linux-kernel-module-cheat

= Linux Kernel Module Cheat
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Run one command, get a QEMU or gem5 Buildroot BusyBox virtual machine built from source with several minimal Linux kernel 4.16 module development example tutorials with GDB and KGDB step debugging and minimal educational hardware models. "Tested" in x86, ARM and MIPS guests, Ubuntu 17.10 host.

toc::[]

== Getting started

=== Getting started Ubuntu

This is the most native setup, and therefore the best one if you are on one of the supported Ubuntu: 16.04 or 17.10. We will try to keep up with both the latest LTS and release.

Reserve 12Gb of disk and run:

....
git clone https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat
cd linux-kernel-module-cheat
./configure && ./build && ./run
....

The first configure will take a while (30 minutes to 2 hours) to clone and build, see <> for more details.

If you don't want to wait, you could also try to compile the examples and run them on your host computer as explained on at <>, but as explained on that section, that is dangerous, limited, and will likely not work.

After QEMU opens up, you can start playing with the kernel modules:

....
insmod /hello.ko
insmod /hello2.ko
rmmod hello
rmmod hello2
....

This should print to the screen:

....
hello init
hello2 init
hello cleanup
hello2 cleanup
....

which are `printk` messages from `init` and `cleanup` methods of those modules.

Once you use <> and <>, your terminal will look a bit like this:

....
[ 1.451857] input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard as /devices/platform/i8042/s1│loading @0xffffffffc0000000: ../kernel_module-1.0//timer.ko
[ 1.454310] ledtrig-cpu: registered to indicate activity on CPUs │(gdb) b lkmc_timer_callback
[ 1.455621] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid │Breakpoint 1 at 0xffffffffc0000000: file /home/ciro/bak/git/linux-kernel-module
[ 1.455811] usbhid: USB HID core driver │-cheat/out/x86_64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/./timer.c, line 28.
[ 1.462044] NET: Registered protocol family 10 │(gdb) c
[ 1.467911] Segment Routing with IPv6 │Continuing.
[ 1.468407] sit: IPv6, IPv4 and MPLS over IPv4 tunneling driver │
[ 1.470859] NET: Registered protocol family 17 │Breakpoint 1, lkmc_timer_callback (data=0xffffffffc0002000 )
[ 1.472017] 9pnet: Installing 9P2000 support │ at /linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/x86_64/buildroot/build/
[ 1.475461] sched_clock: Marking stable (1473574872, 0)->(1554017593, -80442)│kernel_module-1.0/./timer.c:28
[ 1.479419] ALSA device list: │28 {
[ 1.479567] No soundcards found. │(gdb) c
[ 1.619187] ata2.00: ATAPI: QEMU DVD-ROM, 2.5+, max UDMA/100 │Continuing.
[ 1.622954] ata2.00: configured for MWDMA2 │
[ 1.644048] scsi 1:0:0:0: CD-ROM QEMU QEMU DVD-ROM 2.5+ P5│Breakpoint 1, lkmc_timer_callback (data=0xffffffffc0002000 )
[ 1.741966] tsc: Refined TSC clocksource calibration: 2904.010 MHz │ at /linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/x86_64/buildroot/build/
[ 1.742796] clocksource: tsc: mask: 0xffffffffffffffff max_cycles: 0x29dc0f4s│kernel_module-1.0/./timer.c:28
[ 1.743648] clocksource: Switched to clocksource tsc │28 {
[ 2.072945] input: ImExPS/2 Generic Explorer Mouse as /devices/platform/i8043│(gdb) bt
[ 2.078641] EXT4-fs (vda): couldn't mount as ext3 due to feature incompatibis│#0 lkmc_timer_callback (data=0xffffffffc0002000 )
[ 2.080350] EXT4-fs (vda): mounting ext2 file system using the ext4 subsystem│ at /linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/x86_64/buildroot/build/
[ 2.088978] EXT4-fs (vda): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: (null) │kernel_module-1.0/./timer.c:28
[ 2.089872] VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly on device 254:0. │#1 0xffffffff810ab494 in call_timer_fn (timer=0xffffffffc0002000 ,
[ 2.097168] devtmpfs: mounted │ fn=0xffffffffc0000000 ) at kernel/time/timer.c:1326
[ 2.126472] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1264K │#2 0xffffffff810ab71f in expire_timers (head=,
[ 2.126706] Write protecting the kernel read-only data: 16384k │ base=) at kernel/time/timer.c:1363
[ 2.129388] Freeing unused kernel memory: 2024K │#3 __run_timers (base=) at kernel/time/timer.c:1666
[ 2.139370] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1284K │#4 run_timer_softirq (h=) at kernel/time/timer.c:1692
[ 2.246231] EXT4-fs (vda): warning: mounting unchecked fs, running e2fsck isd│#5 0xffffffff81a000cc in __do_softirq () at kernel/softirq.c:285
[ 2.259574] EXT4-fs (vda): re-mounted. Opts: block_validity,barrier,user_xatr│#6 0xffffffff810577cc in invoke_softirq () at kernel/softirq.c:365
hello S98 │#7 irq_exit () at kernel/softirq.c:405
│#8 0xffffffff818021ba in exiting_irq () at ./arch/x86/include/asm/apic.h:541
Apr 15 23:59:23 login[49]: root login on 'console' │#9 smp_apic_timer_interrupt (regs=)
hello /root/.profile │ at arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1052
# insmod /timer.ko │#10 0xffffffff8180190f in apic_timer_interrupt ()
[ 6.791945] timer: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel. │ at arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:857
# [ 7.821621] 4294894248 │#11 0xffffffff82003df8 in init_thread_union ()
[ 8.851385] 4294894504 │#12 0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()
│(gdb)
....

All available modules can be found in the link:kernel_module/[`kernel_module` directory].

[[docker]]
=== Getting started Docker

This is a good option if you are on a Linux host, but the <> failed due to your weird host distribution.

Note however that most things in this repository are highly Linux-portable, should just work once you have found the corresponding `apt-get` package manager commands in the link:configure[] for your distro. In theory :-)

Before anything, you must get ride of any host build files on `out/` if you have any. A simple way to do this it to:

....
mv out out.host
....

A cleaner option is to make a separate clone of this repository just for Docker, although this will require another submodule update.

Then install Docker, e.g. on Ubuntu:

....
sudo apt-get install docker
....

The very first time you launch Docker, create the container with:

....
./rundocker setup
....

You are now left inside a shell in the Docker guest.

From there, run the exact same commands that you would on a native install: <>

The host git top level directory is mounted inside the guest, which means for example that you can use your host's GUI text editor directly on the files.

Just don't forget that if you nuke that directory on the guest, then it gets nuked on the host as well!

Trying to run the output from Docker from host won't however, I think the main reason is that the absolute paths inside Docker are will be different than the host ones, but even if we fix that there will likely be other problems.

TODO make files created inside Docker be owned by the current user in host instead of `root`: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23544282/what-is-the-best-way-to-manage-permissions-for-docker-shared-volumes

Quit and stop the container:

....
Ctrl-D
....

Restart the container:

....
./rundocker
....

Open a second shell in a running container:

....
./rundocker sh
....

You will need this for example to use <>.

Start a second shell, and run a command in it at the same time:

....
./rundocker sh ./rungdb start_kernel
....

Docker stops if and only if you quit the initial shell, you can quit this one without consequences.

If you mistakenly run `./rundocker` twice, it opens two mirrored terminals. To quit one of them do link:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19688314/how-do-you-attach-and-detach-from-dockers-process[]:

....
Ctrl-P Ctrl-Q
....

To use <> from Docker:

....
./run -Vx
....

and then on host:

....
sudo apt-get install vinagre
./vnc
....

Destroy the docker container:

....
./rundocker DELETE
....

Since we mount the guest's working directory on the host git top-level, you will likely not lose data from doing this, just the `apt-get` installs.

To get back to a host build, don't forget to clean up `out/` again:

....
mv out out.docker
mv out.host out
....

After this, to start using Docker again will you need another:

....
./rundocker setup
....

=== Text mode

By default, we show the serial console directly on the current terminal, without opening a QEMU window.

Quit QEMU immediately:

....
Ctrl-A X
....

https://superuser.com/questions/1087859/how-to-quit-the-qemu-monitor-when-not-using-a-gui

Alternative methods:

* `echo quit | ./qemumonitor`
* `Ctrl-A C` then `quit`
* `pkill qemu`

Toggle between QEMU monitor and the shell:

....
Ctrl-A C
....

* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14165158/how-to-switch-to-qemu-monitor-console-when-running-with-curses
* https://superuser.com/questions/488263/how-to-switch-to-the-qemu-control-panel-with-nographics

But doing:

....
echo quit | ./qemumonitor
....

is generally more practical since you can use host shell functionality like shell history.

Getting everything to work requires careful choice of QEMU command line options:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49716931/how-to-run-qemu-with-nographic-and-monitor-but-still-be-able-to-send-ctrlc-to/49751144#49751144
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/167165/how-to-pass-ctrl-c-to-the-guest-when-running-qemu-with-nographic/436321#436321

TODO: if you hit `Ctrl-C` several times while `arm` or `aarch64` are booting, after boot the userland shell does not show any updates when you type, this seems to be a bug on the Linux kernel v4.16: http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/qemu-discuss/2018-04/msg00027.html

=== Graphic mode

Enable graphic mode:

....
./run -x
....

Text mode is the default due to the following considerable advantages:

* copy and paste commands and stdout output to / from host
* get full panic traces when you start making the kernel crash :-) See also: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/208260/how-to-scroll-up-after-a-kernel-panic
* have a large scroll buffer, and be able to search it, e.g. by using tmux on host
* one less window floating around to think about in addition to your shell :-)
* graphics mode has only been properly tested on `x86_64`.

Text mode has the following limitations over graphics mode:

* you can't see graphics such as those produced by <>
* very early kernel messages such as `early console in extract_kernel` only show on the GUI, since at such early stages, not even the serial has been setup.

==== Graphic mode arm

We currently use `-M virt` for both `arm` and `aarch64`, and according to https://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/Platforms/ARM they don't support graphics:

____
Most of the machines QEMU supports have annoying limitations (small amount of RAM, no PCI or other hard disk, etc) which are there because that's what the real hardware is like. If you don't care about reproducing the idiosyncrasies of a particular bit of hardware, the best choice today is the "virt" machine. This is a platform which doesn't correspond to any real hardware and is designed for use in virtual machines. It supports PCI, virtio, recent CPUs and large amounts of RAM. The only thing it doesn't have is graphics.
____

We feel that this is a worthwhile tradeoff, since we expect most users don't care about graphics on typically embedded archs, and `virt` machines bring greater simplicity to this repo.

If someone submits a well tested and documented graphics patch, we will consider it however. A good starting point, would be to:

* hack up `./run` to use `-M vexpress-a15`. We chose this board to match our QEMU build of `qemu_arm_vexpress_defconfig`
* remove all extra options that are not compatible with that `-M`, and later try to find equivalent options if you care
* a graphical window should open, but we never managed to get a shell there yet. But this does have some effect:
+
....
cat /dev/urandom > /dev/fb0
....
* have a look at `./run -a arm` at 2852fe1989a6f1ab546e9a4fa88724423b3949f5 which is before we moved to `-M virt`

=== Automatic startup commands

When debugging a module, it becomes tedious to wait for build and re-type:

....
/modulename.sh
....

every time.

To automate that, use the methods described at: <>

=== printk

We use `printk` a lot, and it shows on the terminal by default, along with stdout and what you type.

Hide all `printk` messages:

....
dmesg -n 1
....

or equivalently:

....
echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/printk
....

See also: https://superuser.com/questions/351387/how-to-stop-kernel-messages-from-flooding-my-console

Do it with a <> to affect the boot itself:

....
./run -e 'loglevel=5'
....

and now only boot warning messages or worse show, which is useful to identify problems.

Our default `printk` format is:

....
[TIMESTAMP] MESSAGE
....

e.g.:

....
<6>[ 2.979121] Freeing unused kernel memory: 2024K
....

where:

* `LEVEL`: higher means less serious
* `TIMESTAMP`: seconds since boot

This format is selected by the following boot options:

* `console_msg_format=syslog`: add the `` part
* `printk.time=y`: add the `[TIMESTAMP]` part

Scroll up in <>:

....
Shift-PgUp
....

but I never managed to increase that buffer:

* https://askubuntu.com/questions/709697/how-to-increase-scrollback-lines-in-ubuntu14-04-2-server-edition
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/346018/how-to-increase-the-scrollback-buffer-size-for-tty

The superior alternative is to use text mode and GNU screen or tmux.

==== pr_debug

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28936199/why-is-pr-debug-of-the-linux-kernel-not-giving-any-output/49835405#49835405

Debug messages are not printable by default without recompiling.

But the awesome `CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG=y` option which we enable by default allows us to do:

....
echo 8 > /proc/sys/kernel/printk
echo 'file kernel/module.c +p' > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
/myinsmod.out /hello.ko
....

and we have a shortcut at:

....
/pr_debug.sh
....

Syntax: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.11/admin-guide/dynamic-debug-howto.html

Wildcards are also accepted, e.g. enable all messages from all files:

....
echo 'file * +p' > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
....

TODO: why is this not working:

....
echo 'func sys_init_module +p' > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
....

Enable messages in specific modules:

....
echo 8 > /proc/sys/kernel/printk
echo 'module myprintk +p' > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
insmod /myprintk.ko
....

which now outputs the `pr_debug` message:

....
printk debug
....

Enable `pr_debug` for boot messages as well, before we can reach userland and write to `/proc`:

....
./run -e 'dyndbg="file * +p" loglevel=8'
....

Get ready for the noisiest boot ever, I think it overflows the `printk` buffer and funny things happen.

=== Module documentation

....
head kernel_module/modulename.c
grep 'modulename\.' README.adoc
....

Many of the modules have userland test scripts / executables with the same name as the module, e.g. form inside the guest:

....
/modulename.sh
/modulename.out
....

The sources of those tests will further clarify what the corresponding kernel modules does. To find them on the host, do a quick:

....
git ls-files | grep modulename
....

=== Rebuild

After making changes to a package, you must explicitly request it to be rebuilt.

For example, you you modify the kernel modules, you must rebuild with:

....
./build -k
....

which is just an alias for:

....
./build -- kernel_module-reconfigure
....

where `kernel_module` is the name of out Buildroot package that contains the kernel modules.

Other important targets are:

....
./build -l -q -g
....

which rebuild the Linux kernel, and QEMU and gem5 respectively. They are essentially aliases for:

....
./build -- linux-reconfigure host-qemu-reconfigure gem5-reconfigure
....

However, some of our aliases such as `-l` also have some magic convenience properties. So generally just use the aliases instead.

We don't rebuild by default because, even with `make` incremental rebuilds, the timestamp check takes a few annoying seconds.

Not all packages have an alias, when they don't, just use the form:

....
./build -- -reconfigure
....

==== Rebuild a package with different build options

For example, if you decide to <> after an initial build is finished, you must first clean the build before rebuilding:

....
./build -B 'BR2_OPTIMIZE_3=y' kernel_module-dirclean kernel_module-reconfigure
....

as explained at: https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html#rebuild-pkg

The clean is necessary because the source files didn't change, so `make` would just check the timestamps and not build anything.

[[retype]]
=== Don't retype arguments all the time

It gets annoying to retype `-a aarch64` for every single command, or to remember `./build -B` setups.

So simplify that, do:

....
cp cli.example data/cli
....

and then edit the `data/cli` file to your needs.

That file is used to pass extra command line arguments to most of our utilities.

Of course, you could get by with the shell history, or your own aliases, but we've felt that it was worth introducing a common mechanism for that.

=== Clean the build

You did something crazy, and nothing seems to work anymore?

All builds are stored under `buildroot/`,

The most coarse thing you can do is:

....
cd buildroot
git checkout -- .
git clean -xdf .
....

To only nuke one architecture, do:

....
rm -rf out/x86_64/buildroot
....

Only nuke one one package:

....
rm -rf out/x86_64/buildroot/build/host-qemu-custom
./build
....

This is sometimes necessary when changing the version of the submodules, and then builds fail. We should try to understand why and report bugs.

=== Filesystem persistency

The root filesystem is persistent across:

....
./run
date >f
# poweroff syncs by default without -n.
poweroff
....

then:

....
./run
cat f
....

The command:

....
sync
....

also saves the disk.

This is particularly useful to re-run shell commands from the history of a previous session with `Ctrl-R`.

However, when you do:

....
./build
....

the disk image gets overwritten by a fresh filesystem and you lose all changes.

Remember that if you forcibly turn QEMU off without `sync` or `poweroff` from inside the VM, e.g. by closing the QEMU window, disk changes may not be saved.

When booting from <> however without a disk, persistency is lost.

=== Kernel command line parameters

Bootloaders can pass a string as input to the Linux kernel when it is booting to control its behaviour, much like the `execve` system call does to userland processes.

This allows us to control the behaviour of the kernel without rebuilding anything.

With QEMU, QEMU itself acts as the bootloader, and provides the `-append` option and we expose it through `./run -e`, e.g.:

....
./run -e 'foo bar'
....

Then inside the host, you can check which options were given with:

....
cat /proc/cmdline
....

They are also printed at the beginning of the boot message:

....
dmesg | grep "Command line"
....

See also:

* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48601/how-to-display-the-linux-kernel-command-line-parameters-given-for-the-current-bo
* https://askubuntu.com/questions/32654/how-do-i-find-the-boot-parameters-used-by-the-running-kernel

The arguments are documented in the kernel documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.14/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html

When dealing with real boards, extra command line options are provided on some magic bootloader configuration file, e.g.:

* GRUB configuration files: https://askubuntu.com/questions/19486/how-do-i-add-a-kernel-boot-parameter
* Raspberry pi `/boot/cmdline.txt` on a magic partition: https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/14839/how-to-change-the-kernel-commandline-for-archlinuxarm-on-raspberry-pi-effectly

=== Kernel command line parameters escaping

Double quotes can be used to escape spaces as in `opt="a b"`, but double quotes themselves cannot be escaped, e.g. `opt"a\"b"`

This even lead us to use base64 encoding with `-E`!

