Linux Kernel Modules

mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/skills/low-level-programming/linux-kernel-modules

作者 mohitmishra786bdc58472fa9f无许可证253 个星标收录于 2026年10月9日更新于 2026年10月9日仓库3个月前更新

Linux kernel module skill for writing and debugging loadable kernel modules. Use when writing LKMs with Kbuild, adding module parameters, creating /proc and sysfs entries, implementing character devices, debugging with KGDB or ftrace, or handling module signing for Secure Boot. Activates on queries about Linux kernel modules, loadable modules, Kbuild, module parameters, /proc filesystem, sysfs, character devices, KGDB, or module signing.

AI 生成的概览

指导编写和调试可加载 Linux 内核模块,涵盖 Kbuild 构建到 Secure Boot 签名。

功能
该技能提供编写可加载 Linux 内核模块的分步指导和代码示例:最小模块、Kbuild Makefile、模块参数、/proc 与 sysfs 接口、字符设备以及符号导出规则。它还涵盖使用 KGDB、ftrace 和动态调试进行调试、KUnit 内核内测试、Rust 内核模块以及为 Secure Boot 签名模块。产出的是教学性代码片段和 shell 命令,而不是可直接运行的脚本。
适用场景
在编写或调试可加载内核模块、添加模块参数、创建 /proc 或 sysfs 条目或实现字符设备时使用。也适用于关于 Kbuild、KGDB、ftrace、KUnit、Rust 内核模块或为 Secure Boot 签名模块的问题。
运行要求
不附带脚本,仅为说明性内容。按示例操作需要具备内核头文件或内核构建树的 Linux 系统、C 编译器和 make,以及用于 insmod、rmmod 和设备节点创建的 root 权限。调试示例假定可访问 KGDB 或 ftrace,签名示例需要 OpenSSL、sign-file 和 mokutil。

Linux Kernel Modules

Purpose

Guide agents through writing loadable Linux kernel modules (LKMs): the Kbuild build system, module parameters, /proc and sysfs interfaces, character device implementation, kernel debugging with KGDB and ftrace, and module signing for Secure Boot.

Triggers

  • "How do I write a Linux kernel module?"
  • "How do I add parameters to my kernel module?"
  • "How do I create a /proc or sysfs entry?"
  • "How do I implement a character device driver?"
  • "How do I debug a kernel module with KGDB?"
  • "How do I sign a kernel module for Secure Boot?"

Workflow

1. Minimal kernel module

c
// hello.c — minimal loadable kernel module#include <linux/module.h>#include <linux/kernel.h>#include <linux/init.h>
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");MODULE_AUTHOR("Your Name");MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Minimal hello world module");MODULE_VERSION("1.0");
static int __init hello_init(void){    printk(KERN_INFO "hello: module loaded\n");    return 0;   // non-zero = load failure}
static void __exit hello_exit(void){    printk(KERN_INFO "hello: module unloaded\n");}
module_init(hello_init);module_exit(hello_exit);
makefile
# Makefile — must be exactly this structure for Kbuildobj-m := hello.o
KDIR := /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build
all:	$(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$(PWD) modules
clean:	$(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$(PWD) clean
bash
# Buildmake
# Loadsudo insmod hello.ko
# Check it loadedlsmod | grep hellodmesg | tail -5       # see printk output
# Unloadsudo rmmod hello
# Show module infomodinfo hello.ko

2. Module parameters

c
#include <linux/moduleparam.h>
static int count = 1;static char *name = "world";
// module_param(variable, type, permissions)// permissions: 0 = no sysfs entry, S_IRUGO = readable, S_IWUSR = writablemodule_param(count, int, S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR);MODULE_PARM_DESC(count, "Number of times to print (default: 1)");
module_param(name, charp, S_IRUGO);MODULE_PARM_DESC(name, "Name to greet (default: world)");
static int __init hello_init(void){    int i;    for (i = 0; i < count; i++)        printk(KERN_INFO "hello: Hello, %s!\n", name);    return 0;}
bash
# Pass parameters at load timesudo insmod hello.ko count=3 name="kernel"
# Modify at runtime (if S_IWUSR set)echo 5 > /sys/module/hello/parameters/count

