Reading Material for
System Call Implementation in Linux OS
[Including Kernel Recompilation]
BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND
SCIENCE, PILANI –K K BIRLA GOA CAMPUS
INDEX
Sec. Page
Section Title
No. No.
1. Basic Preparation for Recompilation 3
2. Recompilation of Linux Kernel with / without Modification(s) 4
Implementation of New System Call [New System Call to Add
3. 7
Two Positive Integers]
4. Implementation of User Space Programs 13
5. Practice Problem 14
Important Note: Please do not try this directly on your laptop, you may
end up crashing your system/corrupting several files. We recommend installing
Virtual Box and setting up a Linux VM on it. You can find instructions on how to
do that here: https://itsfoss.com/install-linux-in-virtualbox/. Proceed with the next
steps only after a Ubuntu VM is up and running in Virtual Box.
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Basic Preparation for Recompilation
Step #1. Download the kernel source 5.19.8 from https://www.kernel.org
Step #2: Open a terminal and login to super-user by
$ sudo su
<Enter root password here>
Step #3: Place the tar.xz file in /usr/src/ directory
Step #4: Set the present working directory as /usr/src/ by
$ cd /usr/src/
Step #5: Untar the linux-5.19.8.tar.xz file by
$ tar -xvf linux-5.19.8.tar.xz
Step #6: Set the present working directory as linux-5.19.8
$ cd linux-5.19.8/
Recompilation of Linux Kernel with / without
Modification(s)
Step #1: Reconfiguration of the Kernel
The Linux Kernel is extraordinarily configurable; you can enable and
disable many of its features, as well as set build parameters.
Some of the widely used options are: menuconfig, xconfig, gconfig, oldconfig,
defconfig etc.
Dependencies you may require to install: flex, bison, libssl-dev, libelf-dev
$apt install flex bison libssl-dev libelf-dev or
$apt-get install <package name> E.g.: $apt-get install flex
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$ make menuconfig
<Text based color menus, radio lists & dialogs. This option is also useful on
remote server if you want to compile kernel remotely.>
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$ make xconfig
<X windows (Qt) based configuration tool, works best under KDE Desktop.>
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$ make gconfig
<X windows (Gtk) based configuration tool, works best under Gnome Desktop.>
$ make oldconfig
<Reads the existing config file and prompts the user options in the current kernel
source that are not found in the file>
$ make defconfig [Use this for reconfiguration option for this assignment]
<Creates a default config file for the kernel delineating all the necessary modules
to be installed into the kernel>
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Step #2: Preliminary Recompilation of the Kernel
Execute make to compile the kernel.
$ make
Step #3: Recompilation of the Kernel module, update initramfs
and grub
Execute make modules_install & make modules_install install to compile
the modules and update the initramfs and grup.
$ make modules_install && make modules_install install
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In addition to installing the bzImage it even runs the following commands
update-initramfs -c -k linux-5.19.8
update-grub
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Now that the kernel has been recompiled, reboot the system and boot into this
kernel from the grub <Select advanced ubuntu tab followed by the New
kernel>
Implementation of New System Call [New System
Call to Add 2 Positive Integers]
Step #1: Create a directory under /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/
Create a directory named add_syscall under /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/
$ mkdir add_syscall
Step #2: Create the following files under add_syscall directory
1. add_syscall.c
2. add_syscall.h
3. Makefile
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Contents of add_syscall.c
SYSCALL_DEFINEn() macros are the standard way for kernel code to
define a system call, where the n suffix indicates the argument count.
The first argument to the macro is the name of the system call (without sys_
prepended to it). The remaining arguments are pairs of type and name for the
parameters.
The definitions of these SYSCALL_DEFINE... macros are in
#include </linux/syscalls.h>. Hence, the .c file in which you code the body
of your syscall's service routine must #include <linux/syscalls.h>
It has within { ... } (after your SYSCALL_DEFINE...(...) ) the code (you
will write!) of the body of the syscall to be run.
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Content of add_syscall.h
Content of Makefile
Step #3: Modify the following files
1. /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/Makefile
2. /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl
3. /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/include/asm-generic/syscalls.h
4. /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/include/linux/syscalls.h
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3.1: Modify /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/Makefile:
<Update the following line in Makefile>
core-y += kernel/ certs/ mm/ fs/ ipc/ security/ crypto/
<to the following by adding add_syscall/ in the end>
core-y += kernel/ certs/ mm/ fs/ ipc/ security/ crypto/ add_syscall/
3.2: Modify /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl:
Update the file: /arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl to add the new syscall at
the next available system call number in the common list of syscalls like:
451 common add_syscall sys_add_syscall
Here sys_add_syscall is the entry point for the system call add_syscall and it
will be common across the x86-{64, 32} bit architectures.
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This table is read by scripts and used to generate some of the boilerplate code
3.3: Modify /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/include/asm-generic/syscalls.h:
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3.4: Modify /usr/src/linux-5.19.8/include/linux/syscalls.h:
Recompile the Kernel [Follow section#2]to get all the changes
reflected. Reboot the system and boot into this kernel from the grub
<Select advanced ubuntu tab followed by the New kernel>
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Implementation of User Space Programs
1. add2Num.c
2. addWrapper.h
The C user library wraps most system calls for us. This avoids triggering
interrupts directly. The user space .c file provides two mechanisms of calling
a system call (A) directly using the syscall() function with the help of system
call number [GNU C library provides this for us] and (B) with the help of a
Wrapper where the end user never need to remember the system call
number.
1.1: add2Num.c:
1.2: addWrapper.h:
System Call Implementation in Linux Operating System Page 15
1.3: Compiling and Executing the User program:
Practice Problem:
Write a New system call in Kernel space which will add 2 floating point numbers
and return the result to the user space. Make sure both the floating point
numbers are Valid Positive Numbers. Make sure the result is a Valid Positive
floating point number.
System Call Implementation in Linux Operating System Page 16
Assignment #1: What to be done
Phase #1: Finalize the System call and get it approved from me. No two
Group’s system calls should be same.
Phase #2: Implement the System call and Demonstrate it.
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