Linux Kernel Development

Linux Kernel Development

Practices for configuring, building, and patching the Linux kernel for embedded automotive IVI, HUD, and RSE targets.

Source of truth:

• Linux Kernel Documentation
• Kernel source tree: Documentation/ and Documentation/kbuild/

When to Use This Skill

• Configuring the kernel for a new board with menuconfig or defconfig.
• Adding or modifying Kconfig options and Kbuild targets.
• Cross-compiling the kernel for ARM/AArch64 from an x86 host.
• Applying or creating kernel patches with git am or quilt.
• Saving a reproducible board configuration with savedefconfig.
• Reviewing kernel code or driver integration for automotive BSP work.

Kernel Source Tree Overview

linux/
  arch/          # architecture-specific code (arm, arm64, x86, ...)
  block/         # block layer
  drivers/       # device drivers (char, net, usb, video, ...)
  fs/            # filesystems
  include/       # public headers (linux/, asm/, uapi/)
  init/          # kernel init code (main.c, Kconfig)
  ipc/           # IPC subsystem
  kernel/        # core kernel (sched, lock, time, panic, ...)
  lib/           # kernel library functions
  mm/            # memory management
  net/           # networking stack
  scripts/       # build scripts and tools
  sound/         # ALSA audio subsystem
  tools/         # userspace tools (perf, bpftool, ...)
  Documentation/ # kernel documentation (RST)

Kconfig — Kernel Configuration

The kernel uses Kconfig for feature selection. Configuration is stored in .config.

Common config targets

# Interactive text-based menu
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- menuconfig

# Apply a saved defconfig (e.g., from arch/arm64/configs/)
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- <board>_defconfig

# Silently accept defaults for all unset symbols
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- olddefconfig

# Show differences between old and new config
make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- listnewconfig

Config fragments (merge_config.sh)

# Combine a base defconfig with one or more fragment files
scripts/kconfig/merge_config.sh arch/arm64/configs/myboard_defconfig \
    fragments/enable_cgroups.config \
    fragments/enable_bpf.config

This saves the merged result into .config.

Building the Kernel

# Set these in shell or pass on every make invocation
export ARCH=arm64
export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
export KDIR=/path/to/linux

# Build the kernel image (Image, zImage, uImage, etc.)
make -j$(nproc) Image

# Build device tree blobs
make -j$(nproc) dtbs

# Build all modules
make -j$(nproc) modules

# Install modules into a staging directory
make INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/path/to/staging modules_install

For ARM 32-bit:

export ARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-
make <board>_defconfig
make -j$(nproc) zImage dtbs modules

Out-of-tree build directory (O=)

mkdir -p /build/myboard
make O=/build/myboard ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- myboard_defconfig
make O=/build/myboard ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j$(nproc) Image dtbs

Kbuild — Kernel Build System

Every directory under the kernel tree contains a Makefile (called a Kbuild Makefile):

# drivers/mydriver/Makefile
obj-$(CONFIG_MY_DRIVER) += mydriver.o
mydriver-objs := mydriver_core.o mydriver_hw.o

• obj-y → built into the kernel.
• obj-m → built as a module.
• obj-$(CONFIG_SYMBOL) → conditional on Kconfig symbol.

Corresponding Kconfig entry:

config MY_DRIVER
    tristate "My hardware driver"
    depends on I2C
    help
      Driver for my custom hardware.
      Say M to build as a module.

Add to parent Kconfig and Makefile:

# drivers/Makefile
obj-y += mydriver/

# drivers/Kconfig
source "drivers/mydriver/Kconfig"

Kernel Versioning

The kernel version is in the top-level Makefile:

VERSION = 6
PATCHLEVEL = 1
SUBLEVEL = 0
EXTRAVERSION = -myboard

uname -r on the running system returns <VERSION>.<PATCHLEVEL>.<SUBLEVEL><EXTRAVERSION>.

Set CONFIG_LOCALVERSION in .config to add a local suffix: CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="-ivi".

Patching the Kernel

Using git (recommended for BSP trees)

# Apply a patch series from a mailing list (git am)
git am 0001-fix-gpio-timeout.patch

# Apply a single patch file
git apply 0001-fix-gpio-timeout.patch

# Create a patch from a commit
git format-patch -1 HEAD            # last commit
git format-patch HEAD~3..HEAD       # last 3 commits

Using quilt (for patch stacks on top of a release tarball)

quilt push          # apply next patch
quilt pop           # unapply last patch
quilt push -a       # apply all patches
quilt refresh       # update current patch with working-tree changes
quilt new 0001-my-fix.patch
quilt add drivers/mydriver/mydriver_core.c
# edit the file
quilt refresh

Saving a Board defconfig

After configuring with menuconfig, save a minimal defconfig (only non-default values):

make ARCH=arm64 savedefconfig
cp defconfig arch/arm64/configs/myboard_defconfig

Checking Kernel Config Symbols

# Find if a symbol is set
grep CONFIG_MY_FEATURE .config

# Show all values for a pattern
grep DMA .config | grep -v "^#"

# Verify the running kernel's config (if CONFIG_IKCONFIG_PROC=y)
zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_MY_FEATURE

Prerequisites

• Linux host machine (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or Debian 11 recommended).
• Cross-compilation toolchain: arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc or aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc.
• Target board with serial console access (USB-to-UART adapter).
• ssh access to target (optional but recommended).

Step-by-Step Workflows

Step 1: Set up the cross-compilation environment

Set ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- (adjust for your target architecture).

Step 2: Configure the kernel

Start from the board defconfig: make <board>_defconfig; adjust with make menuconfig.

Step 3: Apply patches

Use git am for patch series or quilt push for a quilt patch stack; review each patch.

Step 4: Build the kernel

Run make -j$(nproc); treat all new warnings as errors (W=1 for stricter output).

Step 5: Deploy and boot

Copy Image / zImage and DTB to the boot partition or TFTP server; boot and verify uname -r.

Troubleshooting

• make fails with scripts/basic/fixdep: not found — run make scripts_basic first; or clean with make mrproper and reconfigure.
• Linux version mismatch when loading module — the module was built against a different kernel version; rebuild with KERNEL_SRC pointing to the running kernel tree.
• Patch fails to apply — check context with patch --dry-run; resolve conflicts manually and add a fixup commit.
• Kernel panics on boot — add earlycon and initcall_debug to kernel cmdline; capture serial output for the full log.

Pre-Commit Checklist

• savedefconfig run and result committed along with functional changes.
• New Kconfig entries have a help text.
• New obj-$(CONFIG_*) entries added to the correct directory Makefile.
• Patch applies cleanly with git am or git apply — no fuzz or rejects.
• Build tested for both =y (built-in) and =m (module) if tristate.
• ARCH and CROSS_COMPILE confirmed for target, not host.
• make dtbs passes if device tree changes are included.

References

• Linux Kernel Documentation
• Kbuild reference
• Kconfig language
• Submitting patches guide