xref: /linux/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst (revision b8e85e6f3a09fc56b0ff574887798962ef8a8f80)
1======================
2Linux Kernel Makefiles
3======================
4
5This document describes the Linux kernel Makefiles.
6
7Overview
8========
9
10The Makefiles have five parts::
11
12	Makefile                    the top Makefile.
13	.config                     the kernel configuration file.
14	arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile    the arch Makefile.
15	scripts/Makefile.*          common rules etc. for all kbuild Makefiles.
16	kbuild Makefiles            exist in every subdirectory
17
18The top Makefile reads the .config file, which comes from the kernel
19configuration process.
20
21The top Makefile is responsible for building two major products: vmlinux
22(the resident kernel image) and modules (any module files).
23It builds these goals by recursively descending into the subdirectories of
24the kernel source tree.
25
26The list of subdirectories which are visited depends upon the kernel
27configuration. The top Makefile textually includes an arch Makefile
28with the name arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile. The arch Makefile supplies
29architecture-specific information to the top Makefile.
30
31Each subdirectory has a kbuild Makefile which carries out the commands
32passed down from above. The kbuild Makefile uses information from the
33.config file to construct various file lists used by kbuild to build
34any built-in or modular targets.
35
36scripts/Makefile.* contains all the definitions/rules etc. that
37are used to build the kernel based on the kbuild makefiles.
38
39Who does what
40=============
41
42People have four different relationships with the kernel Makefiles.
43
44*Users* are people who build kernels.  These people type commands such as
45``make menuconfig`` or ``make``.  They usually do not read or edit
46any kernel Makefiles (or any other source files).
47
48*Normal developers* are people who work on features such as device
49drivers, file systems, and network protocols.  These people need to
50maintain the kbuild Makefiles for the subsystem they are
51working on.  In order to do this effectively, they need some overall
52knowledge about the kernel Makefiles, plus detailed knowledge about the
53public interface for kbuild.
54
55*Arch developers* are people who work on an entire architecture, such
56as sparc or x86.  Arch developers need to know about the arch Makefile
57as well as kbuild Makefiles.
58
59*Kbuild developers* are people who work on the kernel build system itself.
60These people need to know about all aspects of the kernel Makefiles.
61
62This document is aimed towards normal developers and arch developers.
63
64
65The kbuild files
66================
67
68Most Makefiles within the kernel are kbuild Makefiles that use the
69kbuild infrastructure. This chapter introduces the syntax used in the
70kbuild makefiles.
71
72The preferred name for the kbuild files are ``Makefile`` but ``Kbuild`` can
73be used and if both a ``Makefile`` and a ``Kbuild`` file exists, then the ``Kbuild``
74file will be used.
75
76Section `Goal definitions`_ is a quick intro; further chapters provide
77more details, with real examples.
78
79Goal definitions
80----------------
81
82Goal definitions are the main part (heart) of the kbuild Makefile.
83These lines define the files to be built, any special compilation
84options, and any subdirectories to be entered recursively.
85
86The most simple kbuild makefile contains one line:
87
88Example::
89
90  obj-y += foo.o
91
92This tells kbuild that there is one object in that directory, named
93foo.o. foo.o will be built from foo.c or foo.S.
94
95If foo.o shall be built as a module, the variable obj-m is used.
96Therefore the following pattern is often used:
97
98Example::
99
100  obj-$(CONFIG_FOO) += foo.o
101
102$(CONFIG_FOO) evaluates to either y (for built-in) or m (for module).
103If CONFIG_FOO is neither y nor m, then the file will not be compiled
104nor linked.
105
106Built-in object goals - obj-y
107-----------------------------
108
109The kbuild Makefile specifies object files for vmlinux
110in the $(obj-y) lists.  These lists depend on the kernel
111configuration.
112
113Kbuild compiles all the $(obj-y) files.  It then calls
114``$(AR) rcSTP`` to merge these files into one built-in.a file.
115This is a thin archive without a symbol table. It will be later
116linked into vmlinux by scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
117
118The order of files in $(obj-y) is significant.  Duplicates in
119the lists are allowed: the first instance will be linked into
120built-in.a and succeeding instances will be ignored.
121
122Link order is significant, because certain functions
123(module_init() / __initcall) will be called during boot in the
124order they appear. So keep in mind that changing the link
125order may e.g. change the order in which your SCSI
126controllers are detected, and thus your disks are renumbered.
127
128Example::
129
130  #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
131  # Makefile for the kernel ISDN subsystem and device drivers.
132  # Each configuration option enables a list of files.
133  obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_I4L)         += isdn.o
134  obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
135
136Loadable module goals - obj-m
137-----------------------------
138
139$(obj-m) specifies object files which are built as loadable
140kernel modules.
141
142A module may be built from one source file or several source
143files. In the case of one source file, the kbuild makefile
144simply adds the file to $(obj-m).
145
146Example::
147
148  #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
149  obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
150
151Note: In this example $(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) evaluates to "m"
152
153If a kernel module is built from several source files, you specify
154that you want to build a module in the same way as above; however,
155kbuild needs to know which object files you want to build your
156module from, so you have to tell it by setting a $(<module_name>-y)
157variable.
158
159Example::
160
161  #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
162  obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_I4L) += isdn.o
163  isdn-y := isdn_net_lib.o isdn_v110.o isdn_common.o
164
165In this example, the module name will be isdn.o. Kbuild will
166compile the objects listed in $(isdn-y) and then run
167``$(LD) -r`` on the list of these files to generate isdn.o.
168
169Due to kbuild recognizing $(<module_name>-y) for composite objects,
170you can use the value of a ``CONFIG_`` symbol to optionally include an
171object file as part of a composite object.
172
173Example::
174
175  #fs/ext2/Makefile
176  obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2.o
177  ext2-y := balloc.o dir.o file.o ialloc.o inode.o ioctl.o \
178    namei.o super.o symlink.o
179  ext2-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) += xattr.o xattr_user.o \
180    xattr_trusted.o
181
182In this example, xattr.o, xattr_user.o and xattr_trusted.o are only
183part of the composite object ext2.o if $(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR)
184evaluates to "y".
185
186Note: Of course, when you are building objects into the kernel,
187the syntax above will also work. So, if you have CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y,
188kbuild will build an ext2.o file for you out of the individual
189parts and then link this into built-in.a, as you would expect.
190
191Library file goals - lib-y
192--------------------------
193
194Objects listed with obj-* are used for modules, or
195combined in a built-in.a for that specific directory.
196There is also the possibility to list objects that will
197be included in a library, lib.a.
198All objects listed with lib-y are combined in a single
199library for that directory.
200Objects that are listed in obj-y and additionally listed in
201lib-y will not be included in the library, since they will
202be accessible anyway.
203For consistency, objects listed in lib-m will be included in lib.a.
