summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/docs/HACKING.md
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 15:35:18 +0000
committerDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 15:35:18 +0000
commitb750101eb236130cf056c675997decbac904cc49 (patch)
treea5df1a06754bdd014cb975c051c83b01c9a97532 /docs/HACKING.md
parentInitial commit. (diff)
downloadsystemd-b750101eb236130cf056c675997decbac904cc49.tar.xz
systemd-b750101eb236130cf056c675997decbac904cc49.zip
Adding upstream version 252.22.upstream/252.22
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/HACKING.md')
-rw-r--r--docs/HACKING.md436
1 files changed, 436 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/HACKING.md b/docs/HACKING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4287403
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/HACKING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,436 @@
+---
+title: Hacking on systemd
+category: Contributing
+layout: default
+SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
+---
+
+# Hacking on systemd
+
+We welcome all contributions to systemd. If you notice a bug or a missing
+feature, please feel invited to fix it, and submit your work as a
+[GitHub Pull Request (PR)](https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/new).
+
+Please make sure to follow our [Coding Style](CODING_STYLE.md) when submitting
+patches. Also have a look at our [Contribution Guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+When adding new functionality, tests should be added. For shared functionality
+(in `src/basic/` and `src/shared/`) unit tests should be sufficient. The general
+policy is to keep tests in matching files underneath `src/test/`,
+e.g. `src/test/test-path-util.c` contains tests for any functions in
+`src/basic/path-util.c`. If adding a new source file, consider adding a matching
+test executable. For features at a higher level, tests in `src/test/` are very
+strongly recommended. If that is not possible, integration tests in `test/` are
+encouraged.
+
+Please also have a look at our list of [code quality tools](CODE_QUALITY.md) we
+have setup for systemd, to ensure our codebase stays in good shape.
+
+Please always test your work before submitting a PR. For many of the components
+of systemd testing is straightforward as you can simply compile systemd and
+run the relevant tool from the build directory.
+
+For some components (most importantly, systemd/PID 1 itself) this is not
+possible, however. In order to simplify testing for cases like this we provide
+a set of `mkosi` build files directly in the source tree.
+[mkosi](https://github.com/systemd/mkosi) is a tool for building clean OS images
+from an upstream distribution in combination with a fresh build of the project
+in the local working directory. To make use of this, please install the
+`mkosi` package (if not packaged for your distro, it can be downloaded from
+the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/systemd/mkosi). `mkosi` will build an
+image for the host distro by default. mkosi-13 or newer version is required.
+It is sufficient to type `mkosi` in the systemd project directory to generate
+a disk image `image.raw` you can boot either in `systemd-nspawn` or
+in an UEFI-capable VM:
+
+```sh
+$ mkosi boot
+```
+
+or:
+
+```sh
+$ mkosi qemu
+```
+
+Every time you rerun the `mkosi` command a fresh image is built, incorporating
+all current changes you made to the project tree. To save time when rebuilding,
+you can use mkosi's incremental mode (`-i`). This instructs mkosi to build a set
+of cache images that make future builds a lot faster. Note that the `-i` flag
+both instructs mkosi to build cached images if they don't exist yet and to use
+cached images if they already exist so make sure to always specify `-i` if you
+want mkosi to use the cached images.
+
+If you're going to build mkosi images that use the same distribution and release
+that you're currently using, you can speed up the initial mkosi run by having it
+reuse the host's package cache. To do this, create a mkosi override file in
+mkosi.default.d/ (e.g 20-local.conf) and add the following contents:
+
+```
+[Content]
+Cache=<full-path-to-package-manager-cache> # (e.g. /var/cache/dnf)
+```
+
+If you want to do a local build without mkosi, most distributions also provide
+very simple and convenient ways to install all development packages necessary
+to build systemd:
+
+```sh
+# Fedora
+$ sudo dnf builddep systemd
+# Debian/Ubuntu
+$ sudo apt-get build-dep systemd
+# Arch
+$ sudo pacman install asp
+$ asp checkout systemd
+$ cd systemd/trunk
+$ makepkg -seoc
+```
+
+Putting this all together, here's a series of commands for preparing a patch
+for systemd:
+
+```sh
+# Install build dependencies (see above)
+# Install a recent version of mkosi (either via your distro's package manager if
+# available there or from the github repository otherwise)
+$ git clone https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git
+$ cd systemd
+$ git checkout -b <BRANCH> # where BRANCH is the name of the branch
+$ vim src/core/main.c # or wherever you'd like to make your changes
+$ meson build # configure the build
+$ ninja -C build # build it locally, see if everything compiles fine
+$ meson test -C build # run some simple regression tests
+$ sudo mkosi # mkosi-13 or newer required to build a test image
+$ sudo mkosi boot # boot up the test image
+$ git add -p # interactively put together your patch
+$ git commit # commit it
+$ git push -u <REMOTE> # where REMOTE is your "fork" on GitHub
+```
+
+And after that, head over to your repo on GitHub and click "Compare & pull request"
+
+Happy hacking!
