3 This document describes the Linux kernel Makefiles.
10 --- 3.1 Goal definitions
11 --- 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y
12 --- 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m
13 --- 3.4 Objects which export symbols
14 --- 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y
15 --- 3.6 Descending down in directories
16 --- 3.7 Compilation flags
17 --- 3.8 Command line dependency
18 --- 3.9 Dependency tracking
19 --- 3.10 Special Rules
20 --- 3.11 $(CC) support functions
22 === 4 Host Program support
23 --- 4.1 Simple Host Program
24 --- 4.2 Composite Host Programs
25 --- 4.3 Defining shared libraries
26 --- 4.4 Using C++ for host programs
27 --- 4.5 Controlling compiler options for host programs
28 --- 4.6 When host programs are actually built
29 --- 4.7 Using hostprogs-$(CONFIG_FOO)
31 === 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure
33 === 6 Architecture Makefiles
34 --- 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
35 --- 6.2 Add prerequisites to archprepare:
36 --- 6.3 List directories to visit when descending
37 --- 6.4 Architecture-specific boot images
38 --- 6.5 Building non-kbuild targets
39 --- 6.6 Commands useful for building a boot image
40 --- 6.7 Custom kbuild commands
41 --- 6.8 Preprocessing linker scripts
43 === 7 Kbuild syntax for exported headers
47 --- 7.4 unifdef-y (deprecated)
49 === 8 Kbuild Variables
50 === 9 Makefile language
56 The Makefiles have five parts:
58 Makefile the top Makefile.
59 .config the kernel configuration file.
60 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile the arch Makefile.
61 scripts/Makefile.* common rules etc. for all kbuild Makefiles.
62 kbuild Makefiles there are about 500 of these.
64 The top Makefile reads the .config file, which comes from the kernel
65 configuration process.
67 The top Makefile is responsible for building two major products: vmlinux
68 (the resident kernel image) and modules (any module files).
69 It builds these goals by recursively descending into the subdirectories of
70 the kernel source tree.
71 The list of subdirectories which are visited depends upon the kernel
72 configuration. The top Makefile textually includes an arch Makefile
73 with the name arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile. The arch Makefile supplies
74 architecture-specific information to the top Makefile.
76 Each subdirectory has a kbuild Makefile which carries out the commands
77 passed down from above. The kbuild Makefile uses information from the
78 .config file to construct various file lists used by kbuild to build
79 any built-in or modular targets.
81 scripts/Makefile.* contains all the definitions/rules etc. that
82 are used to build the kernel based on the kbuild makefiles.
87 People have four different relationships with the kernel Makefiles.
89 *Users* are people who build kernels. These people type commands such as
90 "make menuconfig" or "make". They usually do not read or edit
91 any kernel Makefiles (or any other source files).
93 *Normal developers* are people who work on features such as device
94 drivers, file systems, and network protocols. These people need to
95 maintain the kbuild Makefiles for the subsystem they are
96 working on. In order to do this effectively, they need some overall
97 knowledge about the kernel Makefiles, plus detailed knowledge about the
98 public interface for kbuild.
100 *Arch developers* are people who work on an entire architecture, such
101 as sparc or ia64. Arch developers need to know about the arch Makefile
102 as well as kbuild Makefiles.
104 *Kbuild developers* are people who work on the kernel build system itself.
105 These people need to know about all aspects of the kernel Makefiles.
107 This document is aimed towards normal developers and arch developers.
110 === 3 The kbuild files
112 Most Makefiles within the kernel are kbuild Makefiles that use the
113 kbuild infrastructure. This chapter introduces the syntax used in the
115 The preferred name for the kbuild files are 'Makefile' but 'Kbuild' can
116 be used and if both a 'Makefile' and a 'Kbuild' file exists, then the 'Kbuild'
119 Section 3.1 "Goal definitions" is a quick intro, further chapters provide
120 more details, with real examples.
122 --- 3.1 Goal definitions
124 Goal definitions are the main part (heart) of the kbuild Makefile.
125 These lines define the files to be built, any special compilation
126 options, and any subdirectories to be entered recursively.
128 The most simple kbuild makefile contains one line:
133 This tells kbuild that there is one object in that directory, named
134 foo.o. foo.o will be built from foo.c or foo.S.
136 If foo.o shall be built as a module, the variable obj-m is used.
137 Therefore the following pattern is often used:
140 obj-$(CONFIG_FOO) += foo.o
142 $(CONFIG_FOO) evaluates to either y (for built-in) or m (for module).
143 If CONFIG_FOO is neither y nor m, then the file will not be compiled
146 --- 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y
148 The kbuild Makefile specifies object files for vmlinux
149 in the $(obj-y) lists. These lists depend on the kernel
152 Kbuild compiles all the $(obj-y) files. It then calls
153 "$(LD) -r" to merge these files into one built-in.o file.
154 built-in.o is later linked into vmlinux by the parent Makefile.
156 The order of files in $(obj-y) is significant. Duplicates in
157 the lists are allowed: the first instance will be linked into
158 built-in.o and succeeding instances will be ignored.