=== modprobe

If you are feeling fancy, you can also insert modules with:

....
modprobe dep2
lsmod
# dep and dep2
....

This method also deals with module dependencies, which we almost don't use to make examples simpler:

* https://askubuntu.com/questions/20070/whats-the-difference-between-insmod-and-modprobe
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22891705/whats-the-difference-between-insmod-and-modprobe

Removal also removes required modules that have zero usage count:

....
modprobe -r dep2
lsmod
# Nothing.
....

but it can't know if you actually insmodded them separately or not:

....
modprobe dep
modprobe dep2
modprobe -r dep2
# Nothing.
....

so it is a bit risky.

`modprobe` searches for modules under:

....
ls /lib/modules/*/extra/
....

Kernel modules built from the Linux mainline tree with `CONFIG_SOME_MOD=m`, are automatically available with `modprobe`, e.g.:

....
modprobe dummy-irq
....

=== myinsmod

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5947286/how-to-load-linux-kernel-modules-from-c-code

If you are feeling raw, you can insert and remove modules with our own minimal module inserter and remover!

....
# init_module
/myinsmod.out /hello.ko
# finit_module
/myinsmod.out /hello.ko "" 1
/myrmmod.out hello
....

which teaches you how it is done from C code.

The Linux kernel offers two system calls for module insertion:

* `init_module`
* `finit_module`

and:

....
man init_module
....

documents that:

____
The finit_module() system call is like init_module(), but reads the module to be loaded from the file descriptor fd. It is useful when the authenticity of a kernel module can be determined from its location in the filesystem; in cases where that is possible, the overhead of using cryptographically signed modules to determine the authenticity of a module can be avoided. The param_values argument is as for init_module().
____

`finit` is newer and was added only in v3.8. More rationale: https://lwn.net/Articles/519010/

[[gdb]]
== GDB step debug

=== GDB step debug kernel boot

`-d` makes QEMU wait for a GDB connection, otherwise we could accidentally go past the point we want to break at:

....
./run -d
....

Say you want to break at `start_kernel`. So on another shell:

....
./rungdb start_kernel
....

or at a given line:

....
./rungdb init/main.c:1088
....

Now QEMU will stop there, and you can use the normal GDB commands:

....
l
n
c
....

See also:

* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11408041/how-to-debug-the-linux-kernel-with-gdb-and-qemu/33203642#33203642
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4943857/linux-kernel-live-debugging-how-its-done-and-what-tools-are-used/42316607#42316607

[[kernel-o0]]
==== Disable kernel compiler optimizations

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29151235/how-to-de-optimize-the-linux-kernel-to-and-compile-it-with-o0

`O=0` is an impossible dream, `O=2` being the default.

So get ready for some weird jumps, and `` fun. Why, Linux, why.

=== GDB step debug kernel post-boot

Let's observe the kernel as it reacts to some userland actions.

Start QEMU with just:

....
./run
....

and after boot inside a shell run:

....
/count.sh
....

which counts to infinity to stdout. Then in another shell, run:

....
./rungdb
....

and then hit:

....
Ctrl-C
break sys_write
continue
continue
continue
....

And you now control the counting on the first shell from GDB!

When you hit `Ctrl-C`, if we happen to be inside kernel code at that point, which is very likely if there are no heavy background tasks waiting, and we are just waiting on a `sleep` type system call of the command prompt, we can already see the source for the random place inside the kernel where we stopped.

=== tmux

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/152738/how-to-split-a-new-window-and-run-a-command-in-this-new-window-using-tmux/432111#432111

tmux just makes things even more fun by allowing us to see both terminals at once without dragging windows around!

....
./run -du
....

Gives two panes:

* left: usual QEMU
* right: gdb

and focuses on the GDB pane.

To start again, switch back to the QEMU (`-o`) pane, and re-run:

....
./run -du
....

This automatically kills the GDB pane.

To quit for good, exit GDB, and quit the right shell with `Ctrl-D`.

Pass extra GDB arguments with:

....
./run -du -U start_kernel
....

If you are using gem5 instead of QEMU, `-u` has a different effect: it opens the gem5 terminal instead of the debugger:

....
./run -gu
....

If you also want to use the debugger with gem5, you will need to create your own panes or windows, or to see the debugger instead of the terminal:

....
./tmu ./rungdb;./run -dg
....

=== GDB step debug kernel module

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28607538/how-to-debug-linux-kernel-modules-with-qemu/44095831#44095831

Loadable kernel modules are a bit trickier since the kernel can place them at different memory locations depending on load order.

So we cannot set the breakpoints before `insmod`.

However, the Linux kernel GDB scripts offer the `lx-symbols` command, which takes care of that beautifully for us.

Shell 1:

....
./run
....

Wait for the boot to end and run:

....
insmod /timer.ko
....

This prints a message to dmesg every second.

Shell 2:

....
./rungdb
....

In GDB, hit `Ctrl-C`, and note how it says:

....
scanning for modules in /linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/x86_64/buildroot/build/linux-custom
loading @0xffffffffc0000000: ../kernel_module-1.0//timer.ko
....

That's `lx-symbols` working! Now simply:

....
b lkmc_timer_callback
c
c
c
....

and we now control the callback from GDB!

Just don't forget to remove your breakpoints after `rmmod`, or they will point to stale memory locations.

TODO: why does `break work_func` for `insmod kthread.ko` not break the first time I `insmod`, but breaks the second time?

==== GDB step debug kernel module ARM

TODO on `arm` 51e31cdc2933a774c2a0dc62664ad8acec1d2dbe it does not always work, and `lx-symbols` fails with the message:

....
loading vmlinux
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/arm/buildroot/build/linux-custom/scripts/gdb/linux/symbols.py", line 163, in invoke
self.load_all_symbols()
File "/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/arm/buildroot/build/linux-custom/scripts/gdb/linux/symbols.py", line 150, in load_all_symbols
[self.load_module_symbols(module) for module in module_list]
File "/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/arm/buildroot/build/linux-custom/scripts/gdb/linux/symbols.py", line 110, in load_module_symbols
module_name = module['name'].string()
gdb.MemoryError: Cannot access memory at address 0xbf0000cc
Error occurred in Python command: Cannot access memory at address 0xbf0000cc
....

Can't reproduce on `x86_64` and `aarch64` are fine.

It is kind of random: if you just `insmod` manually and then immediately `./rungdb -a arm`, then it usually works.

But this fails most of the time: shell 1:

....
./run -a arm -F 'insmod /hello.ko'
....

shell 2:

....
./rungdb -a arm
....

then hit `Ctrl-C` on shell 2, and voila.

Then:

....
cat /proc/modules
....

says that the load address is:

....
0xbf000000
....

so it is close to the failing `0xbf0000cc`.

`readelf`:

....
./runtc readelf -s ./out/x86_64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/hello.ko
....

does not give any interesting hits at `cc`, no symbol was placed that far.

==== GDB module_init

TODO find a convenient method. We have working methods, but they are not convenient.

This is not very easy, since by the time the module finishes loading, and `lx-symbols` can work properly, `module_init` has already finished running!

Possibly asked at:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37059320/debug-a-kernel-module-being-loaded
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11888412/debug-the-init-module-call-of-a-linux-kernel-module?rq=1

===== GDB module_init step into it

The kernel calls `module_init` synchronously, therefore it is not hard to step into that call.

As of 4.16, the call happens in `do_init_module`, so we can do in shell 1:

....
./run
....

shell 2 after boot finishes (because there are other calls to `do_init_module` at boot, presumably for the built-in modules):

....
./rungdb do_init_module
....

then step until the line:

....
833 ret = fn();
....

which does the actual call, and then step into it.

For the next time, you can also put a breakpoint there directly:

....
./rungdb init/main.c:833
....

How we found this out: first we got <> working, and then we did a `bt`. AKA cheating :-)

===== GDB module_init calculate entry address

This works, but is a bit annoying.

The key observation is that the load address of kernel modules is deterministic: there is a pre allocated memory region https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/x86/x86_64/mm.txt "module mapping space" filled from bottom up.

So once we find the address the first time, we can just reuse it afterwards, as long as we don't modify the module.

Do a fresh boot and get the module:

....
./run -F '/pr_debug.sh;insmod /fops.ko;/poweroff.out'
....

The boot must be fresh, because the load address changes every time we insert, even after removing previous modules.

The base address shows on terminal:

....
0xffffffffc0000000 .text
....

Now let's find the offset of `myinit`:

....
./runtc readelf \
-s ./out/x86_64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/fops.ko | \
grep myinit
....

which gives:

....
30: 0000000000000240 43 FUNC LOCAL DEFAULT 2 myinit
....

so the offset address is `0x240` and we deduce that the function will be placed at:

....
0xffffffffc0000000 + 0x240 = 0xffffffffc0000240
....

Now we can just do a fresh boot on shell 1:

....
./run -E 'insmod /fops.ko;/poweroff.out' -d
....

and on shell 2:

....
./rungdb '*0xffffffffc0000240'
....

GDB then breaks, and `lx-symbols` works.

===== GDB module_init break at the end of sys_init_module

TODO not working. This could be potentially very convenient.

The idea here is to break at a point late enough inside `sys_init_module`, at which point `lx-symbols` can be called and do its magic.

Beware that there are both `sys_init_module` and `sys_finit_module` syscalls, and `insmod` uses `fmodule_init` by default.

Both call `do_module_init` however, which is what `lx-symbols` hooks to.

If we try:

....
b sys_finit_module
....

then hitting:

....
n
....

does not break, and insertion happens, likely because of optimizations? <>

Then we try:

....
b do_init_module
....

A naive:

....
fin
....

also fails to break!

Finally, in despair we notice that <> prints the kernel load address as explained at <>.

So, if we set a breakpoint just after that message is printed by searching where that happens on the Linux source code, we must be able to get the correct load address before `init_module` happens.

===== GDB module_init add trap instruction

This is another possibility: we could modify the module source by adding a trap instruction of some kind.

This appears to be described at: https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4525

But it refers to a `gdbstart` script which is not in the tree anymore and beyond my `git log` capabilities.

And just adding:

....
asm( " int $3");
....

directly gives an <> as I'd expect.

==== Bypass lx-symbols

Useless, but a good way to show how hardcore you are. Disable `lx-symbols` with:

....
./rungdb -L
....

From inside guest:

....
insmod /fops.ko
cat /proc/modules
....

as mentioned at:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6384605/how-to-get-address-of-a-kernel-module-loaded-using-insmod/6385818
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/194405/get-base-address-and-size-of-a-loaded-kernel-module

This will give a line of form:

....
fops 2327 0 - Live 0xfffffffa00000000
....

And then tell GDB where the module was loaded with:

....
Ctrl-C
add-symbol-file ../kernel_module-1.0/fops.ko 0xfffffffa00000000
....

Alternatively, if the module panics before you can read `/proc/modules`, there is a <> which shows the load address:

....
echo 8 > /proc/sys/kernel/printk
echo 'file kernel/module.c +p' > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
/myinsmod.out /hello.ko
....

And then search for a line of type:

....
[ 84.877482] 0xfffffffa00000000 .text
....

=== GDB step debug early boot

TODO: why can't we break at early startup stuff such as:

....
./rungdb extract_kernel
./rungdb main
....

Maybe it is because they are being copied around at specific locations instead of being run directly from inside the main image, which is where the debug information points to?

See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2589845/what-are-the-first-operations-that-the-linux-kernel-executes-on-boot

<> with `--debug-flags=Exec` does show the right symbols however! So in the worst case, we can just read their source. Amazing.

==== GDB step debug early boot by address

One possibility is to run:

....
./trace-boot -a arm
....

and then find the second address (the first one does not work, already too late maybe):

....
less ./out/arm/qemu/trace.txt
....

and break there:

....
./run -a arm -d
./rungdb -a arm '*0x1000'
....

but TODO: it does not show the source assembly under `arch/arm`: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11423784/qemu-arm-linux-kernel-boot-debug-no-source-code

I also tried to hack `rungdb` with:

....
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ else
${gdb} \
-q \\
-ex 'add-auto-load-safe-path $(pwd)' \\
--ex 'file vmlinux' \\
+-ex 'file arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux' \\
-ex 'target remote localhost:${port}' \\
${brk} \
-ex 'continue' \\
....

and no I do have the symbols from `arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux'`, but the breaks still don't work.

=== GDB step debug userland processes

QEMU's `-gdb` GDB breakpoints are set on virtual addresses, so you can in theory debug userland processes as well.

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26271901/is-it-possible-to-use-gdb-and-qemu-to-debug-linux-user-space-programs-and-kernel
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16273614/debug-init-on-qemu-using-gdb

You will generally want to use <> for this as it is more reliable, but this method can overcome the following limitations of `gdbserver`:

* the emulator does not support host to guest networking. This seems to be the case for gem5: <>
* cannot see the start of the `init` process easily
* `gdbserver` alters the working of the kernel, and makes your run less representative

Known limitations of direct userland debugging:

* the kernel might switch context to another process or to the kernel itself e.g. on a system call, and then TODO confirm the PIC would go to weird places and source code would be missing.
* TODO step into shared libraries. If I attempt to load them explicitly:
+
....
(gdb) sharedlibrary ../../staging/lib/libc.so.0
No loaded shared libraries match the pattern `../../staging/lib/libc.so.0'.
....
+
since GDB does not know that libc is loaded.

==== GDB step debug userland custom init

* Shell 1:
+
....
./run -d -e 'init=/sleep_forever.out'
....
* Shell 2:
+
....
./rungdb-user kernel_module-1.0/user/sleep_forever.out main
....

==== GDB step debug userland BusyBox init

BusyBox custom init process:

* Shell 1:
+
....
./run -d -e 'init=/bin/ls'
....
* Shell 2:
+
....
./rungdb-user busybox-1.26.2/busybox ls_main
....

This follows BusyBox' convention of calling the main for each executable as `_main` since the `busybox` executable has many "mains".

BusyBox default init process:

* Shell 1:
+
....
./run -d
....
* Shell 2:
+
....
./rungdb-user busybox-1.26.2/busybox init_main
....

This cannot be debugged in another way without modifying the source, or `/sbin/init` exits early with:

....
"must be run as PID 1"
....

==== GDB step debug userland non-init

Non-init process:

* Shell 1:
+
....
./run -d
....
* Shell 2:
+
....
./rungdb-user kernel_module-1.0/user/myinsmod.out main
....
* Shell 1 after the boot finishes:
+
....
/myinsmod.out /hello.ko
....

This is the least reliable setup as there might be other processes that use the given virtual address.

===== GDB step debug userland non-init without -d

TODO: on QEMU bfba11afddae2f7b2c1335b4e23133e9cd3c9126, it works on `x86_64` and `aarch64` but fails on arm as follows:

* Shell 1:
+
....
./run -a arm
....
* Shell 2: wait for boot to finish, and run:
+
....
./rungdb-user -a arm kernel_module-1.0/user/hello.out main
....
* Shell 1:
+
....
/hello.out
....

The problem is that the `b main` that we do inside `./rungdb-user` says:

....
Cannot access memory at address 0x10604
....

We have also double checked the address with:

....
./runtc -a arm readelf \
./out/arm/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/user/hello.out | \
grep main
....

and from GDB:

....
info line main
....

and both give:

....
000105fc
....

which is just 8 bytes before `0x10604`.

`gdbserver` also says `0x10604`.

However, if do a `Ctrl-C` in GDB, and then a direct:

....
b *0x000105fc
....

it works. Why?!

On GEM5, x86 can also give the `Cannot access memory at address`, so maybe it is also unreliable on QEMU, and works just by coincidence.

=== GDB call

GDB can call functions as explained at: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1354731/how-to-evaluate-functions-in-gdb

However this is failing for us:

* some symbols are not visible to `call` even though `b` sees them
* for those that are, `call` fails with an E14 error

E.g.: if we break on `sys_write` on `/count.sh`:

....
>>> call printk(0, "asdf")
Could not fetch register "orig_rax"; remote failure reply 'E14'
>>> b printk
Breakpoint 2 at 0xffffffff81091bca: file kernel/printk/printk.c, line 1824.
>>> call fdget_pos(fd)
No symbol "fdget_pos" in current context.
>>> b fdget_pos
Breakpoint 3 at 0xffffffff811615e3: fdget_pos. (9 locations)
>>>
....

even though `fdget_pos` is the first thing `sys_write` does:

....
581 SYSCALL_DEFINE3(write, unsigned int, fd, const char __user *, buf,
582 size_t, count)
583 {
584 struct fd f = fdget_pos(fd);
....

I also noticed that I get the same error:

....
Could not fetch register "orig_rax"; remote failure reply 'E14'
....

when trying to use:

....
fin
....

on many (all?) functions.

See also: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat/issues/19

== KGDB

TODO: only working with <>. Without it, nothing shows on the terminal. So likely something linked to the option `console=ttyS0`.

KGDB is kernel dark magic that allows you to GDB the kernel on real hardware without any extra hardware support.

It is useless with QEMU since we already have full system visibility with `-gdb`, but this is a good way to learn it.

Cheaper than JTAG (free) and easier to setup (all you need is serial), but with less visibility as it depends on the kernel working, so e.g.: dies on panic, does not see boot sequence.

Usage:

....
./run -k
./rungdb -k
....

In GDB:

....
c
....

In QEMU:

....
/count.sh &
/kgdb.sh
....

In GDB:

....
b sys_write
c
c
c
c
....