204
205Note that the same kbuild makefile may list files to be built-in
206and to be part of a library. Therefore the same directory
207may contain both a built-in.a and a lib.a file.
208
209Example::
210
211  #arch/x86/lib/Makefile
212  lib-y    := delay.o
213
214This will create a library lib.a based on delay.o. For kbuild to
215actually recognize that there is a lib.a being built, the directory
216shall be listed in libs-y.
217
218See also `List directories to visit when descending`_.
219
220Use of lib-y is normally restricted to ``lib/`` and ``arch/*/lib``.
221
222Descending down in directories
223------------------------------
224
225A Makefile is only responsible for building objects in its own
226directory. Files in subdirectories should be taken care of by
227Makefiles in these subdirs. The build system will automatically
228invoke make recursively in subdirectories, provided you let it know of
229them.
230
231To do so, obj-y and obj-m are used.
232ext2 lives in a separate directory, and the Makefile present in fs/
233tells kbuild to descend down using the following assignment.
234
235Example::
236
237  #fs/Makefile
238  obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2/
239
240If CONFIG_EXT2_FS is set to either "y" (built-in) or "m" (modular)
241the corresponding obj- variable will be set, and kbuild will descend
242down in the ext2 directory.
243
244Kbuild uses this information not only to decide that it needs to visit
245the directory, but also to decide whether or not to link objects from
246the directory into vmlinux.
247
248When Kbuild descends into the directory with "y", all built-in objects
249from that directory are combined into the built-in.a, which will be
250eventually linked into vmlinux.
251
252When Kbuild descends into the directory with "m", in contrast, nothing
253from that directory will be linked into vmlinux. If the Makefile in
254that directory specifies obj-y, those objects will be left orphan.
255It is very likely a bug of the Makefile or of dependencies in Kconfig.
256
257Kbuild also supports dedicated syntax, subdir-y and subdir-m, for
258descending into subdirectories. It is a good fit when you know they
259do not contain kernel-space objects at all. A typical usage is to let
260Kbuild descend into subdirectories to build tools.
261
262Examples::
263
264  # scripts/Makefile
265  subdir-$(CONFIG_GCC_PLUGINS) += gcc-plugins
266  subdir-$(CONFIG_MODVERSIONS) += genksyms
267  subdir-$(CONFIG_SECURITY_SELINUX) += selinux
268
269Unlike obj-y/m, subdir-y/m does not need the trailing slash since this
270syntax is always used for directories.
271
272It is good practice to use a ``CONFIG_`` variable when assigning directory
273names. This allows kbuild to totally skip the directory if the
274corresponding ``CONFIG_`` option is neither "y" nor "m".
275
276Non-builtin vmlinux targets - extra-y
277-------------------------------------
278
279extra-y specifies targets which are needed for building vmlinux,
280but not combined into built-in.a.
281
282Examples are:
283
2841) vmlinux linker script
285
286   The linker script for vmlinux is located at
287   arch/$(SRCARCH)/kernel/vmlinux.lds
288
289Example::
290
291  # arch/x86/kernel/Makefile
292  extra-y	+= vmlinux.lds
293
294$(extra-y) should only contain targets needed for vmlinux.
295
296Kbuild skips extra-y when vmlinux is apparently not a final goal.
297(e.g. ``make modules``, or building external modules)
298
299If you intend to build targets unconditionally, always-y (explained
300in the next section) is the correct syntax to use.
301
302Always built goals - always-y
303-----------------------------
304
305always-y specifies targets which are literally always built when
306Kbuild visits the Makefile.
307
308Example::
309
310  # ./Kbuild
311  offsets-file := include/generated/asm-offsets.h
312  always-y += $(offsets-file)
313
314Compilation flags
315-----------------
316
317ccflags-y, asflags-y and ldflags-y
318  These three flags apply only to the kbuild makefile in which they
319  are assigned. They are used for all the normal cc, as and ld
320  invocations happening during a recursive build.
321  Note: Flags with the same behaviour were previously named:
322  EXTRA_CFLAGS, EXTRA_AFLAGS and EXTRA_LDFLAGS.
323  They are still supported but their usage is deprecated.
324
325  ccflags-y specifies options for compiling with $(CC).
326
327  Example::
328
329    # drivers/acpi/acpica/Makefile
330    ccflags-y				:= -Os -D_LINUX -DBUILDING_ACPICA
331    ccflags-$(CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG)	+= -DACPI_DEBUG_OUTPUT
332
333  This variable is necessary because the top Makefile owns the
334  variable $(KBUILD_CFLAGS) and uses it for compilation flags for the
335  entire tree.
336
337  asflags-y specifies assembler options.
338
339  Example::
340
341    #arch/sparc/kernel/Makefile
342    asflags-y := -ansi
343
344  ldflags-y specifies options for linking with $(LD).
345
346  Example::
347
348    #arch/cris/boot/compressed/Makefile
349    ldflags-y += -T $(srctree)/$(src)/decompress_$(arch-y).lds
350
351subdir-ccflags-y, subdir-asflags-y
352  The two flags listed above are similar to ccflags-y and asflags-y.
353  The difference is that the subdir- variants have effect for the kbuild
354  file where they are present and all subdirectories.
355  Options specified using subdir-* are added to the commandline before
356  the options specified using the non-subdir variants.
357
358  Example::
359
360    subdir-ccflags-y := -Werror
361
362ccflags-remove-y, asflags-remove-y
363  These flags are used to remove particular flags for the compiler,
364  assembler invocations.
365
366  Example::
367
368    ccflags-remove-$(CONFIG_MCOUNT) += -pg
369
370CFLAGS_$@, AFLAGS_$@
371  CFLAGS_$@ and AFLAGS_$@ only apply to commands in current
372  kbuild makefile.
373
374  $(CFLAGS_$@) specifies per-file options for $(CC).  The $@
375  part has a literal value which specifies the file that it is for.
376
377  CFLAGS_$@ has the higher priority than ccflags-remove-y; CFLAGS_$@
378  can re-add compiler flags that were removed by ccflags-remove-y.
379
380  Example::
381
382    # drivers/scsi/Makefile
383    CFLAGS_aha152x.o =   -DAHA152X_STAT -DAUTOCONF
384
385  This line specify compilation flags for aha152x.o.
386
387  $(AFLAGS_$@) is a similar feature for source files in assembly
388  languages.
389
390  AFLAGS_$@ has the higher priority than asflags-remove-y; AFLAGS_$@
391  can re-add assembler flags that were removed by asflags-remove-y.
392
393  Example::
394
395    # arch/arm/kernel/Makefile
396    AFLAGS_head.o        := -DTEXT_OFFSET=$(TEXT_OFFSET)
397    AFLAGS_crunch-bits.o := -Wa,-mcpu=ep9312
398    AFLAGS_iwmmxt.o      := -Wa,-mcpu=iwmmxt
399
400Dependency tracking
401-------------------
402
403Kbuild tracks dependencies on the following:
404
4051) All prerequisite files (both ``*.c`` and ``*.h``)
4062) ``CONFIG_`` options used in all prerequisite files
4073) Command-line used to compile target
408
409Thus, if you change an option to $(CC) all affected files will
410be re-compiled.
