5 This document describes the Linux kernel Makefiles.
11 === 3 The kbuild files
12 --- 3.1 Goal definitions
13 --- 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y
14 --- 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m
15 --- 3.4 Objects which export symbols
16 --- 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y
17 --- 3.6 Descending down in directories
18 --- 3.7 Compilation flags
19 --- 3.8 Command line dependency
20 --- 3.9 Dependency tracking
21 --- 3.10 Special Rules
22 --- 3.11 $(CC) support functions
23 --- 3.12 $(LD) support functions
25 === 4 Host Program support
26 --- 4.1 Simple Host Program
27 --- 4.2 Composite Host Programs
28 --- 4.3 Using C++ for host programs
29 --- 4.4 Controlling compiler options for host programs
30 --- 4.5 When host programs are actually built
32 === 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure
34 === 6 Architecture Makefiles
35 --- 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
36 --- 6.2 Add prerequisites to archheaders:
37 --- 6.3 Add prerequisites to archprepare:
38 --- 6.4 List directories to visit when descending
39 --- 6.5 Architecture-specific boot images
40 --- 6.6 Building non-kbuild targets
41 --- 6.7 Commands useful for building a boot image
42 --- 6.8 Custom kbuild commands
43 --- 6.9 Preprocessing linker scripts
44 --- 6.10 Generic header files
45 --- 6.11 Post-link pass
47 === 7 Kbuild syntax for exported headers
48 --- 7.1 no-export-headers
53 === 8 Kbuild Variables
54 === 9 Makefile language
61 The Makefiles have five parts::
63 Makefile the top Makefile.
64 .config the kernel configuration file.
65 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile the arch Makefile.
66 scripts/Makefile.* common rules etc. for all kbuild Makefiles.
67 kbuild Makefiles there are about 500 of these.
69 The top Makefile reads the .config file, which comes from the kernel
70 configuration process.
72 The top Makefile is responsible for building two major products: vmlinux
73 (the resident kernel image) and modules (any module files).
74 It builds these goals by recursively descending into the subdirectories of
75 the kernel source tree.
76 The list of subdirectories which are visited depends upon the kernel
77 configuration. The top Makefile textually includes an arch Makefile
78 with the name arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile. The arch Makefile supplies
79 architecture-specific information to the top Makefile.
81 Each subdirectory has a kbuild Makefile which carries out the commands
82 passed down from above. The kbuild Makefile uses information from the
83 .config file to construct various file lists used by kbuild to build
84 any built-in or modular targets.
86 scripts/Makefile.* contains all the definitions/rules etc. that
87 are used to build the kernel based on the kbuild makefiles.
93 People have four different relationships with the kernel Makefiles.
95 *Users* are people who build kernels. These people type commands such as
96 "make menuconfig" or "make". They usually do not read or edit
97 any kernel Makefiles (or any other source files).
99 *Normal developers* are people who work on features such as device
100 drivers, file systems, and network protocols. These people need to
101 maintain the kbuild Makefiles for the subsystem they are
102 working on. In order to do this effectively, they need some overall
103 knowledge about the kernel Makefiles, plus detailed knowledge about the
104 public interface for kbuild.
106 *Arch developers* are people who work on an entire architecture, such
107 as sparc or ia64. Arch developers need to know about the arch Makefile
108 as well as kbuild Makefiles.
110 *Kbuild developers* are people who work on the kernel build system itself.
111 These people need to know about all aspects of the kernel Makefiles.
113 This document is aimed towards normal developers and arch developers.
119 Most Makefiles within the kernel are kbuild Makefiles that use the
120 kbuild infrastructure. This chapter introduces the syntax used in the
122 The preferred name for the kbuild files are 'Makefile' but 'Kbuild' can
123 be used and if both a 'Makefile' and a 'Kbuild' file exists, then the 'Kbuild'
126 Section 3.1 "Goal definitions" is a quick intro, further chapters provide
127 more details, with real examples.
132 Goal definitions are the main part (heart) of the kbuild Makefile.
133 These lines define the files to be built, any special compilation
134 options, and any subdirectories to be entered recursively.
136 The most simple kbuild makefile contains one line:
142 This tells kbuild that there is one object in that directory, named
143 foo.o. foo.o will be built from foo.c or foo.S.
145 If foo.o shall be built as a module, the variable obj-m is used.
146 Therefore the following pattern is often used:
150 obj-$(CONFIG_FOO) += foo.o
152 $(CONFIG_FOO) evaluates to either y (for built-in) or m (for module).
153 If CONFIG_FOO is neither y nor m, then the file will not be compiled
156 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y
157 ---------------------------------
159 The kbuild Makefile specifies object files for vmlinux
160 in the $(obj-y) lists. These lists depend on the kernel
163 Kbuild compiles all the $(obj-y) files. It then calls
164 "$(AR) rcSTP" to merge these files into one built-in.a file.
165 This is a thin archive without a symbol table. It will be later
166 linked into vmlinux by scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
168 The order of files in $(obj-y) is significant. Duplicates in
169 the lists are allowed: the first instance will be linked into
170 built-in.a and succeeding instances will be ignored.
172 Link order is significant, because certain functions
173 (module_init() / __initcall) will be called during boot in the
174 order they appear. So keep in mind that changing the link
175 order may e.g. change the order in which your SCSI
176 controllers are detected, and thus your disks are renumbered.
