The configuration is just a ´.config´ text file inside source directory.
Each line mention an option like CONFIG_ARCH_USE_MEMTEST=y.
Every driver can be marked to be compiled into the kernel monolith (DRIVER=y), or as module(DRIVER=m), or as not be compiled(DRIVER=n).
- You can copy from your distro's config. Its location varies, but is usually something like /boot/config-3.0.7 (need to rename) or /usr/src/linux/.config.
- Another option is to generate a brand new using
make alldefconfig(create a .config with default modules) ormake tinyconfig(a very tiny kernel).