What is the use of vmlinux file generated when we compile linux kernel

Question

I am compiling Linux Kernel to my ARM board. I have seen file called vmlinux generated in kernel root folder. Can someone give good explanation about this file and it's use.

Answer 1

vmlinux is a ELF format based file which is nothing but the uncompressed version of kernel image which can be used for debugging. The zImage or bzImage are the compressed version of kernel image which is normally used for booting.

The vmlinux as such directly cannot be used by UBoot. However, by addition of metadata info in the process of creation of uImage for vmlinux, it is possible to boot via UBoot.

Answer 2

The vmlinux is the boot file in ELF format, and then the initrd file (ram disk) is run in the same directory (/boot).

The vmlinux file is practically the kernel itself.