180 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
181 # Makefile for the kernel ISDN subsystem and device drivers.
182 # Each configuration option enables a list of files.
183 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_I4L) += isdn.o
184 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
186 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m
187 ---------------------------------
189 $(obj-m) specifies object files which are built as loadable
192 A module may be built from one source file or several source
193 files. In the case of one source file, the kbuild makefile
194 simply adds the file to $(obj-m).
198 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
199 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
201 Note: In this example $(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) evaluates to 'm'
203 If a kernel module is built from several source files, you specify
204 that you want to build a module in the same way as above; however,
205 kbuild needs to know which object files you want to build your
206 module from, so you have to tell it by setting a $(<module_name>-y)
211 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
212 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_I4L) += isdn.o
213 isdn-y := isdn_net_lib.o isdn_v110.o isdn_common.o
215 In this example, the module name will be isdn.o. Kbuild will
216 compile the objects listed in $(isdn-y) and then run
217 "$(LD) -r" on the list of these files to generate isdn.o.
219 Due to kbuild recognizing $(<module_name>-y) for composite objects,
220 you can use the value of a `CONFIG_` symbol to optionally include an
221 object file as part of a composite object.
226 obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2.o
227 ext2-y := balloc.o dir.o file.o ialloc.o inode.o ioctl.o \
228 namei.o super.o symlink.o
229 ext2-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) += xattr.o xattr_user.o \
232 In this example, xattr.o, xattr_user.o and xattr_trusted.o are only
233 part of the composite object ext2.o if $(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR)
236 Note: Of course, when you are building objects into the kernel,
237 the syntax above will also work. So, if you have CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y,
238 kbuild will build an ext2.o file for you out of the individual
239 parts and then link this into built-in.a, as you would expect.
241 3.4 Objects which export symbols
242 --------------------------------
244 No special notation is required in the makefiles for
245 modules exporting symbols.
247 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y
248 ------------------------------
250 Objects listed with obj-* are used for modules, or
251 combined in a built-in.a for that specific directory.
252 There is also the possibility to list objects that will
253 be included in a library, lib.a.
254 All objects listed with lib-y are combined in a single
255 library for that directory.
256 Objects that are listed in obj-y and additionally listed in
257 lib-y will not be included in the library, since they will
258 be accessible anyway.
259 For consistency, objects listed in lib-m will be included in lib.a.
261 Note that the same kbuild makefile may list files to be built-in
262 and to be part of a library. Therefore the same directory
263 may contain both a built-in.a and a lib.a file.
267 #arch/x86/lib/Makefile
270 This will create a library lib.a based on delay.o. For kbuild to
271 actually recognize that there is a lib.a being built, the directory
272 shall be listed in libs-y.
274 See also "6.4 List directories to visit when descending".
276 Use of lib-y is normally restricted to `lib/` and `arch/*/lib`.
278 3.6 Descending down in directories
279 ----------------------------------
281 A Makefile is only responsible for building objects in its own
282 directory. Files in subdirectories should be taken care of by
283 Makefiles in these subdirs. The build system will automatically
284 invoke make recursively in subdirectories, provided you let it know of
287 To do so, obj-y and obj-m are used.
288 ext2 lives in a separate directory, and the Makefile present in fs/
289 tells kbuild to descend down using the following assignment.
294 obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2/
296 If CONFIG_EXT2_FS is set to either 'y' (built-in) or 'm' (modular)
297 the corresponding obj- variable will be set, and kbuild will descend
298 down in the ext2 directory.
300 Kbuild uses this information not only to decide that it needs to visit
301 the directory, but also to decide whether or not to link objects from
302 the directory into vmlinux.
304 When Kbuild descends into the directory with 'y', all built-in objects
305 from that directory are combined into the built-in.a, which will be
306 eventually linked into vmlinux.
308 When Kbuild descends into the directory with 'm', in contrast, nothing
309 from that directory will be linked into vmlinux. If the Makefile in
310 that directory specifies obj-y, those objects will be left orphan.
311 It is very likely a bug of the Makefile or of dependencies in Kconfig.
313 It is good practice to use a `CONFIG_` variable when assigning directory
314 names. This allows kbuild to totally skip the directory if the
315 corresponding `CONFIG_` option is neither 'y' nor 'm'.
317 3.7 Compilation flags
318 ---------------------
320 ccflags-y, asflags-y and ldflags-y
321 These three flags apply only to the kbuild makefile in which they
322 are assigned. They are used for all the normal cc, as and ld
323 invocations happening during a recursive build.
324 Note: Flags with the same behaviour were previously named:
325 EXTRA_CFLAGS, EXTRA_AFLAGS and EXTRA_LDFLAGS.
326 They are still supported but their usage is deprecated.
328 ccflags-y specifies options for compiling with $(CC).
332 # drivers/acpi/acpica/Makefile
333 ccflags-y := -Os -D_LINUX -DBUILDING_ACPICA
334 ccflags-$(CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG) += -DACPI_DEBUG_OUTPUT
336 This variable is necessary because the top Makefile owns the
337 variable $(KBUILD_CFLAGS) and uses it for compilation flags for the
340 asflags-y specifies assembler options.
344 #arch/sparc/kernel/Makefile
347 ldflags-y specifies options for linking with $(LD).
