Kernel Development Learning Pipeline

MUNI FI Kernel Development Learning Pipeline Course Fall 2024 Information

Course Description

Linux is the most widely used operating system in the world. The core software component of the Linux operating system is the kernel. A couple of its roles include managing hardware interactions, virtualizing system resources, and enforcing security constraints. In effect, Linux kernel powers almost all of the world’s top supercomputers, android phones, and an innumerable variety of other computers. This course will introduce students to Linux kernel development by focusing on device driver development. This will give students hands-on experience working with internal Linux kernel APIs and provide an overview of some of the core features and components of the kernel. Gaining an understanding of the inner workings of the operating system and how to make changes to it will give students an invaluable perspective on how their computers work behind the scenes that will reveal a new layer of understanding to apply to any future software engineering practice.

Lecture Time

• Starting Sep 16, 2024
• Mondays 14pm-16pm CET

Teachers

• Carlos Maiolino <cemmaiolino.dev>
• Vratislav Bendel <vbendelredhat.com>
• Radomir Vrbovsky <rvrbovskredhat.com>

Lecture Room

• FI MUNI, Building S, Room S505 (Fifth floor)

Prerequisites

• English language
• C language knowledge
• Basic knowledge about operating systems in general
• Practical skills in Linux operating system (e.g. Fedora, Debian, Slackware)
• Basic git
• Own computer, preferably a laptop with x86 architecture

Credits

• The reward for passing the course is 3 credits.

Language of Instruction

• English

Objectives

• Introduce students to the Linux Kernel development workflow, show them how to create and send kernel modifications to mailing lists
• Excite students about the wonderful world of Linux kernel community
• Expose students to major kernel subsystems

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of how Linux kernel is architectured.
• Understand the role of each of the major subsystems and how those interact with each other.
• Students will also be able to have a basic understanding on how to write code for the Linux kernel, for its core and for modules, and how to use Linux’s provided generic interfaces (memory allocation, synchronization, generic data structures, etc) in their own kernel code.
• Students will understand how to send patches to specific subsystems and how to review patches

Syllabus

• Introduction and development environment setup
• General overview of core kernel concepts
• PC and x86 architecture
• Process management
• Synchronization primitives
• Memory management
• Storage and filesystems
• Networking stack
• Device drivers
• Kernel Debugging methods
• GPG signing party

Teaching Methods

• In-person lectures
• Homework assignments

Assessment Methods

• Each assignment is assigned a specific number of points based on its difficulty or importance. These points add up to a maximum of 100.
• To pass the course, students need to accumulate at least 65 points across all assignments.

Course Schedule