411
412Custom Rules
413------------
414
415Custom rules are used when the kbuild infrastructure does
416not provide the required support. A typical example is
417header files generated during the build process.
418Another example are the architecture-specific Makefiles which
419need custom rules to prepare boot images etc.
420
421Custom rules are written as normal Make rules.
422Kbuild is not executing in the directory where the Makefile is
423located, so all custom rules shall use a relative
424path to prerequisite files and target files.
425
426Two variables are used when defining custom rules:
427
428$(src)
429  $(src) is a relative path which points to the directory
430  where the Makefile is located. Always use $(src) when
431  referring to files located in the src tree.
432
433$(obj)
434  $(obj) is a relative path which points to the directory
435  where the target is saved. Always use $(obj) when
436  referring to generated files.
437
438  Example::
439
440    #drivers/scsi/Makefile
441    $(obj)/53c8xx_d.h: $(src)/53c7,8xx.scr $(src)/script_asm.pl
442    $(CPP) -DCHIP=810 - < $< | ... $(src)/script_asm.pl
443
444  This is a custom rule, following the normal syntax
445  required by make.
446
447  The target file depends on two prerequisite files. References
448  to the target file are prefixed with $(obj), references
449  to prerequisites are referenced with $(src) (because they are not
450  generated files).
451
452$(kecho)
453  echoing information to user in a rule is often a good practice
454  but when execution ``make -s`` one does not expect to see any output
455  except for warnings/errors.
456  To support this kbuild defines $(kecho) which will echo out the
457  text following $(kecho) to stdout except if ``make -s`` is used.
458
459  Example::
460
461    # arch/arm/Makefile
462    $(BOOT_TARGETS): vmlinux
463            $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=$(boot) MACHINE=$(MACHINE) $(boot)/$@
464            @$(kecho) '  Kernel: $(boot)/$@ is ready'
465
466  When kbuild is executing with KBUILD_VERBOSE unset, then only a shorthand
467  of a command is normally displayed.
468  To enable this behaviour for custom commands kbuild requires
469  two variables to be set::
470
471    quiet_cmd_<command> - what shall be echoed
472          cmd_<command> - the command to execute
473
474  Example::
475
476    # lib/Makefile
477    quiet_cmd_crc32 = GEN     $@
478          cmd_crc32 = $< > $@
479
480    $(obj)/crc32table.h: $(obj)/gen_crc32table
481            $(call cmd,crc32)
482
483  When updating the $(obj)/crc32table.h target, the line::
484
485    GEN     lib/crc32table.h
486
487  will be displayed with ``make KBUILD_VERBOSE=``.
488
489Command change detection
490------------------------
491
492When the rule is evaluated, timestamps are compared between the target
493and its prerequisite files. GNU Make updates the target when any of the
494prerequisites is newer than that.
495
496The target should be rebuilt also when the command line has changed
497since the last invocation. This is not supported by Make itself, so
498Kbuild achieves this by a kind of meta-programming.
499
500if_changed is the macro used for this purpose, in the following form::
501
502  quiet_cmd_<command> = ...
503        cmd_<command> = ...
504
505  <target>: <source(s)> FORCE
506          $(call if_changed,<command>)
507
508Any target that utilizes if_changed must be listed in $(targets),
509otherwise the command line check will fail, and the target will
510always be built.
511
512If the target is already listed in the recognized syntax such as
513obj-y/m, lib-y/m, extra-y/m, always-y/m, hostprogs, userprogs, Kbuild
514automatically adds it to $(targets). Otherwise, the target must be
515explicitly added to $(targets).
516
517Assignments to $(targets) are without $(obj)/ prefix. if_changed may be
518used in conjunction with custom rules as defined in `Custom Rules`_.
519
520Note: It is a typical mistake to forget the FORCE prerequisite.
521Another common pitfall is that whitespace is sometimes significant; for
522instance, the below will fail (note the extra space after the comma)::
523
524  target: source(s) FORCE
525
526**WRONG!**	$(call if_changed, objcopy)
527
528Note:
529  if_changed should not be used more than once per target.
530  It stores the executed command in a corresponding .cmd
531  file and multiple calls would result in overwrites and
532  unwanted results when the target is up to date and only the
533  tests on changed commands trigger execution of commands.
534
535$(CC) support functions
536-----------------------
537
538The kernel may be built with several different versions of
539$(CC), each supporting a unique set of features and options.
540kbuild provides basic support to check for valid options for $(CC).
541$(CC) is usually the gcc compiler, but other alternatives are
542available.
543
544as-option
545  as-option is used to check if $(CC) -- when used to compile
546  assembler (``*.S``) files -- supports the given option. An optional
547  second option may be specified if the first option is not supported.
548
549  Example::
550
551    #arch/sh/Makefile
552    cflags-y += $(call as-option,-Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y),)
553
554  In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
555  -Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y) if it is supported by $(CC).
556  The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
557  if first argument is not supported.
558
559as-instr
560  as-instr checks if the assembler reports a specific instruction
561  and then outputs either option1 or option2
562  C escapes are supported in the test instruction
563  Note: as-instr-option uses KBUILD_AFLAGS for assembler options
564
565cc-option
566  cc-option is used to check if $(CC) supports a given option, and if
567  not supported to use an optional second option.
568
569  Example::
570
571    #arch/x86/Makefile
572    cflags-y += $(call cc-option,-march=pentium-mmx,-march=i586)
573
574  In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
575  -march=pentium-mmx if supported by $(CC), otherwise -march=i586.
576  The second argument to cc-option is optional, and if omitted,
577  cflags-y will be assigned no value if first option is not supported.
578  Note: cc-option uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
579
580cc-option-yn
581  cc-option-yn is used to check if gcc supports a given option
582  and return "y" if supported, otherwise "n".
583
584  Example::
585
586    #arch/ppc/Makefile
587    biarch := $(call cc-option-yn, -m32)
588    aflags-$(biarch) += -a32
589    cflags-$(biarch) += -m32
590
591  In the above example, $(biarch) is set to y if $(CC) supports the -m32
592  option. When $(biarch) equals "y", the expanded variables $(aflags-y)
593  and $(cflags-y) will be assigned the values -a32 and -m32,
594  respectively.
595
596  Note: cc-option-yn uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
597
598cc-disable-warning
599  cc-disable-warning checks if gcc supports a given warning and returns
600  the commandline switch to disable it. This special function is needed,
601  because gcc 4.4 and later accept any unknown -Wno-* option and only
602  warn about it if there is another warning in the source file.