351 #arch/cris/boot/compressed/Makefile
352 ldflags-y += -T $(srctree)/$(src)/decompress_$(arch-y).lds
354 subdir-ccflags-y, subdir-asflags-y
355 The two flags listed above are similar to ccflags-y and asflags-y.
356 The difference is that the subdir- variants have effect for the kbuild
357 file where they are present and all subdirectories.
358 Options specified using subdir-* are added to the commandline before
359 the options specified using the non-subdir variants.
363 subdir-ccflags-y := -Werror
366 CFLAGS_$@ and AFLAGS_$@ only apply to commands in current
369 $(CFLAGS_$@) specifies per-file options for $(CC). The $@
370 part has a literal value which specifies the file that it is for.
374 # drivers/scsi/Makefile
375 CFLAGS_aha152x.o = -DAHA152X_STAT -DAUTOCONF
376 CFLAGS_gdth.o = # -DDEBUG_GDTH=2 -D__SERIAL__ -D__COM2__ \
379 These two lines specify compilation flags for aha152x.o and gdth.o.
381 $(AFLAGS_$@) is a similar feature for source files in assembly
386 # arch/arm/kernel/Makefile
387 AFLAGS_head.o := -DTEXT_OFFSET=$(TEXT_OFFSET)
388 AFLAGS_crunch-bits.o := -Wa,-mcpu=ep9312
389 AFLAGS_iwmmxt.o := -Wa,-mcpu=iwmmxt
392 3.9 Dependency tracking
393 -----------------------
395 Kbuild tracks dependencies on the following:
397 1) All prerequisite files (both `*.c` and `*.h`)
398 2) `CONFIG_` options used in all prerequisite files
399 3) Command-line used to compile target
401 Thus, if you change an option to $(CC) all affected files will
407 Special rules are used when the kbuild infrastructure does
408 not provide the required support. A typical example is
409 header files generated during the build process.
410 Another example are the architecture-specific Makefiles which
411 need special rules to prepare boot images etc.
413 Special rules are written as normal Make rules.
414 Kbuild is not executing in the directory where the Makefile is
415 located, so all special rules shall provide a relative
416 path to prerequisite files and target files.
418 Two variables are used when defining special rules:
421 $(src) is a relative path which points to the directory
422 where the Makefile is located. Always use $(src) when
423 referring to files located in the src tree.
426 $(obj) is a relative path which points to the directory
427 where the target is saved. Always use $(obj) when
428 referring to generated files.
432 #drivers/scsi/Makefile
433 $(obj)/53c8xx_d.h: $(src)/53c7,8xx.scr $(src)/script_asm.pl
434 $(CPP) -DCHIP=810 - < $< | ... $(src)/script_asm.pl
436 This is a special rule, following the normal syntax
439 The target file depends on two prerequisite files. References
440 to the target file are prefixed with $(obj), references
441 to prerequisites are referenced with $(src) (because they are not
445 echoing information to user in a rule is often a good practice
446 but when execution "make -s" one does not expect to see any output
447 except for warnings/errors.
448 To support this kbuild defines $(kecho) which will echo out the
449 text following $(kecho) to stdout except if "make -s" is used.
453 #arch/blackfin/boot/Makefile
454 $(obj)/vmImage: $(obj)/vmlinux.gz
455 $(call if_changed,uimage)
456 @$(kecho) 'Kernel: $@ is ready'
459 3.11 $(CC) support functions
460 ----------------------------
462 The kernel may be built with several different versions of
463 $(CC), each supporting a unique set of features and options.
464 kbuild provides basic support to check for valid options for $(CC).
465 $(CC) is usually the gcc compiler, but other alternatives are
469 as-option is used to check if $(CC) -- when used to compile
470 assembler (`*.S`) files -- supports the given option. An optional
471 second option may be specified if the first option is not supported.
476 cflags-y += $(call as-option,-Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y),)
478 In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
479 -Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y) if it is supported by $(CC).
480 The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
481 if first argument is not supported.
484 as-instr checks if the assembler reports a specific instruction
485 and then outputs either option1 or option2
486 C escapes are supported in the test instruction
487 Note: as-instr-option uses KBUILD_AFLAGS for assembler options
490 cc-option is used to check if $(CC) supports a given option, and if
491 not supported to use an optional second option.
496 cflags-y += $(call cc-option,-march=pentium-mmx,-march=i586)
498 In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
499 -march=pentium-mmx if supported by $(CC), otherwise -march=i586.
500 The second argument to cc-option is optional, and if omitted,
501 cflags-y will be assigned no value if first option is not supported.
502 Note: cc-option uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
505 cc-option-yn is used to check if gcc supports a given option
506 and return 'y' if supported, otherwise 'n'.
511 biarch := $(call cc-option-yn, -m32)
512 aflags-$(biarch) += -a32
513 cflags-$(biarch) += -m32
515 In the above example, $(biarch) is set to y if $(CC) supports the -m32
516 option. When $(biarch) equals 'y', the expanded variables $(aflags-y)
517 and $(cflags-y) will be assigned the values -a32 and -m32,
519 Note: cc-option-yn uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
522 cc-disable-warning checks if gcc supports a given warning and returns
523 the commandline switch to disable it. This special function is needed,
524 because gcc 4.4 and later accept any unknown -Wno-* option and only
525 warn about it if there is another warning in the source file.
