2

So far I did the following:

  1. I've commented out deb-src lines in /etc/apt/sources.list (related post).
  2. Run sudo apt-get update.

Now I'm trying to obtain the current kernel sources as Ubuntu's wiki page:

$ sudo apt-get source linux-image-$(uname -r)
Reading package lists... Done
Picking 'linux-signed' as source package instead of 'linux-image-4.18.0-13-generic'
Skipping already downloaded file 'linux-signed_4.18.0-13.14.dsc'
Skipping already downloaded file 'linux-signed_4.18.0-13.14.tar.xz'
Need to get 0 B of source archives.
Skipping unpack of already unpacked source in linux-signed-4.18.0

$ sudo apt-get source linux-source
Reading package lists... Done
Picking 'linux-meta' as source package instead of 'linux-source'
NOTICE: 'linux-meta' packaging is maintained in the 'Git' version control system at:
git://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-kernel/ubuntu/+source/linux-meta/+git/cosmic
Please use:
git clone git://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-kernel/ubuntu/+source/linux-meta/+git/cosmic
to retrieve the latest (possibly unreleased) updates to the package.
Skipping already downloaded file 'linux-meta_4.18.0.13.14.dsc'
Skipping already downloaded file 'linux-meta_4.18.0.13.14.tar.xz'
Need to get 0 B of source archives.
Skipping unpack of already unpacked source in linux-meta-4.18.0.13.14

$ ls /usr/src
linux-headers-4.18.0-12  linux-headers-4.18.0-12-generic  linux-headers-4.18.0-13  linux-headers-4.18.0-13-generic

But it doesn't download anything.

Running apt-get clean package_name command before source, doesn't help either.

What I'm missing?

2
  • You are not at all following the instructions of the link you posted...
    – fkraiem
    Jan 6, 2019 at 20:45
  • @fkraiem I'm trying to obtain the sources, not build, so I don't need to follow all the instructions.
    – kenorb
    Jan 6, 2019 at 21:08

3 Answers 3

3

Based on the feedback, this is the right command to download the current kernel sources into /usr/src:

sudo apt-get install linux-source

Here are the commands to extract the source files:

cd /usr/src/linux-source-$(uname -r | cut -f1 -d-)
sudo tar jxvf linux-source-*.tar.bz2
2
$ apt-cache search linux-source
linux-source - Linux kernel source with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.4.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.4.0 with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.10.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.10.0 with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.11.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.11.0 with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.13.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.13.0 with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.15.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.15.0 with Ubuntu patches
linux-source-4.8.0 - Linux kernel source for version 4.8.0 with Ubuntu patches
walt@bat:~(0)$ dpkg -L linux-source-4.13.0 
/.
/usr
/usr/share
/usr/share/doc
/usr/share/doc/linux-source-4.13.0
/usr/share/doc/linux-source-4.13.0/changelog.Debian.gz
/usr/share/doc/linux-source-4.13.0/copyright
/usr/src
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/linux-source-4.13.0.tar.bz2
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian/debian.env
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian/tests-build
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian/tests-build/README

   <...snip...>  

/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian.hwe/control.stub.in
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian.hwe/modprobe.d
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian.hwe/modprobe.d/common.conf
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0/debian.hwe/copyright
/usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0.tar.bz2

Notice the last entry /usr/src/linux-source-4.13.0.tar.bz2 is a bzip-compressed tar archive that contains the source.

Your version numbers may vary.

1
  • 1
    I had to run apt-get source linux-source-x.yy.z before it works for me. Thanks
    – Mahouk
    Mar 20, 2019 at 13:35
2

apt-get source downloads the source package to the current directory, not to /usr/src.

Moreover, since the current directory is typically writable by you, apt-get source need not, and therefore should not, be run with sudo.

1
  • Ok, I missed that, I was expecting in /usr/src, on the other hand the files are just config files (in linux-signed-4.18.0/), I was expecting Linux sources which I can edit and compile, so I didn't expect that. Will review the steps again, as they're confusing. Not as they normally should be in a standard Linux. Thanks.
    – kenorb
    Jan 6, 2019 at 22:08

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