And now you can count from GDB!

If you do: `b sys_write` immediately after `./rungdb -k`, it fails with `KGDB: BP remove failed: `. I think this is because it would break too early on the boot sequence, and KGDB is not yet ready.

See also:

* https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v4.9/Documentation/DocBook/kgdb.tmpl
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22004616/qemu-kernel-debugging-with-kgdb/44197715#44197715

=== KGDB ARM

GDB not connecting to KGDB in ARM. Possibly linked to `-serial stdio`. See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14155577/how-to-use-kgdb-on-arm

Main shell just falls on:

....
Entering kdb (current=0xf8ce07d3, pid 1) due to Keyboard Entry
kdb>
....

and GDB shell gives:

....
Reading symbols from vmlinux...done.
Remote debugging using localhost:1234
Ignoring packet error, continuing...
warning: unrecognized item "timeout" in "qSupported" response
Ignoring packet error, continuing...
Remote replied unexpectedly to 'vMustReplyEmpty': timeout
....

=== KGDB kernel modules

In QEMU:

....
/kgdb-mod.sh
....

In GDB:

....
lx-symbols ../kernel_module-1.0/
b fop_write
c
c
c
....

and you now control the count.

TODO: if I `-ex lx-symbols` to the `gdb` command, just like done for QEMU `-gdb`, the kernel <>. How to automate this step?

=== KDB

If you modify `runqemu` to use:

....
-append kgdboc=kbd
....

instead of `kgdboc=ttyS0,115200`, you enter a different debugging mode called KDB.

Usage: in QEMU:

....
[0]kdb> go
....

Boot finishes, then:

....
/kgdb.sh
....

And you are back in KDB. Now you can:

....
[0]kdb> help
[0]kdb> bp sys_write
[0]kdb> go
....

And you will break whenever `sys_write` is hit.

The other KDB commands allow you to instruction steps, view memory, registers and some higher level kernel runtime data.

But TODO I don't think you can see where you are in the kernel source code and line step as from GDB, since the kernel source is not available on guest (ah, if only debugging information supported full source).

== gdbserver

Step debug userland processes to understand how they are talking to the kernel.

Guest:

....
/gdbserver.sh /myinsmod.out /hello.ko
....

Host:

....
./rungdbserver kernel_module-1.0/user/myinsmod.out
....

You can find the executable with:

....
find out/x86_64/buildroot/build -name myinsmod.out
....

TODO: automate the path finding:

* using the executable from under `out/x86_64/buildroot/target` would be easier as the path is the same as in guest, but unfortunately those executables are stripped to make the guest smaller. `BR2_STRIP_none=y` should disable stripping, but make the image way larger.
* `outputx86_64~/staging/` would be even better than `target/` as the docs say that this directory contains binaries before they were stripped. However, only a few binaries are pre-installed there by default, and it seems to be a manual per package thing.
+
E.g. `pciutils` has for `lspci`:
+
....
define PCIUTILS_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) -C $(@D) $(PCIUTILS_MAKE_OPTS) \
PREFIX=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr SBINDIR=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin \
install install-lib install-pcilib
endef
....
+
and the docs describe the `*_INSTALL_STAGING` per package config, which is normally set for shared library packages.
+
Feature request: https://bugs.busybox.net/show_bug.cgi?id=10386

An implementation overview can be found at: https://reverseengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/8829/cross-debugging-for-mips-elf-with-qemu-toolchain/16214#16214

=== gdbserver different archs

As usual, different archs work with:

....
./rungdbserver -a arm kernel_module-1.0/user/myinsmod.out
....

=== gdbserver BusyBox

BusyBox executables are all symlinks, so if you do on guest:

....
/gdbserver.sh ls
....

on host you need:

....
./rungdbserver busybox-1.26.2/busybox
....

=== gdbserver shared libraries

Our setup gives you the rare opportunity to step debug libc and other system libraries e.g. with:

....
b open
c
....

Or simply by stepping into calls:

....
s
....

This is made possible by the GDB command:

....
set sysroot ${buildroot_out_dir}/staging
....

which automatically finds unstripped shared libraries on the host for us.

See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8611194/debugging-shared-libraries-with-gdbserver/45252113#45252113

== Architectures

The portability of the kernel and toolchains is amazing: change an option and most things magically work on completely different hardware.

To use `arm` instead of x86 for example:

....
./build -a arm
./run -a arm
....

Debug:

....
./run -a arm -d
# On another terminal.
./rungdb -a arm
....

Known quirks of the supported architectures are documented in this section.

=== mips64

Keep in mind that MIPS has the worst support compared to our other architectures due to the smaller community. Patches welcome as usual.

TODOs:

* networking is not working. See also:
** https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21496449/networking-is-not-working-on-qemu-guest-malta-mips
** https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/208266/setting-up-qemu-and-mipsel-networking-trouble
** https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/354127/qemu-mips-and-debian
* <> does not work properly, does not find `start_kernel`

==== mips64 X11

Haven't tried it, doubt it will work out of the box! :-)

Maybe: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47857023/booting-a-graphical-mips-qemu-machine

==== mips64 gem5

Haven't tried.

== init

When the Linux kernel finishes booting, it runs an executable as the first and only userland process.

This init process is then responsible for setting up the entire userland (or destroying everything when you want to have fun).

This typically means reading some configuration files (e.g. `/etc/initrc`) and forking a bunch of userland executables based on those files.

systemd provides a "popular" init implementation for desktop distros as of 2017.

BusyBox provides its own minimalistic init implementation which Buildroot, and therefore this repo, uses by default.

=== Replace init

To have more control over the system, you can replace BusyBox's init with your own.

The `-E` option replaces init and evals a command from the <>:

....
./run -E 'echo "asdf qwer";insmod /hello.ko;/poweroff.out'
....

It is basically a shortcut for:

....
./run -e 'init=/eval.sh - lkmc_eval="insmod /hello.ko;/poweroff.out"'
....

although `-E` is smarter:

* allows quoting and newlines by using base64 encoding, see: <>
* automatically chooses between `init=` and `rcinit=` for you, see: <>

so you should almost always use it, unless you are really counting each cycle ;-)

This method replaces BusyBox' init completely, which makes things more minimal, but also has has the following consequences:

* `/etc/fstab` mounts are not done, notably `/proc` and `/sys`, test it out with:
+
....
./run -E 'echo asdf;ls /proc;ls /sys;echo qwer'
....
* no shell is launched at the end of boot for you to interact with the system. You could explicitly add a `sh` at the end of your commands however:
+
....
./run -E 'echo hello;sh'
....

The best way to overcome those limitations is to use: <>

If the script is large, you can add it to a gitignored file and pass that to `-E` as in:

....
echo '
insmod /hello.ko
/poweroff.out
' > gitignore.sh
./run -E "$(cat gitignore.sh)"
....

or add it to a file to the root filesystem guest and rebuild:

....
echo '#!/bin/sh
insmod /hello.ko
/poweroff.out
' > rootfs_overlay/gitignore.sh
chmod +x rootfs_overlay/gitignore.sh
./build
./run -e 'init=/gitignore.sh'
....

Remember that if your init returns, the kernel will panic, there are just two non-panic possibilities:

* run forever in a loop or long sleep
* `poweroff` the machine

==== The kernel panics despite poweroff

Just using BusyBox' `poweroff` at the end of the `init` does not work and the kernel panics:

....
./run -E poweroff
....

because BusyBox' `poweroff` tries to do some fancy stuff like killing init, likely to allow userland to shutdown nicely.

But this fails when we are `init` itself!

`poweroff` works more brutally and effectively if you add `-f`:

....
./run -E 'poweroff -f'
....

but why not just use your super simple and effective `/poweroff.out` and be done with it?

[[init-busybox]]
=== Run command at the end of BusyBox init

Use the `-F` option is for you rely on something that BusyBox' init set up for you like `/etc/fstab`:

....
./run -F 'echo asdf;ls /proc;ls /sys;echo qwer'
....

After the commands run, you are left on an interactive shell.

The above command is basically equivalent to:

....
./run -f 'lkmc_eval="insmod /hello.ko;poweroff.out;"'
....

where the `lkmc_eval` option gets evaled by our default `S98` startup script if present.

However, `-F` is smarter and uses `base64` encoding, much like `-E` vs `-e`, so you will just use `-F` most of the time.

Alternatively, add them to a new `init.d` entry to run at the end o the BusyBox init:

....
cp rootfs_overlay/etc/init.d/S98 rootfs_overlay/etc/init.d/S99.gitignore
vim rootfs_overlay/etc/init.d/S99.gitignore
./build
./run
....

and they will be run automatically before the login prompt.

Scripts under `/etc/init.d` are run by `/etc/init.d/rcS`, which gets called by the line `::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS` in `/etc/inittab`.

=== Path to init

The init is selected at:

- initrd or initramfs system: `/init`, a custom one can be set with the `rdinit=` <>
- otherwise: default is `/sbin/init`, followed by some other paths, a custom one can be set with `init=`

More details: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/30414/what-can-make-passing-init-path-to-program-to-the-kernel-not-start-program-as-i/430614#430614

=== Init environment

Documented at link:https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.14/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html[]:

____
The kernel parses parameters from the kernel command line up to "-"; if it doesn't recognize a parameter and it doesn't contain a '.', the parameter gets passed to init: parameters with '=' go into init's environment, others are passed as command line arguments to init. Everything after "-" is passed as an argument to init.
____

And you can try it out with:

....
./run -e 'init=/init_env_poweroff.sh - asdf=qwer zxcv'
....

Also note how the annoying dash `-` also gets passed as a parameter to `init`, which makes it impossible to use this method for most executables.

Finally, the docs are lying, arguments with dots that come after `-` are still treated specially (of the form `subsystem.somevalue`) and disappear:

....
./run -e 'init=/init_env_poweroff.sh - /poweroff.out'
....

=== Networking

We disable networking by default because it starts an userland process, and we want to keep the number of userland processes to a minimum to make the system more understandable.

Enable:

....
/sbin/ifup -a
....

Disable:

....
/sbin/ifdown -a
....

Test:

....
wget google.com
....

BusyBox' `ping` does not work with hostnames even when networking is working fine:

....
ping google.com
....

TODO why: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/124283/busybox-ping-ip-works-but-hostname-nslookup-fails-with-bad-address

To enable networking by default, use the methods documented at <>

== KVM

You can make QEMU or gem5 <> by passing enabling KVM with:

....
./run -K
....

but it was broken in gem5 with pending patches: https://www.mail-archive.com/gem5-users@gem5.org/msg15046.html It fails immediately on:

....
panic: KVM: Failed to enter virtualized mode (hw reason: 0x80000021)
....

KVM uses the link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine[KVM Linux kernel feature] of the host to run most instructions natively.

We don't enable KVM by default because:

* only works if the architecture of the guest equals that of the host.
+
We have only tested / supported it on x86, but it is rumoured that QEMU and gem5 also have ARM KVM support if you are link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItXpmLsINs[running an ARM desktop for some weird reason] :-)
* limits visibility, since more things are running natively:
** can't use GDB
** can't do instruction tracing
* kernel boots are already fast enough without `-enable-kvm`

The main use case for `-enable-kvm` in this repository is to test if something that takes a long time to run is functionally correct.

For example, when porting a benchmark to Buildroot, you can first use QEMU's KVM to test that benchmarks is producing the correct results, before analysing them more deeply in gem5, which runs much slower.

== X11

Only tested successfully in `x86_64`. Requires <>.

Build and run:

....
./build -b br2_x11
./run -x
....

We don't build X11 by default because it takes a considerable amount of time (about 20%), and is not expected to be used by most users: you need to pass the `-x` flag to enable it.

Inside QEMU:

....
startx
....

And then from the GUI you can start exciting graphical programs such as:

....
xcalc
xeyes
....

image:x11.png[image]

More details: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/70931/how-to-install-x11-on-my-own-linux-buildroot-system/306116#306116

Not sure how well that graphics stack represents real systems, but if it does it would be a good way to understand how it works.

=== X11 mouse not moving

TODO 9076c1d9bcc13b6efdb8ef502274f846d8d4e6a1 I'm 100% sure that it was working before, but I didn't run it forever, and it stopped working at some point. Needs bisection, on whatever commit last touched x11 stuff.

* https://askubuntu.com/questions/730891/how-can-i-get-a-mouse-cursor-in-qemu
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19665412/mouse-and-keyboard-not-working-in-qemu-emulator

`-show-cursor` did not help, I just get to see the host cursor, but the guest cursor still does not move.

Doing:

....
watch -n 1 grep i8042 /proc/interrupts
....

shows that interrupts do happen when mouse and keyboard presses are done, so I expect that it is some wrong either with:

* QEMU. Same behaviour if I try the host's QEMU 2.10.1 however.
* X11 configuration. We do have `BR2_PACKAGE_XDRIVER_XF86_INPUT_MOUSE=y`.

`/var/log/Xorg.0.log` contains the following interesting lines:

....
[ 27.549] (II) LoadModule: "mouse"
[ 27.549] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/mouse_drv.so
[ 27.590] (EE) : Cannot find which device to use.
[ 27.590] (EE) : cannot open input device
[ 27.590] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for ""
[ 27.590] (II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
....

The file `/dev/inputs/mice` does not exist.

Note that our current link:kernel_confi_fragment sets:

....
# CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSE is not set
# CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_PSAUX is not set
....

for gem5, so you might want to remove those lines to debug this.

=== X11 ARM

On ARM, `startx` hangs at a message:

....
vgaarb: this pci device is not a vga device
....

and nothing shows on the screen, and:

....
grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log
....

says:

....
(EE) Failed to load module "modesetting" (module does not exist, 0)
....

A friend told me this but I haven't tried it yet:

* `xf86-video-modesetting` is likely the missing ingredient, but it does not seem possible to activate it from Buildroot currently without patching things.
* `xf86-video-fbdev` should work as well, but we need to make sure fbdev is enabled, and maybe add some line to the `Xorg.conf`

== initrd

The kernel can boot from an CPIO file, which is a directory serialization format much like tar: https://superuser.com/questions/343915/tar-vs-cpio-what-is-the-difference

The bootloader, which for us is QEMU itself, is then configured to put that CPIO into memory, and tell the kernel that it is there.

With this setup, you don't even need to give a root filesystem to the kernel, it just does everything in memory in a ramfs.

To enable initrd instead of the default ext2 disk image, do:

....
./build -i
./run -i
....

Notice how it boots fine, even though this leads to not giving QEMU the `-drive` option, as can be verified with:

....
cat ./out/x86_64/qemu/run.sh
....

Also as expected, there is no filesystem persistency, since we are doing everything in memory:

....
date >f
poweroff
cat f
# can't open 'f': No such file or directory
....

which can be good for automated tests, as it ensures that you are using a pristine unmodified system image every time.

One downside of this method is that it has to put the entire filesystem into memory, and could lead to a panic:

....
end Kernel panic - not syncing: Out of memory and no killable processes...
....

This can be solved by increasing the memory with:

....
./run -im 256M
....

The main ingredients to get initrd working are:

* `BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_CPIO=y`: make Buildroot generate `images/rootfs.cpio` in addition to the other images.
+
It is also possible to compress that image with other options.
* `qemu -initrd`: make QEMU put the image into memory and tell the kernel about it.
* `CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y`: Compile the kernel with initrd support, see also: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/67462/linux-kernel-is-not-finding-the-initrd-correctly/424496#424496
+
Buildroot forces that option when `BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_CPIO=y` is given

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/89923/how-does-linux-load-the-initrd-image asks how the mechanism works in more detail.

=== initrd in desktop distros

Most modern desktop distributions have an initrd in their root disk to do early setup.

The rationale for this is described at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_ramdisk

One obvious use case is having an encrypted root filesystem: you keep the initrd in an unencrypted partition, and then setup decryption from there.

I think GRUB then knows read common disk formats, and then loads that initrd to memory with a `/boot/grub/grub.cfg` directive of type:

....
initrd /initrd.img-4.4.0-108-generic
....

Related: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6405083/initrd-and-booting-the-linux-kernel

=== initramfs

initramfs is just like <>, but you also glue the image directly to the kernel image itself.

So the only argument that QEMU needs is the `-kernel`, no `-drive` not even `-initrd`! Pretty cool.

Try it out with:

....
./build -I -l && ./run -I
....

The `-l` (ell) should only be used the first time you move to / from a different root filesystem method (ext2 or cpio) to initramfs to overcome: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49260466/why-when-i-change-br2-linux-kernel-custom-config-file-and-run-make-linux-reconfi

....
./build -I && ./run -I
....

It is interesting to see how this increases the size of the kernel image if you do a:

....
ls -lh out/x86_64/buildroot/images/bzImage
....

before and after using initramfs, since the `.cpio` is now glued to the kernel image.

In the background, it uses `BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS`, and this makes the kernel config option `CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE` point to the CPIO that will be embedded in the kernel image.

http://nairobi-embedded.org/initramfs_tutorial.html shows a full manual setup.

=== gem5 initrd

TODO we were not able to get it working yet: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49261801/how-to-boot-the-linux-kernel-with-initrd-or-initramfs-with-gem5

== Linux kernel

=== Linux kernel configuration

==== Use your own kernel config

By default, we use a `.config` that is a mixture of:

* Buildroot's minimal per machine `.config`, which has the minimal options needed to boot
* our <> which enables options we want to play with

If you want to just use your own exact `.config` instead, do:

....
./build -K data/myconfig -l
....

Beware that Buildroot can `sed` override some of the configurations we make no matter what, e.g. it forces `CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y` when `BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_CPIO` is on, so you might want to double check as explained at <>. TODO check if there is a way to prevent that patching and maybe patch Buildroot for it, it is too fuzzy. People should be able to just build with whatever `.config` they want.

