I have successfully compiled and installed the latest Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline in Arch Linux 2026.04.01

[Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming]

Subject: I have successfully compiled and installed the latest Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline in Arch Linux 2026.04.01

Good day from Singapore,

I had started performing a fresh new installation of Arch Linux 2026.04.01 on 17 Apr 2026 Friday at 6.08 pm Singapore Time.

But I have not installed a GUI environment yet. I shall do that later. My main objective is to install the latest Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline first.

At 7.47 PM on 17 Apr 2026 Friday, I had started compiling Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline from source code using yay.

At 3.18 AM on 18 Apr 2026 Saturday, I have successfully compiled and installed Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline.

The entire Linux Kernel compilation process took 7 hours and 31 minutes.

Although my Arch Linux 2026.04.01 virtual machine has 4 CPU cores and 8 GB RAM, I made the mistake of forgetting to configure the Linux Kernel building process to use 4 CPU cores.

I am using VMware Workstation Pro 25H2 version 25.0.0.24995812.

To make the building process use 4 CPU cores, you need to edit the makepkg.conf file. This file controls how yay and makepkg handle compilation.

$ sudo nano /etc/makepkg.conf

Find the line that says MAKEFLAGS. It is usually commented out with a # at the beginning. Change it to look exactly like this:

MAKEFLAGS="-j4"

Note: Make sure to remove the # from the start of the line so the setting becomes active.

The -j4 flag tells the compiler to run 4 parallel jobs at once. Since my previous build took over 7 hours on 1 core, this setting should cut that time down to roughly 1.5 to 2 hours for future updates.

Note: Ensure you have assigned at least 8GB of RAM to your VM before using 4 cores, as each build job requires its own memory.

As I have grossly forgotten to make the above changes, in the end my Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline building process took 7 hours and 31 minutes on only 1 CPU core.

You may like to watch my YouTube videos on how I have successfully compiled and installed the latest Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline in Arch Linux 2026.04.01.

[01] YouTube video: Compiling Linux Kernel 7.0 on Arch Linux 2026.04.01
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW2s468y6hs

[02] YouTube video: Successfully compiled and installed Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline in Arch Linux 2026.04.01
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrtQTcC4rQo

I will be testing the latest Linux Kernel 7.0.0-1-mainline for stability and for any bugs. I will also be installing a GUI environment in Arch Linux 2026.04.01 soon.

Thank you.

Regards,

Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
Extremely Democratic People's Republic of Singapore
18 Apr 2026 Saturday 9.51 am Singapore Time