About this project

This repository provides a GitHub Actions workflow to build the latest CachyOS Linux kernel as installable Debian packages for Debian-based desktop systems. It fetches kernel metadata from the official CachyOS/linux-cachyos packaging repository, downloads the matching source tarball, applies a Debian-oriented desktop configuration, compiles the kernel, and packages the result using the kernel's upstream Debian packaging target. Output includes standard .deb packages (linux-image, linux-headers, etc.) and a BUILD-MANIFEST.txt with source/version details and SHA256 checksums. The workflow can be triggered automatically: a scheduled check-cachyos-updates workflow polls the upstream repository every 3 hours, compares pkgver/pkgrel against stored state, and dispatches a build when a new version is detected, publishing a GitHub Release with the .deb packages. Manual runs are also supported via workflow_dispatch with configurable inputs: runner size (including Blacksmith high-CPU runners), kernel variant (linux-cachyos, linux-cachyos-bore, linux-cachyos-eevdf, linux-cachyos-lts), CPU scheduler (cachyos, bore, eevdf), QEMU smoke test enablement, release publishing, release tag, and mark-latest flag. The kernel configuration pass ensures support for initramfs booting, loadable modules, EFI, dynamic preemption, high-resolution timers, schedutil governor, cgroups/BPF/PSI, common graphics (Intel, AMD, Nouveau, VirtIO), USB/HID/audio/webcam/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi modules, common filesystems (ext4, Btrfs, XFS, F2FS, exFAT, NTFS3, NFS, CIFS, OverlayFS, SquashFS), KVM/VirtIO/VFIO, WireGuard, and generic x86-64 target for portability. Validation steps include verifying .deb files, inspecting with dpkg-deb, running lintian with a narrow allowlist, checking for vmlinuz and kernel modules, and optionally booting the kernel in QEMU with a minimal BusyBox initramfs. Installation instructions are provided: download .deb files, install with apt, update-grub, and reboot. The project is not an official CachyOS project; it repackages CachyOS kernel sources for Debian-based systems. Secure Boot users may need to sign the kernel or disable Secure Boot. Proprietary or out-of-tree modules (e.g., NVIDIA DKMS) are not built. Repository layout includes two workflow files and a state JSON for tracking upstream versions.