Tutorial for Linux kernel modification?

[frankwei]

Hi friends,

I'm new to linux and wanting to learn how to hacking Linux kernel. Could you please point some useful links on how to modify Linux Kernel?

Regards,

[anomie]

(I thought I posted this elsewhere on the forum but can't find it now.)

The author of Linux Kernel in a Nutshell has generously made his book available for free online:

http://www.kroah.com/lkn/

It's a pretty quick read and contains lots of useful info for you to get started with. Happy hacking.

[frankwei]

Thanks a lot!

[aircargoit]

The installation of the kernel sources creates a file called README in the /usr/src/linux directory
that briefly outlines the steps needed to create a new kernel. Take a look at a more detailed explanation
of the required steps.
Make Sure Your Source Files Are In Order
Cleaning up the various source files is the first step. This isn't so important for a first time rebuild,
but it is vital for subsequent attempts. You use the make mrproper command to do this; it must be
executed in the root directory of the Linux kernel sources tree. In our case, the subdirectory's name
is /usr/src/linux which has already been symbolically linked to the
/usr/src/linux/ subdirectory.
[root@bigboy tmp]# cd /usr/src/linux
[root@bigboy linux]# make mrproper
...
...
...
[root@bigboy linux]#
The ".config" File
You next need to run scripts to create a kernel configuration file called
/usr/src/linux/.config. This file lists all the kernel options you wish to use.
132 Chapter 33: Modifying the Linux Kernel to Improve Performance
Backup Your Configuration
The .config file won't exist if you've never created a custom kernel on your system before,
but fortunately, RedHat stores a number of default .config files in the
/usr/src/linux/configs directory. You can automatically copy the .config file that
matches your installed kernel by running the make oldconfig command in the
/usr/src/linux directory.
[root@bigboy tmp]# cd /usr/src/linux
[root@bigboy linux]# ls .config
ls: .config: No such file or directory
[root@bigboy linux]# make oldconfig
...
...
...
[root@bigboy linux]#
If you've created a custom kernel before, the .config file that the previous custom kernel
build used will already exist. Copy it to a safe location before proceeding.
Customizing The ".config" File
Table 33-2 lists three commands that you can run in the /usr/src/linux-2.6.5-1.358
directory to update the .config file.
Table 33-2 Scripts For Modifying The .config File
Command Description
make config Text based utility that prompts you line by line. This
method can become laborious.
make menuconfig Text menu based utility.
make gconfig X-Windows based utility.
Each command prompts you in different ways for each kernel option, each of which generally
provides you with the three choices shown in Table 33-3. A brief description of each kernel option is
given in Table 33-4.
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Table 33-3 Kernel Option Choices
Kernel Option
Choice
Description
M The kernel will load the drivers for this option on an as needed
basis. Only the code required to load the driver on demand will
be included in the kernel.
Y Include all the code for the drivers needed for this option into
the kernel itself. This will generally make the kernel larger and
slower but will make it more self sufficient. The "Y" option is
frequently used in cases in which a stripped down kernel is one
of the only programs Linux will run, such as purpose built home
firewall appliances you can buy in a store.
There is a limit to the overall size of a kernel. It will fail to
compile if you select parameters that will make it too big.
N Don't make the kernel support this option at all.
134 Chapter 33: Modifying the Linux Kernel to Improve Performance
Table 33-4 Kernel Configuration Options
Option Description
Code maturity level options Determines whether Linux prompts you for certain types of
development code or drivers.
Loadable module support Support for loadable modules versus a monolithic kernel. Most of
the remaining kernel options use loadable modules by default. It is
best to leave this alone in most cases.
Processor type and features SMP, Large memory, BIOS and CPU type settings.
General setup Support for power management, networking, and systems buses
such as PCI, PCMCIA, EISA, ISA
Memory technology devices Linux subsystem for memory devices, especially Flash devices
Parallel port support Self explanatory
Plug and Play configuration Support of the automatic new hardware detection method called
plug and play
Block devices Support for a number of parallel-port-based and ATAPI type
devices. Support for your loopback interface and RAM disks can be
found here too.
Multidevice support (RAID, LVM) Support for RAID, 0, 1, and 5, as well as LVM.
Cryptography support (CryptoAPI) Support for various types of encryption
Networking options TCP/IP, DECnet, Appletalk, IPX, ATM/LANE
Telephony support Support for voice to data I/O cards
ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support Support for a variety of disk controller chipsets
SCSI support Support for a variety of disk controller chipsets. Also sets limits on
the maximum number of supported SCSI disks and CDROMs.
Fusion MPT support High speed SCSI chipset support.
I2O device support Support for specialized Intelligent I/O cards
Network device support Support for Ethernet, Fibre Channel, FDDI, SLIP, PPP, ARCnet,
Token Ring, ATM, PCMCIA networking, and specialized WAN
