Writing A System Call In Linux

AjayTeja Reddy Doma

920036609
Table contents


What is system call

Kernel

Downloading kernel

List of files to be modified

Writing new kernel files

Compiling kernel

Testing system call
What is System Call?


A System Call acts as an interface between kernel
and user application.
Kernel


Kernel is a program and it is the heart of an OS.

Kernel is responsible for low-level tasks such as disk
management, memory management, etc.
Types of kernel:
1) Monoithic
2) Micro
3) Hybrid
List of files to be modified


Lets Assume that we are in directory named linux-($version)/

Kernel files to be modified are listed below:

/Makefile

/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl

/include/linux/syscalls.h
Downloading Kernel

• Download kernel form kernel.org

$wget
https://cdn.kenrel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-5.5.tar.x
z

After Downloading kernel extract it:

$tar –xvf linux-5.5.tar.xz
New files or directories to be created:


Create directory /hello (or mycall)

Create header file /mycall/mycall.h

Create /mycall/mycall.c

Create /mycall/Makefile

In UserSpace

test.h

test.c
Kernel Files


Create source file mycall.c in linux/mycall/ directory

#include<linux/linkage.h>
#include<linux/kernel.h>
#include “mycall.h”
asmlinkage long sys_mycall(void)
{
printk(“Hello World!”);
return 0;
}

Create a header file /mycall/mycall.h


asmlinkage long sys_mycall(void);

After creating header file create Makefile

obj-y := mycall.o

Modifing Makefile in main directory i.e, /linux-($version)/

For this, open the kernel's Makefile (found in the linux-

($version) directory) and look for the following line:
core -y += kernel/ mm/ fs/ ipc/ security/ crypto/ block/

Add the folder at the end of line and /.

core -y += kernel/ mm/ fs/ ipc/ security/ crypto/ block/

mycall/
Modifying System call table


System Call table is located at
/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl

(Note for 32-bit system edit syscall_32.tbl)

add system call in 64 bit system calls.
 330 common getrandom sys_getrandom
331 common memfd_create sys_memfd_create
332 common kexec_file_load sys_kexec_file_load
333 common bpf sys_bpf
334 64 execveat stub_execveat
335 64 mycall sys_mycall

After system call for sys_mycall function

Add function to syscalls.h header file located at
/include/linux/syscalls.h
asmlinkage long sys_mycall(void);
Compiling kernel


Most important part of writing kernel is compiling
it.

Before make a configuration file:
Make localmodconfig
Make oldconfig
Make menuconfig

There are two ways to compile kernel
 Method 1:
 Copy the modified directory to /src/usr/ folder
as root user
 sudo make -j4 && sudo make modules_install
 sudo make install

Method 2:
 Using debian packaging
 In linux/ directory use following cmds
 make -j8 deb-pkg
 Above cmd will build Debian installable software
packages
 .deb files will be stored in parent directory of linux-
($version)/.
 Now go back parent directory using cd .. Cmd and
install .deb pkgs
 Sudo dpkg -i linux-*.deb
Testing System Call


Create a “test.h” header file in your home or desktop folder.

#include<unistd.h>
#include<sys/syscall.h>
#define hello 336
long mycall(void)
{
return syscall(hello, void);
}
Testing System Call


Create a “test.c” program in your home or desktop
folder.
#include<stdio.h>
#include "test.h"
int main(void)
{
printf("%d\n", mycall());
}

After writing above programs compile and run the
program

$cc test.c

$./a.out

After successful execution use dmesg cmd to know
whether its successfully executed or not.

$dmesg
Thank You