Omit needless words and sentences; reorganize and tighten sentence structure; swap sections 2.2 and 2.3 for a more logical flow; remove section 3, therefore shifting 4->3; add to explanations; and add section on building multiple modules. Signed-off-by: matt mooney <mfm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- Since the changes I was making were significant, I decided to go ahead and do a thorough edit of the first 4 sections. An explanation of building single object files is still needed in section 2.4. And I plan to edit the rest of the file, although I don't anticipate as much change. Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt | 387 +++++++++++++++++++------------------- 1 files changed, 189 insertions(+), 198 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt b/Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt index 0767cf6..799b683 100644 --- a/Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt +++ b/Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt @@ -1,215 +1,185 @@ +Building External Modules -In this document you will find information about: -- how to build external modules -- how to make your module use the kbuild infrastructure -- how kbuild will install a kernel -- how to install modules in a non-standard location +This document describes how-to build an out-of-tree kernel module. === Table of Contents === 1 Introduction - === 2 How to build external modules - --- 2.1 Building external modules - --- 2.2 Available targets - --- 2.3 Available options - --- 2.4 Preparing the kernel tree for module build - --- 2.5 Building separate files for a module - === 3. Example commands - === 4. Creating a kbuild file for an external module - === 5. Include files - --- 5.1 How to include files from the kernel include dir - --- 5.2 External modules using an include/ dir - --- 5.3 External modules using several directories - === 6. Module installation - --- 6.1 INSTALL_MOD_PATH - --- 6.2 INSTALL_MOD_DIR - === 7. Module versioning & Module.symvers - --- 7.1 Symbols from the kernel (vmlinux + modules) - --- 7.2 Symbols and external modules - --- 7.3 Symbols from another external module - === 8. Tips & Tricks - --- 8.1 Testing for CONFIG_FOO_BAR + === 2 How-to Build External Modules + --- 2.1 Command Syntax + --- 2.2 Options + --- 2.3 Targets + --- 2.4 Building Separate Files + === 3. Creating a Kbuild File for an External Module + --- 3.1 Shared Makefile + --- 3.2 Separate Kbuild file and Makefile + --- 3.3 Binary Blobs + --- 3.4 Building Multiple Modules + === 4. Include files + --- 4.1 How to include files from the kernel include dir + --- 4.2 External modules using an include/ dir + --- 4.3 External modules using several directories + === 5. Module installation + --- 5.1 INSTALL_MOD_PATH + --- 5.2 INSTALL_MOD_DIR + === 6. Module versioning & Module.symvers + --- 6.1 Symbols from the kernel (vmlinux + modules) + --- 6.2 Symbols and external modules + --- 6.3 Symbols from another external module + === 7. Tips & Tricks + --- 7.1 Testing for CONFIG_FOO_BAR === 1. Introduction -kbuild includes functionality for building modules both -within the kernel source tree and outside the kernel source tree. -The latter is usually referred to as external or "out-of-tree" -modules and is used both during development and for modules that -are not planned to be included in the kernel tree. +"kbuild" is the build system used by the Linux kernel. Modules must use +kbuild to stay compatible with changes in the build infrastructure and +to pick up the right flags to "gcc." Functionality for building modules +both in-tree and out-of-tree is provided. The method for building +either is similar, and all modules are initially developed and built +out-of-tree. -What is covered within this file is mainly information to authors -of modules. The author of an external module should supply -a makefile that hides most of the complexity, so one only has to type -'make' to build the module. A complete example will be presented in -chapter 4, "Creating a kbuild file for an external module". +Covered in this document is information aimed at developers interested +in building out-of-tree (or "external") modules. The author of an +external module should supply a makefile that hides most of the +complexity, so one only has to type "make" to build the module. This is +easily accomplished, and a complete example will be presented in +section 3. -=== 2. How to build external modules +=== 2. How-to Build External Modules -kbuild offers functionality to build external modules, with the -prerequisite that there is a pre-built kernel available with full source. -A subset of the targets available when building the kernel is available -when building an external module. +To build external modules, you must have a pre-built kernel available +that contains the configuration and header files used in the build. +Also, the kernel must have been built with modules enabled. If you are +using a distribution kernel, there will be a package for the kernel you +are running provided by your distribution. ---- 2.1 Building external