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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-02-11 13:40:35 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-02-11 13:40:35 -0800 |
| commit | 41f1a08645abb5ef7d2a3ed8835c747334878774 (patch) | |
| tree | e79f0bbc52b04e3034a309e3c06823968b304031 /Documentation/dev-tools | |
| parent | 38ef046544aad88de3b520f38fa3eed2c44dc0a8 (diff) | |
| parent | d8ad80a85b96649a6ef30976762660245ae61a25 (diff) | |
| download | lwn-41f1a08645abb5ef7d2a3ed8835c747334878774.tar.gz lwn-41f1a08645abb5ef7d2a3ed8835c747334878774.zip | |
Merge tag 'kbuild-7.0-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kbuild/linux
Pull Kbuild/Kconfig updates from Nathan Chancellor:
"Kbuild:
- Drop '*_probe' pattern from modpost section check allowlist, which
hid legitimate warnings (Johan Hovold)
- Disable -Wtype-limits altogether, instead of enabling at W=2
(Vincent Mailhol)
- Improve UAPI testing to skip testing headers that require a libc
when CONFIG_CC_CAN_LINK is not set, opening up testing of headers
with no libc dependencies to more environments (Thomas Weißschuh)
- Update gendwarfksyms documentation with required dependencies
(Jihan LIN)
- Reject invalid LLVM= values to avoid unintentionally falling back
to system toolchain (Thomas Weißschuh)
- Add a script to help run the kernel build process in a container
for consistent environments and testing (Guillaume Tucker)
- Simplify kallsyms by getting rid of the relative base (Ard
Biesheuvel)
- Performance and usability improvements to scripts/make_fit.py
(Simon Glass)
- Minor various clean ups and fixes
Kconfig:
- Move XPM icons to individual files, clearing up GTK deprecation
warnings (Rostislav Krasny)
- Support
depends on FOO if BAR
as syntactic sugar for
depends on FOO || !BAR
(Nicolas Pitre, Graham Roff)
- Refactor merge_config.sh to use awk over shell/sed/grep,
dramatically speeding up processing large number of config
fragments (Anders Roxell, Mikko Rapeli)"
* tag 'kbuild-7.0-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kbuild/linux: (39 commits)
kbuild: remove dependency of run-command on config
scripts/make_fit: Compress dtbs in parallel
scripts/make_fit: Support a few more parallel compressors
kbuild: Support a FIT_EXTRA_ARGS environment variable
scripts/make_fit: Move dtb processing into a function
scripts/make_fit: Support an initial ramdisk
scripts/make_fit: Speed up operation
rust: kconfig: Don't require RUST_IS_AVAILABLE for rustc-option
MAINTAINERS: Add scripts/install.sh into Kbuild entry
modpost: Amend ppc64 save/restfpr symnames for -Os build
MIPS: tools: relocs: Ship a definition of R_MIPS_PC32
streamline_config.pl: remove superfluous exclamation mark
kbuild: dummy-tools: Add python3
scripts: kconfig: merge_config.sh: warn on duplicate input files
scripts: kconfig: merge_config.sh: use awk in checks too
scripts: kconfig: merge_config.sh: refactor from shell/sed/grep to awk
kallsyms: Get rid of kallsyms relative base
mips: Add support for PC32 relocations in vmlinux
Documentation: dev-tools: add container.rst page
scripts: add tool to run containerized builds
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/container.rst | 227 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst | 1 |
2 files changed, 228 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/container.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/container.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..452415b64662 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/container.rst @@ -0,0 +1,227 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only +.. Copyright (C) 2025 Guillaume Tucker + +==================== +Containerized Builds +==================== + +The ``container`` tool can be used to run any command in the kernel source tree +from within a container. Doing so facilitates reproducing builds across +various platforms, for example when a test bot has reported an issue which +requires a specific version of a compiler or an external test suite. While +this can already be done by users who are familiar with containers, having a +dedicated tool in the kernel tree lowers the barrier to entry by solving common +problems once and for all (e.g. user id management). It also makes it easier +to share an exact command line leading to a particular result. The main use +case is likely to be kernel builds but virtually anything can be run: KUnit, +checkpatch etc. provided a suitable image is available. + + +Options +======= + +Command line syntax:: + + scripts/container -i IMAGE [OPTION]... CMD... + +Available options: + +``-e, --env-file ENV_FILE`` + + Path to an environment file to load in the container. + +``-g, --gid GID`` + + Group id to use inside the container. + +``-i, --image IMAGE`` + + Container image name (required). + +``-r, --runtime RUNTIME`` + + Container runtime name. Supported runtimes: ``docker``, ``podman``. + + If not specified, the first one found on the system will be used + i.e. Podman if present, otherwise Docker. + +``-s, --shell`` + + Run the container in an interactive shell. + +``-u, --uid UID`` + + User id to use inside the container. + + If the ``-g`` option is not specified, the user id will also be used for + the group id. + +``-v, --verbose`` + + Enable verbose output. + +``-h, --help`` + + Show the help message and exit. + + +Usage +===== + +It's entirely up to the user to choose which image to use and the ``CMD`` +arguments are passed directly as an arbitrary command line to run in the +container. The tool will take care of mounting the source tree as the current +working directory and adjust the user and group id as needed. + +The container image which would typically include a compiler toolchain is +provided by the user and selected via the ``-i`` option. The container runtime +can be selected with the ``-r`` option, which can be either ``docker`` or +``podman``. If none is specified, the first one found on the system will be +used while giving priority to Podman. Support for other runtimes may be added +later depending on their popularity among users. + +By default, commands are run non-interactively. The user can abort a running +container with SIGINT (Ctrl-C). To run commands interactively with a