First download and install the kernel source to your machine. Then move to that directory. In redhat linux the source is usually installed in a directory named linux-2.x.xx.xxx in the /usr/src directory. And a soft link to that directory is created by the name linux-2.4 (Assuming it is the source of the linux 2.4 kernel). So the kernel source is installed in /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory.
Now move to this directory.
# cd /usr/src/linux-2.4
The next step is creating the configuration file (.config). This can be done in three ways.
# make config – brings up a command-line console mode interface.
# make menuconfig – brings up a ncurses based GUI Interface.
# make xconfig – brings up a X GUI based user friendly interface.
You may use any one of the above three commands.