modules +An alternative is to use the "make" target "modules_prepare." This will +make sure the kernel contains the information required. The target +exists solely as a simple way to prepare a kernel source tree for +building external modules. - Use the following command to build an external module: +NOTE: "modules_prepare" will not build Module.symvers even if +CONFIG_MODVERSIONS is set; therefore, a full kernel build needs to be +executed to make module versioning work. - make -C <path-to-kernel> M=`pwd` +--- 2.1 Command Syntax - For the running kernel use: + The command to build an external module is: - make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd` + make -C <path_to_kernel_src> M=$PWD - For the above command to succeed, the kernel must have been - built with modules enabled. + The kbuild system knows that an external module is being built + due to the "M=<dir>" option given in the command. - To install the modules that were just built: + To build against the running kernel use: - make -C <path-to-kernel> M=`pwd` modules_install + make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=$PWD - More complex examples will be shown later, the above should - be enough to get you started. + Then to install the module(s) just built, add the target + "modules_install" to the command: ---- 2.2 Available targets + make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=$PWD modules_install - $KDIR refers to the path to the kernel source top-level directory +--- 2.2 Options - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` - Will build the module(s) located in current directory. - All output files will be located in the same directory - as the module source. - No attempts are made to update the kernel source, and it is - a precondition that a successful make has been executed - for the kernel. + ($KDIR refers to the path of the kernel source directory.) - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` modules - The modules target is implied when no target is given. - Same functionality as if no target was specified. - See description above. + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` modules_install - Install the external module(s). - Installation default is in /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/extra, - but may be prefixed with INSTALL_MOD_PATH - see separate - chapter. + -C $KDIR + The directory where the kernel source is located. + "make" will actually change to the specified directory + when executing and will change back when finished. - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` clean - Remove all generated files for the module - the kernel - source directory is not modified. + M=$PWD + Informs kbuild that an external module is being built. + The value given to "M" is the absolute path of the + directory where the external module (kbuild file) is + located. - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` help - help will list the available target when building external - modules. +--- 2.3 Targets ---- 2.3 Available options: + When building an external module, only a subset of the "make" + targets are available. - $KDIR refers to the path to the kernel source top-level directory + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD [target] - make -C $KDIR - Used to specify where to find the kernel source. - '$KDIR' represent the directory where the kernel source is. - Make will actually change directory to the specified directory - when executed but change back when finished. + The default will build the module(s) located in the current + directory, so a target does not need to be specified. All + output files will also be generated in this directory. No + attempts are made to update the kernel source, and it is a + precondition that a successful "make" has been executed for the + kernel. - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` - M= is used to tell kbuild that an external module is - being built. - The option given to M= is the directory where the external - module (kbuild file) is located. - When an external module is being built only a subset of the - usual targets are available. + modules + The default target for external modules. It has the + same functionality as if no target was specified. See + description above. - make -C $KDIR SUBDIRS=`pwd` - Same as M=. The SUBDIRS= syntax is kept for backwards - compatibility. + modules_install + Install the external module(s). The default location is + /lib/modules/<kernel_release>/extra, but a prefix may + be added with INSTALL_MOD_PATH (discussed in section 5). ---- 2.4 Preparing the kernel tree for module build + clean + Remove all generated files in the module directory only. - To make sure the kernel contains the information required to - build external modules the target 'modules_prepare' must be used. - 'modules_prepare' exists solely as a simple way to prepare - a kernel source tree for building external modules. - Note: modules_prepare will not build Module.symvers even if - CONFIG_MODVERSIONS is set. Therefore a full kernel build - needs to be executed to make