529 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-disable-warning, unused-but-set-variable)
531 In the above example, -Wno-unused-but-set-variable will be added to
532 KBUILD_CFLAGS only if gcc really accepts it.
535 cc-ifversion tests the version of $(CC) and equals the fourth parameter
536 if version expression is true, or the fifth (if given) if the version
541 #fs/reiserfs/Makefile
542 ccflags-y := $(call cc-ifversion, -lt, 0402, -O1)
544 In this example, ccflags-y will be assigned the value -O1 if the
545 $(CC) version is less than 4.2.
546 cc-ifversion takes all the shell operators:
547 -eq, -ne, -lt, -le, -gt, and -ge
548 The third parameter may be a text as in this example, but it may also
549 be an expanded variable or a macro.
552 cc-cross-prefix is used to check if there exists a $(CC) in path with
553 one of the listed prefixes. The first prefix where there exist a
554 prefix$(CC) in the PATH is returned - and if no prefix$(CC) is found
555 then nothing is returned.
556 Additional prefixes are separated by a single space in the
557 call of cc-cross-prefix.
558 This functionality is useful for architecture Makefiles that try
559 to set CROSS_COMPILE to well-known values but may have several
560 values to select between.
561 It is recommended only to try to set CROSS_COMPILE if it is a cross
562 build (host arch is different from target arch). And if CROSS_COMPILE
563 is already set then leave it with the old value.
568 ifneq ($(SUBARCH),$(ARCH))
569 ifeq ($(CROSS_COMPILE),)
570 CROSS_COMPILE := $(call cc-cross-prefix, m68k-linux-gnu-)
574 3.12 $(LD) support functions
575 ----------------------------
578 ld-option is used to check if $(LD) supports the supplied option.
579 ld-option takes two options as arguments.
580 The second argument is an optional option that can be used if the
581 first option is not supported by $(LD).
586 LDFLAGS_vmlinux += $(call ld-option, -X)
589 4 Host Program support
590 ======================
592 Kbuild supports building executables on the host for use during the
594 Two steps are required in order to use a host executable.
596 The first step is to tell kbuild that a host program exists. This is
597 done utilising the variable "hostprogs".
599 The second step is to add an explicit dependency to the executable.
600 This can be done in two ways. Either add the dependency in a rule,
601 or utilise the variable "always-y".
602 Both possibilities are described in the following.
604 4.1 Simple Host Program
605 -----------------------
607 In some cases there is a need to compile and run a program on the
608 computer where the build is running.
609 The following line tells kbuild that the program bin2hex shall be
610 built on the build host.
616 Kbuild assumes in the above example that bin2hex is made from a single
617 c-source file named bin2hex.c located in the same directory as
620 4.2 Composite Host Programs
621 ---------------------------
623 Host programs can be made up based on composite objects.
624 The syntax used to define composite objects for host programs is
625 similar to the syntax used for kernel objects.
626 $(<executable>-objs) lists all objects used to link the final
631 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
632 hostprogs := lxdialog
633 lxdialog-objs := checklist.o lxdialog.o
635 Objects with extension .o are compiled from the corresponding .c
636 files. In the above example, checklist.c is compiled to checklist.o
637 and lxdialog.c is compiled to lxdialog.o.
639 Finally, the two .o files are linked to the executable, lxdialog.
640 Note: The syntax <executable>-y is not permitted for host-programs.
642 4.3 Using C++ for host programs
643 -------------------------------
645 kbuild offers support for host programs written in C++. This was
646 introduced solely to support kconfig, and is not recommended
651 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
653 qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
655 In the example above the executable is composed of the C++ file
656 qconf.cc - identified by $(qconf-cxxobjs).
658 If qconf is composed of a mixture of .c and .cc files, then an
659 additional line can be used to identify this.
663 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
665 qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
666 qconf-objs := check.o
668 4.4 Controlling compiler options for host programs
669 --------------------------------------------------
671 When compiling host programs, it is possible to set specific flags.
672 The programs will always be compiled utilising $(HOSTCC) passed
673 the options specified in $(KBUILD_HOSTCFLAGS).
674 To set flags that will take effect for all host programs created
675 in that Makefile, use the variable HOST_EXTRACFLAGS.
679 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
680 HOST_EXTRACFLAGS += -I/usr/include/ncurses
682 To set specific flags for a single file the following construction
687 #arch/ppc64/boot/Makefile
688 HOSTCFLAGS_piggyback.o := -DKERNELBASE=$(KERNELBASE)
690 It is also possible to specify additional options to the linker.
694 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
695 HOSTLDLIBS_qconf := -L$(QTDIR)/lib
697 When linking qconf, it will be passed the extra option
700 4.5 When host programs are actually built
701 -----------------------------------------
703 Kbuild will only build host-programs when they are referenced
705 This is possible in two ways:
707 (1) List the prerequisite explicitly in a special rule.
711 #drivers/pci/Makefile
712 hostprogs := gen-devlist
713 $(obj)/devlist.h: $(src)/pci.ids $(obj)/gen-devlist
714 ( cd $(obj); ./gen-devlist ) < $<
716 The target $(obj)/devlist.h will not be built before
717 $(obj)/gen-devlist is updated. Note that references to
718 the host programs in special rules must be prefixed with $(obj).
722 When there is no suitable special rule, and the host program
723 shall be built when a makefile is entered, the always-y
724 variable shall be used.
