[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] osm0sis:
*** NOTE: I will not respond to any requests for support that do not include at least an attached full log and the zip in question; full AK3-debugging.zip debug .tgz preferred (instructions below). ***

AnyKernel3 -- Flashable Zip Template for Kernel Releases with Ramdisk Modifications

"AnyKernel is a template for an update.zip that can apply any kernel to any ROM, regardless of ramdisk." - Koush

The concept of AnyKernel has been around for awhile, (originally by Koushik Dutta/ClockworkMod,) which allowed a device-specific kernel zImage to be flashed over device-specific ROM and use the ramdisk that came with the ROM to reduce the chance of any issues arising from the custom kernel pairing.

The drawback to this was that some kernels require modifications to the ramdisk to enable/set up kernel features, and in the old AnyKernel format there was no way to do this. Enter AnyKernel2.

AnyKernel2 pushed the format even further by allowing kernel developers to modify the underlying ramdisk for kernel feature support easily using a number of included command methods along with properties and variables to customize the installation experience to their kernel. AnyKernel3 adds the power of topjohnwu's magiskboot for wider format support by default.

A script based on Galaxy Nexus (tuna) is included for reference. An example of ramdisk-only changes can be seen in my GN Synapse Injector repo. For an example that also modifies ROM and properly injects init.d support using busybox run-parts and sepolicy-inject see CosmicDan's CosmicTweaks project. For a multi-partition example and an example of how to handle a device which only has a ramdisk when rooted see my N5X/6P BLOD Workaround Injector. Other working AK2/3 examples for more recent devices may be found on eng.stk's blu_spark device repos under Releases.

Please see the linked post here for instructions on working with arm64-only devices (e.g. Pixel 8 series).

Please also see the post here for important notes about the current state of AOSP vendor_boot v4 support and AVBv2 flag options.

Magisk root is automatically detected and retained by patching the new Image.*-dtb as Magisk would!

My development work on my many projects comes out of my free time, so if you enjoy this project or anything else I've done on xda, please consider sponsoring my ongoing work using my GitHub Sponsors profile. For a one-time donation you can hit the donate link from my profile. Thank you for your support!

Source: https://github.com/osm0sis/AnyKernel3/

Download: https://github.com/osm0sis/AnyKernel3/archive/master.zip

Instructions

1) Place final kernel build product, e.g. Image.gz-dtb or zImage to name a couple, in the zip root (any separate dt, dtb, recovery_dtbo, dtbo and/or vendor_dlkm should also go here for devices that require custom ones, each will fallback to the original if not included)

2) Place any required ramdisk files in /ramdisk (/vendor_ramdisk for simple multi-partition vendor_boot v3 support) and module files in /modules (with the full path like /modules/system/lib/modules)

3) Place any required patch files (generally partial files which go with AK3 file editing commands) in /patch (/vendor_patch for simple multi-partition vendor_boot v3 support)

4) Modify the anykernel.sh to add your kernel's name, boot partition location, permissions for any added ramdisk files, and use methods for any required ramdisk modifications (optionally, also place banner and/or version files in the root to have these displayed during flash)

5) `zip -r9 UPDATE-AnyKernel3.zip * -x .git -x .github README.md *placeholder`

The LICENSE file must remain in the final zip to comply with licenses for binary redistribution and the license of the AK3 scripts.

If supporting a recovery that forces zip signature verification (like Cyanogen Recovery) then you will need to also sign your zip using the method I describe here:

[DEV][TEMPLATE] Complete Shell Script Flashable Zip Replacement + Signing [SCRIPT]

Not required, but any tweaks you can't hardcode into the source (best practice) should be added with an additional init.tweaks.rc or bootscript.sh to minimize the necessary ramdisk changes. On newer devices Magisk allows these within /overlay.d - see examples.

It is also extremely important to note that for the broadest AK3 compatibility it is always better to modify a ramdisk file rather than replace it.

If running into trouble when flashing an AK3 zip, the suffix -debugging may be added to the zip's filename to enable creation of a debug .tgz of /tmp for later examination while booted or on desktop.

Staying Up-To-Date

Now that you've got a ready zip for your device, you might be wondering how to keep it up-to-date with the latest AnyKernel commits. AnyKernel2 and AnyKernel3 have been painstakingly developed to allow you to just drop in the latest update-binary and tools directory and have everything "just work" for beginners not overly git or script savvy, but the best practice way is as follows:

1) Fork my AnyKernel3 repo on GitHub

2) `git clone https://github.com/<yourname>/AnyKernel3`

3) `git remote add upstream https://github.com/osm0sis/AnyKernel3`

4) `git checkout -b <devicename>`

5) Set it up like your <devicename> zip (i.e. remove any folders you don't use like ramdisk or patch, delete README.md, and add your anykernel.sh and optionally your Image.*-dtb if you want it up there) then commit all those changes

6) `git push --set-upstream origin <devicename>`

7) `git checkout master` then repeat steps 4-6 for any other devices you support

Then you should be able to `git pull upstream master` from your master branch and either merge or cherry-pick the new AK3 commits into your device branches as needed.

Enjoy!

Questions, comments and feedback welcome.

Credits & Thanks: All authors of the included binaries and the tools I used to port them over for their amazing work. koush for the original AnyKernel concept.

Disclaimer: Naturally, you take all the responsibility for what happens to your device when you start messing around with things.