603
604  Example::
605
606    KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-disable-warning, unused-but-set-variable)
607
608  In the above example, -Wno-unused-but-set-variable will be added to
609  KBUILD_CFLAGS only if gcc really accepts it.
610
611gcc-min-version
612  gcc-min-version tests if the value of $(CONFIG_GCC_VERSION) is greater than
613  or equal to the provided value and evaluates to y if so.
614
615  Example::
616
617    cflags-$(call gcc-min-version, 70100) := -foo
618
619  In this example, cflags-y will be assigned the value -foo if $(CC) is gcc and
620  $(CONFIG_GCC_VERSION) is >= 7.1.
621
622clang-min-version
623  clang-min-version tests if the value of $(CONFIG_CLANG_VERSION) is greater
624  than or equal to the provided value and evaluates to y if so.
625
626  Example::
627
628    cflags-$(call clang-min-version, 110000) := -foo
629
630  In this example, cflags-y will be assigned the value -foo if $(CC) is clang
631  and $(CONFIG_CLANG_VERSION) is >= 11.0.0.
632
633cc-cross-prefix
634  cc-cross-prefix is used to check if there exists a $(CC) in path with
635  one of the listed prefixes. The first prefix where there exist a
636  prefix$(CC) in the PATH is returned - and if no prefix$(CC) is found
637  then nothing is returned.
638
639  Additional prefixes are separated by a single space in the
640  call of cc-cross-prefix.
641
642  This functionality is useful for architecture Makefiles that try
643  to set CROSS_COMPILE to well-known values but may have several
644  values to select between.
645
646  It is recommended only to try to set CROSS_COMPILE if it is a cross
647  build (host arch is different from target arch). And if CROSS_COMPILE
648  is already set then leave it with the old value.
649
650  Example::
651
652    #arch/m68k/Makefile
653    ifneq ($(SUBARCH),$(ARCH))
654            ifeq ($(CROSS_COMPILE),)
655                    CROSS_COMPILE := $(call cc-cross-prefix, m68k-linux-gnu-)
656            endif
657    endif
658
659$(LD) support functions
660-----------------------
661
662ld-option
663  ld-option is used to check if $(LD) supports the supplied option.
664  ld-option takes two options as arguments.
665
666  The second argument is an optional option that can be used if the
667  first option is not supported by $(LD).
668
669  Example::
670
671    #Makefile
672    LDFLAGS_vmlinux += $(call ld-option, -X)
673
674Script invocation
675-----------------
676
677Make rules may invoke scripts to build the kernel. The rules shall
678always provide the appropriate interpreter to execute the script. They
679shall not rely on the execute bits being set, and shall not invoke the
680script directly. For the convenience of manual script invocation, such
681as invoking ./scripts/checkpatch.pl, it is recommended to set execute
682bits on the scripts nonetheless.
683
684Kbuild provides variables $(CONFIG_SHELL), $(AWK), $(PERL),
685and $(PYTHON3) to refer to interpreters for the respective
686scripts.
687
688Example::
689
690  #Makefile
691  cmd_depmod = $(CONFIG_SHELL) $(srctree)/scripts/depmod.sh $(DEPMOD) \
692          $(KERNELRELEASE)
693
694Host Program support
695====================
696
697Kbuild supports building executables on the host for use during the
698compilation stage.
699
700Two steps are required in order to use a host executable.
701
702The first step is to tell kbuild that a host program exists. This is
703done utilising the variable ``hostprogs``.
704
705The second step is to add an explicit dependency to the executable.
706This can be done in two ways. Either add the dependency in a rule,
707or utilise the variable ``always-y``.
708Both possibilities are described in the following.
709
710Simple Host Program
711-------------------
712
713In some cases there is a need to compile and run a program on the
714computer where the build is running.
715
716The following line tells kbuild that the program bin2hex shall be
717built on the build host.
718
719Example::
720
721  hostprogs := bin2hex
722
723Kbuild assumes in the above example that bin2hex is made from a single
724c-source file named bin2hex.c located in the same directory as
725the Makefile.
726
727Composite Host Programs
728-----------------------
729
730Host programs can be made up based on composite objects.
731The syntax used to define composite objects for host programs is
732similar to the syntax used for kernel objects.
733$(<executable>-objs) lists all objects used to link the final
734executable.
735
736Example::
737
738  #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
739  hostprogs     := lxdialog
740  lxdialog-objs := checklist.o lxdialog.o
741
742Objects with extension .o are compiled from the corresponding .c
743files. In the above example, checklist.c is compiled to checklist.o
744and lxdialog.c is compiled to lxdialog.o.
745
746Finally, the two .o files are linked to the executable, lxdialog.
747Note: The syntax <executable>-y is not permitted for host-programs.
748
749Using C++ for host programs
750---------------------------
751
752kbuild offers support for host programs written in C++. This was
753introduced solely to support kconfig, and is not recommended
754for general use.
755
756Example::
757
758  #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
759  hostprogs     := qconf
760  qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
761
762In the example above the executable is composed of the C++ file
763qconf.cc - identified by $(qconf-cxxobjs).
764
765If qconf is composed of a mixture of .c and .cc files, then an
766additional line can be used to identify this.
767
768Example::
769
770  #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
771  hostprogs     := qconf
772  qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
773  qconf-objs    := check.o
774
775Using Rust for host programs
776----------------------------
777
778Kbuild offers support for host programs written in Rust. However,
779since a Rust toolchain is not mandatory for kernel compilation,
780it may only be used in scenarios where Rust is required to be
781available (e.g. when  ``CONFIG_RUST`` is enabled).
782
783Example::
784
785  hostprogs     := target
786  target-rust   := y
787
788Kbuild will compile ``target`` using ``target.rs`` as the crate root,
789located in the same directory as the ``Makefile``. The crate may
790consist of several source files (see ``samples/rust/hostprogs``).
791
792Controlling compiler options for host programs
793----------------------------------------------
794
795When compiling host programs, it is possible to set specific flags.
796The programs will always be compiled utilising $(HOSTCC) passed
797the options specified in $(KBUILD_HOSTCFLAGS).
798
799To set flags that will take effect for all host programs created
800in that Makefile, use the variable HOST_EXTRACFLAGS.
801
802Example::
803
804  #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
805  HOST_EXTRACFLAGS += -I/usr/include/ncurses
806
807To set specific flags for a single file the following construction
808is used:
809
810Example::
811
812  #arch/ppc64/boot/Makefile
813  HOSTCFLAGS_piggyback.o := -DKERNELBASE=$(KERNELBASE)
814
815It is also possible to specify additional options to the linker.
816
817Example::
818
819  #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
820  HOSTLDLIBS_qconf := -L$(QTDIR)/lib
821
822When linking qconf, it will be passed the extra option
823``-L$(QTDIR)/lib``.
824
825When host programs are actually built
826-------------------------------------
827
828Kbuild will only build host-programs when they are referenced
829as a prerequisite.
830
831This is possible in two ways:
832
833(1) List the prerequisite explicitly in a custom rule.