160 Link order is significant, because certain functions
161 (module_init() / __initcall) will be called during boot in the
162 order they appear. So keep in mind that changing the link
163 order may e.g. change the order in which your SCSI
164 controllers are detected, and thus your disks are renumbered.
167 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
168 # Makefile for the kernel ISDN subsystem and device drivers.
169 # Each configuration option enables a list of files.
170 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN) += isdn.o
171 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
173 --- 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m
175 $(obj-m) specify object files which are built as loadable
178 A module may be built from one source file or several source
179 files. In the case of one source file, the kbuild makefile
180 simply adds the file to $(obj-m).
183 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
184 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o
186 Note: In this example $(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) evaluates to 'm'
188 If a kernel module is built from several source files, you specify
189 that you want to build a module in the same way as above.
191 Kbuild needs to know which the parts that you want to build your
192 module from, so you have to tell it by setting an
193 $(<module_name>-objs) variable.
196 #drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
197 obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN) += isdn.o
198 isdn-objs := isdn_net_lib.o isdn_v110.o isdn_common.o
200 In this example, the module name will be isdn.o. Kbuild will
201 compile the objects listed in $(isdn-objs) and then run
202 "$(LD) -r" on the list of these files to generate isdn.o.
204 Kbuild recognises objects used for composite objects by the suffix
205 -objs, and the suffix -y. This allows the Makefiles to use
206 the value of a CONFIG_ symbol to determine if an object is part
207 of a composite object.
211 obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2.o
212 ext2-y := balloc.o bitmap.o
213 ext2-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) += xattr.o
215 In this example, xattr.o is only part of the composite object
216 ext2.o if $(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) evaluates to 'y'.
218 Note: Of course, when you are building objects into the kernel,
219 the syntax above will also work. So, if you have CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y,
220 kbuild will build an ext2.o file for you out of the individual
221 parts and then link this into built-in.o, as you would expect.
223 --- 3.4 Objects which export symbols
225 No special notation is required in the makefiles for
226 modules exporting symbols.
228 --- 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y
230 Objects listed with obj-* are used for modules, or
231 combined in a built-in.o for that specific directory.
232 There is also the possibility to list objects that will
233 be included in a library, lib.a.
234 All objects listed with lib-y are combined in a single
235 library for that directory.
236 Objects that are listed in obj-y and additionally listed in
237 lib-y will not be included in the library, since they will
238 be accessible anyway.
239 For consistency, objects listed in lib-m will be included in lib.a.
241 Note that the same kbuild makefile may list files to be built-in
242 and to be part of a library. Therefore the same directory
243 may contain both a built-in.o and a lib.a file.
246 #arch/i386/lib/Makefile
247 lib-y := checksum.o delay.o
249 This will create a library lib.a based on checksum.o and delay.o.
250 For kbuild to actually recognize that there is a lib.a being built,
251 the directory shall be listed in libs-y.
252 See also "6.3 List directories to visit when descending".
254 Use of lib-y is normally restricted to lib/ and arch/*/lib.
256 --- 3.6 Descending down in directories
258 A Makefile is only responsible for building objects in its own
259 directory. Files in subdirectories should be taken care of by
260 Makefiles in these subdirs. The build system will automatically
261 invoke make recursively in subdirectories, provided you let it know of
264 To do so, obj-y and obj-m are used.
265 ext2 lives in a separate directory, and the Makefile present in fs/
266 tells kbuild to descend down using the following assignment.
270 obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2/
272 If CONFIG_EXT2_FS is set to either 'y' (built-in) or 'm' (modular)
273 the corresponding obj- variable will be set, and kbuild will descend
274 down in the ext2 directory.
275 Kbuild only uses this information to decide that it needs to visit
276 the directory, it is the Makefile in the subdirectory that
277 specifies what is modules and what is built-in.
279 It is good practice to use a CONFIG_ variable when assigning directory
280 names. This allows kbuild to totally skip the directory if the
281 corresponding CONFIG_ option is neither 'y' nor 'm'.
283 --- 3.7 Compilation flags
285 ccflags-y, asflags-y and ldflags-y
286 The three flags listed above applies only to the kbuild makefile
287 where they are assigned. They are used for all the normal
288 cc, as and ld invocation happenign during a recursive build.
289 Note: Flags with the same behaviour were previously named:
290 EXTRA_CFLAGS, EXTRA_AFLAGS and EXTRA_LDFLAGS.
291 They are yet supported but their use are deprecated.
293 ccflags-y specifies options for compiling C files with $(CC).
296 # drivers/sound/emu10k1/Makefile
297 ccflags-y += -I$(obj)
298 ccflags-$(DEBUG) += -DEMU10K1_DEBUG
301 This variable is necessary because the top Makefile owns the
302 variable $(KBUILD_CFLAGS) and uses it for compilation flags for the
305 asflags-y is a similar string for per-directory options
306 when compiling assembly language source.
309 #arch/x86_64/kernel/Makefile
310 asflags-y := -traditional
313 ldflags-y is a string for per-directory options to $(LD).
316 #arch/m68k/fpsp040/Makefile
321 CFLAGS_$@ and AFLAGS_$@ only apply to commands in current
324 $(CFLAGS_$@) specifies per-file options for $(CC). The $@
325 part has a literal value which specifies the file that it is for.