+
+## Templating engines in .in files
+
+Some source files are generated during build. We use two templating engines:
+* meson's `configure_file()` directive uses syntax with `@VARIABLE@`.
+
+ See the
+ [Meson docs for `configure_file()`](https://mesonbuild.com/Reference-manual.html#configure_file)
+ for details.
+
+{% raw %}
+* most files are rendered using jinja2, with `{{VARIABLE}}` and `{% if … %}`,
+ `{% elif … %}`, `{% else … %}`, `{% endif … %}` blocks. `{# … #}` is a
+ jinja2 comment, i.e. that block will not be visible in the rendered
+ output. `{% raw %} … `{% endraw %}`{{ '{' }}{{ '% endraw %' }}}` creates a block
+ where jinja2 syntax is not interpreted.
+
+ See the
+ [Jinja Template Designer Documentation](https://jinja2docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/templates.html#synopsis)
+ for details.
+
+Please note that files for both template engines use the `.in` extension.
+
+## Developer and release modes
+
+In the default meson configuration (`-Dmode=developer`), certain checks are
+enabled that are suitable when hacking on systemd (such as internal
+documentation consistency checks). Those are not useful when compiling for
+distribution and can be disabled by setting `-Dmode=release`.
+
+## Sanitizers in mkosi
+
+See [Testing systemd using sanitizers](TESTING_WITH_SANITIZERS.md) for more information
+on how to build with sanitizers enabled in mkosi.
+
+## Fuzzers
+
+systemd includes fuzzers in `src/fuzz/` that use libFuzzer and are automatically
+run by [OSS-Fuzz](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz) with sanitizers.
+To add a fuzz target, create a new `src/fuzz/fuzz-foo.c` file with a `LLVMFuzzerTestOneInput`
+function and add it to the list in `src/fuzz/meson.build`.
+
+Whenever possible, a seed corpus and a dictionary should also be added with new
+fuzz targets. The dictionary should be named `src/fuzz/fuzz-foo.dict` and the seed
+corpus should be built and exported as `$OUT/fuzz-foo_seed_corpus.zip` in
+`tools/oss-fuzz.sh`.
+
+The fuzzers can be built locally if you have libFuzzer installed by running
+`tools/oss-fuzz.sh`. You should also confirm that the fuzzers can be built and
+run using
+[the OSS-Fuzz toolchain](https://google.github.io/oss-fuzz/advanced-topics/reproducing/#building-using-docker):
+
+```
+path_to_systemd=...
+
+git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz
+cd oss-fuzz
+
+for sanitizer in address undefined memory; do
+ for engine in libfuzzer afl honggfuzz; do
+ ./infra/helper.py build_fuzzers --sanitizer "$sanitizer" --engine "$engine" \
+ --clean systemd "$path_to_systemd"
+
+ ./infra/helper.py check_build --sanitizer "$sanitizer" --engine "$engine" \
+ -e ALLOWED_BROKEN_TARGETS_PERCENTAGE=0 systemd
+ done
+done
+
+./infra/helper.py build_fuzzers --clean --architecture i386 systemd "$path_to_systemd"
+./infra/helper.py check_build --architecture i386 -e ALLOWED_BROKEN_TARGETS_PERCENTAGE=0 systemd
+
+./infra/helper.py build_fuzzers --clean --sanitizer coverage systemd "$path_to_systemd"
+./infra/helper.py coverage --no-corpus-download systemd
+```
+
+If you find a bug that impacts the security of systemd, please follow the
+guidance in [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) on how to report a security vulnerability.
+
+For more details on building fuzzers and integrating with OSS-Fuzz, visit:
+
+- [Setting up a new project - OSS-Fuzz](https://google.github.io/oss-fuzz/getting-started/new-project-guide/)
+- [Tutorials - OSS-Fuzz](https://google.github.io/oss-fuzz/reference/useful-links/#tutorials)
+
+## mkosi + clangd
+
+[clangd](https://clangd.llvm.org/) is a language server that provides code completion, diagnostics and more
+right in your editor of choice (with the right plugin installed). When using mkosi, we can run clangd in the
+mkosi build container to avoid needing to build systemd on the host machine just to make clangd work. To
+achieve this, create a script with the following contents in systemd's project directory on the host:
+
+```sh
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+tee mkosi-clangd.build > /dev/null << EOF
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+exec clangd \\
+ --compile-commands-dir=/root/build \\
+ --path-mappings=\\
+"\\
+$(pwd)=/root/src,\\
+$(pwd)/mkosi.builddir=/root/build,\\
+$(pwd)/mkosi.includedir=/usr/include,\\
+$(pwd)/mkosi.installdir=/root/dest\\
+" \\
+ --header-insertion=never
+EOF
+chmod +x mkosi-clangd.build
+exec pkexec mkosi --source-file-transfer=mount --incremental --skip-final-phase --build-script mkosi-clangd.build build
+```
+
+Next, mark the script as executable and point your editor plugin to use this script to start clangd. For
+vscode's clangd extension, this is done via setting the `clangd.path` option to the path of the
+mkosi-clangd.sh script.