834
835    Example::
836
837      #drivers/pci/Makefile
838      hostprogs := gen-devlist
839      $(obj)/devlist.h: $(src)/pci.ids $(obj)/gen-devlist
840      ( cd $(obj); ./gen-devlist ) < $<
841
842    The target $(obj)/devlist.h will not be built before
843    $(obj)/gen-devlist is updated. Note that references to
844    the host programs in custom rules must be prefixed with $(obj).
845
846(2) Use always-y
847
848    When there is no suitable custom rule, and the host program
849    shall be built when a makefile is entered, the always-y
850    variable shall be used.
851
852    Example::
853
854      #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
855      hostprogs     := lxdialog
856      always-y      := $(hostprogs)
857
858    Kbuild provides the following shorthand for this::
859
860      hostprogs-always-y := lxdialog
861
862    This will tell kbuild to build lxdialog even if not referenced in
863    any rule.
864
865Userspace Program support
866=========================
867
868Just like host programs, Kbuild also supports building userspace executables
869for the target architecture (i.e. the same architecture as you are building
870the kernel for).
871
872The syntax is quite similar. The difference is to use ``userprogs`` instead of
873``hostprogs``.
874
875Simple Userspace Program
876------------------------
877
878The following line tells kbuild that the program bpf-direct shall be
879built for the target architecture.
880
881Example::
882
883  userprogs := bpf-direct
884
885Kbuild assumes in the above example that bpf-direct is made from a
886single C source file named bpf-direct.c located in the same directory
887as the Makefile.
888
889Composite Userspace Programs
890----------------------------
891
892Userspace programs can be made up based on composite objects.
893The syntax used to define composite objects for userspace programs is
894similar to the syntax used for kernel objects.
895$(<executable>-objs) lists all objects used to link the final
896executable.
897
898Example::
899
900  #samples/seccomp/Makefile
901  userprogs      := bpf-fancy
902  bpf-fancy-objs := bpf-fancy.o bpf-helper.o
903
904Objects with extension .o are compiled from the corresponding .c
905files. In the above example, bpf-fancy.c is compiled to bpf-fancy.o
906and bpf-helper.c is compiled to bpf-helper.o.
907
908Finally, the two .o files are linked to the executable, bpf-fancy.
909Note: The syntax <executable>-y is not permitted for userspace programs.
910
911Controlling compiler options for userspace programs
912---------------------------------------------------
913
914When compiling userspace programs, it is possible to set specific flags.
915The programs will always be compiled utilising $(CC) passed
916the options specified in $(KBUILD_USERCFLAGS).
917
918To set flags that will take effect for all userspace programs created
919in that Makefile, use the variable userccflags.
920
921Example::
922
923  # samples/seccomp/Makefile
924  userccflags += -I usr/include
925
926To set specific flags for a single file the following construction
927is used:
928
929Example::
930
931  bpf-helper-userccflags += -I user/include
932
933It is also possible to specify additional options to the linker.
934
935Example::
936
937  # net/bpfilter/Makefile
938  bpfilter_umh-userldflags += -static
939
940To specify libraries linked to a userspace program, you can use
941``<executable>-userldlibs``. The ``userldlibs`` syntax specifies libraries
942linked to all userspace programs created in the current Makefile.
943
944When linking bpfilter_umh, it will be passed the extra option -static.
945
946From command line, :ref:`USERCFLAGS and USERLDFLAGS <userkbuildflags>` will also be used.
947
948When userspace programs are actually built
949------------------------------------------
950
951Kbuild builds userspace programs only when told to do so.
952There are two ways to do this.
953
954(1) Add it as the prerequisite of another file
955
956    Example::
957
958      #net/bpfilter/Makefile
959      userprogs := bpfilter_umh
960      $(obj)/bpfilter_umh_blob.o: $(obj)/bpfilter_umh
961
962    $(obj)/bpfilter_umh is built before $(obj)/bpfilter_umh_blob.o
963
964(2) Use always-y
965
966    Example::
967
968      userprogs := binderfs_example
969      always-y := $(userprogs)
970
971    Kbuild provides the following shorthand for this::
972
973      userprogs-always-y := binderfs_example
974
975    This will tell Kbuild to build binderfs_example when it visits this
976    Makefile.
977
978Kbuild clean infrastructure
979===========================
980
981``make clean`` deletes most generated files in the obj tree where the kernel
982is compiled. This includes generated files such as host programs.
983Kbuild knows targets listed in $(hostprogs), $(always-y), $(always-m),
984$(always-), $(extra-y), $(extra-) and $(targets). They are all deleted
985during ``make clean``. Files matching the patterns ``*.[oas]``, ``*.ko``, plus
986some additional files generated by kbuild are deleted all over the kernel
987source tree when ``make clean`` is executed.
988
989Additional files or directories can be specified in kbuild makefiles by use of
990$(clean-files).
991
992Example::
993
994  #lib/Makefile
995  clean-files := crc32table.h
996
997When executing ``make clean``, the file ``crc32table.h`` will be deleted.
998Kbuild will assume files to be in the same relative directory as the
999Makefile.
1000
1001To exclude certain files or directories from make clean, use the
1002$(no-clean-files) variable.
1003
1004Usually kbuild descends down in subdirectories due to ``obj-* := dir/``,
1005but in the architecture makefiles where the kbuild infrastructure
1006is not sufficient this sometimes needs to be explicit.
1007
1008Example::
1009
1010  #arch/x86/boot/Makefile
1011  subdir- := compressed
1012
1013The above assignment instructs kbuild to descend down in the
1014directory compressed/ when ``make clean`` is executed.
1015
1016Note 1: arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile cannot use ``subdir-``, because that file is
1017included in the top level makefile. Instead, arch/$(SRCARCH)/Kbuild can use
1018``subdir-``.
1019
1020Note 2: All directories listed in core-y, libs-y, drivers-y and net-y will
1021be visited during ``make clean``.
1022
1023Architecture Makefiles
1024======================
1025
1026The top level Makefile sets up the environment and does the preparation,
1027before starting to descend down in the individual directories.
1028
1029The top level makefile contains the generic part, whereas
1030arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile contains what is required to set up kbuild
1031for said architecture.
1032
1033To do so, arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile sets up a number of variables and defines
1034a few targets.
1035
1036When kbuild executes, the following steps are followed (roughly):
1037
10381) Configuration of the kernel => produce .config
1039
10402) Store kernel version in include/linux/version.h
1041
10423) Updating all other prerequisites to the target prepare:
1043
1044   - Additional prerequisites are specified in arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile
1045
10464) Recursively descend down in all directories listed in
1047   init-* core* drivers-* net-* libs-* and build all targets.
1048
1049   - The values of the above variables are expanded in arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile.
1050
10515) All object files are then linked and the resulting file vmlinux is
1052   located at the root of the obj tree.
