H2O

Elyz is a microkernel OS that radically rejects the technological deadwood of the past. While traditional systems are hamstrung by decades of legacy code, Elyz is built on a foundation of uncompromising modernity.

We implement technologies that others can't afford. This isn't an attempt to fix the old, but to create a flexible and secure environment, building a proper OS from scratch, capable of instantly adapting to the challenges of tomorrow.

Project Structure

Directory/File	Description
kernel/	Kernel source code
limine/	Limine bootloader
ovmf/	UEFI firmware for emulation
limine.conf	Boot menu configuration
GNUmakefile	Main Makefile for building and running

System Requirements

Tool	Version/Requirements	Purpose
GNU Make	≥ 4.0	Project building
Rust	Nightly with rust-src	Kernel compilation
xorriso	Any	ISO image creation
sgdisk	Any	Disk image creation
mtools	Any	Disk image handling
QEMU	≥ 6.0	Emulation

Installing dependencies:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install make rustc xorriso gdisk mtools qemu-system-x86
rustup toolchain install nightly --component rust-src

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S make rust xorriso gdisk mtools qemu-desktop
rustup toolchain install nightly --component rust-src

Building and Running

Preparation

git clone https://git.inotfail.com/INotFail/Elyz.git
cd Elyz
rustup override set nightly

Main Makefile Targets

Target	Description	Result
make all	Kernel compilation + ISO creation	Elyz.iso
make run	Full build + QEMU launch (BIOS)	UEFI emulation
make run-bios	Run existing image (BIOS)	BIOS emulation
make run-uefi	Full build + QEMU launch (UEFI)	UEFI emulation
make all-hdd	Compilation + HDD/USB image	Elyz.hdd
make run-hdd	Build HDD + QEMU launch	HDD emulation
make clean	Clean build artifacts	—

Run examples:

# BIOS with auto-build
make run

# UEFI mode
make run-uefi

# USB/HDD image
make all-hdd

Supported Architectures

The KARCH environment variable sets the target architecture (default: x86_64).

Architecture	KARCH value	Status
x86_64	x86_64	Full support
AArch64	aarch64	Experimental
RISC-V 64	riscv64	Experimental
LoongArch 64	loongarch64	Experimental

Running other architecture:

make run KARCH=aarch64

For non-x86_64 architectures, kernel/rust-toolchain.toml setup is required.

Current Functionality

Component	Status	Description
Limine Bootloader	✅ Done	BIOS/UEFI support
Physical MM (Bitmap)	✅ Done	Initial physical frame management
Page Tables (x86_64)	✅ Done	4-level paging, HHDM support
Kernel Heap	✅ Done	Slab Allocator (8MB)
Framebuffer/Console	✅ Done	Graphical output with font rendering
PMActor Subsystem	✅ Done	Distributed memory ownership model
PMRouter	✅ Done	Lock-free MPSC response routing
Capability Model	✅ Done	Base CNode & Capability primitives

Memory System Development Status

Task	Status	Note
Basic Initialization	✅ Ready	Boot, MMU, IDT, PMM
Buddy Allocator	✅ Ready	Efficient per-actor memory carving
Async PM Messaging	✅ Ready	Actor-based allocation requests
Lock-free Routing	✅ Ready	Zero-copy response dispatching
Descriptor Model	⏳ In Progress	MemoryObject & refcounting logic
Process Isolation	⏳ Not Started	Address space cloning/switching
Memory Syscalls	⏳ Not Started	allocate, transfer, grant
Weak References	⏳ Not Started	borrow/release for capabilities

Development Plan (TODO)

#	Task	Subtasks	Priority	Dependencies
1	Capabilities System		High	PMActor
		1.1. Capability refcounting
		1.2. Inter-process delegation
2	Process Management		High	Capabilities
		2.1. PCB & Context switching
		2.2. Address Space isolation
		2.3. Auto-cleanup on exit
3	Syscalls API		Medium	Processes
		3.1. transfer(desc, target)
		3.2. mint(desc) (delegation)
4	Advanced MMU		Medium	Syscalls
		4.1. Lazy paging / Copy-on-Write
		4.2. TLB Shootdown (SMP support)
5	Security/Hardening		Low	All above
		5.1. Circular ref detection
		5.2. Capability revocation depth

Debugging

Logs are output to QEMU console. Panic output via serial port (COM1).

Useful QEMU options:

# Serial port for logs
make run QEMU_FLAGS="-serial stdio"

# GDB debugging
make run QEMU_FLAGS="-s -S"

Cleanup:

make clean    # Remove all artifacts
make distclean # + git clean

Links

• Original Repository: https://git.inotfail.com/INotFail/Elyz

• Related projects:

• Original template with bootloader: https://github.com/jasondyoungberg/limine-rust-template