==== Find the kernel config

Ge the build config in guest:

....
zcat /proc/config.gz
....

or with our shortcut:

....
/conf.sh
....

This is enabled by:

....
CONFIG_IKCONFIG=y
CONFIG_IKCONFIG_PROC=y
....

From host:

....
cat out/*/buildroot/build/linux-custom/.config
....

=== Find the kernel version

We try to use the latest possible kernel major release version.

In QEMU:

....
cat /proc/version
....

or in the source:

....
cd linux
git log | grep -E ' Linux [0-9]+\.' | head
....

=== Update the Linux kernel

....
# Last point before out patches.
last_mainline_revision=v4.15
next_mainline_revision=v4.16
cd linux

# Create a branch before the rebase in case things go wrong.
git checkout -b "lkmc-${last_mainline_revision}"
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:cirosantilli/linux.git
git push
git checkout master

git remote add up git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
git fetch up
git rebase --onto "$next_mainline_revision" "$last_mainline_revision"

cd ..
./build -lk
# Manually fix broken kernel modules if necessary.
git branch "buildroot-2017.08-linux-${last_mainline_revision}"
git add .
# And update the README to show off.
git commit -m "Linux ${next_mainline_revision}"
# Test the heck out of it, especially kernel modules and GDB.
./run
git push
....

During update all you kernel modules may break since the kernel API is not stable.

They are usually trivial breaks of things moving around headers or to sub-structs.

The userland, however, should simply not break, as Linus enforces strict backwards compatibility of userland interfaces.

This backwards compatibility is just awesome, it makes getting and running the latest master painless.

This also makes this repo the perfect setup to develop the Linux kernel.

=== Downgrade the Linux kernel

The kernel is not forward compatible, however, so downgrading the Linux kernel requires downgrading the userland too to the latest Buildroot branch that supports it.

The default Linux kernel version is bumped in Buildroot with commit messages of type:

....
linux: bump default to version 4.9.6
....

So you can try:

....
git log --grep 'linux: bump default to version'
....

Those commits change `BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_LATEST_VERSION` in `/linux/Config.in`.

You should then look up if there is a branch that supports that kernel. Staying on branches is a good idea as they will get backports, in particular ones that fix the build as newer host versions come out.

=== Kernel panic and oops

To test out kernel panics and oops in controlled circumstances, try out the modules:

....
insmod /panic.ko
insmod /oops.ko
....

A panic can also be generated with:

....
echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger
....

Panic vs oops: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/91854/whats-the-difference-between-a-kernel-oops-and-a-kernel-panic

How to generate them:

* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/66197/how-to-cause-kernel-panic-with-a-single-command
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23484147/generate-kernel-oops-or-crash-in-the-code

When a panic happens, <> does not work as it normally does, and it is hard to get the logs if on are on <>:

* https://superuser.com/questions/848412/scrolling-up-the-failed-screen-with-kernel-panic
* https://superuser.com/questions/269228/write-qemu-booting-virtual-machine-output-to-a-file
* http://www.reactos.org/wiki/QEMU#Redirect_to_a_file

==== Kernel panic

On panic, the kernel dies, and so does our terminal.

Make the kernel reboot after n seconds after panic:

....
echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic
....

Can also be controlled with the `panic=` kernel boot parameter.

`0` to disable: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/29567/how-to-configure-the-linux-kernel-to-reboot-on-panic/29569#29569

The panic trace looks like:

....
panic: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
panic myinit
Kernel panic - not syncing: hello panic
CPU: 0 PID: 53 Comm: insmod Tainted: G O 4.16.0 #6
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.11.0-0-g63451fca13-prebuilt.qemu-project.org 04/01/2014
Call Trace:
dump_stack+0x7d/0xba
? 0xffffffffc0000000
panic+0xda/0x213
? printk+0x43/0x4b
? 0xffffffffc0000000
myinit+0x1d/0x20 [panic]
do_one_initcall+0x3e/0x170
do_init_module+0x5b/0x210
load_module+0x2035/0x29d0
? kernel_read_file+0x7d/0x140
? SyS_finit_module+0xa8/0xb0
SyS_finit_module+0xa8/0xb0
do_syscall_64+0x6f/0x310
? trace_hardirqs_off_thunk+0x1a/0x32
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x42/0xb7
RIP: 0033:0x7ffff7b36206
RSP: 002b:00007fffffffeb78 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000139
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000000000000005c RCX: 00007ffff7b36206
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 000000000069e010 RDI: 0000000000000003
RBP: 000000000069e010 R08: 00007ffff7ddd320 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 00007ffff7ddd320 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 0000000000000003
R13: 00007fffffffef4a R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
Kernel Offset: disabled
---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: hello panic
....

Notice how our panic message `hello panic` is visible at:

....
Kernel panic - not syncing: hello panic
....

===== Kernel module stack trace to source line

The log shows which module each symbol belongs to if any, e.g.:

....
myinit+0x1d/0x20 [panic]
....

says that the function `myinit` is in the module `panic`.

To find the line that panicked, do:

....
./rungdb
....

and then:

....
info line *(myinit+0x1d)
....

which gives us the correct line:

....
Line 7 of "/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/x86_64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/./panic.c" starts at address 0xbf00001c and ends at 0xbf00002c .
....

as explained at: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8545931/using-gdb-to-convert-addresses-to-lines/27576029#27576029

The exact same thing can be done post mortem with:

....
./out/x86_64/buildroot/host/usr/bin/x86_64-buildroot-linux-uclibc-gdb \
-batch \
-ex 'info line *(myinit+0x1d)' \
./out/x86_64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/panic.ko \
;
....

Related:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6151538/addr2line-on-kernel-module
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13468286/how-to-read-understand-analyze-and-debug-a-linux-kernel-panic

===== BUG_ON

Basically just calls `panic("BUG!")` for most archs.

===== Shutdown VM on panic

Useful to automate bisections.

QEMU:

....
./run -E 'insmod /panic.ko' -e 'panic=1' -- -no-reboot
....

gem5: TODO gem5's `config.ini` has a `system.panic_on_panic` param which I bet will work, but it does not seem to be exposed to `fs.py`.

[[oops]]
==== Kernel oops

On oops, the shell still lives after.

However we:

* leave the normal control flow, and `oops after` never gets printed: an interrupt is serviced
* cannot `rmmod oops` afterwards

It is possible to make `oops` lead to panics always with:

....
echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic_on_oops
insmod /oops.ko
....

An oops stack trace looks like:

....
BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000000
IP: myinit+0x18/0x30 [oops]
PGD dccf067 P4D dccf067 PUD dcc1067 PMD 0
Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI
Modules linked in: oops(O+)
CPU: 0 PID: 53 Comm: insmod Tainted: G O 4.16.0 #6
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.11.0-0-g63451fca13-prebuilt.qemu-project.org 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:myinit+0x18/0x30 [oops]
RSP: 0018:ffffc900000d3cb0 EFLAGS: 00000282
RAX: 000000000000000b RBX: ffffffffc0000000 RCX: ffffffff81e3e3a8
RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000086 RDI: ffffffffc0001033
RBP: ffffc900000d3e30 R08: 69796d2073706f6f R09: 000000000000013b
R10: ffffea0000373280 R11: ffffffff822d8b2d R12: 0000000000000000
R13: ffffffffc0002050 R14: ffffffffc0002000 R15: ffff88000dc934c8
FS: 00007ffff7ff66a0(0000) GS:ffff88000fc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 000000000dcd2000 CR4: 00000000000006f0
Call Trace:
do_one_initcall+0x3e/0x170
do_init_module+0x5b/0x210
load_module+0x2035/0x29d0
? SyS_finit_module+0xa8/0xb0
SyS_finit_module+0xa8/0xb0
do_syscall_64+0x6f/0x310
? trace_hardirqs_off_thunk+0x1a/0x32
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x42/0xb7
RIP: 0033:0x7ffff7b36206
RSP: 002b:00007fffffffeb78 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000139
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000000000000005c RCX: 00007ffff7b36206
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 000000000069e010 RDI: 0000000000000003
RBP: 000000000069e010 R08: 00007ffff7ddd320 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 00007ffff7ddd320 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 0000000000000003
R13: 00007fffffffef4b R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
Code: 04 25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e8 b2 33 09 c1 31 c0 c3 0f 1f 44
RIP: myinit+0x18/0x30 [oops] RSP: ffffc900000d3cb0
CR2: 0000000000000000
---[ end trace 3cdb4e9d9842b503 ]---
....

To find the line that oopsed, look at the `RIP` register:

....
RIP: 0010:myinit+0x18/0x30 [oops]
....

and then on GDB:

....
./rungdb
....

run

....
info line *(myinit+0x18)
....

which gives us the correct line:

....
Line 7 of "/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/arm/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/./panic.c" starts at address 0xbf00001c and ends at 0xbf00002c .
....

This-did not work on `arm` due to <> so we need to either:

* <>
* <> post-mortem method

==== dump_stack

The `dump_stack` function produces a stack trace much like panic and oops, but causes no problems and we return to the normal control flow, and can cleanly remove the module afterwards:

....
insmod /dump_stack.ko
....

==== WARN_ON

The `WARN_ON` macro basically just calls <>.

One extra side effect is that we can make it also panic with:

....
echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic_on_warn
insmod /warn_on.ko
....

Can also be activated with the `panic_on_warn` boot parameter.

=== Linux kernel tracing

==== CONFIG_PROC_EVENTS

Logs proc events such as process creation to a link:kernel_module/netlink.c[netlink socket].

We then have a userland program that listens to the events and prints them out:

....
# /proc_events.out &
# set mcast listen ok
# sleep 2 & sleep 1
fork: parent tid=48 pid=48 -> child tid=79 pid=79
fork: parent tid=48 pid=48 -> child tid=80 pid=80
exec: tid=80 pid=80
exec: tid=79 pid=79
# exit: tid=80 pid=80 exit_code=0
exit: tid=79 pid=79 exit_code=0
echo a
a
#
....

TODO: why `exit: tid=79` shows after `exit: tid=80`?

Note how `echo a` is a Bash built-in, and therefore does not spawn a new process.

TODO: why does this produce no output?

....
/proc_events.out >f &
....

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6075013/detect-launching-of-programs-on-linux-platform/8255487#8255487
* https://serverfault.com/questions/199654/does-anyone-know-a-simple-way-to-monitor-root-process-spawn
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/260162/how-to-track-newly-created-processes

==== CONFIG_PROC_EVENTS aarch64

0111ca406bdfa6fd65a2605d353583b4c4051781 was failing with:

....
>>> kernel_module 1.0 Building
/usr/bin/make -j8 -C '/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/build/kernel_module-1.0/user' BR2_PACKAGE_OPENBLAS="" CC="/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/host/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-uclibc-gcc" LD="/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/host/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-uclibc-ld"
/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/host/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-uclibc-gcc -ggdb3 -fopenmp -O0 -std=c99 -Wall -Werror -Wextra -o 'proc_events.out' 'proc_events.c'
In file included from /linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/host/aarch64-buildroot-linux-uclibc/sysroot/usr/include/signal.h:329:0,
from proc_events.c:12:
/linux-kernel-module-cheat//out/aarch64/buildroot/host/aarch64-buildroot-linux-uclibc/sysroot/usr/include/sys/ucontext.h:50:16: error: field ‘uc_mcontext’ has incomplete type
mcontext_t uc_mcontext;
^~~~~~~~~~~
....

so we commented it out.

Related threads:

* https://mailman.uclibc-ng.org/pipermail/devel/2018-January/001624.html
* https://github.com/DynamoRIO/dynamorio/issues/2356

If we try to naively update uclibc to 1.0.29 with `buildroot_override`, which contains the above mentioned patch, clean `aarch64` test build fails with:

....
../utils/ldd.c: In function 'elf_find_dynamic':
../utils/ldd.c:238:12: warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size [-Wint-to-pointer-cast]
return (void *)byteswap_to_host(dynp->d_un.d_val);
^
/tmp/user/20321/cciGScKB.o: In function `process_line_callback':
msgmerge.c:(.text+0x22): undefined reference to `escape'
/tmp/user/20321/cciGScKB.o: In function `process':
msgmerge.c:(.text+0xf6): undefined reference to `poparser_init'
msgmerge.c:(.text+0x11e): undefined reference to `poparser_feed_line'
msgmerge.c:(.text+0x128): undefined reference to `poparser_finish'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile.in:120: recipe for target '../utils/msgmerge.host' failed
make[2]: *** [../utils/msgmerge.host] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
/tmp/user/20321/ccF8V8jF.o: In function `process':
msgfmt.c:(.text+0xbf3): undefined reference to `poparser_init'
msgfmt.c:(.text+0xc1f): undefined reference to `poparser_feed_line'
msgfmt.c:(.text+0xc2b): undefined reference to `poparser_finish'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile.in:120: recipe for target '../utils/msgfmt.host' failed
make[2]: *** [../utils/msgfmt.host] Error 1
package/pkg-generic.mk:227: recipe for target '/data/git/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/aarch64/buildroot/build/uclibc-custom/.stamp_built' failed
make[1]: *** [/data/git/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/aarch64/buildroot/build/uclibc-custom/.stamp_built] Error 2
Makefile:79: recipe for target '_all' failed
make: *** [_all] Error 2
....

Buildroot master has already moved to uclibc 1.0.29 at f8546e836784c17aa26970f6345db9d515411700, but it is not yet in any tag... so I'm not tempted to update it yet just for this.

==== ftrace

Trace a single function:

....
cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/

# Stop tracing.
echo 0 > tracing_on

# Clear previous trace.
echo '' > trace

# List the available tracers, and pick one.
cat available_tracers
echo function > current_tracer

# List all functions that can be traced
# cat available_filter_functions
# Choose one.
echo __kmalloc >set_ftrace_filter
# Confirm that only __kmalloc is enabled.
cat enabled_functions

echo 1 > tracing_on

# Latest events.
head trace

# Observe trace continuously, and drain seen events out.
cat trace_pipe &
....

Sample output:

....
# tracer: function
#
# entries-in-buffer/entries-written: 97/97 #P:1
#
# _-----=> irqs-off
# / _----=> need-resched
# | / _---=> hardirq/softirq
# || / _--=> preempt-depth
# ||| / delay
# TASK-PID CPU# |||| TIMESTAMP FUNCTION
# | | | |||| | |
head-228 [000] .... 825.534637: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
head-228 [000] .... 825.534692: __kmalloc <-load_elf_binary
head-228 [000] .... 825.534815: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
head-228 [000] .... 825.550917: __kmalloc <-__seq_open_private
head-228 [000] .... 825.550953: __kmalloc <-tracing_open
head-229 [000] .... 826.756585: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
head-229 [000] .... 826.756627: __kmalloc <-load_elf_binary
head-229 [000] .... 826.756719: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
head-229 [000] .... 826.773796: __kmalloc <-__seq_open_private
head-229 [000] .... 826.773835: __kmalloc <-tracing_open
head-230 [000] .... 827.174988: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
head-230 [000] .... 827.175046: __kmalloc <-load_elf_binary
head-230 [000] .... 827.175171: __kmalloc <-load_elf_phdrs
....

Trace all possible functions, and draw a call graph:

....
echo 1 > max_graph_depth
echo 1 > events/enable
echo function_graph > current_tracer
....

Sample output:

....
# CPU DURATION FUNCTION CALLS
# | | | | | | |
0) 2.173 us | } /* ntp_tick_length */
0) | timekeeping_update() {
0) 4.176 us | ntp_get_next_leap();
0) 5.016 us | update_vsyscall();
0) | raw_notifier_call_chain() {
0) 2.241 us | notifier_call_chain();
0) + 19.879 us | }
0) 3.144 us | update_fast_timekeeper();
0) 2.738 us | update_fast_timekeeper();
0) ! 117.147 us | }
0) | _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore() {
0) 4.045 us | _raw_write_unlock_irqrestore();
0) + 22.066 us | }
0) ! 265.278 us | } /* update_wall_time */
....

TODO: what do `+` and `!` mean?

Each `enable` under the `events/` tree enables a certain set of functions, the higher the `enable` more functions are enabled.

==== Count boot instructions

* https://www.quora.com/How-many-instructions-does-a-typical-Linux-kernel-boot-take
* https://github.com/cirosantilli/chat/issues/31
* https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/tracing-qemu-guest-execution/
* `qemu/docs/tracing.txt` and `qemu/docs/replay.txt`
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39149446/how-to-use-qemus-simple-trace-backend/46497873#46497873

Results (boot not excluded):

[options="header"]
|===
|Commit |Arch |Simulator |Instruction count

|7228f75ac74c896417fb8c5ba3d375a14ed4d36b
|arm
|QEMU
|680k

|7228f75ac74c896417fb8c5ba3d375a14ed4d36b
|arm
|gem5 AtomicSimpleCPU
|160M

|7228f75ac74c896417fb8c5ba3d375a14ed4d36b
|arm
|gem5 HPI
|155M

|7228f75ac74c896417fb8c5ba3d375a14ed4d36b
|x86_64
|QEMU
|3M

|7228f75ac74c896417fb8c5ba3d375a14ed4d36b
|x86_64
|gem5 AtomicSimpleCPU
|528M

|===

QEMU:

....
./trace-boot -a x86_64
....

sample output:

....
instruction count all: 1833863
entry address: 0x1000000
instruction count firmware: 20708
....

gem5:

....
./run -a aarch64 -g -E 'm5 exit'
# Or:
# ./run -a aarch64 -g -E 'm5 exit' -- --cpu-type=HPI --caches
./gem5-stat -a aarch64 sim_insts
....

