This Guide walks your through how to install a custom kernel on Linux. I will go over performing this in a Debian-based system and an Arch-based system. Please note that the arch based system requires you to build the kernel yourself and will take much longer.

Custom kernels in Linux are based on the Zen project and have some workstation/desktop optimizations. They are NOT meant for server installations. These are meant for those using Linux Desktop and utilizing it for Gaming, Production, etc. and overall I don’t recommend using these. However, if you like to tinker and squeeze every bit of performance out of your kernel than you can proceed.

Custom Kernel on Ubuntu / Debian / Mint / Pop OS

Official Site https://liquorix.net/ for the Liquorix Kernel.

Vanilla Debian requires a bit of a long command to install the custom kernel, but works fine.

codename="$(find /etc/apt -type f -name '*.list' | xargs grep -E '^deb' | awk '{print $3}' | grep -Eo '^[a-z]+' | sort | uniq -c | sort -n | tail -n1 | grep -Eo '[a-z]+$')" && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https && echo -e "deb http://liquorix.net/debian $codename maindeb-src http://liquorix.net/debian $codename main# Mirrors:## Unit193 - France# deb http://mirror.unit193.net/liquorix $codename main# deb-src http://mirror.unit193.net/liquorix $codename main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquorix.list && curl https://liquorix.net/linux-liquorix.pub | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Pop OS! are quite a bit shorter for the install.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:damentz/liquorix && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-image-liquorix-amd64 linux-headers-liquorix-amd64

Custom Kernel on Arch Linux, Manjaro, etc.

For Arch-based systems the command to run is simplier than all of the above. However, this is BUILDING a kernel and on a low-end system this will take HOURS.
Example: On my AMD Ryzen 2700 with 16 threads and 8 cores, this took almost 60 minutes!

yay -S linux-lqx
Note: This uses yay as the AUR helper. you may need to change this if you use something else like Yaourt, pacaur, trizen, etc.

For modifying which Kernel you are going to boot in check out these videos going over modifying GRUB

Custom Boot (Grub, Rescue, and UKUU) YouTube Videos

The following videos will help you if you need to revert your kernel or setup multiple kernels to boot into your Linux installation. This is highly recommended.

Grub Customizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s7qBJ-H7vw
Grub Rescue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7meKJsjqfY
Kernel Upgrade with UKUU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnn_MzosdwA

Video Walkthrough