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diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/reproducible-builds.rst b/Documentation/kbuild/reproducible-builds.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f2dcc39044 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/kbuild/reproducible-builds.rst @@ -0,0 +1,137 @@ +=================== +Reproducible builds +=================== + +It is generally desirable that building the same source code with +the same set of tools is reproducible, i.e. the output is always +exactly the same. This makes it possible to verify that the build +infrastructure for a binary distribution or embedded system has not +been subverted. This can also make it easier to verify that a source +or tool change does not make any difference to the resulting binaries. + +The `Reproducible Builds project`_ has more information about this +general topic. This document covers the various reasons why building +the kernel may be unreproducible, and how to avoid them. + +Timestamps +---------- + +The kernel embeds timestamps in three places: + +* The version string exposed by ``uname()`` and included in + ``/proc/version`` + +* File timestamps in the embedded initramfs + +* If enabled via ``CONFIG_IKHEADERS``, file timestamps of kernel + headers embedded in the kernel or respective module, + exposed via ``/sys/kernel/kheaders.tar.xz`` + +By default the timestamp is the current time and in the case of +``kheaders`` the various files' modification times. This must +be overridden using the `KBUILD_BUILD_TIMESTAMP`_ variable. +If you are building from a git commit, you could use its commit date. + +The kernel does *not* use the ``__DATE__`` and ``__TIME__`` macros, +and enables warnings if they are used. If you incorporate external +code that does use these, you must override the timestamp they +correspond to by setting the `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH`_ environment +variable. + +User, host +---------- + +The kernel embeds the building user and host names in +``/proc/version``. These must be overridden using the +`KBUILD_BUILD_USER and KBUILD_BUILD_HOST`_ variables. If you are +building from a git commit, you could use its committer address. + +Absolute filenames +------------------ + +When the kernel is built out-of-tree, debug information may include +absolute filenames for the source files. This must be overridden by +including the ``-fdebug-prefix-map`` option in the `KCFLAGS`_ variable. + +Depending on the compiler used, the ``__FILE__`` macro may also expand +to an absolute filename in an out-of-tree build. Kbuild automatically +uses the ``-fmacro-prefix-map`` option to prevent this, if it is +supported. + +The Reproducible Builds web site has more information about these +`prefix-map options`_. + +Generated files in source packages +---------------------------------- + +The build processes for some programs under the ``tools/`` +subdirectory do not completely support out-of-tree builds. This may +cause a later source package build using e.g. ``make rpm-pkg`` to +include generated files. You should ensure the source tree is +pristine by running ``make mrproper`` or ``git clean -d -f -x`` before +building a source package. + +Module signing +-------------- + +If you enable ``CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_ALL``, the default behaviour is to +generate a different temporary key for each build, resulting in the +modules being unreproducible. However, including a signing key with +your source would presumably defeat the purpose of signing modules. + +One approach to this is to divide up the build process so that the +unreproducible parts can be treated as sources: + +1. Generate a persistent signing key. Add the certificate for the key + to the kernel source. + +2. Set the ``CONFIG_SYSTEM_TRUSTED_KEYS`` symbol to include the + signing key's certificate, set ``CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_KEY`` to an + empty string, and disable ``CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_ALL``. + Build the kernel and modules. + +3. Create detached signatures for the modules, and publish them as + sources. + +4. Perform a second build that attaches the module signatures. It + can either rebuild the modules or use the output of step 2. + +Structure randomisation +----------------------- + +If you enable ``CONFIG_RANDSTRUCT``, you will need to pre-generate +the random seed in ``scripts/basic/randstruct.seed`` so the same +value is used by each build. See ``scripts/gen-randstruct-seed.sh`` +for details. + +Debug info conflicts +-------------------- + +This is not a problem of unreproducibility, but of generated files +being *too* reproducible. + +Once you set all the necessary variables for a reproducible build, a +vDSO's debug information may be identical even for different kernel +versions. This can result in file conflicts between debug information +packages for the different kernel versions. + +To avoid this, you can make the vDSO different for different +kernel versions by including an arbitrary string of "salt" in it. +This is specified by the Kconfig symbol ``CONFIG_BUILD_SALT``. + +Git +--- + +Uncommitted changes or different commit ids in git can also lead +to different compilation results. For example, after executing +``git reset HEAD^``, even if the code is the same, the +``include/config/kernel.release`` generated during compilation +will be different, which will eventually lead to binary differences. +See ``scripts/setlocalversion`` for details. + +.. _KBUILD_BUILD_TIMESTAMP: kbuild.html#kbuild-build-timestamp +.. _KBUILD_BUILD_USER and KBUILD_BUILD_HOST: kbuild.html#kbuild-build-user-kbuild-build-host +.. _KCFLAGS: kbuild.html#kcflags +.. _prefix-map options: https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/build-path/ +.. _Reproducible Builds project: https://reproducible-builds.org/ +.. _SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH: https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch/ |