Notes:

* `0x1000000` is the address where QEMU puts the Linux kernel at with `-kernel` in x86.
+
It can be found from:
+
....
./runtc readelf -e out/x86_64/buildroot/build/linux-*/vmlinux | grep Entry
....
+
TODO confirm further. If I try to break there with:
+
....
./rungdb *0x1000000
....
+
but I have no corresponding source line. Also note that this line is not actually the first line, since the kernel messages such as `early console in extract_kernel` have already shown on screen at that point. This does not break at all:
+
....
./rungdb extract_kernel
....
+
It only appears once on every log I've seen so far, checked with `grep 0x1000000 trace.txt`
+
Then when we count the instructions that run before the kernel entry point, there is only about 100k instructions, which is insignificant compared to the kernel boot itself.
+
TODO `-a arm` and `-a aarch64` does not count firmware instructions properly because the entry point address of the ELF file does not show up on the trace at all.
* We can also discount the instructions after `init` runs by using `readelf` to get the initial address of `init`. One easy way to do that now is to just run:
+
....
./rungdb-user kernel_module-1.0/user/poweroff.out main
....
+
And get that from the traces, e.g. if the address is `4003a0`, then we search:
+
....
grep -n 4003a0 trace.txt
....
+
I have observed a single match for that instruction, so it must be the init, and there were only 20k instructions after it, so the impact is negligible.
* to disable networking. Is replacing `init` enough?
+
--
** https://superuser.com/questions/181254/how-do-you-boot-linux-with-networking-disabled
** https://superuser.com/questions/684005/how-does-one-permanently-disable-gnu-linux-networking/1255015#1255015
--
+
`CONFIG_NET=n` did not significantly reduce instruction counts, so maybe replacing `init` is enough.
* gem5 simulates memory latencies. So I think that the CPU loops idle while waiting for memory, and counts will be higher.

=== User mode Linux

I once got link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-mode_Linux[UML] running on a minimal Buildroot setup at: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/73203/how-to-create-rootfs-for-user-mode-linux-on-fedora-18/372207#372207

But in part because it is dying, I didn't spend much effort to integrate it into this repo, although it would be a good fit in principle, since it is essentially a virtualization method.

Maybe some brave should will send a pull request one day.

=== Linux kernel interactive stuff

==== Linux kernel console fun

Requires <>.

You can also try those on the `Ctrl-Alt-F3` of your Ubuntu host, but it is much more fun inside a VM!

Stop the cursor from blinking:

....
echo 0 > /sys/class/graphics/fbcon/cursor_blink
....

Rotate the console 90 degrees!

....
echo 1 > /sys/class/graphics/fbcon/rotate
....

Requires `CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_ROTATION=y`.

Documented under: `fb/`.

TODO: font and keymap. Mentioned at: https://cmcenroe.me/2017/05/05/linux-console.html and I think can be done with Busybox `loadkmap` and `loadfont`, we just have to understand their formats, related:

* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/177024/remap-keyboard-on-the-linux-console
* https://superuser.com/questions/194202/remapping-keys-system-wide-in-linux-not-just-in-x

==== Linux kernel magic keys

Requires <>.

Let's have some fun.

I think most are implemented under:

....
drivers/tty
....

TODO find all.

Scroll up / down the terminal:

....
Shift-PgDown
Shift-PgUp
....

Or inside `./qemumonitor`:

....
sendkey shift-pgup
sendkey shift-pgdown
....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key Those can be tested through the monitor with:

....
sendkey alt-sysrq-c
....

or you can try the much more boring method of:

....
echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger
....

Implemented in

....
drivers/tty/sysrq.c
....

Switch between TTYs with:

....
sendkey alt-left
sendkey alt-right
sendkey alt-f1
sendkey alt-f2
....

TODO: only works after I do a `chvt 1`, but then how to put a terminal on `alt-f2`? I just get a blank screen. One day, one day:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16706423/two-instances-of-busybox-on-separate-serial-lines-ttysn
* https://serverfault.com/questions/119736/how-to-enable-multiple-virtual-consoles-on-linux
* https://superuser.com/questions/33065/console-commands-to-change-virtual-ttys-in-linux-and-openbsd

Also tried to add some extra lines to `/etc/inittab` of type:

....
console::respawn:/sbin/getty -n -L -l /loginroot.sh ttyS1 0 vt100
....

but nothing changed.

Note that on Ubuntu 17.10, to get to the text terminal from the GUI we first need `Ctrl-Alt-Fx`, and once in the text terminals, `Alt-Fn` works without `Ctrl`.

==== CONFIG_LOGO

Must be run in <>.

If you compile the kernel with `CONFIG_LOGO=y`, then you get a Penguin image for <> above the console! https://askubuntu.com/questions/80938/is-it-possible-to-get-the-tux-logo-on-the-text-based-boot

`reset` on the terminal then kills the poor penguins.

When `CONFIG_LOGO=y` is set, the logo can be disabled at boot with:

....
./run -e 'logo.nologo'
....

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39872463/how-can-i-disable-the-startup-penguins-and-boot-text-on-linaro-ubuntu
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/332198/centos-remove-penguin-logo-at-startup

Looks like a recompile is needed to modify the image...

* https://superuser.com/questions/736423/changing-kernel-bootsplash-image
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/153975/how-to-change-boot-logo-in-linux-mint

=== Linux kernel testing

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3177338/how-is-the-linux-kernel-tested

==== LTP

Linux Test Project

https://github.com/linux-test-project/ltp

C userland test suite.

Buildroot already has a package, so it is trivial to build it:

....
./build -B 'BR2_PACKAGE_LTP_TESTSUITE=y'
....

Then try it out with:

....
cd /usr/lib/ltp-testsuite/testcases
./bin/write01
....

There is a main executable `execltp` to run everything, but it depends on Python, so let's just run them manually.

TODO a large chunk of tests, the Open POSIX test suite, is disabled with a comment on Buildroot master saying build failed: https://github.com/buildroot/buildroot/blob/3f37dd7c3b5eb25a41edc6f72ba73e5a21b07e9b/package/ltp-testsuite/ltp-testsuite.mk#L13 However, both tickets mentioned there were closed, so we should try it out and patch Buildroot if it works now.

==== stress

POSIX userland stress. Two versions:

....
./build -B 'BR2_PACKAGE_STRESS=y'
./build -B 'BR2_PACKAGE_STRESS_NG=y'
....

Websites:

* https://people.seas.harvard.edu/~apw/stress/
* https://github.com/ColinIanKing/stress-ng

Likely the NG one is best, but it requires `BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_GLIBC=y` which we don't have currently because we use uclibc... arghhhh.

`stress` usage:

....
stress --help
stress -c 16 &
ps
....

and notice how 16 threads were created in addition to a parent worker thread.

It just runs forever, so kill it when you get tired:

....
kill %1
....

[[kernel-configs-about]]
=== About our Linux kernel configs

We have managed to come up with minimalistic kernel configs that work for both QEMU and gem5 (oh, the hours of bisection).

Our configs are all based on Buildroot's configs, which were designed for QEMU, and then on top of those we also add:

* link:kernel_config_fragment/min[]: minimal tweaks required to boot gem5 or for using our slightly different QEMU command line options than Buildroot
* link:kernel_config_fragment/default[]: optional configs that we add by default to our kernel build because they increase visibility, and don't significantly increase build time nor add significant runtime overhead

Changes to those files automatically trigger kernel reconfigures even without using the linux-reconfigure target, since timestamps are used to decide if changes happened or not.

Having the same config working for both QEMU and gem5 means that you can deal with functional matters in QEMU, which runs much faster, and switch to gem5 only for performance issues.

To see Buildroot's base configs, have a look at `buildroot/configs/qemu_x86_64_defconfig`, which our `./build` script uses.

That file contains `BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE="board/qemu/x86_64/linux-4.11.config"`, which points to the base config file used.

`arm`, on the other hand, uses `buildroot/configs/qemu_arm_vexpress_defconfig`, which contains `BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="vexpress"`, and therefore just does a `make vexpress_defconfig`.

Other configs which we had previously tested at 4e0d9af81fcce2ce4e777cb82a1990d7c2ca7c1e are:

* Jason's magic `x86_64` config: http://web.archive.org/web/20171229121642/http://www.lowepower.com/jason/files/config which is referenced at: link:http://web.archive.org/web/20171229121525/http://www.lowepower.com/jason/setting-up-gem5-full-system.html[]. QEMU boots with that by removing `# CONFIG_VIRTIO_PCI is not set`
* `arm` and `aarch64` configs present in the official ARM gem5 Linux kernel fork: https://gem5.googlesource.com/arm/linux, e.g. for arm v4.9: link:https://gem5.googlesource.com/arm/linux/+/917e007a4150d26a0aa95e4f5353ba72753669c7/arch/arm/configs/gem5_defconfig[]. The patches there are just simple optimizations and instrumentation, but they are not needed to boot.

== QEMU

Some QEMU specific features to play with and limitations to cry over.

=== Snapshot

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40227651/does-qemu-emulator-have-checkpoint-function/48724371#48724371

QEMU allows us to take snapshots at any time through the monitor.

You can then restore CPU, memory and disk state back at any time.

qcow2 filesystems must be used for that to work.

To test it out, login into the VM with and run:

....
./run -F 'umount /mnt/9p /mnt/out'
....

and run:

....
/count.sh
....

On another shell, take a snapshot:

....
echo 'savevm my_snap_id' | ./qemumonitor
....

The counting continues.

Restore the snapshot:

....
echo 'loadvm my_snap_id' | ./qemumonitor
....

and the counting goes back to where we saved. This shows that CPU and memory states were reverted.

The `umount` is needed because snapshotting conflicts with <<9p>>, which we felt is a more valuable default. If you forget to unmount, the following error appears on the QEMU monitor:

.....
Migration is disabled when VirtFS export path '/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/x86_64/buildroot/build' is mounted in the guest using mount_tag 'host_out'
.....

We can also verify that the disk state is also reversed. Guest:

....
echo 0 >f
....

Monitor:

....
echo 'savevm my_snap_id' | ./qemumonitor
....

Guest:

....
echo 1 >f
....

Monitor:

....
echo 'loadvm my_snap_id' | ./qemumonitor
....

Guest:

....
cat f
....

And the output is `0`.

Our setup does not allow for snapshotting while using <>.

=== Educational hardware models

We have added and interacted with a few educational hardware models in QEMU.

This is useful to learn:

* how to create new hardware models for QEMU. Overview: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28315265/how-to-add-a-new-device-in-qemu-source-code
* how the Linux kernel interacts with hardware

To get started, have a look at the "Hardware device drivers" section under link:kernel_module/README.adoc[], and try to run those modules, and then grep the QEMU source code.

==== platform_device

This is an example of hardware coded into an ARM `-M versatilepb` SoC.

Using this device now requires checking out to: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat/tree/platform-device before building, it does not work on master.

The module itself can be found at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat/blob/platform-device/kernel_module/platform_device.c

Rationale: we found out that the kernels that build for `qemu -M versatilepb` don't work on gem5 because `versatilepb` is an old pre-v7 platform, and gem5 requires armv7.

At the same time, we also found out that Versatile Express (`vexpress`) does support armv7, so maybe we could port it over, but I had lost interest at that point, and decided to just go with the simpler `-M virt` machine instead.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28315265/how-to-add-a-new-device-in-qemu-source-code/44612957#44612957

Uses:

* `hw/misc/lkmc_platform_device.c` minimal device added in our QEMU fork to `-M versatilepb`
* the device tree entry we added to our Linux kernel fork: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux/blob/361bb623671a52a36a077a6dd45843389a687a33/arch/arm/boot/dts/versatile-pb.dts#L42

Expected outcome after insmod:

* QEMU reports MMIO with printfs
* IRQs are generated and handled by this module, which logs to dmesg

Also without insmodding this module, try:

....
devmem 0x101e9000 w 0x12345678
....

which touches the register from userland through `/dev/mem`.

==== Educational hardware models gem5

TODO

http://gedare-csphd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/adding-simple-io-device-to-gem5.html

=== 9P

This protocol allows sharing a mountable filesystem between guest and host.

With networking, it's boring, we can just use any of the old tools like sshfs and NFS.

https://superuser.com/questions/628169/how-to-share-a-directory-with-the-host-without-networking-in-qemu

One advantage of this method over NFS is that can run without `sudo` on host, or having to pass host credentials on guest for sshfs.

TODO performance compared to NFS.

As usual, we have already set everything up for you. On host:

....
cd data/9p
uname -a > host
....

Guest:

....
cd /mnt/9p
cat host
uname -a > guest
....

Host:

....
cat guest
....

The main ingredients for this are:

* `9P` settings in our <>
* `9p` entry on our link:rootfs_overlay/etc/fstab[]
+
Alternatively, you could also mount your own with:
+
....
mkdir /mnt/my9p
mount -t 9p -o trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L host0 /mnt/my9p
....
* Launch QEMU with `-virtfs` as in your link:run[] script
+
When we tried:
+
....
security_model=mapped
....
+
writes from guest failed due to user mismatch problems: https://serverfault.com/questions/342801/read-write-access-for-passthrough-9p-filesystems-with-libvirt-qemu

The feature is documented at: https://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/9psetup

==== 9P gem5

Seems possible! Lets do it:

* http://gem5.org/wiki/images/b/b8/Summit2017_wa_devlib.pdf
* http://gem5.org/WA-gem5

==== OverlayFS

It would be uber awesome if we could overlay a 9p filesystem on top of the root.

That would allow us to have a second Buildroot `target/` directory, and without any extra configs, keep the root filesystem image small, which implies:

* less host disk usage, no need to copy the entire `target/` to the image again
* faster rebuild turnaround:
** no need to regenerate the root filesystem at all and reboot
** overcomes the `check_bin_arch` problem: <>
* no need to worry about <>

But TODO we didn't get it working yet:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41119656/how-can-i-overlayfs-the-root-filesystem-on-linux
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/316018/how-to-use-overlayfs-to-protect-the-root-filesystem

Test with the script:

....
/overlayfs.sh
....

It shows that files from the `upper/` does not show on the root.

Furthermore, if you try to mount the root elsewhere to prepare for a chroot:

....
/overlayfs.sh / /overlay
# chroot /overlay
....

it does not work well either because sub filesystems like `/proc` do not show on the mount:

....
ls /overlay/proc
....

A less good alternative is to set `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` on the 9p mount and run executables directly from the mount.

Even mor awesome than `chroot` be to `pivot_root`, but I couldn't get that working either:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28015688/pivot-root-device-or-resource-busy
* https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/179788/pivot-root-device-or-resource-busy

=== Guest host networking

First ensure that networking is enabled before trying out anything in this section: <>

==== Host to guest networking

Guest, BusyBox `nc` enabled with `CONFIG_NC=y`:

....
nc -l -p 45455
....

Host, `nc` from the `netcat-openbsd` package:

....
echo asdf | nc localhost 45455
....

Then `asdf` appears on the guest.

Only this specific port works by default since we have forwarded it on the QEMU command line.

We us this exact procedure to connect to <>.

===== ssh into guest

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/124681/how-to-ssh-from-host-to-guest-using-qemu/307557#307557

Not enabled by default due to the build / runtime overhead. To enable, build with:

....
./build -B 'BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSH=y'
....

Then inside the guest turn on sshd:

....
/sshd.sh
....

and finally on host:

....
ssh root@localhost -p 45456
....

===== gem5 host to guest networking

Could not do port forwarding from host to guest, and therefore could not use `gdbserver`: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48941494/how-to-do-port-forwarding-from-guest-to-host-in-gem5

==== Guest to host networking

TODO. There is `guestfwd`, which sounds analogous to `hostwfd` used in the other sense, but I was not able to get it working, e.g.:

....
-netdev user,hostfwd=tcp::45455-:45455,guestfwd=tcp::45456-,id=net0 \
....

gives:

....
Could not open guest forwarding device 'guestfwd.tcp.45456'
....

Related:

* https://serverfault.com/questions/769874/how-to-forward-a-port-from-guest-to-host-in-qemu-kvm

=== QEMU user mode

This has nothing to do with the Linux kernel, but it is cool:

....
sudo apt-get install qemu-user
./build -a arm
cd out/arm/buildroot/target
qemu-arm -L . bin/ls
....

This uses QEMU's user-mode emulation mode that allows us to run cross-compiled userland programs directly on the host.

The reason this is cool, is that `ls` is not statically compiled, but since we have the Buildroot image, we are still able to find the shared linker and the shared library at the given path.

In other words, much cooler than:

....
arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -o hello -static hello.c
qemu-arm hello
....

It is also possible to compile QEMU user mode from source with `BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_QEMU_LINUX_USER_MODE=y`, but then your compilation will likely fail with:

....
package/qemu/qemu.mk:110: *** "Refusing to build qemu-user: target Linux version newer than host's.". Stop.
....

since we are using a bleeding edge kernel, which is a sanity check in the Buildroot QEMU package.

Anyways, this warns us that the userland emulation will likely not be reliable, which is good to know. TODO: where is it documented the host kernel must be as new as the target one?

GDB step debugging is also possible with:

....
qemu-arm -g 1234 -L . bin/ls
../host/usr/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-uclibcgnueabi-gdb -ex 'target remote localhost:1234'
....

TODO: find source. Lazy now.

=== Debug QEMU

When you start interacting with QEMU hardware, it is useful to see what is going on inside of QEMU itself.

This is of course trivial since QEMU is just an userland program on the host, but we make it a bit easier with:

....
./run -D
....

Then you could:

....
b edu_mmio_read
c
....

And in QEMU:

....
/pci.sh
....

Just make sure that you never click inside the QEMU window when doing that, otherwise you mouse gets captured forever, and the only solution I can find is to go to a TTY with `Ctrl-Alt-F1` and `kill` QEMU.

You can still send key presses to QEMU however even without the mouse capture, just either click on the title bar, or alt tab to give it focus.

=== Tracing

QEMU has a mechanism to log all instructions executed to a file.