728 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
729 hostprogs := lxdialog
730 always-y := $(hostprogs)
732 This will tell kbuild to build lxdialog even if not referenced in
735 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure
736 =============================
738 "make clean" deletes most generated files in the obj tree where the kernel
739 is compiled. This includes generated files such as host programs.
740 Kbuild knows targets listed in $(hostprogs), $(always-y), $(always-m),
741 $(always-), $(extra-y), $(extra-) and $(targets). They are all deleted
742 during "make clean". Files matching the patterns "*.[oas]", "*.ko", plus
743 some additional files generated by kbuild are deleted all over the kernel
744 source tree when "make clean" is executed.
746 Additional files or directories can be specified in kbuild makefiles by use of
752 clean-files := crc32table.h
754 When executing "make clean", the file "crc32table.h" will be deleted.
755 Kbuild will assume files to be in the same relative directory as the
756 Makefile, except if prefixed with $(objtree).
758 To exclude certain files or directories from make clean, use the
759 $(no-clean-files) variable.
761 Usually kbuild descends down in subdirectories due to "obj-* := dir/",
762 but in the architecture makefiles where the kbuild infrastructure
763 is not sufficient this sometimes needs to be explicit.
767 #arch/x86/boot/Makefile
768 subdir- := compressed
770 The above assignment instructs kbuild to descend down in the
771 directory compressed/ when "make clean" is executed.
773 To support the clean infrastructure in the Makefiles that build the
774 final bootimage there is an optional target named archclean:
780 $(Q)$(MAKE) $(clean)=arch/x86/boot
782 When "make clean" is executed, make will descend down in arch/x86/boot,
783 and clean as usual. The Makefile located in arch/x86/boot/ may use
784 the subdir- trick to descend further down.
786 Note 1: arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile cannot use "subdir-", because that file is
787 included in the top level makefile, and the kbuild infrastructure
788 is not operational at that point.
790 Note 2: All directories listed in core-y, libs-y, drivers-y and net-y will
791 be visited during "make clean".
793 6 Architecture Makefiles
794 ========================
796 The top level Makefile sets up the environment and does the preparation,
797 before starting to descend down in the individual directories.
798 The top level makefile contains the generic part, whereas
799 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile contains what is required to set up kbuild
800 for said architecture.
801 To do so, arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile sets up a number of variables and defines
804 When kbuild executes, the following steps are followed (roughly):
806 1) Configuration of the kernel => produce .config
807 2) Store kernel version in include/linux/version.h
808 3) Updating all other prerequisites to the target prepare:
809 - Additional prerequisites are specified in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile
810 4) Recursively descend down in all directories listed in
811 init-* core* drivers-* net-* libs-* and build all targets.
812 - The values of the above variables are expanded in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
813 5) All object files are then linked and the resulting file vmlinux is
814 located at the root of the obj tree.
815 The very first objects linked are listed in head-y, assigned by
816 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
817 6) Finally, the architecture-specific part does any required post processing
818 and builds the final bootimage.
819 - This includes building boot records
820 - Preparing initrd images and the like
823 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
824 --------------------------------------------------------
827 Generic $(LD) options
829 Flags used for all invocations of the linker.
830 Often specifying the emulation is sufficient.
835 LDFLAGS := -m elf_s390
837 Note: ldflags-y can be used to further customise
838 the flags used. See chapter 3.7.
841 Options for $(LD) when linking vmlinux
843 LDFLAGS_vmlinux is used to specify additional flags to pass to
844 the linker when linking the final vmlinux image.
845 LDFLAGS_vmlinux uses the LDFLAGS_$@ support.
850 LDFLAGS_vmlinux := -e stext
855 When $(call if_changed,objcopy) is used to translate a .o file,
856 the flags specified in OBJCOPYFLAGS will be used.
857 $(call if_changed,objcopy) is often used to generate raw binaries on
863 OBJCOPYFLAGS := -O binary
865 #arch/s390/boot/Makefile
866 $(obj)/image: vmlinux FORCE
867 $(call if_changed,objcopy)
869 In this example, the binary $(obj)/image is a binary version of
870 vmlinux. The usage of $(call if_changed,xxx) will be described later.
875 Default value - see top level Makefile
876 Append or modify as required per architecture.
880 #arch/sparc64/Makefile
881 KBUILD_AFLAGS += -m64 -mcpu=ultrasparc
886 Default value - see top level Makefile
887 Append or modify as required per architecture.
889 Often, the KBUILD_CFLAGS variable depends on the configuration.
893 #arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile
894 cflags-$(CONFIG_X86_32) := -march=i386
895 cflags-$(CONFIG_X86_64) := -mcmodel=small
896 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)
898 Many arch Makefiles dynamically run the target C compiler to
899 probe supported options::
904 cflags-$(CONFIG_MPENTIUMII) += $(call cc-option,\
905 -march=pentium2,-march=i686)
907 # Disable unit-at-a-time mode ...
908 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-fno-unit-at-a-time)
912 The first example utilises the trick that a config option expands
913 to 'y' when selected.
916 Assembler options specific for built-in
918 $(KBUILD_AFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
919 resident kernel code.
922 Assembler options specific for modules
924 $(KBUILD_AFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options that
925 are used for assembler.
927 From commandline AFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
930 $(CC) options specific for built-in
932 $(KBUILD_CFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
933 resident kernel code.