328 # drivers/scsi/Makefile
329 CFLAGS_aha152x.o = -DAHA152X_STAT -DAUTOCONF
330 CFLAGS_gdth.o = # -DDEBUG_GDTH=2 -D__SERIAL__ -D__COM2__ \
332 CFLAGS_seagate.o = -DARBITRATE -DPARITY -DSEAGATE_USE_ASM
334 These three lines specify compilation flags for aha152x.o,
335 gdth.o, and seagate.o
337 $(AFLAGS_$@) is a similar feature for source files in assembly
341 # arch/arm/kernel/Makefile
342 AFLAGS_head-armv.o := -DTEXTADDR=$(TEXTADDR) -traditional
343 AFLAGS_head-armo.o := -DTEXTADDR=$(TEXTADDR) -traditional
345 --- 3.9 Dependency tracking
347 Kbuild tracks dependencies on the following:
348 1) All prerequisite files (both *.c and *.h)
349 2) CONFIG_ options used in all prerequisite files
350 3) Command-line used to compile target
352 Thus, if you change an option to $(CC) all affected files will
355 --- 3.10 Special Rules
357 Special rules are used when the kbuild infrastructure does
358 not provide the required support. A typical example is
359 header files generated during the build process.
360 Another example are the architecture-specific Makefiles which
361 need special rules to prepare boot images etc.
363 Special rules are written as normal Make rules.
364 Kbuild is not executing in the directory where the Makefile is
365 located, so all special rules shall provide a relative
366 path to prerequisite files and target files.
368 Two variables are used when defining special rules:
371 $(src) is a relative path which points to the directory
372 where the Makefile is located. Always use $(src) when
373 referring to files located in the src tree.
376 $(obj) is a relative path which points to the directory
377 where the target is saved. Always use $(obj) when
378 referring to generated files.
381 #drivers/scsi/Makefile
382 $(obj)/53c8xx_d.h: $(src)/53c7,8xx.scr $(src)/script_asm.pl
383 $(CPP) -DCHIP=810 - < $< | ... $(src)/script_asm.pl
385 This is a special rule, following the normal syntax
387 The target file depends on two prerequisite files. References
388 to the target file are prefixed with $(obj), references
389 to prerequisites are referenced with $(src) (because they are not
393 echoing information to user in a rule is often a good practice
394 but when execution "make -s" one does not expect to see any output
395 except for warnings/errors.
396 To support this kbuild define $(kecho) which will echo out the
397 text following $(kecho) to stdout except if "make -s" is used.
400 #arch/blackfin/boot/Makefile
401 $(obj)/vmImage: $(obj)/vmlinux.gz
402 $(call if_changed,uimage)
403 @$(kecho) 'Kernel: $@ is ready'
406 --- 3.11 $(CC) support functions
408 The kernel may be built with several different versions of
409 $(CC), each supporting a unique set of features and options.
410 kbuild provide basic support to check for valid options for $(CC).
411 $(CC) is usually the gcc compiler, but other alternatives are
415 as-option is used to check if $(CC) -- when used to compile
416 assembler (*.S) files -- supports the given option. An optional
417 second option may be specified if the first option is not supported.
421 cflags-y += $(call as-option,-Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y),)
423 In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
424 -Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y) if it is supported by $(CC).
425 The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
426 if first argument is not supported.
429 ld-option is used to check if $(CC) when used to link object files
430 supports the given option. An optional second option may be
431 specified if first option are not supported.
434 #arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
435 vsyscall-flags += $(call ld-option, -Wl$(comma)--hash-style=sysv)
437 In the above example, vsyscall-flags will be assigned the option
438 -Wl$(comma)--hash-style=sysv if it is supported by $(CC).
439 The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
440 if first argument is not supported.
443 as-instr checks if the assembler reports a specific instruction
444 and then outputs either option1 or option2
445 C escapes are supported in the test instruction
446 Note: as-instr-option uses KBUILD_AFLAGS for $(AS) options
449 cc-option is used to check if $(CC) supports a given option, and not
450 supported to use an optional second option.
454 cflags-y += $(call cc-option,-march=pentium-mmx,-march=i586)
456 In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
457 -march=pentium-mmx if supported by $(CC), otherwise -march=i586.
458 The second argument to cc-option is optional, and if omitted,
459 cflags-y will be assigned no value if first option is not supported.
460 Note: cc-option uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
463 cc-option-yn is used to check if gcc supports a given option
464 and return 'y' if supported, otherwise 'n'.
468 biarch := $(call cc-option-yn, -m32)
469 aflags-$(biarch) += -a32
470 cflags-$(biarch) += -m32
472 In the above example, $(biarch) is set to y if $(CC) supports the -m32
473 option. When $(biarch) equals 'y', the expanded variables $(aflags-y)
474 and $(cflags-y) will be assigned the values -a32 and -m32,
476 Note: cc-option-yn uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
479 gcc versions >= 3.0 changed the type of options used to specify
480 alignment of functions, loops etc. $(cc-option-align), when used
481 as prefix to the align options, will select the right prefix:
483 cc-option-align = -malign
485 cc-option-align = -falign
488 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(cc-option-align)-functions=4
490 In the above example, the option -falign-functions=4 is used for
491 gcc >= 3.00. For gcc < 3.00, -malign-functions=4 is used.
