From 799b07f21d3695393adbf3617d9952a1d1e1de0e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Norman Feske Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2017 14:35:21 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Release notes for version 17.11 --- doc/release_notes-17-11.txt | 703 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 703 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/release_notes-17-11.txt diff --git a/doc/release_notes-17-11.txt b/doc/release_notes-17-11.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bd720ba89 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/release_notes-17-11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,703 @@ + + + =============================================== + Release notes for the Genode OS Framework 17.11 + =============================================== + + Genode Labs + + + +In contrast to most releases, which are focused on one or two major themes, +the development during the release cycle of version 17.11 was almost entirely +driven by the practical use of Genode as a day-to-day OS by the entire staff +of Genode Labs. The basis of this endeavor is an evolving general-purpose +system scenario - dubbed "sculpt" - that is planned as an official feature +for the next release 18.02. The name "sculpt" hints at the approach to start +with a minimalistic generic live system that can be interactively shaped +into a desktop scenario by the user without any reboot. This is made possible +by combining Genode's unique dynamic reconfiguration concept with the +recently introduced package management, our custom GUI stack, and the many +ready-to-use device-driver components that we developed over the past years. + +By stressing Genode in such a dynamic and interactive fashion, we identified +and smoothened many rough edges and usability shortcomings, ranging from the +use of client-provided pointer shapes, the proper handling of keyboard +modifiers, mouse acceleration, over the configuration of the user-level +networking facilities, to improvements of the file-system support. Since the +sculpt scenario is based on Genode's custom package-management concept +introduced in +[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/17.05#Package_management - version 17.05], +it motivated the packaging of all components required by this system scenario. +Altogether, there are now over 150 ready-to-use depot archives available. + +At the platform level, the release unifies the boot concept across all +supported x86 microkernels and offers the option to boot 64-bit kernels via +UEFI. For both UEFI and legacy boot, Genode consistently uses GRUB2 now. + +Feature-wise, the most prominent topics are the native support of game-console +emulators based on libretro, the ability to resize libSDL-based applications +like avplay, and the further cultivation of Nim as implementation language +for native Genode components. + + +Base framework and OS-level infrastructure +########################################## + +Virtual file system and C runtime +================================= + +The VFS and C runtime received improvements in several respects. First, we +reintegrated the resolver library back into the libc library as it is an +essential feature for network applications. The former split was an ancient +artifact we implemented when integrating the lxip network stack as an optional +alternative to lwip. Speaking of ancient features, we also remove the rcmd +code from libc. This feature for remote-shell access is not used in modern +environments. The VFS server was adjusted to handle incomplete calls to +'stat()' correctly. + + +NIC-router improvements +======================= + +Genode's user-level network-routing component was originally introduced in +[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/16.08#Virtual_networking_and_support_for_TOR - version 16.08] +and refined in +[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/16.11#Further_improved_virtual_networking - version 16.11]. +In the current release, the NIC router has received two minor improvements +regarding MAC addresses and ARP handling. In addition, it now has the ability +to act as DHCP server or client for each configured domain. + +Let's first have a look at the minor changes. The MAC addresses that the NIC +router allocates on behalf of its NIC clients are now of the proper type: +"local" and "individual" and this way, conform to the ARP protocol. The NIC +router now also considers ARP requests for foreign IP addresses coming from a +domain. If there is no gateway configured for the domain, the NIC router +itself jumps in as gateway and answers those requests with its IP address. +Thus, if you have an individual gateway in a subnet behind the NIC router, +make sure to have the gateway attribute in the according '' tag set. + +The new DHCP server functionality is activated for a domain by the new +'' sub-tag of the '' tag: + +! +! +! ... +! + +The attributes 'ip_first' and 'ip_last' define the available IPv4 address +range whereas the lifetime of an IPv4 address assignment is defined by the +'ip_lease_time_sec' attribute in seconds. The 'dns_server' attribute is +optional and declares the IPv4 address the NIC router shall state in the +DNS-server option of DHCP. The DNS server may be located within a foreign +subnet. + +When used as a DHCP server, the NIC router provides the following DHCP options +to its clients: message type, server IP (set to the NIC routers IP), subnet +mask, IP lease time, router IP (set to the NIC routers IP), DNS server (if +configured), and broadcast address. + +If you want the NIC router to act as DHCP client at a domain, simply omit the +interface attribute in the '' tag. In this case, the