To do it for the Linux kernel boot we have a helper:

....
./trace-boot -a x86_64
....

You can then inspect the instructions with:

....
less ./out/x86_64/qemu/trace.txt
....

This functionality relies on the following setup:

* `./configure --enable-trace-backends=simple`. This logs in a binary format to the trace file.
+
It makes 3x execution faster than the default trace backend which logs human readable data to stdout.
+
Logging with the default backend `log` greatly slows down the CPU, and in particular leads to this boot message:
+
....
All QSes seen, last rcu_sched kthread activity 5252 (4294901421-4294896169), jiffies_till_next_fqs=1, root ->qsmask 0x0
swapper/0 R running task 0 1 0 0x00000008
ffff880007c03ef8 ffffffff8107aa5d ffff880007c16b40 ffffffff81a3b100
ffff880007c03f60 ffffffff810a41d1 0000000000000000 0000000007c03f20
fffffffffffffedc 0000000000000004 fffffffffffffedc ffffffff00000000
Call Trace:
[] sched_show_task+0xcd/0x130
[] rcu_check_callbacks+0x871/0x880
[] update_process_times+0x2f/0x60
....
+
in which the boot appears to hang for a considerable time.
* patch QEMU source to remove the `disable` from `exec_tb` in the `trace-events` file. See also: https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/tracing-qemu-guest-execution/

==== Trace source lines

We can further use Binutils' `addr2line` to get the line that corresponds to each address:

....
./trace-boot -a x86_64 && ./trace2line -a x86_64
less ./out/x86_64/qemu/trace-lines.txt
....

The format is as follows:

....
39368 _static_cpu_has arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeature.h:148
....

Where:

* `39368`: number of consecutive times that a line ran. Makes the output much shorter and more meaningful
* `_static_cpu_has`: name of the function that contains the line
* `arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeature.h:148`: file and line

This could of course all be done with GDB, but it would likely be too slow to be practical.

TODO do even more awesome offline post-mortem analysis things, such as:

* detect if we are in userspace or kernelspace. Should be a simple matter of reading the
* read kernel data structures, and determine the current thread. Maybe we can reuse / extend the kernel's GDB Python scripts??

==== QEMU record and replay

QEMU supports deterministic record and replay by saving external inputs, which would be awesome to understand the kernel, as you would be able to examine a single run as many times as you would like.

This mechanism first requires a trace to be generated on an initial record run. The trace is then used on the replay runs to make them deterministic.

Unfortunately it is not working in the current QEMU: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46970215/how-to-use-qemus-deterministic-record-and-replay-feature-for-a-linux-kernel-boo

Patches were merged in post v2.12.0-rc2 but it crashed for me and I opened a minimized bug report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/+bug/1762179

Alternatively, https://github.com/mozilla/rr[`mozilla/rr`] claims it is able to run QEMU: but using it would require you to step through QEMU code itself. Likely doable, but do you really want to?

==== gem5 tracing

gem5 also has a tracing mechanism, as documented at: http://www.gem5.org/Trace_Based_Debugging

Try it out with:

....
./run -a aarch64 -E 'm5 exit' -G '--debug-flags=Exec' -g
....

The trace file is located at:

....
less out/aarch64/gem5/m5out/trace.txt
....

but be warned, it is humongous, at 16Gb.

We can the trace smaller by naming the trace file as `trace.txt.gz`, which enables GZIP compression, but that is not currently exposed on our scripts, since you usually just need something human readable to work on.

Enabling traceing made the runtime about 4x slower on the <>, with or without `.gz` compression.

The output format is of type:

....
25007500: system.cpu T0 : @start_kernel.1 : strxi_uop x29, [ureg0] : MemWrite : D=0x0000000000000000 A=0xffffff8008913f90
....

where:

* `25007500`:
* `system.cpu`: distinguishes between CPUs when there are more than one
* `T0`: thread number. TODO: hyperthread? How to play with it?
* `@start_kernel.1`: we are in the `start_kernel` function. Awesome feature! Imlemented with libelf https://sourceforge.net/projects/elftoolchain/ copy pasted in-tree `ext/libelf`. To get raw addresses, remove the `ExecSymbol`, which is enabled by `Exec`.
* `.1`: TODO
* `strxi_uop x29, [ureg0]`: instruction disassembly. Seems to use `.isa` files dispersed per arch. Seems developed in house: http://gem5.org/ISA_description_system
* `MemWrite : D=0x0000000000000000 A=0xffffff8008913f90`: TODO

The list of all available debug flags can be found with:

....
./run -a aarch64 -G --debug-help -g
....

but to understand most of tnem you need to look at the source code:

....
less gem5/gem5/src/cpu/SConscript
less gem5/gem5/src/cpu/exetrace.cc
....

As can be seen on the `Sconstruct`, `Exec` is just an alias that enables a set of flags.

Finally, you can also trace the source lines just like <> with:

....
./trace-boot -a aarch64 -g && ./trace2line -a aarch64 -g
less ./out/aarch64/gem5/trace-lines.txt
....

=== QEMU GUI is unresponsive

Sometimes in Ubuntu 14.04, after the QEMU SDL GUI starts, it does not get updated after keyboard strokes, and there are artifacts like disappearing text.

We have not managed to track this problem down yet, but the following workaround always works:

....
Ctrl-Shift-U
Ctrl-C
root
....

This started happening when we switched to building QEMU through Buildroot, and has not been observed on later Ubuntu.

Using text mode is another workaround if you don't need GUI features.

== gem5

=== gem5 getting started

gem5 is a system simulator, much <>: http://gem5.org/

For the most part, just add the `-g` option to all commands and everything should magically work:

....
./configure -g && ./build -a aarch64 -g && ./run -a aarch64 -g
....

On another shell:

....
./gem5-shell
....

Tested architectures:

* `arm`
* `aarch64`
* `x86_64`

Like QEMU, gem5 also has a syscall emulation mode (SE), but in this tutorial we focus on the full system emulation mode (FS). For a comparison see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48986597/when-should-you-use-full-system-fs-vs-syscall-emulation-se-with-userland-program

=== gem5 vs QEMU

* advantages of gem5:
** simulates a generic more realistic pipelined and optionally out of order CPU cycle by cycle, including a realistic DRAM memory access model with latencies, caches and page table manipulations. This allows us to:
*** do much more realistic performance benchmarking with it, which makes absolutely no sense in QEMU, which is purely functional
*** make certain functional observations that are not possible in QEMU, e.g.:
**** use Linux kernel APIs that flush cache memory like DMA, which are crucial for driver development. In QEMU, the driver would still work even if we forget to flush caches.
**** spectre / meltdown:
***** https://www.mail-archive.com/gem5-users@gem5.org/msg15319.html
***** https://github.com/jlpresearch/gem5/tree/spectre-test
+
It is not of course truly cycle accurate, as that
** would require exposing proprietary information of the CPU designs: link:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17454955/can-you-check-performance-of-a-program-running-with-qemu-simulator/33580850#33580850[]
** would make the simulation even slower TODO confirm, by how much
+
but the approximation is reasonable.
+
It is used mostly for microarchitecture research purposes: when you are making a new chip technology, you don't really need to specialize enormously to an existing microarchitecture, but rather develop something that will work with a wide range of future architectures.
** runs are deterministic by default, unlike QEMU which has a special <> mode, that requires first playing the content once and then replaying
* disadvantage of gem5: slower than QEMU, see: <>
+
This implies that the user base is much smaller, since no Android devs.
+
Instead, we have only chip makers, who keep everything that really works closed, and researchers, who can't version track or document code properly >:-) And this implies that:
+
--
** the documentation is more scarce
** it takes longer to support new hardware features
--
+
Well, not that AOSP is that much better anyways.
* not sure: gem5 has BSD license while QEMU has GPL
+
This suits chip makers that want to distribute forks with secret IP to their customers.
+
On the other hand, the chip makers tend to upstream less, and the project becomes more crappy in average :-)

=== gem5 run benchmark

OK, this is why we used gem5 in the first place, performance measurements!

Let's benchmark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhrystone[Dhrystone] which Buildroot provides.

The most flexible way is to do:

....
arch=aarch64

# Generate a checkpoint after Linux boots.
# The boot takes a while, be patient young Padawan.
printf 'm5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a "$arch" -g -E 'm5 checkpoint;m5 readfile > a.sh;sh a.sh'

# Restore the checkpoint, and run the benchmark with parameter 1.000.
# We skip the boot completely, saving time!
printf 'm5 resetstats;dhrystone 1000;m5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a "$arch" -g -- -r 1
./gem5-stat -a "$arch"

# Now with another parameter 10.000.
printf 'm5 resetstats;dhrystone 10000;m5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a "$arch" -g -- -r 1
./gem5-stat -a "$arch"
....

These commands output the approximate number of CPU cycles it took Dhrystone to run.

For more serious tests, you will likely want to automate logging the commands ran and results to files, a good example is: link:gem5-bench-cache[].

A more naive and simpler to understand approach would be a direct:

....
./run -a aarch64 -g -E 'm5 checkpoint;m5 resetstats;dhrystone 10000;m5 exit'
....

but the problem is that this method does not allow to easily run a different script without running the boot again, see: <>

A few imperfections of our benchmarking method are:

* when we do `m5 resetstats` and `m5 exit`, there is some time passed before the `exec` system call returns and the actual benchmark starts and ends
* the benchmark outputs to stdout, which means so extra cycles in addition to the actual computation. But TODO: how to get the output to check that it is correct without such IO cycles?

Solutions to these problems include:

* modify benchmark code with instrumentation directly, as PARSEC and ARM employees have been doing: https://github.com/arm-university/arm-gem5-rsk/blob/aa3b51b175a0f3b6e75c9c856092ae0c8f2a7cdc/parsec_patches/xcompile-patch.diff#L230
* monitor known addresses

Discussion at: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48944587/how-to-count-the-number-of-cpu-clock-cycles-between-the-start-and-end-of-a-bench/48944588#48944588

Those problems should be insignificant if the benchmark runs for long enough however.

Now you can play a fun little game with your friends:

* pick a computational problem
* make a program that solves the computation problem, and outputs output to stdout
* write the code that runs the correct computation in the smallest number of cycles possible

To find out why your program is slow, a good first step is to have a look at the statistics for the run:

....
cat out/aarch64/gem5/m5out/stats.txt
....

Whenever we run `m5 dumpstats` or `m5 exit`, a section with the following format is added to that file:

....
---------- Begin Simulation Statistics ----------
[the stats]
---------- End Simulation Statistics ----------
....

==== gem5 system parameters

Besides optimizing a program for a given CPU setup, chip developers can also do the inverse, and optimize the chip for a given benchmark!

The rabbit hole is likely deep, but let's scratch a bit of the surface.

===== Number of cores

....
./run -a arm -c 2 -g
....

Check with:

....
cat /proc/cpuinfo
getconf _NPROCESSORS_CONF
....

===== gem5 cache size

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49624061/how-to-run-gem5-simulator-in-fs-mode-without-cache/49634544#49634544

A quick `+./run -g -- -h+` leads us to the options:

....
--caches
--l1d_size=1024
--l1i_size=1024
--l2cache
--l2_size=1024
--l3_size=1024
....

But keep in mind that it only affects benchmark performance of the most detailed CPU types:

[options="header"]
|===
|arch |CPU type |caches used

|X86
|`AtomicSimpleCPU`
|no

|X86
|`DerivO3CPU`
|?*

|ARM
|`AtomicSimpleCPU`
|no

|ARM
|`HPI`
|yes

|===

{empty}*: couldn't test because of:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49011096/how-to-switch-cpu-models-in-gem5-after-restoring-a-checkpoint-and-then-observe-t

Cache sizes can in theory be checked with the methods described at: link:https://superuser.com/questions/55776/finding-l2-cache-size-in-linux[]:

....
getconf -a | grep CACHE
lscpu
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cache/index2/size
....

but for some reason the Linux kernel is not seeing the cache sizes:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49008792/why-doesnt-the-linux-kernel-see-the-cache-sizes-in-the-gem5-emulator-in-full-sy
* http://gem5-users.gem5.narkive.com/4xVBlf3c/verify-cache-configuration

Behaviour breakdown:

* arm QEMU and gem5 (both `AtomicSimpleCPU` or `HPI`), x86 gem5: `/sys` files don't exist, and `getconf` and `lscpu` value empty
* x86 QEMU: `/sys` files exist, but `getconf` and `lscpu` values still empty

So we take a performance measurement approach instead:

....
./gem5-bench-cache -a aarch64
cat out/aarch64/gem5/bench-cache.txt
....

which gives:

....
n 1000
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024 --l1i_size=1024 --l2_size=1024 --l3_size=1024 --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 24.71
exit_status 0
cycles 52386455
instructions 4555081
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024kB --l1i_size=1024kB --l2_size=1024kB --l3_size=1024kB --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 17.44
exit_status 0
cycles 6683355
instructions 4466051

n 10000
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024 --l1i_size=1024 --l2_size=1024 --l3_size=1024 --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 52.90
exit_status 0
cycles 165704397
instructions 11531136
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024kB --l1i_size=1024kB --l2_size=1024kB --l3_size=1024kB --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 36.19
exit_status 0
cycles 16182925
instructions 11422585

n 100000
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024 --l1i_size=1024 --l2_size=1024 --l3_size=1024 --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 325.09
exit_status 0
cycles 1295703657
instructions 81189411
cmd ./run -a arm -g -- -r 1 --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024kB --l1i_size=1024kB --l2_size=1024kB --l3_size=1024kB --cpu-type=HPI --restore-with-cpu=HPI
time 250.74
exit_status 0
cycles 110585681
instructions 80899588
....

We make the following conclusions:

* the number of instructions almost does not change: the CPU is waiting for memory all the extra time. TODO: why does it change at all?
* the wall clock execution time is not directionally proportional to the number of cycles: here we had a 10x cycle increase, but only 2x time increase. This suggests that the simulation of cycles in which the CPU is waiting for memory to come back is faster.

===== gem5 memory latency

TODO These look promising:

....
--list-mem-types
--mem-type=MEM_TYPE
--mem-channels=MEM_CHANNELS
--mem-ranks=MEM_RANKS
--mem-size=MEM_SIZE
....

TODO: now to verify this with the Linux kernel? Besides raw performance benchmarks.

===== Memory size

....
./run -a arm -m 512M
....

and verify inside the guest with:

....
free -m
....

===== gem5 disk and network latency

TODO These look promising:

....
--ethernet-linkspeed
--ethernet-linkdelay
....

and also: `gem5-dist`: https://publish.illinois.edu/icsl-pdgem5/

===== gem5 clock frequency

Clock frequency: TODO how does it affect performance in benchmarks?

....
./run -a aarch64 -g -- --cpu-clock 10000000
....

Check with:

....
m5 resetstats && sleep 10 && m5 dumpstats
....

and then:

....
./gem5-stat -a aarch64
....

TODO: why doesn't this exist:

....
ls /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq
....

==== Interesting benchmarks

Buildroot built-in libraries, mostly under Libraries > Other:

* Armadillo `C++`: linear algebra
* fftw: Fourier transform
* Eigen: linear algebra
* Flann
* GSL: various
* liblinear
* libspacialindex
* libtommath
* qhull

There are not yet enabled, but it should be easy to so, see: <>

===== BLAS

Buildroot supports it, which makes everything just trivial:

....
./build \
-a arm \
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_OPENBLAS=y' \
;
....

and then inside the guest run our test program:

....
/openblas.out
....

For x86, you also need:

....
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_OPENBLAS_TARGET="NEHALEM"'
....

to overcome this bug: https://bugs.busybox.net/show_bug.cgi?id=10856

....
sgemm_kernel.o: No such file or directory
....

===== PARSEC benchmark

We have ported parts of the link:http://parsec.cs.princeton.edu[PARSEC benchmark] for cross compilation at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/parsec-benchmark See the documentation on that repo to find out which benchmarks have been ported. Some of the benchmarks were are segfaulting, they are documented in that repo.

There are two ways to run PARSEC with this repo:

* <>, most likely what you want
* <>

====== PARSEC benchmark without parsecmgmt

....
configure -gpq && ./build -a arm -B 'BR2_PACKAGE_PARSEC_BENCHMARK=y' -g && ./run -a arm -g
....

Once inside the guest, launch one of the `test` input sized benchmarks manually as in:

....
cd /parsec/ext/splash2x/apps/fmm/run
../inst/arm-linux.gcc/bin/fmm 1 < input_1
....

To find run out how to run many of the benchmarks, have a look at the `test.sh` script of the `parse-benchmark` repo.

From the guest, you can also run it as:

....
cd /parsec
./test.sh
....

but this might be a bit time consuming in gem5.

====== PARSEC change the input size

Running a benchmark of a size different than `test`, e.g. `simsmall`, requires a rebuild with:

....
./build \
-a arm \
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_PARSEC_BENCHMARK=y' \
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_PARSEC_BENCHMARK_INPUT_SIZE="simsmall"' \
-g \
-- parsec-benchmark-reconfigure \
;
....

Large input may also require tweaking:

* <> if the unpacked inputs are large
* <>, unless you want to meet the OOM killer, which is admittedly kind of fun

`test.sh` only contains the run commands for the `test` size, and cannot be used for `simsmall`.

The easiest thing to do, is to link:https://superuser.com/questions/231002/how-can-i-search-within-the-output-buffer-of-a-tmux-shell/1253137#1253137[scroll up on the host shell] after the build, and look for a line of type:

....
Running /full/path/to/linux-kernel-module-cheat/out/aarch64/buildroot/build/parsec-benchmark-custom/ext/splash2x/apps/ocean_ncp/inst/aarch64-linux.gcc/bin/ocean_ncp -n2050 -p1 -e1e-07 -r20000 -t28800
....

and then tweak the command found in `test.sh` accordingly.

