Introduction to Kernel

Programming

Luca Abeni
luca.abeni@santannapisa.it
 About the Course

• Goal: understand how to code an OS kernel

• This course will introduce the students to the
pains and joys of kernel programming...
• Of course, this is only an introduction!
• First question: so, why is kernel programming so
different?
• But, first of all, what is a kernel?
• ...And what is an Operating System?
• ...And, what is a computer? Where are we
coming from? Where are we going?
• No, I will not answer the last questions...

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Practical Details

• The course is 20 hours long (2 credits)

• Organized in lessons by 2:30 hours each
• Some theory and some practice
• There cannot be practice without theory...
• ...But theory is useless without practice!
• For informations, email
luca.abeni@santannapisa.it
• Office: TeCIP (via Moruzzi 1)

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Overview

• Quick recap about architecture, OSs, kernels

• Privileged instructions → kernel
• The kernel execution environment
• Kernel development: DIY, or existing systems
(Linux)?
• Introduction to the Linux kernel
• Kernel modules, concurrency, synchronization, ...
• Some examples

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 The Operating System

• Operating System: set of computer programs acting

as an interface between applications and hardware
• “Set of computer programs”: the OS is not a
single program!
• “Acting as an interface... ”: applications do not
directly access the hardware (must use the OS)
• So, the OS:
• Hides the hardware details to user applications
• Controls the execution of user programs
• Manages the hardware and software resources
• Applications running on an OS can use the CPU
Assembly extended with some additional
instructions: the system calls
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming
 The OS Kernel

• Modern CPUs: different privilege levels (user level

and privileged level)
• Actually, it can be even more complex than this
← hypervisor mode, ...
• Security / protection → only a small amount of
trusted code should run with a high privilege level
• OS Kernel: part of the OS executing with a high
privilege level
• Regular user applications execute at a lower
privilege level
• To protect the system from malicious programs

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 The OS Kernel - Again

• Kernel: part of the OS running at high privilege level

• Can do (almost!) everything: even crash the
system
• This is why it must be trusted... Very critical
component of the system
• Security and stability depend on it!
• But also the system performance depends on it...
• “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”
• Applications rely on the kernel to do everything
important / critical
• How is kernel execution invoked? Interrupts /
exceptions (hw or sw)
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming
 Kernel Responsibilities

• Multiprogramming:
• Multiple tasks (processes or threads) on few
CPUs
• Memory protection: multiple address spaces
(paging, segmentation)
• CPU privilege levels: system and user
• Low level hardware details:
• Interrupt handling, boot, device drivers, system
calls, ...
• Important data structures (memory page tables,
...)
• Kernel address space: can see all the system
memory
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming
 Kernel Functionalities

• System boot → configure and set-up the system so

that virtual memory and multitasking can work
• Configure memory, page tables & friends
• Once it is done, start the first user-space
process: in Unix, it is init (PID 1)
• Then, execution returns to the kernel only
through interrupts
• Hardware interrupt handlers (ISRs, used by drivers)
• System calls (software interrupts, ...)
• Interrupts cause a privilege change (user →
system)
• Syscalls and ISRs can cause context switches

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Task Handling

• The kernel handles processes and threads

• Each task is characterised by:
• A Task Descriptor (TSS)
• A Task Body (code implementing the task)
• Some (public or private) data (Address Space)
• Task Descriptor → contains copy of the CPU
registers, including:
• Pointers to user-space and kernel stack
• Address Space configuration (CR3, ...)
• Protection level (CPL)
• The task body is technically part of the address
space

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Task Address Space

• Divided in segments:
• Code Segment (task body)
• Data Segment
• Initialised Data, BSS, Heap
• Stack Segment
• Recently, some additional segments (RO data, etc...)

• Before starting a task, the OS kernel has to:

• Initialise memory segments (allocate virtual
memory)
• Allocate and set up a stack, initialise the stack
pointer, etc...
• Allocate and initialise (to 0) the BSS
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming
 The Rest of the OS

• The kernel is only part of the OS

• There also are many user-space components
• System libraries
• System programs
• ...
• System libraries → needed to properly invoke kernel
functionalities (hide the syscall mechanism)
• System programs → needed to properly boot and
use the system

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 How does a Kernel Look Like

• No single entry point

• “Boot entry point” + system calls
• Kernel Memory Address Space: all the memory can
be accessed
• No memory protection!!!
• Kernel-space code can easily corrupt important
data structures!
• No standard runtime
• C code cannot include <stdio.h> and friends...
• No standard C library!

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Kernel Programming

• The kernel must provide the utility functions to be

used
• Example, no printf(), but printk()...
• Errors do not result in segmentation faults...
• ...But can cause system crashes!
• Other weird details
• No floating point (do not use float or double)
• Small stack (4KB or 8KB)
• Atomic contexts, ...

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 Kernel Programming Language

• OS kernels can be coded in many different

languages
• But some amount of Assembly is needed...
• For some languages, additional restrictions apply
(example: for C++, generally no RTTI)
• And in order to use some languages the kernel
must implement a large runtime...
• Kernels are generally coded in C or C++ (with
restrictions)
• After all, the C language has been invented
exactly for this purpose!
• Simplest choice: C + some Assembly (inline and not)
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming
 Example: the Linux Kernel

• The Linux kernel uses C

• Subset of C99 + some extensions (likely() /
unlikely() annotations, etc...)
• As said, no access to standard libraries
• Different set of header files and utility functions
• Strict coding style to control the quality
(Documentation/CodingStyle,
scripts/checkpatch.pl)
• Some Assembly is used (for entry points, etc...)
• Example: Linked Lists (include/linux/list.h)

Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming

 First Adventures in Kernel Land

• First experiments with kernel programming

• Should we write our own kernel?
• Or use an existing kernel as a basis?
• Our own didactic kernel: simpler, maybe we learn
more...
• ...But we can easily get lost in low-level hw
details!!!
• Work on an existing kernel: it might be more
complex...
• ...But we can focus on the aspects we are
interested in
• The rest of the kernel already exists!
Kernel Programming Introduction to Kernel Programming