.10.134-x86_64.config linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8/.config

        2. Enter the source code directory. 

          cd linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8

        3. Refresh the default values in the config file. 

          make olddefconfig

        4. Use menuconfig to modify the config file to ensure proper dependency configurations. 

          make menuconfig

          Access the menuconfig interface. You can press the / key to search for the items that require modifications and modify the items based on your business requirements.

          image

        5. Copy the modified config file to overwrite the original configurations. 

          cp .config ../kernel-5.10.134-x86_64.config

        6. Go back to the parent directory. 

          cd ..
        Note

        You can modify the config file for the Arm architecture in the same manner.

    5. Run the following commands to update the kernel version: 

      cd /root/rpmbuild/SPECS
vi kernel.spec

      Press the I key to enter Insert mode. Press the Esc key, enter :wq, and then press the Enter key to save and close the config file.

      Suggestions for modification:

      • If the kernel has a major version in the *-x format, such as 5.10.134-12, we recommend that you change the major version to a version in the *-x.y.z format, such as 5.10.134-12.0.1. This way, you can distinguish the version from the official version.

      • If the kernel has a minor version in the *-x.y format, such as 5.10.134-13.1, we recommend that you change the minor version to a version in the *-x.y.z format, such as 5.10.134-13.1.1.

      In the following example, the 5.10.134-13.1 version number is updated to 5.10.134-13.1.1.

      In the config file, find %define pkgrelease %{?KREL:%{KREL}}%{?!KREL:13.1} and change it to %define pkgrelease %{?KREL:%{KREL}}%{?!KREL:13.1.1}. 1

      You can also add the change description in the changelog section of the kernel.spec file. 2

    Step 4: Re-create the RPM package

    1. Run the following commands to recompress the src.rpm package.

      In this example, the linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8 source code package is used.

      1. Enter the SOURCES directory. 

        cd /root/rpmbuild/SOURCES/

      2. Change the file name of the source code directory.

        In this example, version 5.10.134-13.1 is changed to version5.10.134-13.1.1 and the file name of the source code directory is modified to linux-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8. Modify the file name based on your business requirements. 

        mv linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8 linux-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8

      3. Recompress the source code package into a TAR package. 

        tar cJf linux-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8.tar.xz linux-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8

      4. Remove the decompressed directory and original compressed package. 

        rm -rf linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8
rm -f linux-5.10.134-13.1.al8.tar.xz

    2. Run the following commands to re-create the src.rpm package: 

      cd /root
rpmbuild -bs rpmbuild/SPECS/kernel.spec

      The following sample command output indicates that the src.rpm package is stored in the /root/rpmbuild/SRPMS/kernel-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8.src.rpm directory.

      image

    3. (Optional) Run the following command to downgrade the dwarves package:

      If the kernel version contained in the src.rpm package is 5.10.134-13.1.al8 or earlier, use dwarves-1.22-1.al8 for compilation. Otherwise, compilation errors may occur. 

      yum downgrade dwarves-1.22-1.al8 -y

    4. Run the following command to re-create the RPM package: 

      rpmbuild --rebuild /root/rpmbuild/SRPMS/<src.rpm_name>

      In the preceding command, replace <src.rpm_name> with the new name of the src.rpm package. In this example, the new name of the src.rpm package is kernel-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8.src.rpm. 

      rpmbuild --rebuild /root/rpmbuild/SRPMS/kernel-5.10.134-13.1.1.al8.src.rpm

      The compilation of an RPM package requires an extended period of time to complete. The following sample command output indicates that the RPM package is re-created. 1