bulding only a kernel and shell
 

From source i need to boot the kernel and run a shell , there are no other requirements.
What are the minimum tasks to do it?

Thanks

Partition and format disk, mount partition, install boot loader, install kernel, install userland libs, install shell, install a getty, run kernel with init=/path/to/shell and pray you don't miss anything essential like /dev entries, mounting /proc, userland libs dependencies and so on? I mean what's the use of asking anything like that? And have you tried (finding out) anything yourself?

i have compiled a kernel. booted the kernel using isolinux in a virtual machine with 30M raw disk.
But all i want to do is execute a program (shell) after booting the kernel.
Actually LFS approach is making a full length distro. I was searching for a incremental approach where i add small programs(which may by built using another machine), to the bare kernel, until i have installed gcc and glibc. if you could help me a one step at a time.

Thanks

Buildroot allows you to create the whole she-bang with one tool (except for the bootloader part, I think). It is a scheme for creating root filesystems, toolchains, and kernels, primarily for embedded systems.
--- rod.

File-system
 

BusyBox is the one for you...... :cool:

Please find it here --> http://www.busybox.net/

Best regards,
Suresh Maniyath