The Art Of Linux Kernel Design

Uses the Running Operation as the Main Thread Difficulty in understanding an operating system (OS) lies not in the technical aspects, but in the complex relationships inside the operating systems. The Art of Linux Kernel Design: Illustrating the Operating System Design Principle and Implementation addresses this complexity. Written from the perspective of the designer of an operating system, this book tackles important issues and practical problems on how to understand an operating system completely and systematically. It removes the mystery, revealing operating system design guidelines, explaining the BIOS code directly related to the operating system, and simplifying the relationships and guiding ideology behind it all. Based on the Source Code of a Real Multi-Process Operating System Using the 0.11 edition source code as a representation of the Linux basic design, the book illustrates the real states of an operating system in actual operations. It provides a complete, systematic analysis of the operating system source code, as well as a direct and complete understanding of the real operating system run-time structure. The author includes run-time memory structure diagrams, and an accompanying essay to help readers grasp the dynamics behind Linux and similar software systems. Identifies through diagrams the location of the key operating system data structures that lie in the memory Indicates through diagrams the current operating status information which helps users understand the interrupt state, and left time slice of processes Examines the relationship between process and memory, memory and file, file and process, and the kernel Explores the essential association, preparation, and transition, which is the vital part of operating system Develop a System of Your Own This text offers an in-depth study on mastering the operating system, and provides an important prerequisite for designing a whole new operating system.

Uses the Running Operation as the Main Thread Difficulty in understanding an operating system (OS) lies not in the technical aspects, but in the complex relationships inside the operating systems. The Art of Linux Kernel Design: Illustrating the Operating System Design Principle and Implementation addresses this complexity. Written from the perspective of the designer of an operating system, this book tackles important issues and practical problems on how to understand an operating system completely and systematically. It removes the mystery, revealing operating system design guidelines, explaining the BIOS code directly related to the operating system, and simplifying the relationships and guiding ideology behind it all. Based on the Source Code of a Real Multi-Process Operating System Using the 0.11 edition source code as a representation of the Linux basic design, the book illustrates the real states of an operating system in actual operations. It provides a complete, systematic analysis of the operating system source code, as well as a direct and complete understanding of the real operating system run-time structure. The author includes run-time memory structure diagrams, and an accompanying essay to help readers grasp the dynamics behind Linux and similar software systems. Identifies through diagrams the location of the key operating system data structures that lie in the memory Indicates through diagrams the current operating status information which helps users understand the interrupt state, and left time slice of processes Examines the relationship between process and memory, memory and file, file and process, and the kernel Explores the essential association, preparation, and transition, which is the vital part of operating system Develop a System of Your Own This text offers an in-depth study on mastering the operating system, and provides an important prerequisite for designing a whole new operating system.

Explore Implementation of core kernel subsystems About This Book Master the design, components, and structures of core kernel subsystems Explore kernel programming interfaces and related algorithms under the hood Completely updated material for the 4.12.10 kernel Who This Book Is For If you are a kernel programmer with a knowledge of kernel APIs and are looking to build a comprehensive understanding, and eager to explore the implementation, of kernel subsystems, this book is for you. It sets out to unravel the underlying details of kernel APIs and data structures, piercing through the complex kernel layers and gives you the edge you need to take your skills to the next level. What You Will Learn Comprehend processes and fles—the core abstraction mechanisms of the Linux kernel that promote effective simplification and dynamism Decipher process scheduling and understand effective capacity utilization under general and real-time dispositions Simplify and learn more about process communication techniques through signals and IPC mechanisms Capture the rudiments of memory by grasping the key concepts and principles of physical and virtual memory management Take a sharp and precise look at all the key aspects of interrupt management and the clock subsystem Understand concurrent execution on SMP platforms through kernel synchronization and locking techniques In Detail Mastering Linux Kernel Development looks at the Linux kernel, its internal arrangement and design, and various core subsystems, helping you to gain significant understanding of this open source marvel. You will look at how the Linux kernel, which possesses a kind of collective intelligence thanks to its scores of contributors, remains so elegant owing to its great design. This book also looks at all the key kernel code, core data structures, functions, and macros, giving you a comprehensive foundation of the implementation details of the kernel's core services and mechanisms. You will also look at the Linux kernel as well-designed software, which gives us insights into software design in general that are easily scalable yet fundamentally strong and safe. By the end of this book, you will have considerable understanding of and appreciation for the Linux kernel. Style and approach Each chapter begins with the basic conceptual know-how for a subsystem and extends into the details of its implementation. We use appropriate code excerpts of critical routines and data structures for subsystems.