Yes, we do run the benchmarks on host just to unpack / generate inputs. They are expected fail to run since they were build for the guest instead of host, including for x86_64 guest which has a different interpreter than the host's (see `file myexecutable`).

The rebuild is required because we unpack input files on the host.

Separating input sizes also allows to create smaller images when only running the smaller benchmarks.

This limitation exists because `parsecmgmt` generates the input files just before running via the Bash scripts, but we can't run `parsecmgmt` on gem5 as it is too slow!

One option would be to do that inside the guest with QEMU.

Also, we can't generate all input sizes at once, because many of them have the same name and would overwrite one another...

PARSEC simply wasn't designed with non native machines in mind...

====== PARSEC benchmark with parsecmgmt

Most users won't want to use this method because:

* running the `parsecmgmt` Bash scripts takes forever before it ever starts running the actual benchmarks on gem5
+
Running on QEMU is feasible, but not the main use case, since QEMU cannot be used for performance measurements
* it requires putting the full `.tar` inputs on the guest, which makes the image twice as large (1x for the `.tar`, 1x for the unpacked input files)

It would be awesome if it were possible to use this method, since this is what Parsec supports officially, and so:

* you don't have to dig into what raw command to run
* there is an easy way to run all the benchmarks in one go to test them out
* you can just run any of the benchmarks that you want

but it simply is not feasible in gem5 because it takes too long.

If you still want to run this, try it out with:

....
./build \
-a aarch64 \
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_PARSEC_BENCHMARK=y' \
-B 'BR2_PACKAGE_PARSEC_BENCHMARK_PARSECMGMT=y' \
-B 'BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_SIZE="3G"' \
-g \
-- parsec-benchmark-reconfigure \
;
....

And then you can run it just as you would on the host:

....
cd /parsec/
bash
. env.sh
parsecmgmt -a run -p splash2x.fmm -i test
....

====== PARSEC uninstall

If you want to remove PARSEC later, Buildroot doesn't provide an automated package removal mechanism as documented at: link:https://github.com/buildroot/buildroot/blob/2017.08/docs/manual/rebuilding-packages.txt#L90[], but the following procedure should be satisfactory:

....
rm -rf \
./out/common/dl/parsec-* \
./out/arm-gem5/buildroot/build/parsec-* \
./out/arm-gem5/buildroot/build/packages-file-list.txt \
./out/arm-gem5/buildroot/images/rootfs.* \
./out/arm-gem5/buildroot/target/parsec-* \
;
./build -a arm -g
....

====== PARSEC benchmark hacking

If you end up going inside link:parsec-benchmark/parsec-benchmark[] to hack up the benchmark (you will!), these tips will be helpful.

Buildroot was not designed to deal with large images, and currently cross rebuilds are a bit slow, due to some image generation and validation steps.

A few workarounds are:

* develop in host first as much as you can. Our PARSEC fork supports it.
+
If you do this, don't forget to do a:
+
....
cd parsec-benchmark/parsec-benchmark
git clean -xdf .
....
before going for the cross compile build.
+
* patch Buildroot to work well, and keep cross compiling all the way. This should be totally viable, and we should do it.
+
Don't forget to explicitly rebuild PARSEC with:
+
....
./build -a arm -g -b br2_parsec parsec-benchmark-reconfigure
....
+
You may also want to test if your patches are still functionally correct inside of QEMU first, which is a faster emulator.
* sell your soul, and compile natively inside the guest. We won't do this, not only because it is evil, but also because Buildroot explicitly does not support it: https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html#faq-no-compiler-on-target ARM employees have been known to do this: https://github.com/arm-university/arm-gem5-rsk/blob/aa3b51b175a0f3b6e75c9c856092ae0c8f2a7cdc/parsec_patches/qemu-patch.diff

=== gem5 kernel command line parameters

Analogous <>:

....
./run -a arm -e 'init=/poweroff.out' -g
....

Internals: when we give `--command-line=` to gem5, it overrides default command lines, including some mandatory ones which are required to boot properly.

Our run script hardcodes the require options in the default `--command-line` and appends extra options given by `-e`.

To find the default options in the first place, we removed `--command-line` and ran:

....
./run -a arm -g
....

and then looked at the line of the Linux kernel that starts with:

....
Kernel command line:
....

[[gem5-gdb]]
=== gem5 GDB step debug

==== gem5 GDB step debug kernel
Analogous <>, on the first shell:

....
./run -a arm -d -g
....

On the second shell:

....
./rungdb -a arm -g
....

On a third shell:

....
./gem5-shell
....

When you want to break, just do a `Ctrl-C` on GDB shell, and then `continue`.

And we now see the boot messages, and then get a shell. Now try the `/continue.sh` procedure described for QEMU.

TODO: how to stop at `start_kernel`? gem5 listens for GDB by default, and therefore does not wait for a GDB connection to start like QEMU does. So when GDB connects we might have already passed `start_kernel`. Maybe `--debug-break=0` can be used? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49296092/how-to-make-gem5-wait-for-gdb-to-connect-to-reliably-break-at-start-kernel-of-th

===== gem5 GDB step debug kernel aarch64

TODO: GDB fails with:

....
Reading symbols from vmlinux...done.
Remote debugging using localhost:7000
Remote 'g' packet reply is too long: 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
....

and gem5 says:

....
4107766500: system.remote_gdb: remote gdb attached
warn: Couldn't read data from debugger.
4107767500: system.remote_gdb: remote gdb detached
....

I've also tried the fix at: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27411621/remote-g-packet-reply-is-too-long-aarch64-arm64 by adding to the link:rungdb[] script:

....
-ex 'set tdesc filename out/aarch64/buildroot/build/gdb-7.11.1/./gdb/features/aarch64.xml'
....

but it did not help.

==== gem5 GDB step debug userland process

We are unable to use `gdbserver` because of networking: <>

The alternative is to do as in <>.

First make sure that for your arch the kernel debugging on the given target works for the architecture: <>, on which we rely. When we last tested, this was not the case for aarch64: <>

Next, follow the exact same steps explained at <>, but passing `-g` to every command as usual.

But then TODO (I'll still go crazy one of those days): for `arm`, while debugging `/myinsmod.out /hello.ko`, after then line:

....
23 if (argc < 3) {
24 params = "";
....

I press `n`, it just runs the program until the end, instead of stopping on the next line of execution. The module does get inserted normally.

TODO:

....
./rungdb-user -a arm -g gem5-1.0/gem5/util/m5/m5 main
....

breaks when `m5` is run on guest, but does not show the source code.

=== gem5 checkpoint

Analogous to QEMU's <>, but better since it can be started from inside the guest, so we can easily checkpoint after a specific guest event, e.g. just before `init` is done.

Documentation: http://gem5.org/Checkpoints

....
./run -a arm -g
....

In the guest, wait for the boot to end and run:

....
m5 checkpoint
....

To restore the checkpoint, kill the VM and run:

....
./run -a arm -g -- -r 1
....

Let's create a second checkpoint to see how it works, in guest:

....
date >f
m5 checkpoint
....

Kill the VM, and try it out:

....
./run -a arm -g -- -r 2
....

and now in the guest:

....
cat f
....

contains the `date`. The file `f` wouldn't exist had we used the first checkpoint with `-r 1`.

If you automate things with <> as in:

....
./run -a arm -E 'm5 checkpoint;m5 resetstats;dhrystone 1000;m5 exit' -g
....

Then there is no need to pass the kernel command line again to gem5 for replay:

....
./run -a arm -g -- -r 1
....

since boot has already happened, and the parameters are already in the RAM of the snapshot.

Our scripts "namespace" with the checkpoint by architecture with `--checkpoint-dir`, so if you make two checkpoints:

* one in x86
* the other in arm

Then you would still restore both of them with `-- -r 1`.

This makes it easier to remember which checkpoint is which, especially since there appears to be no runtime way to set the checkpoint names.

Internals:

* the checkpoints are stored under `out/$arch/gem5/m5out/cpt.$todo_whatisthis`
* <> is a guest utility present inside the gem5 tree which we cross-compiled and installed into the guest

[[gem5-restore-new-scrip]]
==== gem5 checkpoint restore and run a different script

You want to automate running several tests from a single pristine post-boot state.

The problem is that after the checkpoint, the memory and disk states are fixed, so you can't for example:

* hack up an existing rc script, since the disk is fixed
* inject new kernel boot command line options, since those have already been put into memory by the bootloader

There is however one loophole: <>, which reads whatever is present on the host, so we can do it like:

....
printf 'echo "setup run";m5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a aarch64 -g -E 'm5 checkpoint;m5 readfile > a.sh;sh a.sh'
printf 'echo "first benchmark";m5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a aarch64 -g -- -r 1
printf 'echo "second benchmark";m5 exit' > data/readfile
./run -a aarch64 -g -- -r 1
....

Other possibilities include:

* <<9p>>
* create multiple disk images, and mount the benchmark one
* `expect` as mentioned at: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7013137/automating-telnet-session-using-bash-scripts
+
....
#!/usr/bin/expect
spawn telnet localhost 3456
expect "# $"
send "pwd\r"
send "ls /\r"
send "m5 exit\r"
expect eof
....

https://www.mail-archive.com/gem5-users@gem5.org/msg15233.html

==== gem5 restore checkpoint with a different CPU

gem5 can switch to a different CPU model when restoring a checkpoint.

A common combo is to boot Linux with a fast CPU, make a checkpoint and then replay the benchmark of interest with a slower CPU.

An illustrative interactive run:

....
./run -a arm -g
....

In guest:

....
m5 checkpoint
....

And then restore the checkpoint with a different CPU:

....
./run -a arm -g -- --caches -r 1 --restore-with-cpu=HPI
....

=== Pass extra options to gem5

Pass options to the `fs.py` script:

* get help:
+
....
./run -g -- -h
....
* boot with the more detailed and slow `HPI` CPU model:
+
....
./run -a arm -g -- --caches --cpu-type=HPI
....

Pass options to the `gem5` executable itself:

* get help:
+
....
./run -G '-h' -g
....

=== gem5 limit the number of instructions

Quit the simulation after `1024` instructions:

....
./run -g -- -I 1024
....

Can be nicely checked with <>.

Cycles instead of instructions:

....
./run -g -- -m 1024
....

Otherwise the simulation runs forever.

=== Run multiple gem5 instances at once

gem5 just assigns new ports if some ports are occupied, so we can do:

....
./run -g
# Same as ./gem5-shell 0
./gem5-shell
....

And a second instance:

....
./run -g
./gem5-shell 1
....

TODO Now we just need to network them up to have some more fun! See dist-gem5: http://publish.illinois.edu/icsl-pdgem5/

=== m5

`m5` is a guest command line utility that is installed and run on the guest.

Its source is present under the gem5 main tree.

It generates magic instructions, which lead gem5 to do magic things, like `dumpstats` or `exit`.

It is however under-documented, so let's document some of its capabilities here.

Part of those explanations could be deduced from the documentation of the magic instructions themselves: http://gem5.org/M5ops

==== m5 exit

Quit gem5 with exit status 0.

==== m5 fail

Quit gem5 with the given exit status.

....
m5 fail 1
....

==== m5 writefile

Send a guest file to the host. <<9p>> is a more advanced alternative.

Guest:

....
echo mycontent > myfileguest
m5 writefile myfileguest myfilehost
....

Host:

....
cat out/aarch64/gem5/m5out/myfilehost
....

Does not work for subdirectories, gem5 crashes:

....
m5 writefile myfileguest mydirhost/myfilehost
....

==== m5 readfile

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49516399/how-to-use-m5-readfile-and-m5-execfile-in-gem5/49538051#49538051

Host:

....
date > data/readfile
....

Guest:

....
m5 readfile
....

==== m5 execfile

Host:

....
printf '#!/bin/sh
echo asdf' > data/readfile
....

Guest:

....
touch /tmp/execfile
chmoe +x /tmp/execfile
m5 execfile
....

=== gem5 stats

Lets try to understand some stats better.

==== rdtsc

....
./build -kg && ./run -E '/rdtsc.out;m5 exit;' -g
./gem5-stat
....

gives cycle counts:

* `3828578153`
* `3830832635`

Which are pretty close, and serve as a nice sanity check that the cycle counter is coherent.

It is also nice to see that `rdtsc` is a bit smaller than the `stats.txt` value, since the latter also includes the exec syscall for `m5`.

See also:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Stamp_Counter
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9887839/clock-cycle-count-wth-gcc/9887979

===== pmccntr

Unfortunately-we didn't manage to find an ARM analogue: link:kernel_module/pmccntr.c[] is oopsing, and even it if weren't, it likely won't give the cycle count since boot since it needs to be activate before it starts counting anything:

* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40454157/is-there-an-equivalent-instruction-to-rdtsc-in-arm
* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31620375/arm-cortex-a7-returning-pmccntr-0-in-kernel-mode-and-illegal-instruction-in-u/31649809#31649809
* https://blog.regehr.org/archives/794

== Insane action

=== Run on host

This method runs the kernel modules directly on your host computer without a VM, and saves you the compilation time and disk usage of the virtual machine method.

It has however severe limitations, and you will soon see that the compilation time and disk usage are well worth it:

* can't control which kernel version and build options to use. So some of the modules will likely not compile because of kernel API changes, since https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37098482/how-to-build-a-linux-kernel-module-so-that-it-is-compatible-with-all-kernel-rele/45429681#45429681[the Linux kernel does not have a stable kernel module API].
* bugs can easily break you system. E.g.:
** segfaults can trivially lead to a kernel crash, and require a reboot
** your disk could get erased. Yes, this can also happen with `sudo` from userland. But you should not use `sudo` when developing newbie programs. And for the kernel you don't have the choice not to use `sudo`
** even more subtle system corruption such as https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/78858/cannot-remove-or-reinsert-kernel-module-after-error-while-inserting-it-without-r[not being able to rmmod]
* can't control which hardware is used, notably the CPU architecture
* can't step debug it with GDB easily

Still interested?

....
cd kernel_module
./make-host.sh
....

If the compilation of any of the C files fails because of kernel or toolchain differences that we don't control on the host, just rename it to remove the `.c` extension and try again:

....
mv broken.c broken.c~
./build_host
....

Once you manage to compile, and have come to terms with the fact that this may blow up your host, try it out with:

....
sudo insmod hello.ko

# Our module is there.
sudo lsmod | grep hello

# Last message should be: hello init
dmest -T

sudo rmmod hello

# Last message should be: hello exit
dmesg -T

# Not present anymore
sudo lsmod | grep hello
....

Once you are done with this method, you must clean up the in-tree build objects before you decide to do the right thing and move on to the superior `./build` Buildroot method:

....
cd "kernel_module"
./make-host.sh clean
....

otherwise they will cause problems.

=== Hello host

Minimal host build system sanity check example.

....
cd hello_host
make
insmod hello.ko
dmesg
rmmod hello.ko
dmesg
....

== Buildroot

=== Custom Buildroot options

We provide the following mechanisms:

* `./build -b data/br2`: append the Buildroot configuration file `data/br2` to a single build. Must be passed every time you run `./build`. The format is the same as link:br2[].
* `./build -B 'BR2_SOME_OPTION="myval"'`: append a single option to a single build.

You will then likely want to make those more permanent with: <>

==== Enable compiler optimizations

If you are benchmarking compiled programs instead of hand written assembly, remember that we configure Buildroot to disable optimizations by default with:

....
BR2_OPTIMIZE_0=y
....

to improve the debugging experience.

You will likely want to change that to:

....
BR2_OPTIMIZE_3=y
....

Our link:kernel_module/user[] package correctly forwards the Buildroot options to the build with `$(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS)`, so you don't have to do any extra work.

Don't forget to do that if you are <> with your own build system.

Then, you have two choices:

* if you already have a full `-O0` build, you can choose to rebuild just your package of interest to save some time as described at: <>
+
....
./build -B 'BR2_OPTIMIZE_3=y' kernel_module-dirclean kernel_module-reconfigure
....
+
However, this approach might not be representative since calls to an unoptimized libc and other libraries will have a negative performance impact.
+
Maybe you can get away with rebuilding libc, but I'm not sure that it will work properly.
+
Kernel-wise it should be fine though due to: <>
* <> and rebuild from scratch:
+
....
mv out out~
./build -B 'BR2_OPTIMIZE_3=y'
....

=== Find Buildroot options with make menuconfig

`make menuconfig` is a convenient way to find Buildroot configurations:

....
cd out/x86_64/buildroot
make menuconfig
....

Hit `/` and search for the settings.

Save and quit.

....
diff -u .config.olg .config
....

Then copy and paste the diff additions to link:br2[] to make them permanent.

=== Change user

At startup, we login automatically as the `root` user as explained at: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/299408/how-to-login-automatically-without-typing-root-in-buildroot-x86-64-qemu/300152#300152

If you want to switch to another user to test some permissions, we have already created an `user0` user through the link:user_table[] file, and you can just login as that user with:

....
login user0
....

and password:

....
a
....

Then test that the user changed with:

....
id
....

which gives:

....
uid=1000(user0) gid=1000(user0) groups=1000(user0)
....

=== ccache

We have link:https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html#ccache[enabled ccached] builds by default.

`BR2_CCACHE_USE_BASEDIR=n` is used, which means that:

* absolute paths are used and GDB can find source files
* but builds are not reused across separated LKMC directories

ccache can considerably speed up builds when you:

* are switching between multiple configurations for a given package to bisect something out, as mentioned at: <>
* clean the build because things stopped working. We store the cache outside of this repository, so you can nuke away without fear

The default ccache environment variables are honored if you have them set, which we recommend you do. E.g., in your `.bashrc`:

....
export CCACHE_DIR=~/.ccache
export CCACHE_MAXSIZE="20G"
....

The choice basically comes down to:

* should I store my cache on my HD or SSD?
* how big is my build, and how many build configurations do I need to keep around at a time?

