Chapter 4. Compiling the Kernel

Compiling a kernel with HIP-related patches is optional, but there are two benefits in patching your kernel. First, the IPsec protected data traffic will be faster. Second, you can use the native programming interface for HIP to implement HIP-aware applications. The drawback of patching your kernel is that it requires some expertise and possibly installing e.g. some wireless firmware images manually. As compromise, the HIPL website has some readily built images, but you may still have to install some firmware images manually. If you are unsure, you can try the userspace ipsec as described later in this manual.

If you haven't configured linux kernel before, please use the userspace ipsec instead (as described later in this document), or at least consult linux/README. We have some example configurations files in hipl/test/configs for "typical" systems. You can use one of those as a template, and modify it to suite the needs of your system. Read hipl/test/configs/README before doing so.

The 2.6 kernel series should be compilable with both gcc 2.9x and 3.x series. We recommend the latter.

Download linux kernel 2.6.x.y. Compile the kernel with at least the following options:

The hipd probes the necessary kernel modules automatically,