492 Note: cc-option-align uses KBUILD_CFLAGS for $(CC) options
495 cc-version returns a numerical version of the $(CC) compiler version.
496 The format is <major><minor> where both are two digits. So for example
497 gcc 3.41 would return 0341.
498 cc-version is useful when a specific $(CC) version is faulty in one
499 area, for example -mregparm=3 was broken in some gcc versions
500 even though the option was accepted by gcc.
504 cflags-y += $(shell \
505 if [ $(call cc-version) -ge 0300 ] ; then \
506 echo "-mregparm=3"; fi ;)
508 In the above example, -mregparm=3 is only used for gcc version greater
509 than or equal to gcc 3.0.
512 cc-ifversion tests the version of $(CC) and equals last argument if
513 version expression is true.
516 #fs/reiserfs/Makefile
517 ccflags-y := $(call cc-ifversion, -lt, 0402, -O1)
519 In this example, ccflags-y will be assigned the value -O1 if the
520 $(CC) version is less than 4.2.
521 cc-ifversion takes all the shell operators:
522 -eq, -ne, -lt, -le, -gt, and -ge
523 The third parameter may be a text as in this example, but it may also
524 be an expanded variable or a macro.
527 cc-fullversion is useful when the exact version of gcc is needed.
528 One typical use-case is when a specific GCC version is broken.
529 cc-fullversion points out a more specific version than cc-version does.
532 #arch/powerpc/Makefile
533 $(Q)if test "$(call cc-fullversion)" = "040200" ; then \
534 echo -n '*** GCC-4.2.0 cannot compile the 64-bit powerpc ' ; \
538 In this example for a specific GCC version the build will error out explaining
539 to the user why it stops.
542 cc-cross-prefix is used to check if there exists a $(CC) in path with
543 one of the listed prefixes. The first prefix where there exist a
544 prefix$(CC) in the PATH is returned - and if no prefix$(CC) is found
545 then nothing is returned.
546 Additional prefixes are separated by a single space in the
547 call of cc-cross-prefix.
548 This functionality is useful for architecture Makefiles that try
549 to set CROSS_COMPILE to well-known values but may have several
550 values to select between.
551 It is recommended only to try to set CROSS_COMPILE if it is a cross
552 build (host arch is different from target arch). And if CROSS_COMPILE
553 is already set then leave it with the old value.
557 ifneq ($(SUBARCH),$(ARCH))
558 ifeq ($(CROSS_COMPILE),)
559 CROSS_COMPILE := $(call cc-cross-prefix, m68k-linux-gnu-)
563 === 4 Host Program support
565 Kbuild supports building executables on the host for use during the
567 Two steps are required in order to use a host executable.
569 The first step is to tell kbuild that a host program exists. This is
570 done utilising the variable hostprogs-y.
572 The second step is to add an explicit dependency to the executable.
573 This can be done in two ways. Either add the dependency in a rule,
574 or utilise the variable $(always).
575 Both possibilities are described in the following.
577 --- 4.1 Simple Host Program
579 In some cases there is a need to compile and run a program on the
580 computer where the build is running.
581 The following line tells kbuild that the program bin2hex shall be
582 built on the build host.
585 hostprogs-y := bin2hex
587 Kbuild assumes in the above example that bin2hex is made from a single
588 c-source file named bin2hex.c located in the same directory as
591 --- 4.2 Composite Host Programs
593 Host programs can be made up based on composite objects.
594 The syntax used to define composite objects for host programs is
595 similar to the syntax used for kernel objects.
596 $(<executable>-objs) lists all objects used to link the final
600 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
601 hostprogs-y := lxdialog
602 lxdialog-objs := checklist.o lxdialog.o
604 Objects with extension .o are compiled from the corresponding .c
605 files. In the above example, checklist.c is compiled to checklist.o
606 and lxdialog.c is compiled to lxdialog.o.
607 Finally, the two .o files are linked to the executable, lxdialog.
608 Note: The syntax <executable>-y is not permitted for host-programs.
610 --- 4.3 Defining shared libraries
612 Objects with extension .so are considered shared libraries, and
613 will be compiled as position independent objects.
614 Kbuild provides support for shared libraries, but the usage
616 In the following example the libkconfig.so shared library is used
617 to link the executable conf.
620 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
622 conf-objs := conf.o libkconfig.so
623 libkconfig-objs := expr.o type.o
625 Shared libraries always require a corresponding -objs line, and
626 in the example above the shared library libkconfig is composed by
627 the two objects expr.o and type.o.
628 expr.o and type.o will be built as position independent code and
629 linked as a shared library libkconfig.so. C++ is not supported for
632 --- 4.4 Using C++ for host programs
634 kbuild offers support for host programs written in C++. This was
635 introduced solely to support kconfig, and is not recommended
639 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
641 qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
643 In the example above the executable is composed of the C++ file
644 qconf.cc - identified by $(qconf-cxxobjs).
646 If qconf is composed by a mixture of .c and .cc files, then an
647 additional line can be used to identify this.
