Compiling Linux Kernel Error xt_CONNMARK.h

Question

I am attempting to compile the Linux 2.6.32.6 kernel with several modules built into the kernel for a very specific reason. I have included Root file system on NFS in an attempt to PXE Boot my own custom rescue Live-CD over LAN. After include the dependencies and module required for ROOT_NFS, I attempt to compile just the Linux kernel with make bzImage. When this runs I get the error

make[4]: *** No rule to make target './linux-2.6.32.6/include/linux/netfilter/xt_CONNMARK.h', needed by './linux-2.6.32.6/usr/include/linux/netfilter/.install'. Stop.

Now I have tried disabling the Netfilter modules in the configuration and tried to find any dependencies that make require Netfilter, but this error still keeps occurring.

Any suggestions for resolving this error would be great.

Answer 1

This is most likely because you have lost some files from your source tree due to being transferred through a filesystem which is case-insensitive. There are approximately 15 different files in the Linux source tree from various times which are named the same, but have different capitalization. This isn't normally a problem for people who build Linux kernels, because all reasonable filesystems are case-sensitive.

For those that are curious, the files that are this way are all in the netfilter tree - see include/linux/netfilter/xt_CONNTRACK.h vs. include/linux/netfilter/xt_conntrack.h in v3.0 for example.

So, those files do exist, but you lost them. Get a new source tree, unpack it on a case-sensitive filesystem and you won't have this error anymore. Alternatively, copy the files from a "pristine" source tree or the github mirror of the kernel if you are afraid of losing modifications to your tree - they most likely aren't changed from release in the version you're compiling.