# THE BACKGROUND:

Linode (http://www.linode.com) is a VPS host which supports Arch Linux servers and custom kernels. This project gives you an Arch kernel for your Linode.

# THE PROBLEM:

Linode does not distribute their kernel configs - you have to boot into one and read /proc/config.gz. Arch's vanilla x86_64 will boot, but is full of drivers you will never ever use on a Linode. Arch's i686 will not work at all.

# THE SOLUTION:

This package provides a working, semi-minimalist kernel. It boots and is fine to run as-is for most things. (I do!) It can also be your starting point for tweaking.

Configs are a compromise between vanilla Linode and Arch. Most drivers are disabled, while a lot of ciphers and net stuff are inline. Few actual modules are left. This is not to everyone's taste, so hack away.

# GRUB MENUS INCLUDED

* For Xen linodes (which are deprecated but still exist) we have `/boot/grub/menu.lst`. Configure your linode to boot with a pv-grub kernel, and it should just work. If not, please report a bug. You do NOT need to install the grub-legacy package (it will conflict).
* For KVM (all new linodes), we have `/etc/grub.d/08_linux_linode`. The post-install hook will automatically regenerate a grub config with linux-linode as the first option. Configure your linode to boot with "GRUB2".
* If your KVM linode has been migrated from an older Xen linode, you may also need to set the following options in `/etc/default/grub`:

      GRUB_TERMINAL=serial
      GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true
      GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="serial --speed=19200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
      GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true
      GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=text

   You may want to remove `quiet` from `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT` as well.

   After you've configured grub, you will need to regenerate the config file: `sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`

   You may also need to install grub files to /boot: `grub-install --no-bootsector --boot-directory=/boot /dev/null`

# STEPS TO USE

1. pacman -Syu
1. pacman -U $pkgfile
1. if you've recently migrated from xen to kvm, check your grub options (see above)
1. reboot your linode into pv-grub (xen) or GRUB2 (kvm)
1. report bugs ;)