Hi. I've just installed Debian Etch and now I'm going to compile Zaptel and install Asterisk. I need the full kernel source code. When I type uname -a, it says the version is debian 2.6.17-2-686.

How do I get the kernel source code? Is it an apt-get command or just a tarball to download and install? I will also need Bison; and zlib, libedit and openssl development libraries and headers. Where can I get those or check if I already have them? I was used to check and install those things with the SuSE Yast graphic tool, but I'm new to Debian and don't know how it works here.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Hector.

You can install the source with aptitude install linux-source-2.6 (I believe). Use apt-cache search string (change string to something you're looking for, obviously) to find what you're looking for. Some libraries you might have to use apt-file search instead since they might be buried in other packages. Or use the web search (just be sure to search either "any" or "testing", not the default "stable").

I tried

debian:/# aptitude install kernel-source-2.6.17.2-686

and it displays the following message (among other things)...

Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "kernel-source-2.6.17.2-686"

Should I try kernel-source-2.6.17 instead of kernel-source-2.6.17.2-686 ?

First, use "linux-source" instead.

Second, try apt-cache search linux-source to see what source packages are available (it appears only 2.6.18 is available in testing/unstable).

The command:

debian:/# apt-cache search linux-source

lists the following:

linux-patch-debian-2.6.18 - Debian patches to version 2.6.18 of the Linux kernel
linux-source-2.6.18 - Linux kernel source for version 2.6.18 with Debian patches
linux-tree-2.6.18 - Linux kernel source tree for building Debian kernel images

As I said in the beginning, when I enter uname -a it displays debian 2.6.17-2-686

Will 2.6.18 match my 2.6.17-2-686 ? I think I've read somewhere that those numbers should be the same (kernel source and kernel version). Just want to make sure I don't screw up anything, sorry.

Thank you in advance.

It would appear that debian no longer offers the 2.6.17 kernel source in the repositories. Try apt-cache search linux-image | grep 2.6.18.

If you find a 2.6.18 kernel in the debian repositories, I'd be tempted to install it and then compile against the sources in the debian repositories.

If you can't find a 2.6.18 kernel image to install, you should be able to download the 2.6.17 source code from kernel.org. Then what you'll want to do is copy the /boot/config-2.6.17 file to /usr/src/linux/.config, then run make oldconfig (from inside the /usr/src/linux directory) to configure the source as you would if you were about to compile it.

Oops! I installed the linux kernel 2.6.18 source and also the headers before reading this message. It looks like it's working fine, but if I see any problem I'll do what you suggest and give this forum a feedback.

Thank you very much!

Hector.