650 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
652 qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
653 qconf-objs := check.o
655 --- 4.5 Controlling compiler options for host programs
657 When compiling host programs, it is possible to set specific flags.
658 The programs will always be compiled utilising $(HOSTCC) passed
659 the options specified in $(HOSTCFLAGS).
660 To set flags that will take effect for all host programs created
661 in that Makefile, use the variable HOST_EXTRACFLAGS.
664 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
665 HOST_EXTRACFLAGS += -I/usr/include/ncurses
667 To set specific flags for a single file the following construction
671 #arch/ppc64/boot/Makefile
672 HOSTCFLAGS_piggyback.o := -DKERNELBASE=$(KERNELBASE)
674 It is also possible to specify additional options to the linker.
677 #scripts/kconfig/Makefile
678 HOSTLOADLIBES_qconf := -L$(QTDIR)/lib
680 When linking qconf, it will be passed the extra option
683 --- 4.6 When host programs are actually built
685 Kbuild will only build host-programs when they are referenced
687 This is possible in two ways:
689 (1) List the prerequisite explicitly in a special rule.
692 #drivers/pci/Makefile
693 hostprogs-y := gen-devlist
694 $(obj)/devlist.h: $(src)/pci.ids $(obj)/gen-devlist
695 ( cd $(obj); ./gen-devlist ) < $<
697 The target $(obj)/devlist.h will not be built before
698 $(obj)/gen-devlist is updated. Note that references to
699 the host programs in special rules must be prefixed with $(obj).
702 When there is no suitable special rule, and the host program
703 shall be built when a makefile is entered, the $(always)
704 variable shall be used.
707 #scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
708 hostprogs-y := lxdialog
709 always := $(hostprogs-y)
711 This will tell kbuild to build lxdialog even if not referenced in
714 --- 4.7 Using hostprogs-$(CONFIG_FOO)
716 A typical pattern in a Kbuild file looks like this:
720 hostprogs-$(CONFIG_KALLSYMS) += kallsyms
722 Kbuild knows about both 'y' for built-in and 'm' for module.
723 So if a config symbol evaluate to 'm', kbuild will still build
724 the binary. In other words, Kbuild handles hostprogs-m exactly
725 like hostprogs-y. But only hostprogs-y is recommended to be used
726 when no CONFIG symbols are involved.
728 === 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure
730 "make clean" deletes most generated files in the obj tree where the kernel
731 is compiled. This includes generated files such as host programs.
732 Kbuild knows targets listed in $(hostprogs-y), $(hostprogs-m), $(always),
733 $(extra-y) and $(targets). They are all deleted during "make clean".
734 Files matching the patterns "*.[oas]", "*.ko", plus some additional files
735 generated by kbuild are deleted all over the kernel src tree when
736 "make clean" is executed.
738 Additional files can be specified in kbuild makefiles by use of $(clean-files).
741 #drivers/pci/Makefile
742 clean-files := devlist.h classlist.h
744 When executing "make clean", the two files "devlist.h classlist.h" will
745 be deleted. Kbuild will assume files to be in same relative directory as the
746 Makefile except if an absolute path is specified (path starting with '/').
748 To delete a directory hierarchy use:
751 #scripts/package/Makefile
752 clean-dirs := $(objtree)/debian/
754 This will delete the directory debian, including all subdirectories.
755 Kbuild will assume the directories to be in the same relative path as the
756 Makefile if no absolute path is specified (path does not start with '/').
758 Usually kbuild descends down in subdirectories due to "obj-* := dir/",
759 but in the architecture makefiles where the kbuild infrastructure
760 is not sufficient this sometimes needs to be explicit.
763 #arch/i386/boot/Makefile
764 subdir- := compressed/
766 The above assignment instructs kbuild to descend down in the
767 directory compressed/ when "make clean" is executed.
769 To support the clean infrastructure in the Makefiles that builds the
770 final bootimage there is an optional target named archclean:
775 $(Q)$(MAKE) $(clean)=arch/i386/boot
777 When "make clean" is executed, make will descend down in arch/i386/boot,
778 and clean as usual. The Makefile located in arch/i386/boot/ may use
779 the subdir- trick to descend further down.
781 Note 1: arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile cannot use "subdir-", because that file is
782 included in the top level makefile, and the kbuild infrastructure
783 is not operational at that point.
785 Note 2: All directories listed in core-y, libs-y, drivers-y and net-y will
786 be visited during "make clean".
788 === 6 Architecture Makefiles
790 The top level Makefile sets up the environment and does the preparation,
791 before starting to descend down in the individual directories.
792 The top level makefile contains the generic part, whereas
793 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile contains what is required to set up kbuild
794 for said architecture.
795 To do so, arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile sets up a number of variables and defines
798 When kbuild executes, the following steps are followed (roughly):
799 1) Configuration of the kernel => produce .config
800 2) Store kernel version in include/linux/version.h
801 3) Symlink include/asm to include/asm-$(ARCH)
802 4) Updating all other prerequisites to the target prepare:
803 - Additional prerequisites are specified in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile
804 5) Recursively descend down in all directories listed in
805 init-* core* drivers-* net-* libs-* and build all targets.
