Aiken Harris
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78 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
78 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
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title = 'Building ExectOS'
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date = 2024-06-18T16:37:24+02:00
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To build ExectOS, you must use the XTchain toolchain. Make sure you have already [downloaded](/download) and installed it.
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Once the toolchain is installed and the source code is ready, open a terminal and launch the XTchain Build Environment:
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```
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xtchain
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```
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Next, set your target architecture and build type. You can choose between:
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* Architecture: i686 (32-bit) or amd64 (64-bit)
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* Build type: DEBUG (for development and debugging) or RELEASE (for production)
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Use the following commands:
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```
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charch [i686|amd64]
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chbuild [DEBUG|RELEASE]
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```
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Now, configure the project:
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* On Linux, run:
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```
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./configure.sh
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```
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* On Windows, run:
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```
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.\configure.ps1
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```
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Once configuration is complete, navigate to the build directory and compile the source:
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```
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cd build
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xbuild
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```
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After the build completes, the compiled binaries will be located in the `build/output/binaries` directory. Additionally,
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depending on the selected build type, you may also find debug symbols in PDB format inside the `build/output/symbols`
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folder. Precompiled libraries intended for linking other software with XTDK are available in the `build/output/library`
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directory.
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## Creating Qemu Disk Image
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If you want to build a bootable disk image for use with QEMU, you can do so with the following command:
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```
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xbuild diskimg
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```
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This command generates a virtual disk image that can be directly booted in a QEMU virtual machine. You can also convert
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this image into other formats compatible with alternative hypervisors such as VirtualBox or VMware.
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## Testing with Qemu
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Once ExectOS has been successfully compiled, you can test it in a virtual environment. The recommended approach is to use
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QEMU, which supports both hardware virtualization (via KVM) and software emulation (via TCG).
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After successfully compiling ExectOS, you can test it using QEMU with either hardware virtualization (KVM) or software
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emulation (TCG). To start QEMU with KVM, use the testkvm target, and for TCG emulation, use the testtcg target. These
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targets are provided for convenience and can be executed directly from the build directory. For example, run
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`xbuild testkvm` to launch QEMU with hardware virtualization, or `xbuild testtcg` to use software emulation:
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```
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xbuild testkvm # For KVM hardware virtualization
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```
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or
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```
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xbuild testtcg # For TCG software emulation
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```
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These commands will automatically configure QEMU with the appropriate settings and start the virtual machine. Keep in mind
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that QEMU is not distributed with XTchain and must be installed manually.
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In addition to QEMU, you can also test ExectOS using Bochs, an IA-32 (x86) PC emulator that offers a different emulation
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environment. To launch Bochs with the ExectOS disk image, run the following command:
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```
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xbuild bochsvm
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```
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This will start the Bochs emulator with ExectOS loaded, allowing you to test the system in a context that may offer
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different debugging capabilities compared to QEMU. Like QEMU, Bochs is not bundled with XTchain and needs to be installed
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separately.
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The performance and debugging experience will differ depending on which emulator you use. KVM requires a host system with
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hardware virtualization support and offers the best performance. TCG is a pure software-based emulator and works even on
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systems without virtualization capabilities, albeit at slower speeds. Bochs, while slower than both, provides a rich set of
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debugging features which can be especially helpful when troubleshooting complex or low-level issues. Alternatively, you may
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use other hypervisors like VMware or VirtualBox by manually configuring them to boot from the generated disk image.
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