router tries to +dynamically receive and maintain an IP configuration for the affected domain. +Make sure that your DHCP server provides the following DHCP option fields to +the NIC router: message type, server IP, subnet mask, IP lease time, and +router IP. + +Also note that the NIC router drops all packets not related to its DHCP client +functionality at a domain that (currently) has no IP configuration. As soon as +the domain achieves to get a valid IP configuration, the router switches to +the normal behavior. + + +New driver-manager subsystem +============================ + +In traditional Genode system scenarios, the selection and configuration of the +used device drivers are defined at system-integration time. This approach +works fine whenever the hardware platform targeted by a given scenario and the +use case of the scenario is well known in advance. But it does not scale up to +general-purpose computing where one system image must be usable on diverse +machines, and the concrete use cases are up to the end user. + +The new _driver-manager_ subsystem composes existing Genode components within +a dynamic subsystem. It spawns and configures device drivers that are +fundamental for an interactive system on demand. When integrated as a +building block in a Genode system, it provides the following feature set: + +* It contains the ACPI-discovery component and the platform driver. + +* It hosts and automatically configures the USB driver such that USB storage + and vendor-specific devices become available to user-specific driver + components residing outside the drivers subsystem (e.g., a VirtualBox + instance that drives an individual USB stick). The list of present USB + devices and the current USB-driver configuration are provided as a + 'usb_devices' and 'usb_drv.config' report respectively. Furthermore, the USB + driver is configured to drive human input devices (HID) and provides the + event stream as an input service. + +* It spawns the AHCI driver and produces a list of present devices as a + 'block_devices' report. + +* It hosts a PS/2 driver as well as an input-filter that incorporates the + input-event streams originating from the PS/2 and USB HID drivers. The + default configuration generates character events based on a configurable + keyboard layout and key repeat, and includes scroll-wheel emulation and + pointer acceleration for a PS/2 mouse (or, more importantly, the trackpoint + of Lenovo laptops). + +* It responds to changes of the 'capslock' and 'numlock' states, which are + managed outside of the driver subsystem. Both states are consumed by the USB + and PS/2 drivers to drive the keyboard-indicator LEDs. The 'numlock' state + is furthermore used to toggle key re-mappings performed by the input filter. + The 'capslock' state is incorporated into the modifier state as processed by + the input-filter's character generator. + +The new subsystem comes in the form of a depot package, which depends on all +required components. Internally, it employs a dynamic init instance as a tool +to start and manage driver components on demand. The actual management +component is a simple program of about 500 lines of code that merely consumes +reports and produces configurations. It is so simple that it does not even +perform any dynamic memory allocation. + +The new subsystem is present in the _gems_ repository and illustrated by the +_gems/run/driver_manager.run_ script. It is also used as one cornerstone of +the forthcoming general-purpose "sculpt" scenario mentioned in the +introduction. + + +Configuration changes of acpica and platform driver +=================================================== + +Up to now, the acpica application was started up-front in most scenarios to +get exclusive access to all PCI devices during initialization. Afterwards +the platform driver took over the device access and announced the platform +service. With the upcoming "sculpt" scenario, the desire arose to start the +acpica application at a later stage, when the platform driver is already +running. We adjusted the acpica and platform driver configuration slightly to +cover this use case also. + + +New ROM-filter abilities +======================== + +The ROM-filter component is able to transform XML data from multiple ROM +modules into a new ROM module. It is prominently used to generate component +configurations depending on global system state. The current release makes +this tool more flexible by allowing verbatim copies of input content into +the output XML node as well as the use of input content as attribute values. + + +New user-input processing capabilities +====================================== + +In [https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/17.02#Input-event_filter - version 17.02], +we introduced a modular input-processing component called _input-filter_. +The current release adds the following features to this component: + +:incorporating modifier state from external ROMs: + + By adding a '' node into '' node of a chargen-filter, + it is now possible to incorporate the content of the given ROM module into + the modifier state. If the ROM module contains a top-level node with the + attribute 'enabled' set to "yes", the modifier is enabled. This is useful + for handling a system-global capslock state. + +:scroll-wheel emulation: + + The new '' filter turns relative motion events into wheel + events while a special button (i.e., the middle mouse button) is pressed. + The button and rate of generated wheel events can be configured per axis via + the sub nodes '' and ''. The button of each axis can + be specified via the 'button' attribute. By default, "BTN_MIDDLE" is used. + The rate of generated wheel events can be defined by the 'speed_percent' + attribute. A