cards.
Amateur Radio support Support for packet radio
IrDA subsystem support Infrared wireless network support
ISDN subsystem Support for ISDN
Old CD-ROM drivers (not SCSI, not
IDE)
Support for non-SCSI, non-IDE, non ATAPI CDROMs
Input core support Keyboard, mouse, and joystick support in addition to the default
VGA resolution.
Character devices Support for virtual terminals and various serial cards for modems,
joysticks and basic parallel port printing.
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Option Description
Multimedia devices Streaming video and radio I/O card support
Crypto Hardware support Web-based SSL hardware accelerator card support
Console drivers Support for various console video cards
Filesystems Support for all the various filesystems and strangely, the native
languages supported by Linux.
Sound Support for a variety of sound cards
USB support Support for a variety of USB devices
Additional device driver support Miscellaneous driver support
Bluetooth support Support for a variety of Bluetooth devices
Kernel hacking Support for detailed error messages for persons writing device
drivers
Configure Dependencies
As I mentioned before, the .config file you just created lists the options you'll need in your kernel.
In version 2.4 of the kernel and older, the make dep command was needed at this step to prepare
the needed source files for compiling. This step has been eliminated as of version 2.6 of the kernel.
Edit The Makefile To Give The Kernel A Unique Name
Edit the file Makefile and change the line "EXTRAVERSION =" to create a unique suffix at the
end of the default name of the kernel.
For example, if your current kernel version is 2.6.5-1.358, and your EXTRAVERSION is set to -6-
new, your new additional kernel will have the name vmlinuz-2.6.5-6-new.
Remember to change this for each new version of the kernel you create.
Compile A New Kernel
You can now use the make command to create a compressed version of your new kernel and its
companion .img RAM disk file. This could take several hours on a 386 or 486 system. It will take
about 20 minutes on a 400MHz Celeron running in text mode.
[root@bigboy linux]# make
...
...
...
[root@bigboy linux]#
Note: In older versions of Fedora the command to do this would have been make bzImage.
136 Chapter 33: Modifying the Linux Kernel to Improve Performance
Build The Kernel's Modules
You can now use the make modules_install command to copy all the modules created in the
previous step to the conventional module locations.
[root@bigboy linux]# make modules_install
...
...
...
[root@bigboy linux]#
Note: In versions of Fedora before Core 3, this was a two step process. The make modules
command would compile the modules, but locate them within the Linux kernel source directory tree
under the directory /usr/src/. The make modules_install command would then relocates
them to where they should finally reside under the /lib/modules/
directory.
Copy The New Kernel To The /boot Partition
The kernel and the .img you just created needs to be copied to the /boot partition where all your
systems active kernel files normally reside. This is done with the make install command.
This partition has a default size of 100MB, which is enough to hold a number of kernels. You may
have to delete some older kernels to create enough space.
[root@bigboy linux]# make install
...
...
...
[root@bigboy linux]#
Here you can see that the new kernel vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358-new is installed in the /boot
directory.
[root@bigboy linux]# ls -l /boot/vmlinuz*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Nov 28 01:20 /boot/vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358-new
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1122363 Feb 27 2003 /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1122291 Nov 28 01:20 /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358-new
[root@bigboy linux]#
Updating GRUB
You should now update your /etc/grub.conf file to include an option to boot the new kernel. The
make install command does this for you automatically.
In this example, default is set to 1, which means the system boots the second kernel entry, which
happens to be that of the original kernel 2.6.5-1.358. You can set this value to 0, which makes it boot
your newly compiled kernel (the first entry).
default=1
timeout=10
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splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.6.5-1.358-new)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358-new ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.6.5-1.358-new.img
title Red Hat Linux (2.6.5-1.35
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358 ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img
Kernel Crash Recovery
Sometimes the new default kernel will fail to boot or work correctly with the new kernel. A simple
way of recovering from this is to reboot your system, selecting the old version of the kernel from the
Fedora splash screen. Once the system has booted with this stable version, edit the grub.conf
file and set the default parameter to point to the older version instead. If this fails, you may want
to boot from a CD with the original kernel. You can then try to either reinstall a good kernel RPM or
rebuild the failed one over again after fixing the configuration problem that caused the trouble in the
first place.

[rokytnji]

Old but could still be relevant

Video: Howto: Debian Linux Kernel Compilation, Part 1