1053   The very first objects linked are listed in scripts/head-object-list.txt.
1054
10556) Finally, the architecture-specific part does any required post processing
1056   and builds the final bootimage.
1057
1058   - This includes building boot records
1059   - Preparing initrd images and the like
1060
1061Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
1062----------------------------------------------------
1063
1064KBUILD_LDFLAGS
1065  Generic $(LD) options
1066
1067  Flags used for all invocations of the linker.
1068  Often specifying the emulation is sufficient.
1069
1070  Example::
1071
1072    #arch/s390/Makefile
1073    KBUILD_LDFLAGS         := -m elf_s390
1074
1075  Note: ldflags-y can be used to further customise
1076  the flags used. See `Non-builtin vmlinux targets - extra-y`_.
1077
1078LDFLAGS_vmlinux
1079  Options for $(LD) when linking vmlinux
1080
1081  LDFLAGS_vmlinux is used to specify additional flags to pass to
1082  the linker when linking the final vmlinux image.
1083
1084  LDFLAGS_vmlinux uses the LDFLAGS_$@ support.
1085
1086  Example::
1087
1088    #arch/x86/Makefile
1089    LDFLAGS_vmlinux := -e stext
1090
1091OBJCOPYFLAGS
1092  objcopy flags
1093
1094  When $(call if_changed,objcopy) is used to translate a .o file,
1095  the flags specified in OBJCOPYFLAGS will be used.
1096
1097  $(call if_changed,objcopy) is often used to generate raw binaries on
1098  vmlinux.
1099
1100  Example::
1101
1102    #arch/s390/Makefile
1103    OBJCOPYFLAGS := -O binary
1104
1105    #arch/s390/boot/Makefile
1106    $(obj)/image: vmlinux FORCE
1107            $(call if_changed,objcopy)
1108
1109  In this example, the binary $(obj)/image is a binary version of
1110  vmlinux. The usage of $(call if_changed,xxx) will be described later.
1111
1112KBUILD_AFLAGS
1113  Assembler flags
1114
1115  Default value - see top level Makefile.
1116
1117  Append or modify as required per architecture.
1118
1119  Example::
1120
1121    #arch/sparc64/Makefile
1122    KBUILD_AFLAGS += -m64 -mcpu=ultrasparc
1123
1124KBUILD_CFLAGS
1125  $(CC) compiler flags
1126
1127  Default value - see top level Makefile.
1128
1129  Append or modify as required per architecture.
1130
1131  Often, the KBUILD_CFLAGS variable depends on the configuration.
1132
1133  Example::
1134
1135    #arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile
1136    cflags-$(CONFIG_X86_32) := -march=i386
1137    cflags-$(CONFIG_X86_64) := -mcmodel=small
1138    KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)
1139
1140  Many arch Makefiles dynamically run the target C compiler to
1141  probe supported options::
1142
1143    #arch/x86/Makefile
1144
1145    ...
1146    cflags-$(CONFIG_MPENTIUMII)     += $(call cc-option,\
1147						-march=pentium2,-march=i686)
1148    ...
1149    # Disable unit-at-a-time mode ...
1150    KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-fno-unit-at-a-time)
1151    ...
1152
1153
1154  The first example utilises the trick that a config option expands
1155  to "y" when selected.
1156
1157KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS
1158  $(RUSTC) compiler flags
1159
1160  Default value - see top level Makefile.
1161
1162  Append or modify as required per architecture.
1163
1164  Often, the KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS variable depends on the configuration.
1165
1166  Note that target specification file generation (for ``--target``)
1167  is handled in ``scripts/generate_rust_target.rs``.
1168
1169KBUILD_AFLAGS_KERNEL
1170  Assembler options specific for built-in
1171
1172  $(KBUILD_AFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
1173  resident kernel code.
1174
1175KBUILD_AFLAGS_MODULE
1176  Assembler options specific for modules
1177
1178  $(KBUILD_AFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options that
1179  are used for assembler.
1180
1181  From commandline AFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
1182
1183KBUILD_CFLAGS_KERNEL
1184  $(CC) options specific for built-in
1185
1186  $(KBUILD_CFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
1187  resident kernel code.
1188
1189KBUILD_CFLAGS_MODULE
1190  Options for $(CC) when building modules
1191
1192  $(KBUILD_CFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options that
1193  are used for $(CC).
1194
1195  From commandline CFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
1196
1197KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS_KERNEL
1198  $(RUSTC) options specific for built-in
1199
1200  $(KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra Rust compiler flags used to
1201  compile resident kernel code.
1202
1203KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS_MODULE
1204  Options for $(RUSTC) when building modules
1205
1206  $(KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options that
1207  are used for $(RUSTC).
1208
1209  From commandline RUSTFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
1210
1211KBUILD_LDFLAGS_MODULE
1212  Options for $(LD) when linking modules
1213
1214  $(KBUILD_LDFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options
1215  used when linking modules. This is often a linker script.
1216
1217  From commandline LDFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
1218
1219KBUILD_LDS
1220  The linker script with full path. Assigned by the top-level Makefile.
1221
1222KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS
1223  All object files for vmlinux. They are linked to vmlinux in the same
1224  order as listed in KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS.
1225
1226  The objects listed in scripts/head-object-list.txt are exceptions;
1227  they are placed before the other objects.
1228
1229KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS
1230  All .a ``lib`` files for vmlinux. KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS and
1231  KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS together specify all the object files used to
1232  link vmlinux.
1233
1234Add prerequisites to archheaders
1235--------------------------------
1236
1237The archheaders: rule is used to generate header files that
1238may be installed into user space by ``make header_install``.
1239
1240It is run before ``make archprepare`` when run on the
1241architecture itself.
1242
1243Add prerequisites to archprepare
1244--------------------------------
1245
1246The archprepare: rule is used to list prerequisites that need to be
1247built before starting to descend down in the subdirectories.
1248
1249This is usually used for header files containing assembler constants.
1250
1251Example::
1252
1253  #arch/arm/Makefile
1254  archprepare: maketools
1255
1256In this example, the file target maketools will be processed
1257before descending down in the subdirectories.
1258
1259See also chapter XXX-TODO that describes how kbuild supports
1260generating offset header files.
1261
1262List directories to visit when descending
1263-----------------------------------------
1264
1265An arch Makefile cooperates with the top Makefile to define variables
1266which specify how to build the vmlinux file.  Note that there is no
1267corresponding arch-specific section for modules; the module-building
1268machinery is all architecture-independent.
1269
1270core-y, libs-y, drivers-y
1271  $(libs-y) lists directories where a lib.a archive can be located.
1272
1273  The rest list directories where a built-in.a object file can be
1274  located.
1275
1276  Then the rest follows in this order:
1277
1278    $(core-y), $(libs-y), $(drivers-y)
1279
1280  The top level Makefile defines values for all generic directories,
1281  and arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile only adds architecture-specific
1282  directories.