To thoroughly understand what makes Linux tick and why it's so efficient, you need to delve deep into the heart of the operating system--into the Linux kernel itself. The kernel is Linux--in the case of the Linux operating system, it's the only bit of software to which the term "Linux" applies. The kernel handles all the requests or completed I/O operations and determines which programs will share its processing time, and in what order. Responsible for the sophisticated memory management of the whole system, the Linux kernel is the force behind the legendary Linux efficiency. The new edition of Understanding the Linux Kernel takes you on a guided tour through the most significant data structures, many algorithms, and programming tricks used in the kernel. Probing beyond the superficial features, the authors offer valuable insights to people who want to know how things really work inside their machine. Relevant segments of code are dissected and discussed line by line. The book covers more than just the functioning of the code, it explains the theoretical underpinnings for why Linux does things the way it does. The new edition of the book has been updated to cover version 2.4 of the kernel, which is quite different from version 2.2: the virtual memory system is entirely new, support for multiprocessor systems is improved, and whole new classes of hardware devices have been added. The authors explore each new feature in detail. Other topics in the book include: Memory management including file buffering, process swapping, and Direct memory Access (DMA) The Virtual Filesystem and the Second Extended Filesystem Process creation and scheduling Signals, interrupts, and the essential interfaces to device drivers Timing Synchronization in the kernel Interprocess Communication (IPC) Program execution Understanding the Linux Kernel, Second Edition will acquaint you with all the inner workings of Linux, but is more than just an academic exercise. You'll learn what conditions bring out Linux's best performance, and you'll see how it meets the challenge of providing good system response during process scheduling, file access, and memory management in a wide variety of environments. If knowledge is power, then this book will help you make the most of your Linux system.

The IA-64 Linux kernel makes extraordinary power available to every Linux developer. In IA-64 Linux Kernel: Design and Implementation, the kernel project's leaders systematically present every major subsystem, introducing interfaces used by Linux to abstract platform differences, showing how these interfaces are used in IA-64, and illuminating key issues associated with Linux kernel operation on any platform. Covers processes, tasks, threads, virtual memory, I/O, symmetric multiprocessing, bootstrapping, and more.

Find an introduction to the architecture, concepts and algorithms of the Linux kernel in Professional Linux Kernel Architecture, a guide to the kernel sources and large number of connections among subsystems. Find an introduction to the relevant structures and functions exported by the kernel to userland, understand the theoretical and conceptual aspects of the Linux kernel and Unix derivatives, and gain a deeper understanding of the kernel. Learn how to reduce the vast amount of information contained in the kernel sources and obtain the skills necessary to understand the kernel sources.

Linux Kernel Development details the design and implementation of the Linux kernel, presenting the content in a manner that is beneficial to those writing and developing kernel code, as well as to programmers seeking to better understand the operating system and become more efficient and productive in their coding. The book details the major subsystems and features of the Linux kernel, including its design, implementation, and interfaces. It covers the Linux kernel with both a practical and theoretical eye, which should appeal to readers with a variety of interests and needs. The author, a core kernel developer, shares valuable knowledge and experience on the 2.6 Linux kernel. Specific topics covered include process management, scheduling, time management and timers, the system call interface, memory addressing, memory management, the page cache, the VFS, kernel synchronization, portability concerns, and debugging techniques. This book covers the most interesting features of the Linux 2.6 kernel, including the CFS scheduler, preemptive kernel, block I/O layer, and I/O schedulers. The third edition of Linux Kernel Development includes new and updated material throughout the book: An all-new chapter on kernel data structures Details on interrupt handlers and bottom halves Extended coverage of virtual memory and memory allocation Tips on debugging the Linux kernel In-depth coverage of kernel synchronization and locking Useful insight into submitting kernel patches and working with the Linux kernel community

A Guide to Kernel Exploitation: Attacking the Core discusses the theoretical techniques and approaches needed to develop reliable and effective kernel-level exploits, and applies them to different operating systems, namely, UNIX derivatives, Mac OS X, and Windows. Concepts and tactics are presented categorically so that even when a specifically detailed vulnerability has been patched, the foundational information provided will help hackers in writing a newer, better attack; or help pen testers, auditors, and the like develop a more concrete design and defensive structure. The book is organized into four parts. Part I introduces the kernel and sets out the theoretical basis on which to build the rest of the book. Part II focuses on different operating systems and describes exploits for them that target various bug classes. Part III on remote kernel exploitation analyzes the effects of the remote scenario and presents new techniques to target remote issues. It includes a step-by-step analysis of the development of a reliable, one-shot, remote exploit for a real vulnerabilitya bug affecting the SCTP subsystem found in the Linux kernel. Finally, Part IV wraps up the analysis on kernel exploitation and looks at what the future may hold. Covers a range of operating system families — UNIX derivatives, Mac OS X, Windows Details common scenarios such as generic memory corruption (stack overflow, heap overflow, etc.) issues, logical bugs and race conditions Delivers the reader from user-land exploitation to the world of kernel-land (OS) exploits/attacks, with a particular focus on the steps that lead to the creation of successful techniques, in order to give to the reader something more than just a set of tricks