936 Options for $(CC) when building modules
938 $(KBUILD_CFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options that
940 From commandline CFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
942 KBUILD_LDFLAGS_MODULE
943 Options for $(LD) when linking modules
945 $(KBUILD_LDFLAGS_MODULE) is used to add arch-specific options
946 used when linking modules. This is often a linker script.
948 From commandline LDFLAGS_MODULE shall be used (see kbuild.rst).
952 The linker script with full path. Assigned by the top-level Makefile.
956 The module linker script with full path. Assigned by the top-level
957 Makefile and additionally by the arch Makefile.
961 All object files for vmlinux. They are linked to vmlinux in the same
962 order as listed in KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS.
966 All .a "lib" files for vmlinux. KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS and
967 KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS together specify all the object files used to
970 6.2 Add prerequisites to archheaders
971 ------------------------------------
973 The archheaders: rule is used to generate header files that
974 may be installed into user space by "make header_install".
976 It is run before "make archprepare" when run on the
980 6.3 Add prerequisites to archprepare
981 ------------------------------------
983 The archprepare: rule is used to list prerequisites that need to be
984 built before starting to descend down in the subdirectories.
985 This is usually used for header files containing assembler constants.
990 archprepare: maketools
992 In this example, the file target maketools will be processed
993 before descending down in the subdirectories.
994 See also chapter XXX-TODO that describe how kbuild supports
995 generating offset header files.
998 6.4 List directories to visit when descending
999 ---------------------------------------------
1001 An arch Makefile cooperates with the top Makefile to define variables
1002 which specify how to build the vmlinux file. Note that there is no
1003 corresponding arch-specific section for modules; the module-building
1004 machinery is all architecture-independent.
1007 head-y, init-y, core-y, libs-y, drivers-y, net-y
1008 $(head-y) lists objects to be linked first in vmlinux.
1010 $(libs-y) lists directories where a lib.a archive can be located.
1012 The rest list directories where a built-in.a object file can be
1015 $(init-y) objects will be located after $(head-y).
1017 Then the rest follows in this order:
1019 $(core-y), $(libs-y), $(drivers-y) and $(net-y).
1021 The top level Makefile defines values for all generic directories,
1022 and arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile only adds architecture-specific
1027 #arch/sparc64/Makefile
1028 core-y += arch/sparc64/kernel/
1029 libs-y += arch/sparc64/prom/ arch/sparc64/lib/
1030 drivers-$(CONFIG_OPROFILE) += arch/sparc64/oprofile/
1033 6.5 Architecture-specific boot images
1034 -------------------------------------
1036 An arch Makefile specifies goals that take the vmlinux file, compress
1037 it, wrap it in bootstrapping code, and copy the resulting files
1038 somewhere. This includes various kinds of installation commands.
1039 The actual goals are not standardized across architectures.
1041 It is common to locate any additional processing in a boot/
1042 directory below arch/$(ARCH)/.
1044 Kbuild does not provide any smart way to support building a
1045 target specified in boot/. Therefore arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile shall
1046 call make manually to build a target in boot/.
1048 The recommended approach is to include shortcuts in
1049 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile, and use the full path when calling down
1050 into the arch/$(ARCH)/boot/Makefile.
1055 boot := arch/x86/boot
1057 $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=$(boot) $(boot)/$@
1059 "$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=<dir>" is the recommended way to invoke
1060 make in a subdirectory.
1062 There are no rules for naming architecture-specific targets,
1063 but executing "make help" will list all relevant targets.
1064 To support this, $(archhelp) must be defined.
1070 echo '* bzImage - Image (arch/$(ARCH)/boot/bzImage)'
1073 When make is executed without arguments, the first goal encountered
1074 will be built. In the top level Makefile the first goal present
1076 An architecture shall always, per default, build a bootable image.
1077 In "make help", the default goal is highlighted with a '*'.
1078 Add a new prerequisite to all: to select a default goal different
1086 When "make" is executed without arguments, bzImage will be built.
1088 6.6 Building non-kbuild targets
1089 -------------------------------
1092 extra-y specifies additional targets created in the current
1093 directory, in addition to any targets specified by `obj-*`.
1095 Listing all targets in extra-y is required for two purposes:
1097 1) Enable kbuild to check changes in command lines
1099 - When $(call if_changed,xxx) is used
1101 2) kbuild knows what files to delete during "make clean"
1105 #arch/x86/kernel/Makefile
1106 extra-y := head.o init_task.o
1108 In this example, extra-y is used to list object files that
1109 shall be built, but shall not be linked as part of built-in.a.
1111 6.7 Commands useful for building a boot image
1112 ---------------------------------------------
1114 Kbuild provides a few macros that are useful when building a
1118 if_changed is the infrastructure used for the following commands.
1122 target: source(s) FORCE
1123 $(call if_changed,ld/objcopy/gzip/...)
1125 When the rule is evaluated, it is checked to see if any files
1126 need an update, or the command line has changed since the last
1127 invocation. The latter will force a rebuild if any options
1128 to the executable have changed.
1129 Any target that utilises if_changed must be listed in $(targets),
1130 otherwise the command line check will fail, and the target will
1132 Assignments to $(targets) are without $(obj)/ prefix.
1133 if_changed may be used in conjunction with custom commands as
1134 defined in 6.8 "Custom kbuild commands".