value of "100" uses relative motion vectors directly as wheel + motion vectors. In practice, this results in overly fast wheel motion. By + lowering the value, the rate can be reduced to practical levels. By + specifying a negative value, the direction of the generated wheel motion can + be inverted. + + The consumed relative motion events are filtered out from the event stream + such that pointer movements are inhibited while the wheel emulation is + active. All other events are passed along unmodified. + +:pointer acceleration: + + The new '' filter applies acceleration to relative motion + values. The 'max' attribute defines the maximum value added to the incoming + motion values. The 'sensitivity_percent' attribute scales incoming motion + values before applying the (potentially non-linear) acceleration function. + The 'curve' attribute defines the degree of non-linearity of the + acceleration. The value "0" corresponds to a linear function whereas the + maximum value "255" applies a curved function. The default value is "127". + + +Keyboard-LED support for PS/2 and USB HID +========================================= + +Both the PS/2 and the USB drivers have gained the new '' attributes +'capslock_led="no"', 'numlock_led="no"', and 'scrlock_led="no"' (with their +default values shown). The attributes can have the values "no" (LED is turned +off), "yes" (LED is turned on), or "rom". In the latter case, the driver reads +the LED state from a dedicated ROM module called "capslock", "numlock", or +"scrlock" respectively. The ROM module is expected to have a top-level XML +node with the attribute 'enabled' set to "yes" or "no". The drivers reflect +this state information by driving the corresponding keyboard-mode indicator +LEDs. + + +Revised Nitpicker GUI server +============================ + +Driven by use cases like the "sculpt" scenario mentioned in the introduction, +the Nitpicker GUI server and its helper components received an overhaul. + +Besides modernizing the implementation according to our today's best +practices, we succeeded in removing the focus handling as the last remaining +builtin policy from the GUI server to an external component, thereby making +the GUI server much more flexible. This line of work is complemented with +an improved way of supporting client-provided pointer shapes, and a new +general component for handling global keys. + + +Supplementing user-activity information to the hover report +----------------------------------------------------------- + +Nitpicker's existing "hover" report features the information of the currently +hovered client (e.g., the client's label and domain). In the new version, the +report also features the information whether or not the user has actively +moved the pointer during the last half second. This is analogous to how the +"focus" report features user-activity information about recent key +press/release activity. When combined, the "hover" and "focus" reports provide +a way to detect the absence of user activity, e.g., to implement a lock screen +or screen saver. If both reports have no 'active' attribute, such a component +can schedule a timer. Whenever either of both reports shows an 'active' +attribute, the timer is reset. The lock screen becomes active once the timeout +triggers. + + +Key-state reporting +------------------- + +For debugging purposes or for implementing global key combinations, Nitpicker +now offers "keystate" reports. The report is updated each time, the user +presses or releases a key. It lists all currently pressed keys along with the +key count as observed by Nitpicker. + + +Report last clicked-on client +----------------------------- + +The new 'clicked' report features the information about the client, on which +the user actively clicked most recently. It is useful to implement a +click-to-focus policy outside of Nitpicker. + + +Externalizing Nitpicker's focus policy +-------------------------------------- + +Traditionally, Nitpicker had a builtin policy about the input focus, which +ensured that only the user can change the focus. The input focus is changed +whenever the user clicks on an unfocused view. If permitted by the policy of +the domain, the clicked-on client receives the focus. The policy configuration +allows one to define domains that never receive any focus, domains that +receive the focus only temporarily while the button is kept pressed (the +so-called "transient focus"), or domains that can receive the regular input +focus. + +However, there are situations where this builtin policy stands in the way. For +example, in a scenario based on virtual consoles, the user wants to be able to +switch virtual consoles via keyboard shortcuts and expects the input focus to +match the currently visible console regardless of any mouse clicks. Another +example is the change of the input focus via key combinations like alt-tab. + +As an alternative to the builtin policy, the new version of Nitpicker is able +to respond to an externally provided "focus" state in the form of a ROM +session. This state is driven by a dedicated component, like the new +_nit_focus_ component that implements the traditional click-to-focus policy. +By supplying the focus as a ROM session to Nitpicker, it becomes easy to +globally overwrite the focus if needed. One particular example is a lock +screen that should capture the focus when becoming active, and yield the focus +to the original owner when becoming inactive. + +The new explicit focus handling can be activated by setting the '' +attribute 'focus' to the value "rom". Further down the road, we plan to make +this option the default, with the ultimate goal to remove the original builtin +policy. + + +Generalized global-key