Linux Headers HowTo

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BCC tools need Linux headers installed. When running directly on a VM/Physical machine apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r) will work, creating this directory /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r).

When running on docker, this approach will now work as the build machine will be different from where the docker will run.

Preinstalling Headers

Given a kernel version, i.e., uname -r, kernel headers can be installed with apt-get for a fixed version.

Kernel Header Unavailable

When kernel headers are unavailable, e.g., Amazon Linux, kernel headers can be manually imported from a machine running the needed kernel.

IKHEADERS=m

When the kernel is compiled with IKHEADERS `grep -i ikheaders /boot/config-$(uname -r)

1. modprobe kheaders
2. /sys/kernel/kheaders.tar.xz

Preparing from src

When the exact version is missing, headers can be prepared from the source code.

Preparing

1. git clone repo (e.g., git@github.com:amazonlinux/linux.git)
2. cd linux
3. git checkout <release tag> (e.g., kernel-5.4.196-108.356.amzn2.x86_64)
4. cp config-<nearset possible kernel version> .config (e.g., 5.4.219-126.411.amzn2.x86_64)
5. make ARCH=x86 olddefconfig > /dev/null
6. make ARCH=x86 prepare > /dev/null

Packaging

1. mkdir -p headers/arch
2. mv arch/x86 headers/arch/
3. mv include headers
4. cd headers
5. delete non .h files

#!/bin/bash

i=0

function rec {
	for f in `ls`; do

		if [ -d $f ]; then
			cd $f
			rec
			cd ..
		else
			base=`basename $f .h`
			if [ ${base}.h != $f ]; then
				#let "i=i+1"
				#echo "$i) $f"
				rm $f
			fi
		fi
	done
}

rec

Additional resource