1136 Note: It is a typical mistake to forget the FORCE prerequisite.
1137 Another common pitfall is that whitespace is sometimes
1138 significant; for instance, the below will fail (note the extra space
1141 target: source(s) FORCE
1143 **WRONG!** $(call if_changed, ld/objcopy/gzip/...)
1146 if_changed should not be used more than once per target.
1147 It stores the executed command in a corresponding .cmd
1149 file and multiple calls would result in overwrites and
1150 unwanted results when the target is up to date and only the
1151 tests on changed commands trigger execution of commands.
1154 Link target. Often, LDFLAGS_$@ is used to set specific options to ld.
1158 #arch/x86/boot/Makefile
1159 LDFLAGS_bootsect := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary
1160 LDFLAGS_setup := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary -e begtext
1162 targets += setup setup.o bootsect bootsect.o
1163 $(obj)/setup $(obj)/bootsect: %: %.o FORCE
1164 $(call if_changed,ld)
1166 In this example, there are two possible targets, requiring different
1167 options to the linker. The linker options are specified using the
1168 LDFLAGS_$@ syntax - one for each potential target.
1169 $(targets) are assigned all potential targets, by which kbuild knows
1170 the targets and will:
1172 1) check for commandline changes
1173 2) delete target during make clean
1175 The ": %: %.o" part of the prerequisite is a shorthand that
1176 frees us from listing the setup.o and bootsect.o files.
1179 It is a common mistake to forget the "targets :=" assignment,
1180 resulting in the target file being recompiled for no
1184 Copy binary. Uses OBJCOPYFLAGS usually specified in
1185 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
1186 OBJCOPYFLAGS_$@ may be used to set additional options.
1189 Compress target. Use maximum compression to compress target.
1193 #arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile
1194 $(obj)/vmlinux.bin.gz: $(vmlinux.bin.all-y) FORCE
1195 $(call if_changed,gzip)
1198 Create flattened device tree blob object suitable for linking
1199 into vmlinux. Device tree blobs linked into vmlinux are placed
1200 in an init section in the image. Platform code *must* copy the
1201 blob to non-init memory prior to calling unflatten_device_tree().
1203 To use this command, simply add `*.dtb` into obj-y or targets, or make
1204 some other target depend on `%.dtb`
1206 A central rule exists to create `$(obj)/%.dtb` from `$(src)/%.dts`;
1207 architecture Makefiles do no need to explicitly write out that rule.
1212 DTC_FLAGS ?= -p 1024
1214 6.8 Custom kbuild commands
1215 --------------------------
1217 When kbuild is executing with KBUILD_VERBOSE=0, then only a shorthand
1218 of a command is normally displayed.
1219 To enable this behaviour for custom commands kbuild requires
1220 two variables to be set::
1222 quiet_cmd_<command> - what shall be echoed
1223 cmd_<command> - the command to execute
1228 quiet_cmd_image = BUILD $@
1229 cmd_image = $(obj)/tools/build $(BUILDFLAGS) \
1230 $(obj)/vmlinux.bin > $@
1233 $(obj)/bzImage: $(obj)/vmlinux.bin $(obj)/tools/build FORCE
1234 $(call if_changed,image)
1235 @echo 'Kernel: $@ is ready'
1237 When updating the $(obj)/bzImage target, the line:
1239 BUILD arch/x86/boot/bzImage
1241 will be displayed with "make KBUILD_VERBOSE=0".
1244 6.9 Preprocessing linker scripts
1245 --------------------------------
1247 When the vmlinux image is built, the linker script
1248 arch/$(ARCH)/kernel/vmlinux.lds is used.
1249 The script is a preprocessed variant of the file vmlinux.lds.S
1250 located in the same directory.
1251 kbuild knows .lds files and includes a rule `*lds.S` -> `*lds`.
1255 #arch/x86/kernel/Makefile
1256 extra-y := vmlinux.lds
1259 export CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds += -P -C -U$(ARCH)
1261 The assignment to extra-y is used to tell kbuild to build the
1263 The assignment to $(CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds) tells kbuild to use the
1264 specified options when building the target vmlinux.lds.
1266 When building the `*.lds` target, kbuild uses the variables::
1268 KBUILD_CPPFLAGS : Set in top-level Makefile
1269 cppflags-y : May be set in the kbuild makefile
1270 CPPFLAGS_$(@F) : Target-specific flags.
1271 Note that the full filename is used in this
1274 The kbuild infrastructure for `*lds` files is used in several
1275 architecture-specific files.
1277 6.10 Generic header files
1278 -------------------------
1280 The directory include/asm-generic contains the header files
1281 that may be shared between individual architectures.
1282 The recommended approach how to use a generic header file is
1283 to list the file in the Kbuild file.
1284 See "7.2 generic-y" for further info on syntax etc.
1289 If the file arch/xxx/Makefile.postlink exists, this makefile
1290 will be invoked for post-link objects (vmlinux and modules.ko)
1291 for architectures to run post-link passes on. Must also handle
1294 This pass runs after kallsyms generation. If the architecture
1295 needs to modify symbol locations, rather than manipulate the
1296 kallsyms, it may be easier to add another postlink target for
1297 .tmp_vmlinux? targets to be called from link-vmlinux.sh.
1299 For example, powerpc uses this to check relocation sanity of
1300 the linked vmlinux file.