handling +------------------------------- + +The new _global_keys_handler_ component replaces the former _xray-trigger_ +component. It transforms a stream of Nitpicker input events to state reports. +The states and the ways of how the user input affects these states is +configurable. Examples for such states are the system-global capslock and +numlock states, or the Nitpicker X-ray mode activated by a global +secure-attention key. The configuration looks as follows: + +! +! +! +! +! +! +! +! +! +! +! +! + +A '' node declares a boolean state variable with the given name and its +initial value (default is "no"). There may be any number of such variables. + +The '' and '' nodes define how key events affect the state +variables. Each of those nodes refers to a specific state variable via the +'bool' attribute, and the operation as the 'change' attribute. Possible +'change' attribute values are "on", "off", and "toggle". + +The '' node defines a state-dependent report with the name as +specified in the 'name' attribute. The report-generation rate can be +artificially limited by the 'delay_ms' attribute. If specified, the report is +not issued immediately on a state change but after the specified amount of +milliseconds. The '' node contains a number of conditions. Whenever +one of those conditions is true, a report of the following form is generated: + +! + +Otherwise, the report's 'enabled' attribute has the value "no". Possible +conditions are '' and ''. The '' condition is true if the +named boolean state variable has the value true. The '' condition is +true if the currently hovered Nitpicker client belongs to the domain as +specified in the 'domain' attribute. The latter information is obtained from a +ROM module named "hover", which corresponds to Nitpicker's hover reports. + +To use the global-keys-handler in practice, one needs to configure the +Nitpicker GUI server such that the press/release events of the global keys of +interest are routed to the global-keys-handler. This can be achieved by +Nitpicker's '' configuration nodes. For example: + +! +! + + +More flexible geometry definitions of nit_fb instances +------------------------------------------------------ + +The _nit_fb_ component translates the Nitpicker session interface into the +low-level input and framebuffer session interfaces such that raw framebuffer +clients can be hosted as Nitpicker applications. The position and size of such +an application is configurable. + +The new 'origin' attribute denotes the coordinate origin of the values +specified in the 'xpos' and 'ypos' attributes. Supported origins are +"top_left", "top_right", "bottom_left", and "bottom_right". This attribute +allows one to align a Nitpicker view at any of the four screen corners. + +The 'width' and 'height' attribute values can now be negative. If so, they are +relative to the physical screen size. E.g., when using a screen size of +640x480, the effective width for a 'width' attribute value of "-100" would be +640 - 100 = 540. + + +Simplified handling of client-provided pointer shapes +----------------------------------------------------- + +The _pointer_ component that accompanies Nitpicker by default shows a static +pointer shape only. In advanced scenarios, for example when multiple instances +of VirtualBox are present on one screen, it is desired to show the shape +provided by the currently hovered guest OS. This was accomplished by a +special _vbox_pointer_ component with access to both the client-provided +shape and Nitpicker's hover report. Whereas this component sufficed for +relatively static scenarios, the pointer's policy configuration became rather +difficult in dynamic scenarios where the labels of the displayed VMs or +applications are unknown at system-integration time. + +The new version simplifies the shape handling by letting the pointer component +play the role of a "Report" service that consumes "shape" reports. This way, +the pointer implicitly knowns the label of the shape-providing client. It +matches the labels of its report clients against the currently hovered client +as obtained from Nitpicker's hover report. If there is a match, the pointer +displays the matching client-provided shape. Since the new component is +generically applicable, e.g., not only for VirtualBox-provided shapes but also +for Qt5-provided shapes (Section [Displaying of Qt5's custom pointer shapes]), +it has become Nitpicker's default pointer component. + + +USB-driver support for RNDIS +============================ + +In this release, support for Microsoft's proprietary RNDIS protocol was +enabled in our Linux-based USB network driver. Thereby it is possible to use +the network sharing ("tethering") features provided by many Android devices. +The driver was tested using devices from different vendors. + +Since the RNDIS driver is based on the 'cdc_ether' driver (the open protocol +alternative phone vendors should be using), it had to be enabled as well. +Due to lack of any devices supporting CDC, while enabled, the driver could not +be tested and must be considered experimental for now. + +The porting and enabling of the driver was done by Alexander Senier from +[https://componolit.com - Componolit]. Thanks for this welcome contribution! + + +Refined Rump-kernel-based file-system support +============================================= + +We extended the 'rump_fs' file-system server with the ability to mount and +unmount the underlying file system on demand. The server will mount the file +system on the first established session request and in return will unmount the +file system when the last session is closed. In case all clients are shut down +before the server is stopped, this prevents leaving the file system marked as +dirty. Even