Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 22:09:44 -0700 From: Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@cup.hp.com> To: arch@FreeBSD.org Subject: Multiple kernels / module search path Message-ID: <3973E698.B8D53F1F@cup.hp.com>
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Hi,
I'm about to work on the buildkernel and installkernel targets in
makefile.inc1. Currently we can build multiple kernels (with their
modules) and install just one kernel (with its modules). PR 17698 has a
patch to allow multiple kernels to be installed.
Question 1: Do we want the ability to install multiple kernels?
Assume for a moment that we don't want to install multiple kernels; we
still need to improve the support for having multiple kernels in / if we
continue to rename the existing kernel (and modules directory) when we
install a new one. The problem is that the old kernel (ie kernel.old)
still has /:/boot:/modules as the module search path while the modules
directory that corresponds to this kernel is modules.old. Therefore
booting any kernel other than 'kernel' is potentially dangerous.
If we do want the support to install multiple kernels with the
installkernel target, we face the same problem. Say that we install the
first kernel as "kernel" with modules directory "/modules". The module
search path is correct in this case. Other kernels are installed as,
say, kernel.NAME. These kernels should have their modules directory be
set to "/modules.NAME". But we also have to make sure that their module
search path is adjusted properly.
Question 2: Is the above naming scheme acceptable?
Question 3: Should we change the order in which modules are searched to
/modules{.NAME}:/boot:/, where {.NAME} denotes the optional name suffix.
Question 4: Do we want /modules in the search for kernels with a
non-zero name so that the search path will be
/modules.NAME:/modules:/boot:/
It's a bit cryptic at places, but I hope the general idea has been
communicated sufficiently. Your feedback is appreciated,
BTW: My personal preference is "yes, yes, yes, no" :-)
--
Marcel Moolenaar
mail: marcel@cup.hp.com / marcel@FreeBSD.org
tel: (408) 447-4222
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