How to write multiple line string using Bash with variables?

#!/bin/bash
kernel="2.6.39";
distro="xyz";

cat > /etc/myconfig.conf << EOL
line 1, ${kernel}
line 2,
line 3, ${distro}
line 4
line ...
EOL

this does what you want.

The syntax (<<<) and the command used (echo) is wrong.

Correct would be:

#!/bin/bash

kernel="2.6.39"
distro="xyz"
cat >/etc/myconfig.conf <<EOL
line 1, ${kernel}
line 2, 
line 3, ${distro}
line 4 line
... 
EOL

cat /etc/myconfig.conf

This construction is referred to as a Here Document and can be found in the Bash man pages under man --pager='less -p "\s*Here Documents"' bash.