If you don't set it, the default is to use `~/.buildroot-ccache` with `5G`, which is a bit small for us.

I find it very relaxing to watch ccache at work with:

....
watch -n1 'make -C out/x86_64/buildroot/ ccache-stats'
....

or if you have it installed on host and the environment variables exported simply with:

....
watch -n1 'ccache -s'
....

while a build is going on in another terminal and my cooler is humming. Especially when the hit count goes up ;-) The joys of system programming.

=== Add new Buildroot packages

First, see if you can't get away without actually adding a new package, for example:

* if you have a standalone C file with no dependencies besides the C standard library to be compiled with GCC, just add a new file under link:kernel_module/user[] and you are done
* if you have a dependency on a library, first check if Buildroot doesn't have a package for it already with `ls buildroot/package`. If yes, just enable that package as explained at: <>

If none of those methods are flexible enough for you, create a new package as follows:

* use link:sample_package[] as a starting point
* fork this repository, and modify that package to do what you want
* read the comments on that package to get an idea of how to start
* check the main manual for more complicated things: https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html
* don't forget to rebuild with:
+
....
./build -- sample_package-reconfigure
....
+
if you make any changes to that package after the initial build: <>

=== BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_SIZE

When adding new large package to the Buildroot root filesystem, it may fail with the message:

....
Maybe you need to increase the filesystem size (BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_SIZE)
....

The solution is to simply add:

....
./build -B 'BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_SIZE="512M"'
....

where 512Mb is "large enough".

Note that dots cannot be used as in `1.5G`, so just use Megs as in `1500M` instead.

Unfortunately, TODO we don't have a perfect way to find the right value for `BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_SIZE`. One good heuristic is:

....
du -hsx out/arm-gem5/buildroot/target/
....

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49211241/is-there-a-way-to-automatically-detect-the-minimum-required-br2-target-rootfs-ex

One way to overcome this problem is to mount benchmarks from host instead of adding them to the root filesystem, e.g. with: <<9p>>

[[rpath]]
=== Buildroot rebuild is slow when the root filesystem is large

Buildroot is not designed for large root filesystem images, and the rebuild becomes very slow when we add a large package to it.

This is due mainly to the `pkg-generic` `GLOBAL_INSTRUMENTATION_HOOKS` sanitation which go over the entire tree doing complex operations... I no like, in particular `check_bin_arch` and `check_host_rpath`, which get stuck for a long time on the message:

....
>>> Sanitizing RPATH in target tree
....

The pause is followed by:

....
out/arm/buildroot/build//.stamp_target_installed
....

so which shows that the whole delay is inside our install itself.

I put an `echo f` in `check_bin_arch`, and it just loops forever, does not stop on a particular package.

=== Report upstream bugs

When asking for help on upstream repositories outside of this repository, you will need to provide the commands that you are running in detail without referencing our scripts.

For example, QEMU developers will only want to see the final QEMU command that you are running.

For the configure and build, search for the `Building` and `Configuring` parts of the build log, then try to strip down all Buildroot related paths, to keep only options that seem to matter.

We make that easy by building commands as strings, and then echoing them before evaling.

So for example when you run:

....
./run -a arm
....

Stdout shows a line with the full command of type:

....
./out/arm/buildroot/host/usr/bin/qemu-system-arm -m 128M -monitor telnet::45454,server,nowait -netdev user,hostfwd=tcp::45455-:45455,id=net0 -smp 1 -M versatilepb -append 'root=/dev/sda nokaslr norandmaps printk.devkmsg=on printk.time=y' -device rtl8139,netdev=net0 -dtb ./out/arm/buildroot/images/versatile-pb.dtb -kernel ./out/arm/buildroot/images/zImage -serial stdio -drive file='./out/arm/buildroot/images/rootfs.ext2.qcow2,if=scsi,format=qcow2'
....

and this line is also saved to a file for convenience:

....
cat ./out/arm/qemu/run.sh
....

or for gem5:

....
cat ./out/arm/gem5/run.sh
....

Next, you will also want to give the relevant images to save them time. Zip the images with:

....
./build-all -G
./zip-img
....

and then upload the `out/images-*.zip` file somewhere, e.g. GitHub release assets as in https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat/releases/tag/test-replay-arm

Finally, do a clone of the relevant repository out of tree and reproduce the bug there, to be 100% sure that it is an actual upstream bug, and to provide developers with the cleanest possible commands. For example as was done in this QEMU bug report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/+bug/1762179

== Benchmark this repo

In this section document how benchmark builds and runs of this repo, and how to investigate what the bottleneck is.

Ideally, we should setup an automated build server that benchmarks those things continuously for us.

We tried to automate it on Travis with link:.travis.yml[] but it hits the current 50 minute job timeout: https://travis-ci.org/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat/builds/296454523 And I bet it would likely hit a disk maxout either way if it went on.

So currently, we are running benchmarks manually when it seems reasonable and uploading them to: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linux-kernel-module-cheat-regression

All benchmarks were run on the <> machine, unless stated otherwise.

Run all benchmarks and upload the results:

....
./bench-all -A
....

=== Benchmark this repo benchmarks

==== Benchmark Linux kernel boot

....
./bench-boot
cat out/bench-boot.txt
....

Sample results at 2bddcc2891b7e5ac38c10d509bdfc1c8fe347b94:

....
cmd ./run -a x86_64 -E '/poweroff.out'
time 3.58
exit_status 0
cmd ./run -a x86_64 -E '/poweroff.out' -K
time 0.89
exit_status 0
cmd ./run -a x86_64 -E '/poweroff.out' -T exec_tb
time 4.12
exit_status 0
instructions 2343768
cmd ./run -a x86_64 -E 'm5 exit' -g
time 451.10
exit_status 0
instructions 706187020
cmd ./run -a arm -E '/poweroff.out'
time 1.85
exit_status 0
cmd ./run -a arm -E '/poweroff.out' -T exec_tb
time 1.92
exit_status 0
instructions 681000
cmd ./run -a arm -E 'm5 exit' -g
time 94.85
exit_status 0
instructions 139895210
cmd ./run -a aarch64 -E '/poweroff.out'
time 1.36
exit_status 0
cmd ./run -a aarch64 -E '/poweroff.out' -T exec_tb
time 1.37
exit_status 0
instructions 178879
cmd ./run -a aarch64 -E 'm5 exit' -g
time 72.50
exit_status 0
instructions 115754212
cmd ./run -a aarch64 -E 'm5 exit' -g -- --cpu-type=HPI --caches --l2cache --l1d_size=1024kB --l1i_size=1024kB --l2_size=1024kB --l3_size=1024kB
time 369.13
exit_status 0
instructions 115774177
....

TODO: aarch64 gem5 and QEMU use the same kernel, so why is the gem5 instruction count so much much higher?

===== gem5 arm HPI boot takes much longer than aarch64

TODO 62f6870e4e0b384c4bd2d514116247e81b241251 takes 33 minutes to finish at 62f6870e4e0b384c4bd2d514116247e81b241251:

....
cmd ./run -a arm -E 'm5 exit' -g -- --caches --cpu-type=HPI
....

while aarch64 only 7 minutes.

I had previously documented on README 10 minutes at: 2eff007f7c3458be240c673c32bb33892a45d3a0 found with `git log` search for `10 minutes`. But then I checked out there, run it, and kernel panics before any messages come out. Lol?

Logs of the runs can be found at: https://github.com/cirosantilli-work/gem5-issues/tree/0df13e862b50ae20fcd10bae1a9a53e55d01caac/arm-hpi-slow

The cycle count is higher for `arm`, 350M vs 250M for `aarch64`, not nowhere near the 5x runtime time increase.

A quick look at the boot logs show that they are basically identical in structure: the same operations appear more ore less on both, and there isn't one specific huge time pit in arm: it is just that every individual operation seems to be taking a lot longer.

===== gem5 x86_64 DerivO3CPU boot panics

https://github.com/cirosantilli-work/gem5-issues/issues/2

....
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill the idle task!
....

==== Benchmark builds

The build times are calculated after doing `./configure` and link:https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html#_offline_builds[`make source`], which downloads the sources, and basically benchmarks the <>.

Sample build time at 2c12b21b304178a81c9912817b782ead0286d282: 28 minutes, 15 with full ccache hits. Breakdown: 19% GCC, 13% Linux kernel, 7% uclibc, 6% host-python, 5% host-qemu, 5% host-gdb, 2% host-binutils

Single file change on `./build kernel_module-reconfigure`: 7 seconds.

Buildroot automatically stores build timestamps as milliseconds since Epoch. Convert to minutes:

....
awk -F: 'NR==1{start=$1}; END{print ($1 - start)/(60000.0)}' out/x86_64/buildroot/build/build-time.log
....

Or to conveniently do a clean build without affecting your current one:

....
./bench-all -b
cat ../linux-kernel-module-cheat-regression/*/build-time.log
....

===== Find which packages are making the build slow

....
cd out/x86_64/buildroot
make graph-build graph-depends
xdg-open graphs/build.pie-packages.pdf
xdg-open graphs/graph-depends.pdf
....

Our philosophy is:

* if something adds little to the build time, build it in by default
* otherwise, make it optional
* try to keep the toolchain (GCC, Binutils) unchanged, otherwise a full rebuild is required.
+
So we generally just enable all toolchain options by default, even though this adds a bit of time to the build.
+
The biggest build time hog is always GCC, and it does not look like we can use a precompiled one: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10833672/buildroot-environment-with-host-toolchain
* if something is very valuable, we just add it by default even if it increases the Build time, notably GDB and QEMU
* runtime is sacred.
+
We do our best to reduce the instruction and feature count to the bare minimum needed, to make the system:
+
--
** easier to understand
** run faster, specially for <>
--
+
One possibility we could play with is to build loadable modules instead of built-in modules to reduce runtime, but make it easier to get started with the modules.

===== Benchmark Buildroot build baseline

This is the minimal build we could expect to get away with.

We will run this whenever the Buildroot submodule is updated.

On the upstream Buildroot repo at :

....
./bench-all -B
....

Sample time on 2017.08: 11 minutes, 7 with full ccache hits. Breakdown: 47% GCC, 15% Linux kernel, 9% uclibc, 5% host-binutils. Conclusions:

* we have bloated our kernel build 3x with all those delicious features :-)
* GCC time increased 1.5x by our bloat, but its percentage of the total was greatly reduced, due to new packages being introduced.
+
`make graph-depends` shows that most new dependencies come from QEMU and GDB, which we can't get rid of anyways.

A quick look at the system monitor reveals that the build switches between times when:

* CPUs are at a max, memory is fine. So we must be CPU / memory speed bound. I bet that this happens during heavy compilation.
* CPUs are not at a max, and memory is fine. So we are likely disk bound. I bet that this happens during configuration steps.

This is consistent with the fact that ccache reduces the build time only partially, since ccache should only overcome the CPU bound compilation steps, but not the disk bound ones.

The instructions counts varied very little between the baseline and LKMC, so runtime overhead is not a big deal apparently.

Size:

* `bzImage`: 4.4M
* `rootfs.cpio`: 1.6M

Zipped: 4.9M, `rootfs.cpio` deflates 50%, `bzImage` almost nothing.

===== Benchmark gem5 build

How long it takes to build gem5 itself.

We will update this whenever the gem5 submoule is updated.

Sample results at gem5 2a9573f5942b5416fb0570cf5cb6cdecba733392: 10 to 12 minutes.

Get results with:

....
./bench-all -g
tail -n+1 ../linux-kernel-module-cheat-regression/*/gem5-bench-build-*.txt
....

=== Benchmark machines

==== P51

Lenovo ThinkPad link:https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/p-series/P51/p/22TP2WPWP51[P51 laptop]:

* 2500 USD in 2018 (high end)
* Intel Core i7-7820HQ Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.90GHz) (4 cores 8 threads)
* 32GB(16+16) DDR4 2400MHz SODIMM
* 512GB SSD PCIe TLC OPAL2
* Ubuntu 17.10

=== Benchmark Internets

==== 38Mbps

2c12b21b304178a81c9912817b782ead0286d282:

* shallow clone of all submodules: 4 minutes.
* `make source`: 2 minutes

Google M-lab speed test: 36.4Mbps

=== Benchmark this repo bibliography

gem5:

* link:https://www.mail-archive.com/gem5-users@gem5.org/msg15262.html[] which parts of the gem5 code make it slow
* what are the minimum system requirements:
** https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47997565/gem5-system-requirements-for-decent-performance/48941793#48941793
** https://github.com/gem5/gem5/issues/25

== Conversation

=== kmod

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/kernel/kmod/kmod.git

Multi-call executable that implements: `lsmod`, `insmod`, `rmmod`, and other tools on desktop distros such as Ubuntu 16.04, where e.g.:

....
ls -l /bin/lsmod
....

gives:

....
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Jul 25 15:35 /bin/lsmod -> kmod
....

and:

....
dpkg -l | grep -Ei
....

contains:

....
ii kmod 22-1ubuntu5 amd64 tools for managing Linux kernel modules
....

BusyBox also implements its own version of those executables. There are some differences.

Buildroot also has a kmod package, but we are not using it since BusyBox' version is good enough so far.

This page will only describe features that differ from kmod to the BusyBox implementation.

==== module-init-tools

Name of a predecessor set of tools.

==== kmod modprobe

kmod's `modprobe` can also load modules under different names to avoid conflicts, e.g.:

....
sudo modprobe vmhgfs -o vm_hgfs
....

=== Device tree

<> contains a minimal runnable example.

Good format descriptions:

* https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/device-tree.md

Minimal example

....
/dts-v1/;

/ {
a;
};
....

Check correctness with:

....
dtc a.dts
....

Separate nodes are simply merged by node path, e.g.:

....
/dts-v1/;

/ {
a;
};

/ {
b;
};
....

then `dtc a.dts` gives:

....
/dts-v1/;

/ {
a;
b;
};
....

=== Directory structure

* `/data`: gitignored user created data. Deleting this might lead to loss of data. Of course, if something there becomes is important enough to you, git track it.
* `/out`: gitignored Build outputs. You won't lose data by deleting this folder since everything there can be re-generated, only time.

:leveloffset: +3

include::buildroot_patches/README.adoc[]

include::global_patch_dir/README.adoc[]

include::kernel_module/README.adoc[]

include::kernel_module/user/README.adoc[]

include::rootfs_overlay/README.adoc[]

:leveloffset: -3

=== Script man pages

:leveloffset: +3

include::build-usage.adoc[]

include::run-usage.adoc[]

:leveloffset: -3

:leveloffset: +2

include::CONTRIBUTING.adoc[]

:leveloffset: -2

=== About

This project is for people who want to learn and modify low level system components:

* Linux kernel and Linux kernel modules
* full systems emulators like QEMU and gem5
* C standard libraries. This could also be put on a submodule if people show interest.
* Buildroot. We use and therefore document, a large part of its feature set.

Philosophy:

* automate as much as possible to make things more reproducible
* do everything from source to make things understandable and hackable

This project should be called "Linux kernel playground", like: https://github.com/Fuzion24/AndroidKernelExploitationPlayground maybe I'll rename it some day. Would semi conflict with: http://copr-fe.cloud.fedoraproject.org/coprs/jwboyer/kernel-playground/ though.

==== Fairy tale

____
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Linus.

Linus made a super fun toy, and since he was not very humble, decided to call it Linux.

Linux was an awesome toy, but it had one big problem: it was very difficult to learn how to play with it!

As a result, only some weird kids who were very bored ended up playing with Linux, and everyone thought those kids were very cool, in their own weird way.

One day, a mysterious new kid called Ciro tried to play with Linux, and like many before him, got very frustrated, and gave up.

A few years later, Ciro had grown up a bit, and by chance came across a very cool toy made by the boy Petazzoni and his gang: it was called Buildroot.

Ciro noticed that if you used Buildroot together with Linux, Linux suddenly became very fun to play with!

So Ciro decided to explain to as many kids as possible how to use Buildroot to play with Linux.

And so everyone was happy. Except some of the old weird kernel hackers who wanted to keep their mystique, but so be it.

THE END
____

=== Bibliography

Runnable stuff:

* https://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ the best book, but outdated. Updated source: https://github.com/martinezjavier/ldd3 But examples non-minimal and take too much brain power to understand.
* https://github.com/satoru-takeuchi/elkdat manual build process without Buildroot, very few and simple kernel modules. But it seem ktest + QEMU working, which is awesome. `./test` there patches ktest config dynamically based on CLI! Maybe we should just steal it since GPL licensed.
* https://github.com/tinyclub/linux-lab Buildroot based, no kernel modules?
* https://github.com/agelastic/eudyptula
* https://github.com/linux-kernel-labs Yocto based, source inside a kernel fork subdir: https://github.com/linux-kernel-labs/linux/tree/f08b9e4238dfc612a9d019e3705bd906930057fc/tools/labs which the author would like to upstream https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/79w2q9/linux_device_driver_labs_the_linux_kernel/dp6of43/
* Android AOSP: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1809774/how-to-compile-the-android-aosp-kernel-and-test-it-with-the-android-emulator/48310014#48310014 AOSP is basically a uber bloated Buildroot (2 hours build vs 30 minutes), Android is Linux based, and QEMU is the emulator backend. These instructions might work for debugging the kernel: https://github.com/Fuzion24/AndroidKernelExploitationPlayground

Theory:

* http://nairobi-embedded.org you will fall here a lot when the hard Google queries start popping. They have covered everything we do here basically, but with a more manual approach, while this repo automates everything.
* https://balau82.wordpress.com awesome low level resource
* https://rwmj.wordpress.com/ awesome red hatter
* https://lwn.net
* http://www.makelinux.net

Awesome lists:

* https://github.com/gurugio/lowlevelprogramming-university
* https://github.com/uhub/awesome-c