+
+To be able to navigate to include files of systemd's dependencies, we need to make the /usr/include folder of
+the build image available on the host. mkosi supports this by setting the `IncludeDirectory` option in
+mkosi's config. The easiest way to set the option is to create a file 20-local.conf in mkosi.default.d/ and
+add the following contents:
+
+```
+[Content]
+IncludeDirectory=mkosi.includedir
+```
+
+This will make the contents of /usr/include available in mkosi.includedir in the systemd project directory.
+We already configured clangd to map any paths in /usr/include in the build image to mkosi.includedir/ on the
+host in the mkosi-clangd.sh script.
+
+We also need to make sure clangd is installed in the build image. To have mkosi install clangd in the build
+image, edit the 20-local.conf file we created earlier and add the following contents under the `[Content]`
+section:
+
+```
+BuildPackages=<clangd-package>
+```
+
+Note that the exact package containing clangd will differ depending on the distribution used. Some
+distributions have a separate clangd package, others put the clangd binary in a clang-tools-extra package and
+some bundle clangd in the clang package.
+
+Because mkosi needs to run as root, we also need to make sure we can enter the root password when the editor
+plugin tries to run the mkosi-clangd.sh script. To be able to enter the root password in non-interactive
+scripts, we use pkexec instead of sudo. pkexec will launch a graphical interface to let the user enter their
+password, so that the password can be entered by the user even when pkexec is executed from a non-interactive
+shell.
+
+Due to a bug in btrfs, it's currently impossible to mount two mkosi btrfs images at the same time. Because of
+this, trying to do a regular build while the clangd image is running will fail. To circumvent this, use ext4
+instead of btrfs for the images by adding the following contents to 20-local.conf:
+
+```
+[Output]
+Format=gpt_ext4
+```
+
+Finally, to ensure clangd starts up quickly in the editor, run an incremental build with mkosi to make sure
+the cached images are initialized (`mkosi -i`).
+
+Now, your editor will start clangd in the mkosi build image and all of clangd's features will work as
+expected.
+
+## Debugging binaries that need to run as root in vscode
+
+When trying to debug binaries that need to run as root, we need to do some custom configuration in vscode to
+have it try to run the applications as root and to ask the user for the root password when trying to start
+the binary. To achieve this, we'll use a custom debugger path which points to a script that starts `gdb` as
+root using `pkexec`. pkexec will prompt the user for their root password via a graphical interface. This
+guide assumes the C/C++ extension is used for debugging.
+
+First, create a file `sgdb` in the root of the systemd repository with the following contents and make it
+executable:
+
+```
+#!/bin/sh
+exec pkexec gdb "$@"
+```
+
+Then, open launch.json in vscode, and set `miDebuggerPath` to `${workspaceFolder}/sgdb` for the corresponding
+debug configuration. Now, whenever you try to debug the application, vscode will try to start gdb as root via
+pkexec which will prompt you for your password via a graphical interface. After entering your password,
+vscode should be able to start debugging the application.
+
+For more information on how to set up a debug configuration for C binaries, please refer to the official
+vscode documentation [here](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/launch-json-reference)
+
+## Debugging systemd with mkosi + vscode
+
+To simplify debugging systemd when testing changes using mkosi, we're going to show how to attach
+[VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/)'s debugger to an instance of systemd running in a mkosi image
+(either using QEMU or systemd-nspawn).
+
+To allow VSCode's debugger to attach to systemd running in a mkosi image, we have to make sure it can access
+the container/virtual machine spawned by mkosi where systemd is running. mkosi makes this possible via a
+handy SSH option that makes the generated image accessible via SSH when booted. The easiest way to set the
+option is to create a file 20-local.conf in mkosi.default.d/ and add the following contents:
+
+```
+[Host]
+Ssh=yes
+```
+
+Next, make sure systemd-networkd is running on the host system so that it can configure the network interface
+connecting the host system to the container/VM spawned by mkosi. Once systemd-networkd is running, you should
+be able to connect to a running mkosi image by executing `mkosi ssh` in the systemd repo directory.