3. /proc filesystem interface

c
#include <linux/proc_fs.h>#include <linux/seq_file.h>
static struct proc_dir_entry *proc_entry;
static int mymod_show(struct seq_file *m, void *v){    seq_printf(m, "Counter: %d\n", my_counter);    seq_printf(m, "Status: %s\n", my_status ? "active" : "idle");    return 0;}
static int mymod_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file){    return single_open(file, mymod_show, NULL);}
static const struct proc_ops mymod_fops = {    .proc_open    = mymod_open,    .proc_read    = seq_read,    .proc_lseek   = seq_lseek,    .proc_release = single_release,};
static int __init mymod_init(void){    proc_entry = proc_create("mymod", 0444, NULL, &mymod_fops);    if (!proc_entry)        return -ENOMEM;    return 0;}
static void __exit mymod_exit(void){    proc_remove(proc_entry);}
bash
cat /proc/mymod

4. sysfs interface

c
#include <linux/kobject.h>#include <linux/sysfs.h>
static struct kobject *mymod_kobj;static int mymod_value = 42;
static ssize_t value_show(struct kobject *kobj,                          struct kobj_attribute *attr, char *buf){    return sprintf(buf, "%d\n", mymod_value);}
static ssize_t value_store(struct kobject *kobj,                           struct kobj_attribute *attr,                           const char *buf, size_t count){    sscanf(buf, "%d", &mymod_value);    return count;}
static struct kobj_attribute value_attr =    __ATTR(value, 0664, value_show, value_store);
static int __init mymod_init(void){    mymod_kobj = kobject_create_and_add("mymod", kernel_kobj);    if (!mymod_kobj) return -ENOMEM;    return sysfs_create_file(mymod_kobj, &value_attr.attr);}
static void __exit mymod_exit(void){    sysfs_remove_file(mymod_kobj, &value_attr.attr);    kobject_put(mymod_kobj);}
bash
cat /sys/kernel/mymod/valueecho 100 > /sys/kernel/mymod/value

5. Character device

c
#include <linux/cdev.h>#include <linux/fs.h>#include <linux/uaccess.h>
#define DEVICE_NAME "mydev"#define BUF_SIZE 1024
static int major;static struct cdev my_cdev;static char kernel_buf[BUF_SIZE];
static int mydev_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file) { return 0; }static int mydev_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *file) { return 0; }
static ssize_t mydev_read(struct file *f, char __user *buf, size_t len, loff_t *off){    size_t to_copy = min(len, (size_t)BUF_SIZE);    if (copy_to_user(buf, kernel_buf, to_copy)) return -EFAULT;    return to_copy;}
static ssize_t mydev_write(struct file *f, const char __user *buf, size_t len, loff_t *off){    size_t to_copy = min(len, (size_t)(BUF_SIZE - 1));    if (copy_from_user(kernel_buf, buf, to_copy)) return -EFAULT;    kernel_buf[to_copy] = '\0';    return to_copy;}
static const struct file_operations mydev_fops = {    .owner   = THIS_MODULE,    .open    = mydev_open,    .release = mydev_release,    .read    = mydev_read,    .write   = mydev_write,};
static int __init mydev_init(void){    major = register_chrdev(0, DEVICE_NAME, &mydev_fops);    if (major < 0) return major;    printk(KERN_INFO "mydev: registered with major %d\n", major);    return 0;}
bash
# Create device node (after loading module)sudo mknod /dev/mydev c $(cat /proc/devices | grep mydev | awk '{print $1}') 0echo "test" > /dev/mydevcat /dev/mydev

6. Debugging with KGDB and ftrace

bash
# KGDB — kernel GDB via serial/network# Boot with: kgdboc=ttyS0,115200 kgdbwait# Or over network: [email protected]/,@192.168.1.11/
# On debug host:gdb vmlinux(gdb) target remote /dev/ttyS0(gdb) set architecture i386:x86-64:intel(gdb) info registers
# ftrace — kernel function tracerecho function > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/current_tracerecho mymod_write > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_ftrace_filterecho 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/tracing_oncat /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/trace
# Dynamic debug — enable pr_debug() outputecho "module hello +p" > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control