1283
1284  Example::
1285
1286    # arch/sparc/Makefile
1287    core-y                 += arch/sparc/
1288
1289    libs-y                 += arch/sparc/prom/
1290    libs-y                 += arch/sparc/lib/
1291
1292    drivers-$(CONFIG_PM) += arch/sparc/power/
1293
1294Architecture-specific boot images
1295---------------------------------
1296
1297An arch Makefile specifies goals that take the vmlinux file, compress
1298it, wrap it in bootstrapping code, and copy the resulting files
1299somewhere. This includes various kinds of installation commands.
1300The actual goals are not standardized across architectures.
1301
1302It is common to locate any additional processing in a boot/
1303directory below arch/$(SRCARCH)/.
1304
1305Kbuild does not provide any smart way to support building a
1306target specified in boot/. Therefore arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile shall
1307call make manually to build a target in boot/.
1308
1309The recommended approach is to include shortcuts in
1310arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile, and use the full path when calling down
1311into the arch/$(SRCARCH)/boot/Makefile.
1312
1313Example::
1314
1315  #arch/x86/Makefile
1316  boot := arch/x86/boot
1317  bzImage: vmlinux
1318          $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=$(boot) $(boot)/$@
1319
1320``$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=<dir>`` is the recommended way to invoke
1321make in a subdirectory.
1322
1323There are no rules for naming architecture-specific targets,
1324but executing ``make help`` will list all relevant targets.
1325To support this, $(archhelp) must be defined.
1326
1327Example::
1328
1329  #arch/x86/Makefile
1330  define archhelp
1331    echo  '* bzImage      - Compressed kernel image (arch/x86/boot/bzImage)'
1332  endif
1333
1334When make is executed without arguments, the first goal encountered
1335will be built. In the top level Makefile the first goal present
1336is all:.
1337
1338An architecture shall always, per default, build a bootable image.
1339In ``make help``, the default goal is highlighted with a ``*``.
1340
1341Add a new prerequisite to all: to select a default goal different
1342from vmlinux.
1343
1344Example::
1345
1346  #arch/x86/Makefile
1347  all: bzImage
1348
1349When ``make`` is executed without arguments, bzImage will be built.
1350
1351Commands useful for building a boot image
1352-----------------------------------------
1353
1354Kbuild provides a few macros that are useful when building a
1355boot image.
1356
1357ld
1358  Link target. Often, LDFLAGS_$@ is used to set specific options to ld.
1359
1360  Example::
1361
1362    #arch/x86/boot/Makefile
1363    LDFLAGS_bootsect := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary
1364    LDFLAGS_setup    := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary -e begtext
1365
1366    targets += setup setup.o bootsect bootsect.o
1367    $(obj)/setup $(obj)/bootsect: %: %.o FORCE
1368            $(call if_changed,ld)
1369
1370  In this example, there are two possible targets, requiring different
1371  options to the linker. The linker options are specified using the
1372  LDFLAGS_$@ syntax - one for each potential target.
1373
1374  $(targets) are assigned all potential targets, by which kbuild knows
1375  the targets and will:
1376
1377  1) check for commandline changes
1378  2) delete target during make clean
1379
1380  The ``: %: %.o`` part of the prerequisite is a shorthand that
1381  frees us from listing the setup.o and bootsect.o files.
1382
1383  Note:
1384  It is a common mistake to forget the ``targets :=`` assignment,
1385  resulting in the target file being recompiled for no
1386  obvious reason.
1387
1388objcopy
1389  Copy binary. Uses OBJCOPYFLAGS usually specified in
1390  arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile.
1391
1392  OBJCOPYFLAGS_$@ may be used to set additional options.
1393
1394gzip
1395  Compress target. Use maximum compression to compress target.
1396
1397  Example::
1398
1399    #arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile
1400    $(obj)/vmlinux.bin.gz: $(vmlinux.bin.all-y) FORCE
1401            $(call if_changed,gzip)
1402
1403dtc
1404  Create flattened device tree blob object suitable for linking
1405  into vmlinux. Device tree blobs linked into vmlinux are placed
1406  in an init section in the image. Platform code *must* copy the
1407  blob to non-init memory prior to calling unflatten_device_tree().
1408
1409  To use this command, simply add ``*.dtb`` into obj-y or targets, or make
1410  some other target depend on ``%.dtb``
1411
1412  A central rule exists to create ``$(obj)/%.dtb`` from ``$(src)/%.dts``;
1413  architecture Makefiles do no need to explicitly write out that rule.
1414
1415  Example::
1416
1417    targets += $(dtb-y)
1418    DTC_FLAGS ?= -p 1024
1419
1420Preprocessing linker scripts
1421----------------------------
1422
1423When the vmlinux image is built, the linker script
1424arch/$(SRCARCH)/kernel/vmlinux.lds is used.
1425
1426The script is a preprocessed variant of the file vmlinux.lds.S
1427located in the same directory.
1428
1429kbuild knows .lds files and includes a rule ``*lds.S`` -> ``*lds``.
1430
1431Example::
1432
1433  #arch/x86/kernel/Makefile
1434  extra-y := vmlinux.lds
1435
1436The assignment to extra-y is used to tell kbuild to build the
1437target vmlinux.lds.
1438
1439The assignment to $(CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds) tells kbuild to use the
1440specified options when building the target vmlinux.lds.
1441
1442When building the ``*.lds`` target, kbuild uses the variables::
1443
1444  KBUILD_CPPFLAGS      : Set in top-level Makefile
1445  cppflags-y           : May be set in the kbuild makefile
1446  CPPFLAGS_$(@F)       : Target-specific flags.
1447                         Note that the full filename is used in this
1448                         assignment.
1449
1450The kbuild infrastructure for ``*lds`` files is used in several
1451architecture-specific files.
1452
1453Generic header files
1454--------------------
1455
1456The directory include/asm-generic contains the header files
1457that may be shared between individual architectures.
1458
1459The recommended approach how to use a generic header file is
1460to list the file in the Kbuild file.
1461
1462See `generic-y`_ for further info on syntax etc.
1463
1464Post-link pass
1465--------------
1466
1467If the file arch/xxx/Makefile.postlink exists, this makefile
1468will be invoked for post-link objects (vmlinux and modules.ko)
1469for architectures to run post-link passes on. Must also handle
1470the clean target.
1471
1472This pass runs after kallsyms generation. If the architecture
1473needs to modify symbol locations, rather than manipulate the
1474kallsyms, it may be easier to add another postlink target for
1475.tmp_vmlinux? targets to be called from link-vmlinux.sh.
1476
1477For example, powerpc uses this to check relocation sanity of
1478the linked vmlinux file.
1479
1480Kbuild syntax for exported headers
1481==================================
1482
1483The kernel includes a set of headers that is exported to userspace.
1484Many headers can be exported as-is but other headers require a
1485minimal pre-processing before they are ready for user-space.
