Kernel builds for Garden Linux

This repository contains the code for building the kernel in Garden Linux. The build is based on the debian kernel build.

Garden Linux includes the latest LTS version of the kernel.

Components of this repository

./config contains Garden Linux specific build configuration for the kernel.

./fixes-debian contains patches for the debian build if needed. We apply all patches from debian by default. In some cases, we need to make changes to those to get a working build.

./upstream-patches contains kernel patches that are not included in debian's kernel, but are part of the Garden Linux kernel.

./prepare_source contains a shell script that merges debian's kernel build repository with the upstream kernel sources.

./update-kernel.py contains a script which helps keeping up with patch releases of the LTS kernel version.

.github/workflows/pr-if-new-kernel.yml contains the workflow to create new PRs based on ./update-kernel.py if new patch versions of the LTS kernel are available.

.github/workflows/build.yml contains the workflow to build and release the kernel binaries.

Backports

branch	description
main	latest lts kernel we maintain (6.12 as of December 2025)
maint-6.6	maintenance of source code for kernel 6.6
rel-1877	backport for 1877, merge code from main
rel-1592	backport for 1592, merge code from maint-6.6

The main branch of this repository always contains the latest kernel available in Garden Linux, and in the nightly builds. Typically, this will be the most recent long term support (LTS) line from kernel.org, but from time to time it might also be a 'stable' kernel that will become the next LTS.

We maintain also older supported kernel versions, if they are required by supported Garden Linux versions.

Any kernel version that we need to maintain other than the latest LTS in main, are maintained in maint-<MAJOR.MINOR> branches (e.g. maint-6.6). Backport releases need to branch off from the respective maint-<MAJOR.MINOR> branch and include the corresponding .container file for target backport.

Branches containing the .container file must be named according to the rel-MAJOR naming scheme (e.g. rel-1443).

How to do a backport from maint-X.Y branch

git checkout rel-MAJOR
git merge --squash origin/maint-x.y 
# resolve merge conflicts
git commit
git push
# Pipeline builds new rel-MAJOR version

Tip

You can find out the correct .container file by copying it from the corresponding tag of the https://github.com/gardenlinux/repo branch, for example 1443.0

Note

We must create rel- branches to include the respective .container file, and not use maint for backports. This is required because multiple releases can use the same kernel version (e.g. rel-1443 and rel-1592 both use maint-6.6)

Automated kernel patch level upgrades

A scheduled workflow scans a list of configured branches see, and bumps the patch level of the version defined in the prepare_source file. The automation creates a PR if a new patch level is available.

Important

Note that build failures in this PR will not be visible in the way you are used to it. This is due to limitations on GitHub. Always check the PR-related workflow manually before merge as it might well be that an upgrade of the kernel breaks the build. See this issue for more information if you are interested.

Note

This is done via the update-kernel.py tool