@@ -1,16 +1,21 @@
Building the KVM kernel module is performed differently depending on whether
you are working from a clone of the git repository or from a source release.
+Notice that two kernels are involved: One from which the KVM sources
+are taken (kernel A), and one for which the module is built (kernel B).
+For out-of-tree module builds, it is well possible that kernel A is more
+recent than kernel B.
- To build from a release, simply use ./configure (possibly with any
arguments that are required for your setup, see ./configure --help)
- and make.
+ and make. The kernel specified with --kerneldir refers to kernel B,
+ that is, the kernel for which the module is built.
- Building from a cloned git repository requires a kernel tree with the main
- kvm sources that is included as a submodule in the linux-2.6/ directory. By
- default, the KVM development tree on git.kernel.org is used, but you can
- change this setting in .gitmodules
+ kvm sources (kernel A) that is included as a submodule in the linux-2.6/
+ directory. By default, the KVM development tree on git.kernel.org is used,
+ but you can change this setting in .gitmodules
- Before the kvm module can be built, the linux submodule must be initialised
+ Before the kvm module can be built, the linux submodule must be initialised
and populated. The required sequence of commands is
git submodule init
@@ -24,3 +29,5 @@ you are working from a clone of the git repository or from a source release.
make sync LINUX=/path/to/tree
+ The synchronisation stage refers to kernel A, that is, the kernel
+ from which the KVM sources are taken.