TTY, the +``--shell`` or ``-s`` option can be used. Signals will then be received by the +shell directly rather than the parent ``container`` process. To exit an +interactive shell, use Ctrl-D or ``exit``. + +.. note:: + + The only host requirement aside from a container runtime is Python 3.10 or + later. + +.. note:: + + Out-of-tree builds are not fully supported yet. The ``O=`` option can + however already be used with a relative path inside the source tree to keep + separate build outputs. A workaround to build outside the tree is to use + ``mount --bind``, see the examples section further down. + + +Environment Variables +===================== + +Environment variables are not propagated to the container so they have to be +either defined in the image itself or via the ``-e`` option using an +environment file. In some cases it makes more sense to have them defined in +the Containerfile used to create the image. For example, a Clang-only compiler +toolchain image may have ``LLVM=1`` defined. + +The local environment file is more useful for user-specific variables added +during development. It is passed as-is to the container runtime so its format +may vary. Typically, it will look like the output of ``env``. For example:: + + INSTALL_MOD_STRIP=1 + SOME_RANDOM_TEXT=One upon a time + +Please also note that ``make`` options can still be passed on the command line, +so while this can't be done since the first argument needs to be the +executable:: + + scripts/container -i docker.io/tuxmake/korg-clang LLVM=1 make # won't work + +this will work:: + + scripts/container -i docker.io/tuxmake/korg-clang make LLVM=1 + + +User IDs +======== + +This is an area where the behaviour will vary slightly depending on the +container runtime. The goal is to run commands as the user invoking the tool. +With Podman, a namespace is created to map the current user id to a different +one in the container (1000 by default). With Docker, while this is also +possible with recent versions it requires a special feature to be enabled in +the daemon so it's not used here for simplicity. Instead, the container is run +with the current user id directly. In both cases, this will provide the same +file permissions for the kernel source tree mounted as a volume. The only +difference is that when using Docker without a namespace, the user id may not +be the same as the default one set in the image. + +Say, we're using an image which sets up a default user with id 1000 and the +current user calling the ``container`` tool has id 1234. The kernel source +tree was checked out by this same user so the files belong to user 1234. With +Podman, the container will be running as user id 1000 with a mapping to id 1234 +so that the files from the mounted volume appear to belong to id 1000 inside +the container. With Docker and no namespace, the container will be running +with user id 1234 which can access the files in the volume but not in the user +1000 home directory. This shouldn't be an issue when running commands only in +the kernel tree but it is worth highlighting here as it might matter for +special corner cases. + +.. note:: + + Podman's `Docker compatibility + <https://podman-desktop.io/docs/migrating-from-docker/managing-docker-compatibility>`__ + mode to run ``docker`` commands on top of a Podman backend is more complex + and not fully supported yet. As such, Podman will take priority if both + runtimes are available on the system. + + +Examples +======== + +The TuxMake project provides a variety of prebuilt container images available +on `Docker Hub <https://hub.docker.com/u/tuxmake>`__. Here's the shortest +example to build a kernel using a TuxMake Clang image:: + + scripts/container -i docker.io/tuxmake/korg-clang -- make LLVM=1 defconfig + scripts/container -i docker.io/tuxmake/korg-clang -- make LLVM=1 -j$(nproc) + +.. note:: + + When running a command with options within the container, it should be + separated with a double dash ``--`` to not confuse them with the + ``container`` tool options. Plain commands with no options don't strictly + require the double dashes e.g.:: + + scripts/container -i docker.io/tuxmake/korg-clang make mrproper + +To run ``checkpatch.pl`` in a ``patches`` directory with a generic Perl image:: + + scripts/container -i perl:slim-trixie scripts/checkpatch.pl patches/* + +As an alternative to the TuxMake images, the examples below refer to +``kernel.org`` images which are based on the `kernel.org compiler toolchains +<https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/tools/>`__. These aren't (yet) officially +available in any public registry but users can build their own locally instead +using this `experimental repository +<https://gitlab.com/gtucker/korg-containers>`__ by running ``make +PREFIX=kernel.org/``. + +To build just ``bzImage`` using Clang:: + + scripts/container -i kernel.org/clang -- make bzImage -j$(nproc) + +Same with GCC 15 as a particular version tag:: + + scripts/container -i kernel.org/gcc:15 -- make bzImage -j$(nproc) + +For an out-of-tree build, a trick is to bind-mount the destination directory to +a relative path inside the source tree:: + + mkdir -p $HOME/tmp/my-kernel-build + mkdir -p build + sudo mount --bind $HOME/tmp/my-kernel-build build + scripts/container -i kernel.org/gcc -- make mrproper + scripts/container -i kernel.org/gcc -- make O=build defconfig + scripts/container -i kernel.org/gcc -- make O=build -j$(nproc) + +To run KUnit in an interactive shell and get the full output:: + + scripts/container -s -i kernel.org/gcc:kunit -- \ + tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py \ + run \ + --arch=x86_64 \ + --cross_compile=x86_64-linux- + +To just start an interactive shell:: + + scripts/container -si kernel.org/gcc bash + +To build the HTML documentation, which requires the ``kdocs`` image built with +``make PREFIX=kernel.org/ extra`` as it's not a compiler toolchain:: + + scripts/container -i kernel.org/kdocs make htmldocs diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst index 1477c10e1356..59cbb77b33ff 100644 --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst @@ -39,3 +39,4 @@ Documentation/process/debugging/index.rst gpio-sloppy-logic-analyzer autofdo propeller + container |