1486
1487The pre-processing does:
1488
1489- drop kernel-specific annotations
1490- drop include of compiler.h
1491- drop all sections that are kernel internal (guarded by ``ifdef __KERNEL__``)
1492
1493All headers under include/uapi/, include/generated/uapi/,
1494arch/<arch>/include/uapi/ and arch/<arch>/include/generated/uapi/
1495are exported.
1496
1497A Kbuild file may be defined under arch/<arch>/include/uapi/asm/ and
1498arch/<arch>/include/asm/ to list asm files coming from asm-generic.
1499
1500See subsequent chapter for the syntax of the Kbuild file.
1501
1502no-export-headers
1503-----------------
1504
1505no-export-headers is essentially used by include/uapi/linux/Kbuild to
1506avoid exporting specific headers (e.g. kvm.h) on architectures that do
1507not support it. It should be avoided as much as possible.
1508
1509generic-y
1510---------
1511
1512If an architecture uses a verbatim copy of a header from
1513include/asm-generic then this is listed in the file
1514arch/$(SRCARCH)/include/asm/Kbuild like this:
1515
1516Example::
1517
1518  #arch/x86/include/asm/Kbuild
1519  generic-y += termios.h
1520  generic-y += rtc.h
1521
1522During the prepare phase of the build a wrapper include
1523file is generated in the directory::
1524
1525  arch/$(SRCARCH)/include/generated/asm
1526
1527When a header is exported where the architecture uses
1528the generic header a similar wrapper is generated as part
1529of the set of exported headers in the directory::
1530
1531  usr/include/asm
1532
1533The generated wrapper will in both cases look like the following:
1534
1535Example: termios.h::
1536
1537  #include <asm-generic/termios.h>
1538
1539generated-y
1540-----------
1541
1542If an architecture generates other header files alongside generic-y
1543wrappers, generated-y specifies them.
1544
1545This prevents them being treated as stale asm-generic wrappers and
1546removed.
1547
1548Example::
1549
1550  #arch/x86/include/asm/Kbuild
1551  generated-y += syscalls_32.h
1552
1553mandatory-y
1554-----------
1555
1556mandatory-y is essentially used by include/(uapi/)asm-generic/Kbuild
1557to define the minimum set of ASM headers that all architectures must have.
1558
1559This works like optional generic-y. If a mandatory header is missing
1560in arch/$(SRCARCH)/include/(uapi/)/asm, Kbuild will automatically
1561generate a wrapper of the asm-generic one.
1562
1563Kbuild Variables
1564================
1565
1566The top Makefile exports the following variables:
1567
1568VERSION, PATCHLEVEL, SUBLEVEL, EXTRAVERSION
1569  These variables define the current kernel version.  A few arch
1570  Makefiles actually use these values directly; they should use
1571  $(KERNELRELEASE) instead.
1572
1573  $(VERSION), $(PATCHLEVEL), and $(SUBLEVEL) define the basic
1574  three-part version number, such as "2", "4", and "0".  These three
1575  values are always numeric.
1576
1577  $(EXTRAVERSION) defines an even tinier sublevel for pre-patches
1578  or additional patches.	It is usually some non-numeric string
1579  such as "-pre4", and is often blank.
1580
1581KERNELRELEASE
1582  $(KERNELRELEASE) is a single string such as "2.4.0-pre4", suitable
1583  for constructing installation directory names or showing in
1584  version strings.  Some arch Makefiles use it for this purpose.
1585
1586ARCH
1587  This variable defines the target architecture, such as "i386",
1588  "arm", or "sparc". Some kbuild Makefiles test $(ARCH) to
1589  determine which files to compile.
1590
1591  By default, the top Makefile sets $(ARCH) to be the same as the
1592  host system architecture.  For a cross build, a user may
1593  override the value of $(ARCH) on the command line::
1594
1595    make ARCH=m68k ...
1596
1597SRCARCH
1598  This variable specifies the directory in arch/ to build.
1599
1600  ARCH and SRCARCH may not necessarily match. A couple of arch
1601  directories are biarch, that is, a single ``arch/*/`` directory supports
1602  both 32-bit and 64-bit.
1603
1604  For example, you can pass in ARCH=i386, ARCH=x86_64, or ARCH=x86.
1605  For all of them, SRCARCH=x86 because arch/x86/ supports both i386 and
1606  x86_64.
1607
1608INSTALL_PATH
1609  This variable defines a place for the arch Makefiles to install
1610  the resident kernel image and System.map file.
1611  Use this for architecture-specific install targets.
1612
1613INSTALL_MOD_PATH, MODLIB
1614  $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH) specifies a prefix to $(MODLIB) for module
1615  installation.  This variable is not defined in the Makefile but
1616  may be passed in by the user if desired.
1617
1618  $(MODLIB) specifies the directory for module installation.
1619  The top Makefile defines $(MODLIB) to
1620  $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH)/lib/modules/$(KERNELRELEASE).  The user may
1621  override this value on the command line if desired.
1622
1623INSTALL_MOD_STRIP
1624  If this variable is specified, it will cause modules to be stripped
1625  after they are installed.  If INSTALL_MOD_STRIP is "1", then the
1626  default option --strip-debug will be used.  Otherwise, the
1627  INSTALL_MOD_STRIP value will be used as the option(s) to the strip
1628  command.
1629
1630INSTALL_DTBS_PATH
1631  This variable specifies a prefix for relocations required by build
1632  roots. It defines a place for installing the device tree blobs. Like
1633  INSTALL_MOD_PATH, it isn't defined in the Makefile, but can be passed
1634  by the user if desired. Otherwise it defaults to the kernel install
1635  path.
1636
1637Makefile language
1638=================
1639
1640The kernel Makefiles are designed to be run with GNU Make.  The Makefiles
1641use only the documented features of GNU Make, but they do use many
1642GNU extensions.
1643
1644GNU Make supports elementary list-processing functions.  The kernel
1645Makefiles use a novel style of list building and manipulation with few
1646``if`` statements.
1647
1648GNU Make has two assignment operators, ``:=`` and ``=``.  ``:=`` performs
1649immediate evaluation of the right-hand side and stores an actual string
1650into the left-hand side.  ``=`` is like a formula definition; it stores the
1651right-hand side in an unevaluated form and then evaluates this form each
1652time the left-hand side is used.
1653
1654There are some cases where ``=`` is appropriate.  Usually, though, ``:=``
1655is the right choice.
1656
1657Credits
1658=======
1659
1660- Original version made by Michael Elizabeth Chastain, <mailto:mec@shout.net>
1661- Updates by Kai Germaschewski <kai@tp1.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
1662- Updates by Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
1663- Language QA by Jan Engelhardt <jengelh@gmx.de>
1664
1665TODO
1666====
1667
1668- Describe how kbuild supports shipped files with _shipped.
1669- Generating offset header files.
1670- Add more variables to chapters 7 or 9?
1671