Course Overview

1
Course Overview

• Mark Stanovich
• COP 5641 / CIS 4930

2
Instructors

• Lead Instructor Mark Stanovich
• Office 105-E Love Building
• Office hours
• After class and by appointment (email)
• TA Muye Liu
• Office hours TBA
• Class Websites
• http//ww2.cs.fsu.edu/stanovic/teaching/ldd/
• Blackboard

3
Meeting Place and Times

• Tuesday/Thursday 930am 1045am
• LOV 103 (sometimes at MCH 202)
• You will work in lab MCH 202
• You will spend lots of time on projects
• Projects will need to be done in the lab,unless
  you have a PC that you
• Don't mind corrupting
• Can bring into the lab for demos

4
Course Objectives

• Make yourself into a Linux kernel hacker, who
  can
• Configure, compile, and install a Linux kernel
• Do the same for a kernel module
• Understand and make changes to the sources
• Use internal kernel services
• Design and implement a kernel module
• Modify/design and implement a device driver
• Measure the performance of your implementation

5
Applicability of Kernel Hacking Skills

• Software engineering
• Concurrent programming
• Thesis and dissertation
• Employment
• Final project can be added to your portfolio

6
Prerequisites

• COP 4610
• Undergraduate Operating Systems
• or, COP 5570
• Concurrent, Parallel, and Distributed Programming
  (old Advanced Unix Programming)
• or,
• Proficiency in Unix environment and C, and
• General knowledge of operating systems design
  principles

7
Course Material

• Lecture notes (posted at the class website)
• Required textbook
• Linux Kernel Development (3rd Ed)
• ISBN 978-0672329463

8
Course Material

• Recommended additional textbook
• Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition
• ISBN 0-596-00590-3
• Online version (free)
• http//www.lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3

9
Class Grading

• Assignment 1 (individual) 10
• Assignment 2 (prob. individual) 5
• Assignment 3 (individual) 15
• Assignment 4 (individual) 15
• Assignment 5 (team report) 30
• Quizzes 25

10
Assignments

• Reading
• Programming
• You will be provided access to a PC (MCH 202)
• It may need to be shared
• First four assignments lab exercises
• Last assignment team projects
• Each member will evaluate the contribution of the
  other team members
• Warning they get more difficult, exponentially

11
Some Possible Team Projects

• Device drivers
• Raspberry pi
• Cellular phone sensors
• Virtual devices (virtual machine pass-through)
• Solid-state storage (e.g., flash)
• Future course lab project
• Add functionality to an existing device driver
• May partially include upgrading to a recent
  version of the kernel

12
Some Possible Team Projects

• New kernel features/optimizations
• Optimize storage management routines
• Security
• Assist with ongoing research projects
• Scheduling (CPU, block layer)
• Your ideas?

13
BEWARE

• Assignments may be very time consuming
• Non-deterministic error
• Obscure error symptoms
• May not have much information about where/when an
  error occurred
• Fewer and more difficult to setup debugging tools
• Need frequent reboots and OS reinstallations
• Implications
• Start your projects early
• You are responsible for backing up your work

14
BEWARE

• If you plan to use your own computer
• You will need to bring in your machine to
  demonstrate your code
• You might trash your hard drives

15
Some Useful Tools

• Good editor, IDE (search code)
• Git (backup, versions)
• General knowledge of Linux logging subsystem
• Knowledge of grub usage
• Kernel debugging tools
• Kdb, gdb (on modules)
• Kernel hacking configuration menu items
• Magic SysRq

16
Quizzes

• Several short quizzes
• Not necessarily announced in advance
• Will throw out one quiz (worst score)
• Missed quizzes
• For excused absences or lateness
• No make-ups for missed quizzes
• For excused absences or lateness
• The missing quizzes will be dropped

17
Class Grading

• 91 - 100 A
• 89 - 90 A-
• 85 - 88 B
• 81 - 84 B
• 79 - 80 B-
• 75 - 78 C
• 71 - 74 C
• 69 - 70 C-
• 64 - 68 D

• 61 - 63 D
• 59 - 60 D-
• 0 - 58 F

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Computer Accounts, etc.

• Blackboard account (_at_my.fsu.edu)
• Grade posting via Blackboard
• Card activation for MCH 202 lab
• Fill out survey
• Need your FSU card number
• Your choice of a 4 digit PIN

19
Course Policies

• Attendance mandatory
• Honor code read your student handbook
• Students with disabilities
• Report to Student Disability Resource Center
• Bring me a letter within the first week of class

20
Things for you to do

• Fill out survey form and turn in at the beginning
  of Thursdays class
• Reading
• Syllabus
• Start with LKD Chapters 1 and 2 (quick overview)
• Then read LDD Chapters 1 and 2 for more depth
• Familiarize yourself with Assignment 1