module versioning work. + help + List the available targets for external modules. ---- 2.5 Building separate files for a module - It is possible to build single files which are part of a module. - This works equally well for the kernel, a module and even for - external modules. - Examples (module foo.ko, consist of bar.o, baz.o): - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` bar.lst - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` bar.o - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` foo.ko - make -C $KDIR M=`pwd` / - - -=== 3. Example commands - -This example shows the actual commands to be executed when building -an external module for the currently running kernel. -In the example below, the distribution is supposed to use the -facility to locate output files for a kernel compile in a different -directory than the kernel source - but the examples will also work -when the source and the output files are mixed in the same directory. - -# Kernel source -/lib/modules/<kernel-version>/source -> /usr/src/linux-<version> +--- 2.4 Building Separate Files -# Output from kernel compile -/lib/modules/<kernel-version>/build -> /usr/src/linux-<version>-up - -Change to the directory where the kbuild file is located and execute -the following commands to build the module: + It is possible to build single files that are part of a module. + This works equally well for the kernel, a module, and even for + external modules. - cd /home/user/src/module - make -C /usr/src/`uname -r`/source \ - O=/lib/modules/`uname-r`/build \ - M=`pwd` + Example (The module foo.ko, consist of bar.o and baz.o): + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD bar.lst + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD baz.o + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD foo.ko + make -C $KDIR M=$PWD / -Then, to install the module use the following command: - make -C /usr/src/`uname -r`/source \ - O=/lib/modules/`uname-r`/build \ - M=`pwd` \ - modules_install +=== 3. Creating a Kbuild File for an External Module -If you look closely you will see that this is the same command as -listed before - with the directories spelled out. +In the last section we saw the command to build a module for the +running kernel. The module is not actually built, however, because a +build file is required. Contained in this file will be the name of +the module(s) being built, along with the list of requisite source +files. The file may be as simple as a single line: -The above are rather long commands, and the following chapter -lists a few tricks to make it all easier. + obj-m := <module_name>.o +The kbuild system will build <module_name>.o from <module_name>.c, +and, after linking, will result in the kernel module <module_name>.ko. +The above line can be put in either a "Kbuild" file or a "Makefile." +When the module is built from multiple sources, an additional line is +needed listing the files: -=== 4. Creating a kbuild file for an external module + <module_name>-y := <src1>.o <src2>.o ... -kbuild is the build system for the kernel, and external modules -must use kbuild to stay compatible with changes in the build system -and to pick up the right flags to gcc etc. +NOTE: Further documentation describing the syntax used by kbuild is +located in Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.txt. -The kbuild file used as input shall follow the syntax described -in Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.txt. This chapter will introduce a few -more tricks to be used when dealing with external modules. +The examples below demonstrate how-to create a build file for the +module 8123.ko, which is built from the following files: -In the following a Makefile will be created for a module with the -following files: 8123_if.c 8123_if.h 8123_pci.c 8123_bin.o_shipped <= Binary blob ---- 4.1 Shared Makefile for module and kernel +--- 3.1 Shared Makefile - An external module always includes a wrapper Makefile supporting - building the module using 'make' with no arguments. - The Makefile provided will most likely include additional - functionality such as test targets etc. and this part shall - be filtered away from kbuild since it may impact kbuild if - name clashes occurs. + An external module always includes a wrapper makefile that + supports building the module using "make" with no arguments. + This target is not used by kbuild; it is only for convenience. + Additional functionality, such as test targets, can be included + but should be filtered out from kbuild due to possible name + clashes. Example 1: --> filename: Makefile @@ -219,11 +189,11 @@ following files: 8123-y := 8123_if.o 8123_pci.o 8123_bin.o else - # Normal Makefile + # normal makefile + KDIR ?