This step by step how to covers compiling the Linux kernel version 5.4.7 under Ubuntu 18.04 or Linux Mint 19. The following instructions were successfully tested on Linux Mint 19.3, however, instructions remain the same for any other Linux distribution.

1. Get the latest Linux kernel source code

wget https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-5.4.7.tar.xz

2. Extract the tar.xz file

unxz -v linux-5.4.7.tar.xz
tar xvf linux-5.4.7.tar

3. Install the required compilers and other tools

sudo apt-get install build-essential libncurses-dev bison flex libssl-dev libelf-dev

4. Configure the Linux kernel features and modules

cd linux-5.4.7
make localmodconfig

5. Compile the kernel

make -j4

6. Install the Linux kernel modules

sudo make modules_install

7. Install the Linux kernel

sudo make install

8. Update Grub config

sudo update-initramfs -c -k 5.4.7
sudo update-grub

9. Verify the new Linux kernel version after reboot

uname -mrs

Congratulations! You have completed various steps to build the Linux kernel from source code and the compiled kernel should be running on your system.