What is linux headers package

Linux-headers

linux-headers is a package providing the Linux kernel headers. These are part of the kernel, although they are shipped separately (further reasoning is available: [1]). The headers act as an interface between internal kernel components and also between userspace and the kernel. Packages like sys-libs/glibc depend on the kernel headers.

Installation

USE flags

USE flags for sys-kernel/linux-headers Linux system headers

headers-only

Install only C headers instead of whole package. Mainly used by sys-devel/crossdev for toolchain bootstrap.

Emerge

FAQ

A common question regarding linux-headers is whether you need to keep them synced with your kernel version. The answer is no. You can have a newer linux-headers version than your running kernel binary.

So for example, if you have kernel 4.1 installed, you can have linux-headers 4.4. If you compile your glibc with this newer headers and later upgrade to kernel 4.4, you will be able to use the new features of this kernel without recompiling glibc again.

For more information read glibc FAQ and [2].

External resources

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How to install kernel headers on Debian

All instructions in this tutorial are also useful for other Debian-based Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.

Installing kernel headers on Debian 11:

First, update the information on your software using apt, as shown in the example below.

Check for available Linux kernel headers by running the following command.

For a different simple way to list available headers, run the command below.

To install the Linux kernel headers, run the command shown in the screenshot below.

Using Debian 11 x64 or using the second method to find the header, you can also run the following command.

In my case, the headers were installed in the previous example, so the output says it’s already properly installed.

What is the Linux kernel?

Some experts say the kernel is the core component of an Operating System; others disagree and say the kernel is not part of the OS but a vital component needed by any OS. The function of the kernel is to manage the device resources for them to interact with the operating system and applications. We can think about the kernel as a translator allowing communication between the hardware and the software. In order to manage resources properly, the kernel has full privileges. In some cases, the installed kernel may lack the proper code to allow the hardware and software interaction; that’s when we need to install kernel headers.

What are Linux Kernel Headers?

Linux kernel headers are components usually used to compile drivers and loadable modules adding support to the kernel. For this purpose, kernel headers include C headers with functions and structures needed to compile modules. Thanks to kernel headers, modules or drivers can interact with the kernel. It is important to clarify the kernel headers are part of the kernel, despite being distributed separately.

Dealing with kernel headers is easier than dealing with whole kernel sources. If you are looking for drivers for a device, you’ll use kernel headers, while to rebuild the whole kernel, you will need whole kernel sources. By default, some Linux distributions, including Debian, include the kernel headers to be used if needed (this tutorial assumes you discarded or removed the headers). If all your hardware works properly, you probably won’t need to deal with kernel headers.

Conclusion:

As you can see, installing Linux kernel headers on Debian or Ubuntu is pretty easy. Any Linux-level user should know the function of kernel headers and how to install them. Users must pay attention to the kernel headers they download that are compatible with their system, not only the architecture but also the version.

Thank you for reading this tutorial explaining how to install kernel headers on Debian. Keep following Linux Hint for additional Linux tips and tutorials.

About the author

David Adams

David Adams is a System Admin and writer that is focused on open source technologies, security software, and computer systems.

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Difference between linux headers

What are Linux headers? Why are there two headers namely 3.5.0-34 and 3.2.0-48 in my latest Ubuntu update (just an observation).

1 Answer 1

These packages contain files that are part of the source code of the Linux kernel, available under /usr/src if you would like to take a look. They are just the makefiles and header files (file extension .h ), which define the public API of the kernel, which is needed to compile programs that interact with the kernel directly (two examples that come up in internet searches are device drivers and virtualization software).

You have two versions because one is for your current kernel and the other is for an older kernel that you used previously. Ubuntu by default is very conservative with kernel-related files and takes a number of precautions to avoid removing them when they are still needed, and sometimes this results in a gradual accumulation of such packages as new versions are installed.

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What does linux-headers-`uname -r` do?

sudo executes the statement with elevated priviledges. apt-get is a command to retrieve a specific package/program. What does the rest of the switches/flags do? I’m trying to reset my wireless adapter’s drivers to «factory default» settings.

1 Answer 1

—reinstall install :

Normally, this is written install —reinstall , but both work just fine. This simply is telling apt-get to reinstall the package(s).

linux-headers- :

linux-headers- is the beginning of a package name. If you run dpkg -l | grep linux-headers- you can see a full list of any packages installed that begin with that:

Header files are, from the GNU site:

A header file is a file containing C declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files. You request the use of a header file in your program by including it, with the C preprocessing directive ‘#include’.

And, as you can see from the response from dpkg -l | grep linux-headers- , the packages that start with linux-headers- are the header files for the Linux kernel.

`uname -r` :

This is what is known as Command Substitution. (The link is to the faqs.org page about the BASH command substitution capabilities.)

This runs the uname -r command, which returns the current kernel version:

and then puts what is returned from the uname -r command into the sudo apt-get —reinstall install linux-headers-`uname -r` command.

Command substitution allows the output of a command to replace the command itself. Command substitution occurs when a command is enclosed as follows:

Bash performs the expansion by executing command and replacing the command substitution with the standard output of the command, with any trailing newlines deleted.

Now, you don’t see this happen — you just see the results. However, if you did see the command after the uname -r response was put into the command, this is somewhat it would look like (changing for your current kernel version obviously):

sudo apt-get —reinstall install linux-headers-3.16.0-31-generic

Simplified version:

You’re telling apt-get to reinstall the linux-headers package for your current kernel version.

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