806 - The values of the above variables are expanded in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
807 6) All object files are then linked and the resulting file vmlinux is
808 located at the root of the obj tree.
809 The very first objects linked are listed in head-y, assigned by
810 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
811 7) Finally, the architecture-specific part does any required post processing
812 and builds the final bootimage.
813 - This includes building boot records
814 - Preparing initrd images and the like
817 --- 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
819 LDFLAGS Generic $(LD) options
821 Flags used for all invocations of the linker.
822 Often specifying the emulation is sufficient.
826 LDFLAGS := -m elf_s390
827 Note: ldflags-y can be used to further customise
828 the flags used. See chapter 3.7.
830 LDFLAGS_MODULE Options for $(LD) when linking modules
832 LDFLAGS_MODULE is used to set specific flags for $(LD) when
833 linking the .ko files used for modules.
834 Default is "-r", for relocatable output.
836 LDFLAGS_vmlinux Options for $(LD) when linking vmlinux
838 LDFLAGS_vmlinux is used to specify additional flags to pass to
839 the linker when linking the final vmlinux image.
840 LDFLAGS_vmlinux uses the LDFLAGS_$@ support.
844 LDFLAGS_vmlinux := -e stext
846 OBJCOPYFLAGS objcopy flags
848 When $(call if_changed,objcopy) is used to translate a .o file,
849 the flags specified in OBJCOPYFLAGS will be used.
850 $(call if_changed,objcopy) is often used to generate raw binaries on
855 OBJCOPYFLAGS := -O binary
857 #arch/s390/boot/Makefile
858 $(obj)/image: vmlinux FORCE
859 $(call if_changed,objcopy)
861 In this example, the binary $(obj)/image is a binary version of
862 vmlinux. The usage of $(call if_changed,xxx) will be described later.
864 KBUILD_AFLAGS $(AS) assembler flags
866 Default value - see top level Makefile
867 Append or modify as required per architecture.
870 #arch/sparc64/Makefile
871 KBUILD_AFLAGS += -m64 -mcpu=ultrasparc
873 KBUILD_CFLAGS $(CC) compiler flags
875 Default value - see top level Makefile
876 Append or modify as required per architecture.
878 Often, the KBUILD_CFLAGS variable depends on the configuration.
882 cflags-$(CONFIG_M386) += -march=i386
883 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)
885 Many arch Makefiles dynamically run the target C compiler to
886 probe supported options:
891 cflags-$(CONFIG_MPENTIUMII) += $(call cc-option,\
892 -march=pentium2,-march=i686)
894 # Disable unit-at-a-time mode ...
895 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-fno-unit-at-a-time)
899 The first example utilises the trick that a config option expands
900 to 'y' when selected.
902 CFLAGS_KERNEL $(CC) options specific for built-in
904 $(CFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
905 resident kernel code.
907 CFLAGS_MODULE $(CC) options specific for modules
909 $(CFLAGS_MODULE) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile code
910 for loadable kernel modules.
913 --- 6.2 Add prerequisites to archprepare:
915 The archprepare: rule is used to list prerequisites that need to be
916 built before starting to descend down in the subdirectories.
917 This is usually used for header files containing assembler constants.
921 archprepare: maketools
923 In this example, the file target maketools will be processed
924 before descending down in the subdirectories.
925 See also chapter XXX-TODO that describe how kbuild supports
926 generating offset header files.
929 --- 6.3 List directories to visit when descending
931 An arch Makefile cooperates with the top Makefile to define variables
932 which specify how to build the vmlinux file. Note that there is no
933 corresponding arch-specific section for modules; the module-building
934 machinery is all architecture-independent.
937 head-y, init-y, core-y, libs-y, drivers-y, net-y
939 $(head-y) lists objects to be linked first in vmlinux.
940 $(libs-y) lists directories where a lib.a archive can be located.
941 The rest list directories where a built-in.o object file can be
944 $(init-y) objects will be located after $(head-y).
945 Then the rest follows in this order:
946 $(core-y), $(libs-y), $(drivers-y) and $(net-y).
948 The top level Makefile defines values for all generic directories,
949 and arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile only adds architecture-specific directories.
952 #arch/sparc64/Makefile
953 core-y += arch/sparc64/kernel/
954 libs-y += arch/sparc64/prom/ arch/sparc64/lib/
955 drivers-$(CONFIG_OPROFILE) += arch/sparc64/oprofile/
958 --- 6.4 Architecture-specific boot images
960 An arch Makefile specifies goals that take the vmlinux file, compress
961 it, wrap it in bootstrapping code, and copy the resulting files
962 somewhere. This includes various kinds of installation commands.
963 The actual goals are not standardized across architectures.
965 It is common to locate any additional processing in a boot/
966 directory below arch/$(ARCH)/.
968 Kbuild does not provide any smart way to support building a
969 target specified in boot/. Therefore arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile shall
970 call make manually to build a target in boot/.
972 The recommended approach is to include shortcuts in
973 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile, and use the full path when calling down
974 into the arch/$(ARCH)/boot/Makefile.
