Florin Andrei wrote:
Optionally, do a "make menuconfig" and tweak the kernel options even more. You may especially want to edit the CONFIG_LOCALVERSION field to reflect the fact that you're building a custom kernel. I prefer to make that field "COMPANYNAME.x" where x is the build number - start with x=1 for the first build, and bump it up as you're building new versions of the same kernel. This will enable painless upgrades if you decide to tweak the kernel options later.
This is actually mandatory. Depending on the kernel version you're upgrading to, sometimes important kernel modules (SATA, NAT, etc.) will not be imported automatically from the original kernel config. So take some time and go through the configuration and make sure everything you need is still there.