Why is the .config file not copied to /boot after installing new kernel?

Question

I run across such a weird problem:

According to this:

The kernel and modules must be moved to special locations in order to be used,

1. make modules_install
2. make install

The first will create the /lib/modules/ directory and place the modules there. The second make target will,

1. Move the kernel, bzImage, to /boot and rename it vmlinuz-<revision>,
2. Move the System.map to /boot,
3. Create initrd.img-<revision>
4. Copy .config to /boot, renaming it to config-<revision>
5. Modifies the boot loader configuration file /boot/grub/menu.lst
   so that the new kernel is listed on the boot menu.

I configure and compile the latest Linux kernel 3.15, and run make install to install the new kernel. Everything seems OK except for the .config file is not copied to /boot.

Why is the .config file under the root directory of the source tree not copied to /boot ?

PS. My running OS is fedora 20.

Answer 1

This document appears to be incorrect or long-obsolete. Looking at the source, I see only bzImage and System.map being copied. This was the case at least as far back as 2.6.12. Copying an initrd or the .config file would have to be done by a distribution's scripts.

For some reason this depends on the architecture: arm and x86 don't copy .config, but mips and tile do.