1302 7 Kbuild syntax for exported headers
1303 ------------------------------------
1305 The kernel includes a set of headers that is exported to userspace.
1306 Many headers can be exported as-is but other headers require a
1307 minimal pre-processing before they are ready for user-space.
1308 The pre-processing does:
1310 - drop kernel-specific annotations
1311 - drop include of compiler.h
1312 - drop all sections that are kernel internal (guarded by `ifdef __KERNEL__`)
1314 All headers under include/uapi/, include/generated/uapi/,
1315 arch/<arch>/include/uapi/ and arch/<arch>/include/generated/uapi/
1318 A Kbuild file may be defined under arch/<arch>/include/uapi/asm/ and
1319 arch/<arch>/include/asm/ to list asm files coming from asm-generic.
1320 See subsequent chapter for the syntax of the Kbuild file.
1322 7.1 no-export-headers
1323 ---------------------
1325 no-export-headers is essentially used by include/uapi/linux/Kbuild to
1326 avoid exporting specific headers (e.g. kvm.h) on architectures that do
1327 not support it. It should be avoided as much as possible.
1332 If an architecture uses a verbatim copy of a header from
1333 include/asm-generic then this is listed in the file
1334 arch/$(ARCH)/include/asm/Kbuild like this:
1338 #arch/x86/include/asm/Kbuild
1339 generic-y += termios.h
1342 During the prepare phase of the build a wrapper include
1343 file is generated in the directory::
1345 arch/$(ARCH)/include/generated/asm
1347 When a header is exported where the architecture uses
1348 the generic header a similar wrapper is generated as part
1349 of the set of exported headers in the directory::
1353 The generated wrapper will in both cases look like the following:
1355 Example: termios.h::
1357 #include <asm-generic/termios.h>
1362 If an architecture generates other header files alongside generic-y
1363 wrappers, generated-y specifies them.
1365 This prevents them being treated as stale asm-generic wrappers and
1370 #arch/x86/include/asm/Kbuild
1371 generated-y += syscalls_32.h
1376 mandatory-y is essentially used by include/(uapi/)asm-generic/Kbuild
1377 to define the minimum set of ASM headers that all architectures must have.
1379 This works like optional generic-y. If a mandatory header is missing
1380 in arch/$(ARCH)/include/(uapi/)/asm, Kbuild will automatically generate
1381 a wrapper of the asm-generic one.
1386 The top Makefile exports the following variables:
1388 VERSION, PATCHLEVEL, SUBLEVEL, EXTRAVERSION
1389 These variables define the current kernel version. A few arch
1390 Makefiles actually use these values directly; they should use
1391 $(KERNELRELEASE) instead.
1393 $(VERSION), $(PATCHLEVEL), and $(SUBLEVEL) define the basic
1394 three-part version number, such as "2", "4", and "0". These three
1395 values are always numeric.
1397 $(EXTRAVERSION) defines an even tinier sublevel for pre-patches
1398 or additional patches. It is usually some non-numeric string
1399 such as "-pre4", and is often blank.
1402 $(KERNELRELEASE) is a single string such as "2.4.0-pre4", suitable
1403 for constructing installation directory names or showing in
1404 version strings. Some arch Makefiles use it for this purpose.
1407 This variable defines the target architecture, such as "i386",
1408 "arm", or "sparc". Some kbuild Makefiles test $(ARCH) to
1409 determine which files to compile.
1411 By default, the top Makefile sets $(ARCH) to be the same as the
1412 host system architecture. For a cross build, a user may
1413 override the value of $(ARCH) on the command line::
1419 This variable defines a place for the arch Makefiles to install
1420 the resident kernel image and System.map file.
1421 Use this for architecture-specific install targets.
1423 INSTALL_MOD_PATH, MODLIB
1424 $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH) specifies a prefix to $(MODLIB) for module
1425 installation. This variable is not defined in the Makefile but
1426 may be passed in by the user if desired.
1428 $(MODLIB) specifies the directory for module installation.
1429 The top Makefile defines $(MODLIB) to
1430 $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH)/lib/modules/$(KERNELRELEASE). The user may
1431 override this value on the command line if desired.
1434 If this variable is specified, it will cause modules to be stripped
1435 after they are installed. If INSTALL_MOD_STRIP is '1', then the
1436 default option --strip-debug will be used. Otherwise, the
1437 INSTALL_MOD_STRIP value will be used as the option(s) to the strip
1444 The kernel Makefiles are designed to be run with GNU Make. The Makefiles
1445 use only the documented features of GNU Make, but they do use many
1448 GNU Make supports elementary list-processing functions. The kernel
1449 Makefiles use a novel style of list building and manipulation with few
1452 GNU Make has two assignment operators, ":=" and "=". ":=" performs
1453 immediate evaluation of the right-hand side and stores an actual string
1454 into the left-hand side. "=" is like a formula definition; it stores the
1455 right-hand side in an unevaluated form and then evaluates this form each
1456 time the left-hand side is used.
1458 There are some cases where "=" is appropriate. Usually, though, ":="
1459 is the right choice.
1464 - Original version made by Michael Elizabeth Chastain, <mailto:mec@shout.net>
1465 - Updates by Kai Germaschewski <kai@tp1.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
1466 - Updates by Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
1467 - Language QA by Jan Engelhardt <jengelh@gmx.de>
1472 - Describe how kbuild supports shipped files with _shipped.
1473 - Generating offset header files.
1474 - Add more variables to section 7?