menuconfig
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A shortened form of the command make menuconfig
, menuconfig is an ncurses-based target for the Linux kernel Makefile.
Contents |
[edit] Explanation
It is intended to be a user-friendly, menu-driven kernel configuration utility, which allows the user to select kernel modules and kernel options/parameters. Menuconfig is an alternative to editing the .config file by hand, although an xconfig target has been added to the kernel Makefile in recent years.
[edit] History
The predecessor to menuconfig is a question-based utility (which can be accessed through make config
).
[edit] Advantages over earlier versions
Despite still being a simple component, menuconfig offers considerable advantages to the question-based configuration tool, the most notable being a basic search system and the ability to load and save files with filenames different from '.config'.
It allows for a relatively easy way to configure the kernel, without having resource-heavy requirements such as the X.Org Server. It also requires significantly less patience to use than its predecessor as options and/or sections which do not need to be changed can safely be ignored without having to supply an answer.
When compared to editing the .config-file by hand, menuconfig has the distinct advantages of not needing a text editor and easily getting help on certain items by pressing the ? (question mark) key.