978 boot := arch/i386/boot
980 $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=$(boot) $(boot)/$@
982 "$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=<dir>" is the recommended way to invoke
983 make in a subdirectory.
985 There are no rules for naming architecture-specific targets,
986 but executing "make help" will list all relevant targets.
987 To support this, $(archhelp) must be defined.
992 echo '* bzImage - Image (arch/$(ARCH)/boot/bzImage)'
995 When make is executed without arguments, the first goal encountered
996 will be built. In the top level Makefile the first goal present
998 An architecture shall always, per default, build a bootable image.
999 In "make help", the default goal is highlighted with a '*'.
1000 Add a new prerequisite to all: to select a default goal different
1007 When "make" is executed without arguments, bzImage will be built.
1009 --- 6.5 Building non-kbuild targets
1013 extra-y specify additional targets created in the current
1014 directory, in addition to any targets specified by obj-*.
1016 Listing all targets in extra-y is required for two purposes:
1017 1) Enable kbuild to check changes in command lines
1018 - When $(call if_changed,xxx) is used
1019 2) kbuild knows what files to delete during "make clean"
1022 #arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
1023 extra-y := head.o init_task.o
1025 In this example, extra-y is used to list object files that
1026 shall be built, but shall not be linked as part of built-in.o.
1029 --- 6.6 Commands useful for building a boot image
1031 Kbuild provides a few macros that are useful when building a
1036 if_changed is the infrastructure used for the following commands.
1039 target: source(s) FORCE
1040 $(call if_changed,ld/objcopy/gzip)
1042 When the rule is evaluated, it is checked to see if any files
1043 need an update, or the command line has changed since the last
1044 invocation. The latter will force a rebuild if any options
1045 to the executable have changed.
1046 Any target that utilises if_changed must be listed in $(targets),
1047 otherwise the command line check will fail, and the target will
1049 Assignments to $(targets) are without $(obj)/ prefix.
1050 if_changed may be used in conjunction with custom commands as
1051 defined in 6.7 "Custom kbuild commands".
1053 Note: It is a typical mistake to forget the FORCE prerequisite.
1054 Another common pitfall is that whitespace is sometimes
1055 significant; for instance, the below will fail (note the extra space
1057 target: source(s) FORCE
1058 #WRONG!# $(call if_changed, ld/objcopy/gzip)
1061 Link target. Often, LDFLAGS_$@ is used to set specific options to ld.
1064 Copy binary. Uses OBJCOPYFLAGS usually specified in
1065 arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
1066 OBJCOPYFLAGS_$@ may be used to set additional options.
1069 Compress target. Use maximum compression to compress target.
1072 #arch/i386/boot/Makefile
1073 LDFLAGS_bootsect := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary
1074 LDFLAGS_setup := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary -e begtext
1076 targets += setup setup.o bootsect bootsect.o
1077 $(obj)/setup $(obj)/bootsect: %: %.o FORCE
1078 $(call if_changed,ld)
1080 In this example, there are two possible targets, requiring different
1081 options to the linker. The linker options are specified using the
1082 LDFLAGS_$@ syntax - one for each potential target.
1083 $(targets) are assigned all potential targets, by which kbuild knows
1084 the targets and will:
1085 1) check for commandline changes
1086 2) delete target during make clean
1088 The ": %: %.o" part of the prerequisite is a shorthand that
1089 free us from listing the setup.o and bootsect.o files.
1090 Note: It is a common mistake to forget the "target :=" assignment,
1091 resulting in the target file being recompiled for no
1095 --- 6.7 Custom kbuild commands
1097 When kbuild is executing with KBUILD_VERBOSE=0, then only a shorthand
1098 of a command is normally displayed.
1099 To enable this behaviour for custom commands kbuild requires
1100 two variables to be set:
1101 quiet_cmd_<command> - what shall be echoed
1102 cmd_<command> - the command to execute
1106 quiet_cmd_image = BUILD $@
1107 cmd_image = $(obj)/tools/build $(BUILDFLAGS) \
1108 $(obj)/vmlinux.bin > $@
1111 $(obj)/bzImage: $(obj)/vmlinux.bin $(obj)/tools/build FORCE
1112 $(call if_changed,image)
1113 @echo 'Kernel: $@ is ready'
1115 When updating the $(obj)/bzImage target, the line
1117 BUILD arch/i386/boot/bzImage
1119 will be displayed with "make KBUILD_VERBOSE=0".
1122 --- 6.8 Preprocessing linker scripts
1124 When the vmlinux image is built, the linker script
1125 arch/$(ARCH)/kernel/vmlinux.lds is used.
1126 The script is a preprocessed variant of the file vmlinux.lds.S
1127 located in the same directory.
1128 kbuild knows .lds files and includes a rule *lds.S -> *lds.
1131 #arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
1132 always := vmlinux.lds
1135 export CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds += -P -C -U$(ARCH)
1137 The assignment to $(always) is used to tell kbuild to build the
1139 The assignment to $(CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds) tells kbuild to use the
1140 specified options when building the target vmlinux.lds.
