In section 2.8.1 of the Reference Guide (page 39, RefGuide(EN)-3.0-Print-RHI (09/99)) you state that you can use a .config file previously generated to build a kernel. In Redhat 6.1 Install a fresh Redhat 6.1 on a server Copy a .config file into /usr/src/linux from an identical server Run make dep, make clean, and then make boot, you get an error. This worked in Redhat 5.2. If you run make xconfig and use "Load Configuration from File", it works correctly. The Reference Guide needs to be updated.
A .config file needs to be processed by the kernel configuration process before it can really be used (this is confusing, but that's an issue for the kernel people). The simplest method to do this is probably 'make oldconfig' once you've put the .config file into place.
Assigned to dledford