5.9 KiB
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.tomlsetup 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