= /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build - KERNELDIR := /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build - all:: - $(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=`pwd` $@ + default: + $(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$$PWD # Module specific targets genbin: @@ -231,15 +201,20 @@ following files: endif - In example 1, the check for KERNELRELEASE is used to separate - the two parts of the Makefile. kbuild will only see the two - assignments whereas make will see everything except the two - kbuild assignments. + The check for KERNELRELEASE is used to separate the two parts + of the makefile. In the example, kbuild will only see the two + assignments, whereas "make" will see everything except these + two assignments. This is due to two passes made on the file: + the first pass is by the "make" instance run on the + command line; the second pass is by the kbuild system, which is + initiated by the parameterized "make" in the default target. - In recent versions of the kernel, kbuild will look for a file named - Kbuild and as second option look for a file named Makefile. - Utilising the Kbuild file makes us split up the Makefile in example 1 - into two files as shown in example 2: +--- 3.2 Separate Kbuild File and Makefile + + In newer versions of the kernel, kbuild will first look for a + file named "Kbuild", and only if that is not found, will it + then look for a makefile. Utilizing a "Kbuild" file allows us + to split up the makefile from example 1 into two files: Example 2: --> filename: Kbuild @@ -247,20 +222,21 @@ following files: 8123-y := 8123_if.o 8123_pci.o 8123_bin.o --> filename: Makefile - KERNELDIR := /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build - all:: - $(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=`pwd` $@ + KDIR ?= /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build + + default: + $(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$$PWD # Module specific targets genbin: echo "X" > 8123_bin.o_shipped + The split in example 2 is questionable due to the simplicity of + each file; however, some external modules use makefiles + consisting of several hundred lines, and here it really pays + off to separate the kbuild part from the rest. - In example 2, we are down to two fairly simple files and for simple - files as used in this example the split is questionable. But some - external modules use Makefiles of several hundred lines and here it - really pays off to separate the kbuild part from the rest. - Example 3 shows a backward compatible version. + The next example shows a backward compatible version. Example 3: --> filename: Kbuild @@ -269,13 +245,15 @@ following files: --> filename: Makefile ifneq ($(KERNELRELEASE),) + # kbuild part of makefile include Kbuild + else - # Normal Makefile + # normal makefile + KDIR ?= /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build - KERNELDIR := /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build - all:: - $(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=`pwd` $@ + default: + $(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$$PWD # Module specific targets genbin: @@ -283,28 +261,41 @@ following files: endif - The trick here is to include the Kbuild file from Makefile, so - if an older version of kbuild picks up the Makefile, the Kbuild - file will be included. + Here the "Kbuild" file is included from the makefile. This + allows an older version of kbuild, which only knows of + makefiles, to be used when the "make" and kbuild parts are + split into separate files. ---- 4.2 Binary blobs included in a module +--- 3.3 Binary Blobs - Some external modules needs to include a .o as a blob. kbuild - has support for this, but requires the blob file to be named - <filename>_shipped. In our example the blob is named - 8123_bin.o_shipped and when the kbuild rules kick in the file - 8123_bin.o is created as a simple copy off the 8213_bin.o_shipped file - with the _shipped part stripped of the filename. - This allows the 8123_bin.o filename to be used in the assignment to - the module. + Some external modules need to include an object file as a blob. + kbuild has support for this, but requires the blob file to be + named <filename>_shipped. When the kbuild rules kick in, a copy + of <filename>_shipped is created with _shipped stripped off, + giving us <filename>. This shortened filename can be used in + the assignment to the module. + + Throughout this section, 8123_bin.o_shipped has been used to + build the kernel module 8123.ko; it has been included as + 8123_bin.o. - Example 4: - obj-m := 8123.o 8123-y := 8123_if.o 8123_pci.o 8123_bin.o - In example 4, there is no distinction between the ordinary .c/.h files - and the binary file. But kbuild will pick up different rules to create - the .o file. + Although there is no distinction between the ordinary source + files and the binary file, kbuild will pick up different rules + when creating the object file for the module. + +--- 3.4 Building Multiple Modules + + kbuild supports building multiple modules with a single build + file. For example, if you want to build two modules, foo and + bar, the kbuild lines would be: + + obj-m := foo.o bar.o + foo-y := <foo_srcs> + bar-y := <bar_srcs> + + It is that simple! === 5. Include files -- 1.7.2.1 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kernel-janitors" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