1142 When building the *.lds target, kbuild uses the variables:
1143 KBUILD_CPPFLAGS : Set in top-level Makefile
1144 cppflags-y : May be set in the kbuild makefile
1145 CPPFLAGS_$(@F) : Target specific flags.
1146 Note that the full filename is used in this
1149 The kbuild infrastructure for *lds file are used in several
1150 architecture-specific files.
1152 === 7 Kbuild syntax for exported headers
1154 The kernel include a set of headers that is exported to userspace.
1155 Many headers can be exported as-is but other headers requires a
1156 minimal pre-processing before they are ready for user-space.
1157 The pre-processing does:
1158 - drop kernel specific annotations
1159 - drop include of compiler.h
1160 - drop all sections that is kernel internat (guarded by ifdef __KERNEL__)
1162 Each relevant directory contain a file name "Kbuild" which specify the
1163 headers to be exported.
1164 See subsequent chapter for the syntax of the Kbuild file.
1168 header-y specify header files to be exported.
1171 #include/linux/Kbuild
1173 header-y += aio_abi.h
1175 The convention is to list one file per line and
1176 preferably in alphabetic order.
1178 header-y also specify which subdirectories to visit.
1179 A subdirectory is identified by a trailing '/' which
1180 can be seen in the example above for the usb subdirectory.
1182 Subdirectories are visited before their parent directories.
1186 objhdr-y specifies generated files to be exported.
1187 Generated files are special as they need to be looked
1188 up in another directory when doing 'make O=...' builds.
1191 #include/linux/Kbuild
1192 objhdr-y += version.h
1194 --- 7.3 destination-y
1196 When an architecture have a set of exported headers that needs to be
1197 exported to a different directory destination-y is used.
1198 destination-y specify the destination directory for all exported
1199 headers in the file where it is present.
1202 #arch/xtensa/platforms/s6105/include/platform/Kbuild
1203 destination-y := include/linux
1205 In the example above all exported headers in the Kbuild file
1206 will be located in the directory "include/linux" when exported.
1209 --- 7.4 unifdef-y (deprecated)
1211 unifdef-y is deprecated. A direct replacement is header-y.
1214 === 8 Kbuild Variables
1216 The top Makefile exports the following variables:
1218 VERSION, PATCHLEVEL, SUBLEVEL, EXTRAVERSION
1220 These variables define the current kernel version. A few arch
1221 Makefiles actually use these values directly; they should use
1222 $(KERNELRELEASE) instead.
1224 $(VERSION), $(PATCHLEVEL), and $(SUBLEVEL) define the basic
1225 three-part version number, such as "2", "4", and "0". These three
1226 values are always numeric.
1228 $(EXTRAVERSION) defines an even tinier sublevel for pre-patches
1229 or additional patches. It is usually some non-numeric string
1230 such as "-pre4", and is often blank.
1234 $(KERNELRELEASE) is a single string such as "2.4.0-pre4", suitable
1235 for constructing installation directory names or showing in
1236 version strings. Some arch Makefiles use it for this purpose.
1240 This variable defines the target architecture, such as "i386",
1241 "arm", or "sparc". Some kbuild Makefiles test $(ARCH) to
1242 determine which files to compile.
1244 By default, the top Makefile sets $(ARCH) to be the same as the
1245 host system architecture. For a cross build, a user may
1246 override the value of $(ARCH) on the command line:
1253 This variable defines a place for the arch Makefiles to install
1254 the resident kernel image and System.map file.
1255 Use this for architecture-specific install targets.
1257 INSTALL_MOD_PATH, MODLIB
1259 $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH) specifies a prefix to $(MODLIB) for module
1260 installation. This variable is not defined in the Makefile but
1261 may be passed in by the user if desired.
1263 $(MODLIB) specifies the directory for module installation.
1264 The top Makefile defines $(MODLIB) to
1265 $(INSTALL_MOD_PATH)/lib/modules/$(KERNELRELEASE). The user may
1266 override this value on the command line if desired.
1270 If this variable is specified, will cause modules to be stripped
1271 after they are installed. If INSTALL_MOD_STRIP is '1', then the
1272 default option --strip-debug will be used. Otherwise,
1273 INSTALL_MOD_STRIP will used as the option(s) to the strip command.
1276 === 9 Makefile language
1278 The kernel Makefiles are designed to be run with GNU Make. The Makefiles
1279 use only the documented features of GNU Make, but they do use many
1282 GNU Make supports elementary list-processing functions. The kernel
1283 Makefiles use a novel style of list building and manipulation with few
1286 GNU Make has two assignment operators, ":=" and "=". ":=" performs
1287 immediate evaluation of the right-hand side and stores an actual string
1288 into the left-hand side. "=" is like a formula definition; it stores the
1289 right-hand side in an unevaluated form and then evaluates this form each
1290 time the left-hand side is used.
1292 There are some cases where "=" is appropriate. Usually, though, ":="
1293 is the right choice.
1297 Original version made by Michael Elizabeth Chastain, <mailto:mec@shout.net>
1298 Updates by Kai Germaschewski <kai@tp1.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
1299 Updates by Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
1300 Language QA by Jan Engelhardt <jengelh@gmx.de>
1304 - Describe how kbuild supports shipped files with _shipped.
1305 - Generating offset header files.
1306 - Add more variables to section 7?