7. EXPORT_SYMBOL vs EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL

c
// EXPORT_SYMBOL — any module can link (including proprietary)EXPORT_SYMBOL(my_helper);
// EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL — only GPL-compatible modules can linkEXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(gpl_only_fn);

Use EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL for symbols that touch GPL-only kernel internals. Loading a non-GPL module that imports GPL symbols fails with a taint warning. Check with modinfo and dmesg after insmod.

8. KUnit in-kernel unit tests

c
// test_mymod.c — compile into module or standalone KUnit module#include <kunit/test.h>#include "mymod_internal.h"   // functions under test
static void test_parse_valid(struct kunit *test){    KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, mymod_parse("42"), 42);}
static struct kunit_case mymod_cases[] = {    KUNIT_CASE(test_parse_valid),    {}};
static struct kunit_suite mymod_suite = {    .name = "mymod",    .test_cases = mymod_cases,};kunit_test_suite(mymod_suite);
bash
# In-tree KUnit run (kernel tree with CONFIG_KUNIT=y)./tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py run --filter mymod
# Out-of-tree: enable CONFIG_KUNIT in test kernel or use kunit module target

See skills/kernel/kernel-testing for full KUnit, kselftest, and syzkaller workflows.

9. Rust kernel modules (kernel 6.x + CONFIG_RUST=y)

Requires kernel built with CONFIG_RUST=y and appropriate Rust toolchain pinned by the kernel tree.

rust
// drivers/rust_example/lib.rsuse kernel::prelude::*;
module! {    type: RustExample,    name: "rust_example",    author: "You",    description: "Rust LKM example",    license: "GPL",}
struct RustExample;
impl kernel::Module for RustExample {    fn init(_module: &'static ThisModule) -> Result<Self> {        pr_info!("Rust kernel module loaded\n");        Ok(RustExample)    }}
bash
# Build from kernel tree with Rust support enabledmake LLVM=1 rustavailable   # verify Rust toolchainmake M=drivers/rust_example modulessudo insmod drivers/rust_example/rust_example.ko

10. Module signing (Secure Boot, kernel 6.x)

Kernel 6.x enforces module signature verification when CONFIG_MODULE_SIG is enabled (default on most distro kernels with Secure Boot).

bash
# Generate signing key (use org PKI in production)openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 \    -keyout signing_key.pem -out signing_cert.pem \    -days 3650 -subj "/CN=Kernel Module Signing/" -nodes
# Sign module (sha256 or sha512 per kernel config)/usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file \    sha256 signing_key.pem signing_cert.pem hello.ko
# Verify signature embedded in .komodinfo hello.ko | grep signer
# Enroll key for Secure Boot (MOK on UEFI)sudo mokutil --import signing_cert.pem# Reboot → MOK Manager → enroll → reboot again
# Kernel lockdown mode checkcat /sys/kernel/security/lockdown

With lockdown integrity or confidentiality, unsigned modules are rejected. Distro kernels may also require keys enrolled in the kernel's built-in trusted keyring (CONFIG_SYSTEM_TRUSTED_KEYS).

For Kbuild system details, see references/kbuild-basics.md [blocked].

Related skills

  • Use skills/kernel/kernel-testing for KUnit and kselftest harnesses
  • Use skills/kernel/device-drivers for char/platform driver patterns beyond minimal modules
  • Use skills/kernel/kernel-debugging for kgdb, ftrace, and kprobes
  • Use skills/observability/ebpf for userspace kernel tracing without modules
  • Use skills/debuggers/gdb for GDB session management with KGDB
  • Use skills/binaries/elf-inspection for inspecting module ELF structure

来源与署名

来源:mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills位于skills/low-level-programming/linux-kernel-modules提交bdc5847

许可证: 无许可证

内容归原作者所有。SourceWeft 从公开仓库中收录这些内容。

举报或申请下架