+
+Now we need to configure VSCode. First, make sure the C/C++ extension is installed. If you're already using
+a different extension for code completion and other IDE features for C in VSCode, make sure to disable the
+corresponding parts of the C/C++ extension in your VSCode user settings by adding the following entries:
+
+```json
+"C_Cpp.formatting": "Disabled",
+"C_Cpp.intelliSenseEngine": "Disabled",
+"C_Cpp.enhancedColorization": "Disabled",
+"C_Cpp.suggestSnippets": false,
+```
+
+With the extension set up, we can create the launch.json file in the .vscode/ directory to tell the VSCode
+debugger how to attach to the systemd instance running in our mkosi container/VM. Create the file and add the
+following contents:
+
+```json
+{
+ "version": "0.2.0",
+ "configurations": [
+ {
+ "type": "cppdbg",
+ "program": "/usr/lib/systemd/systemd",
+ "processId": "${command:pickRemoteProcess}",
+ "request": "attach",
+ "name": "systemd",
+ "pipeTransport": {
+ "pipeProgram": "mkosi",
+ "pipeArgs": [
+ "-C",
+ "/path/to/systemd/repo/directory/on/host/system/",
+ "ssh"
+ ],
+ "debuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb"
+ },
+ "MIMode": "gdb",
+ "sourceFileMap": {
+ "/root/build/../src": {
+ "editorPath": "${workspaceFolder}",
+ "useForBreakpoints": false
+ },
+ "/root/build/*": {
+ "editorPath": "${workspaceFolder}/mkosi.builddir",
+ "useForBreakpoints": false
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ ]
+}
+```
+
+Now that the debugger knows how to connect to our process in the container/VM and we've set up the necessary
+source mappings, go to the "Run and Debug" window and run the "systemd" debug configuration. If everything
+goes well, the debugger should now be attached to the systemd instance running in the container/VM. You can
+attach breakpoints from the editor and enjoy all the other features of VSCode's debugger.
+
+To debug systemd components other than PID 1, set "program" to the full path of the component you want to
+debug and set "processId" to "${command:pickProcess}". Now, when starting the debugger, VSCode will ask you
+the PID of the process you want to debug. Run `systemctl show --property MainPID --value <component>` in the
+container to figure out the PID and enter it when asked and VSCode will attach to that process instead.
+
+## Debugging systemd-boot
+
+During boot, systemd-boot and the stub loader will output a message like `systemd-boot@0x0A,0x0B`,
+providing the location of the text and data sections. These location can then be used to attach
+to a QEMU session (provided it was run with `-s`) with these gdb commands:
+
+```
+ (gdb) file build/src/boot/efi/systemd-bootx64.efi
+ (gdb) add-symbol-file build/src/boot/efi/systemd_boot.so 0x0A -s .data 0x0B
+ (gdb) set architecture i386:x86-64
+ (gdb) target remote :1234
+```
+
+This process can be automated by using the `debug-sd-boot.sh` script in the tools folder. If run
+without arguments it will provide usage information.
+
+If the debugger is too slow to attach to examine an early boot code passage, we can uncomment the
+call to `debug_break()` inside of `efi_main()`. As soon as the debugger has control we can then run
+`set variable wait = 0` or `return` to continue. Once the debugger has attached, setting breakpoints
+will work like usual.
+
+To debug systemd-boot in an IDE such as VSCode we can use a launch configuration like this:
+```json
+{
+ "name": "systemd-boot",
+ "type": "cppdbg",
+ "request": "launch",
+ "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/src/boot/efi/systemd-bootx64.efi",
+ "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+ "MIMode": "gdb",
+ "miDebuggerServerAddress": ":1234",
+ "setupCommands": [
+ { "text": "shell mkfifo /tmp/sdboot.{in,out}" },
+ { "text": "shell qemu-system-x86_64 [...] -s -serial pipe:/tmp/sdboot" },
+ { "text": "shell ${workspaceFolder}/tools/debug-sd-boot.sh ${workspaceFolder}/build/src/boot/efi/systemd-bootx64.efi /tmp/sdboot.out systemd-boot.gdb" },
+ { "text": "source /tmp/systemd-boot.gdb" },
+ ]
+}
+```
+
+## Hacking on the kernel + systemd
+
+If you're hacking on the kernel in tandem with systemd, you can clone a kernel repository in mkosi.kernel/ in
+the systemd repository, and mkosi will automatically build that kernel and install it into the final image.
+To prevent the distribution's kernel from being installed (which isn't necessary since we're building our
+own kernel), you can add the following snippets to mkosi.default.d/20-local.conf:
+
+(This snippet is for Fedora, the list of packages will need to be changed for other distributions)
+
+```
+[Distribution]
+CacheInitrd=no
+
+[Content]
+BasePackages=conditional
+Packages=systemd
+ util-linux
+ dracut
+```