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Build Kata Containers Kernel

This document explains the steps to build a kernel recommended for use with Kata Containers. To do this use build-kernel.sh, this script automates the process to build a kernel for Kata Containers.

Requirements

The build-kernel.sh script requires an installed Golang version matching the component build requirements. It also requires yq version v4.40.7.

Hint: go install github.com/mikefarah/yq/v4@latest

The Linux kernel scripts further require a few packages (flex, bison, and libelf-dev)

Usage

$ ./build-kernel.sh -h
Overview:

	Build a kernel for Kata Containers

Usage:

	build-kernel.sh [options] <command> <argument>

Commands:

- setup

- build

- install

Options:

	-a <arch>       : Arch target to build the kernel, such as aarch64/ppc64le/s390x/x86_64.
	-c <path>       : Path to config file to build the kernel.
	-d              : Enable bash debug.
	-e              : Enable experimental kernel.
	-f              : Enable force generate config when setup.
	-g <vendor>     : GPU vendor, intel or nvidia.
	-h              : Display this help.
  -H <deb|rpm>  : Linux headers for guest fs module building.
	-k <path>       : Path to kernel to build.
	-p <path>       : Path to a directory with patches to apply to kernel, only patches in top-level directory are applied.
	-t <hypervisor>	: Hypervisor_target.
	-v <version>	: Kernel version to use if kernel path not provided.

Example:

$ ./build-kernel.sh -v 5.10.25 -g nvidia -f -d setup

Note

  • -v 5.10.25: Specify the guest kernel version.
  • -g nvidia: To build a guest kernel supporting Nvidia GPU.
  • -f: The .config file is forced to be generated even if the kernel directory already exists.
  • -d: Enable bash debug mode.

Hint: When in doubt look at versions.yaml to see what kernel version CI is using.

Setup kernel source code

$ git clone https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers.git
$ cd kata-containers/tools/packaging/kernel
$ ./build-kernel.sh setup

The script ./build-kernel.sh tries to apply the patches from ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/tools/packaging/kernel/patches/ when it sets up a kernel. If you want to add a source modification, add a patch on this directory. Patches present in the top-level directory are applied, with subdirectories being ignored.

The script also adds a kernel config file from ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/tools/packaging/kernel/configs/ to .config in the kernel source code. You can modify it as needed.

Build the kernel

After the kernel source code is ready, it is possible to build the kernel.

$ ./build-kernel.sh build

Install the Kernel in the default path for Kata

Kata Containers uses some default path to search a kernel to boot. To install on this path, the following command will install it to the default Kata containers path (/usr/share/kata-containers/).

$ sudo ./build-kernel.sh install

Submit Kernel Changes

Kata Containers packaging repository holds the kernel configs and patches. The config and patches can work for many versions, but we only test the kernel version defined in the Kata Containers versions file.

For any change to the kernel configs or patches, the version defined in the file kata_config_version needs to be incremented so that the CI can test with these changes.

For further details, see the kernel configuration documentation.

How is it tested

The Kata Containers CI scripts install the kernel from [CI cache job][cache-job] or build from sources.

If the kernel defined in the Kata Containers versions file is built and cached with the latest kernel config and patches, it installs. Otherwise, the kernel is built from source.

The Kata kernel version is a mix of the kernel version defined in the Kata Containers versions file and the file kata_config_version. This helps to identify if a kernel build has the latest recommend configuration.

Example:

# From https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/main/versions.yaml
$ kernel_version_in_versions_file=5.4.60
# From https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/main/tools/packaging/kernel/kata_config_version
$ kata_config_version=83
$ latest_kernel_version=${kernel_version_in_versions_file}-${kata_config_version}

The resulting version is 5.4.60-83, this helps identify whether or not the kernel configs are up-to-date on a CI version.

Contribute

In order to do Kata Kernel changes. There are places to contribute:

  1. Kata Containers versions file: This file points to the recommended versions to be used by Kata. To update the kernel version send a pull request to update that version. The Kata CI will run all the use cases and verify it works.

  2. Kata packaging repository. This repository contains all the kernel configs and patches recommended for Kata Containers kernel:

  • If you want to upload one new configuration (new version or architecture specific) make sure the config file name has the following format:

    # Format:
$ ${arch}_kata_${hypervisor_target}_${major_kernel_version}.x

# example:
$ arch=x86_64
$ hypervisor_target=kvm
$ major_kernel_version=4.19

# Resulting file
$ name: x86_64_kata_kvm_4.19.x

  • Kernel patches, the CI and packaging scripts will apply all patches in the patches directory.