A basic kernel - cs.vu.nl

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Chapter 1A basic kernelIn this chapter, we will show how to build and run the most basic of kernels1. In keeping withprogramming tradition, we will call the kernelHelloWorld, although, as the world in which ourcode operates gets destroyed almost as soon as it starts running, a more appropriate name mighthave beenGoodbyeWorld, cruel or source files corresponding to this chapter can be found ~herbertb/misc/writingkernels/ The bare basics: running on the (virtual) metalOur aim is to build a real kernel that you can run on a normal x86 machine. Doing so hastwo implications. First,we will not have any support if we do not add it to our kernel , none of the helpful libraries and services are available to help us write, run, and debugour programs.

In this text, we assume that we build our kernel on Linux, or cygwin3 on Windows, so that we can use a uniform and convenient set Unix tools. Cygwin needs to be installed and setup to include a set of development tools, as described below. For Linux, I am using distributions like

  Linux, Kernel