Lupos is a Rust reimplementation of the Linux kernel ABI for x86_64 first, with AArch64 planned later. The success condition is binary-level Linux ABI parity: binaries built for Linux should observe Linux-compatible syscalls, filesystems, device interfaces, and process behavior.
Working on virtualbox
The public build surface is intentionally small:
make kernel/cargo xtask build: build the pure Lupos kernel, ELF and bzImage, from the shared generic x86_64 config.make image/cargo xtask build --userland --iso: build the same kernel, stage a minimal Archbaseuserland, and emit a bootable ISO.
Both commands use configs/lupos_defconfig, which tracks the overlapping
symbols from Linux's vendor/linux/arch/x86/configs/x86_64_defconfig.
The default userland is a real Arch base rootfs:
LUPOS_DISTRO=arch- staged guest rootfs:
target/userland/stage - root login:
root/lupos - ping smoke host:
LUPOS_PING_HOST=example.com
The userland builder downloads the pinned Arch bootstrap tarball, extracts it
unprivileged into target/userland/, and applies the Lupos guest overlay. No
root, no chroot, no mounts required.
Use a native Linux shell. Install the equivalent of these packages with your system package manager:
build-essential nasm grub-pc-bin xorriso mtools curl ca-certificates qemu-system-x86
The ISO build uses GRUB and xorriso. grub-pc-bin is required — without it
grub-mkrescue builds an EFI-only ISO that QEMU's BIOS cannot boot. QEMU is
required for run and smoke targets.
Populate vendor/linux once so the Makefile can build Linux's Kconfig tools:
./vendor/setup_linux.shInstall the Rust toolchain components:
rustup toolchain install nightly
rustup component add llvm-tools-preview rust-src --toolchain nightlyConfigure once, then use one of the two canonical build commands:
make config
make kernel
make imageEquivalent xtask commands:
cargo xtask build
cargo xtask build --userland --isoBackend build products remain available for focused work:
cargo xtask build --modules
cargo xtask build --modules-install
cargo xtask build --allTo refresh the Arch userland:
LUPOS_ARCH_REFRESH=1 cargo xtask build --userland --isoBoot in dev mode with a visible QEMU display:
cargo xtask runLog in as root with password lupos. QEMU exposes the same baseline devices
for automated and display boots: framebuffer/DRM video, 8250 serial,
virtio-net user networking, xHCI USB with a USB tablet for pointer input, and
Intel HDA audio. The generic config enables the matching Kconfig symbols.
Use the explicit public boot modes when you want a terminal or graphical shell:
cargo xtask run --terminal
cargo xtask run --guiFor QEMU/GDB debugging:
cargo xtask run --terminal --gdb
cargo xtask run --gui --gdbFor automated/headless runs, use the same command with flags:
cargo xtask run --headless
cargo xtask run --mode module-loader
cargo xtask run --ping-smoke--ping-smoke boots Lupos with a static PID 1, exercises the guest DNS and
ICMP socket paths, and emits:
ping -c 1 example.comOverride the host with:
LUPOS_PING_HOST=example.org cargo xtask run --ping-smokecargo xtask testThe default test command runs formatting, both Rust unit suites, the driver-binary-only policy scan, the core layout/parity audits, and the critical-runtime stub gate. Deeper gates are flags:
cargo xtask test --boot
cargo xtask test --mode module-loader
cargo xtask test --mode userspace-smoke
cargo xtask test --mode runtime-stress
cargo xtask test --modules
cargo xtask test --allLinux compliance is proven by original Linux tests cross-built and run against
Lupos, through the suite build/run/compare flow in cargo xtask.
Please check FAQ.md. If your question is not there, open an issue.