Linux Kernel Programming: A comprehensive and practical guide to kernel internals, writing modules, and kernel synchronization

Gain a solid practical understanding and sufficient theoretical insight into Linux kernel internals while learning to write high-quality kernel module code and understanding the complexities of kernel synchronization

Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free eBook in PDF format.

Key Features

• Discover how to write Linux kernel and module code for real-world products on the 6.1 LTS kernel
• Implement industry-grade techniques in real-world scenarios for fast, efficient memory allocation and data synchronization
• Understand and exploit kernel architecture, CPU scheduling, and kernel synchronization techniques

Book Description

The 2nd Edition of Linux Kernel Programming is an updated, comprehensive guide for those new to Linux kernel development. Built around the latest 6.1 Long-Term Support (LTS) Linux kernel, which is maintained until December 2026, this edition explores its key features and enhancements. Additionally, with the Civil Infrastructure Project extending support for the 6.1 Super LTS (SLTS) kernel until August 2033, this book will remain relevant for years to come.

You'll begin this exciting journey by learning how to build the kernel from source. Step by step, you will then learn how to write your first kernel module by leveraging the kernel's powerful Loadable Kernel Module (LKM) framework. With this foundation, you will delve into key kernel internals topics including Linux kernel architecture, memory management, and CPU (task) scheduling. You'll finish with understanding the deep issues of concurrency, and gain insight into how they can be addressed with various synchronization/locking technologies (for example, mutexes, spinlocks, atomic/refcount operators, rw-spinlocks and even lock-free technologies such as per-CPU and RCU).

By the end of this book, you'll build a strong understanding of the fundamentals to writing the Linux kernel and kernel module code that can straight away be used in real-world projects and products.

What you will learn

• Configure and build the 6.1 LTS kernel from source
• Write high-quality modular kernel code (LKM framework) for 6.x kernels
• Explore modern Linux kernel architecture
• Get to grips with key internals details regarding memory management within the kernel
• Understand and work with various dynamic kernel memory alloc/dealloc APIs
• Discover key internals aspects regarding CPU scheduling within the kernel, including cgroups v2
• Gain a deeper understanding of kernel concurrency issues
• Learn how to work with key kernel synchronization primitives

Who this book is for

This book is for beginner Linux programmers and developers looking to get started with the Linux kernel, providing a knowledge base to understand required kernel internal topics and overcome frequent and common development issues.

A basic understanding of Linux CLI and C programming is assumed.

Table of Contents

1. Linux Kernel Programming – A Quick Introduction
2. Building the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 1
3. Building the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 2
4. Writing Your First Kernel Module - Part 1
5. Writing Your First Kernel Module - Part 2
6. Kernel Internals Essentials - Processes and Threads
7. Memory Management Internals - Essentials
8. Kernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors - Part 1
9. Kernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors - Part 2
10. The CPU Scheduler - Part 1
11. The CPU Scheduler - Part 2
12. Kernel Synchronization - Part 1
13. Kernel Synchronization - Part 2

Kaiwan N. Billimoria taught himself BASIC programming on his dad's IBM PC back in 1983. He was programming in C and Assembly on DOS until he discovered the joys of Unix, and by around 1997, Linux! Kaiwan has worked on many aspects of the Linux system programming stack, including Bash scripting, system programming in C, kernel internals, device drivers, and embedded Linux work. He has actively worked on several commercial/FOSS projects. His contributions include drivers to the mainline Linux OS and many smaller projects hosted on GitHub. His Linux passion feeds well into his passion for teaching these topics to engineers, which he has done for well over two decades now. He's also the author of Hands-On System Programming with Linux, Linux Kernel Programming (and its Part 2 book) and Linux Kernel Debugging. It doesn't hurt that he is a recreational ultrarunner too.