if the file system itself is in a clean state, the dirty bit might +otherwise trigger a false negative result when performing a file-system check. + +In release [https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/14.02 - 14.02], we +added a e2fsprogs Noux port. Since the use of the VFS library within libc, +Noux is not strictly needed anymore for running tools like the e2fsprogs +utilities. On the contrary, it increases the complexity of a file-system +management mechanism needlessly. With this release, we introduce a port of the +'e2fsck' tool from e2fsprogs to Genode that does not depend on Noux. It can be +used by a management component to check an ext2 file-system prior to starting +'rump_fs' and in case of errors to attempt to fix them automatically. + +Additionally, we significantly stripped down Genode's version of the Rump +kernel. By integrating Rump directly into Genode's build system, compiling and +checking out required Rump sources only, we were able to reduce the compile +time of 'rump_fs' and the source archive size (from about 700 MiB to about 10 +MiB). + +Runtime environments and programming languages +############################################## + +Genode components based on the Nim language +=========================================== + +Support for the [https://nim-lang.org/ - Nim] programming language was +introduced in the [https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/17.05 - 17.05] +release and during this release period, our understanding of Nim, its idiom, +and its interaction with the Genode framework progressed to a point where +native components can be reasonably implemented using the language. + +The 'hotkey_edit' component in the world repository toggles XML sections in +and out of a file managed by 'xml_editor' when triggered by key input events. +The component is written in Nim, acts as a "Nitpicker", "Input", "Report", +and "ROM" client, and follows the Genode paradigm of a state-machine driven by +asynchronous signalling. The application specific source is also less than one +hundred lines of code. + +To enable client usage of Genode services the respective 'Client' or +'Connection' C++ classes are wrapped as Nim objects by taking advantage of the +Genode 'Constructible' class to be able to manually invoke constructors during +object initialization. Wrapping service classes and their methods is currently +done by hand, but changes to service interfaces are so gradual that it is more +effective than automated code generation. Signal handling is achieved using +anonymous procedures and happens when the thread of execution winds back to +the initial entrypoint. This approach is just the same as for components that +are linked to the 'libc' library, and contrasted with components linked to the +'posix' library. The Nim language has no conventions for a special "main" +procedure like C or Go, so signals handlers are dispatched by default after +all top-level statements have been executed. + +The language has experimentally proven to be flexible enough to implement RPC +servers, but more experience is required to determine if a garbage-collected +language can manage to abide by transient RAM resource quotas, as any +multi-session server must do to reliably serve an indefinite number of +clients. The standard language runtime also depends on the 'libc' library, +which is relatively expensive and complicated for typical native components. +This dependency also prevents the implementation of VFS plugins in Nim, which +must be available as the C runtime is initialized. Removing the dependency is +certainly possible, but it remains an open question of whether it is practical +to maintain such radical changes. + +To experiment with the Nim language, a recent release or development version +of the compiler is required. To this end, the Genode toolchain uses a custom +compiler by default. A script is provided to build the recommended version at +_tool/tool_chain_nim_. + + +GDB-based debugging of server components +======================================== + +We adapted the 'gdb_monitor' component to the asynchronous session-creation +procedure introduced in Genode release +[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/16.11#New_session-creation_procedure - 16.11]. +The current release makes it possible to debug components that implement +Genode services. + + +Applications and libraries +########################## + +Displaying of Qt5's custom pointer shapes +========================================= + +Qt applications often make use of custom mouse-pointer shapes, for example +when a text input field is hovered. We enabled this feature for our Qt5 port +by letting Qt report its custom pointer shapes to the newly enhanced pointer +component described in Section +[Simplified handling of client-provided pointer shapes]. The use of the new +feature is illustrated in the _qt5_calculatorform.run_ script. Note the +rewriting of the 'shape' session label. + + +Qt5-based virtual keyboard +========================== + +Genode supports user input with keyboard and mouse attached via PS/2 and USB +as well as USB touch panels. The current release brings an option for Qt5 +applications to support textual-information input in situations where a +hardware keyboard is missing. The Qt5 input stack was extended for platform +input contexts and the accompanied example _run/qt5_virtualkeyboard.run_ +showcases the feature. + +[image virtual_keyboard] + +Thanks to Johannes Kliemann for his contribution! + + +Resizable libSDL-based applications like avplay +=============================================== + +There are quite a few ports of SDL-based software available on Genode that +work well when executed in isolation, e.g., a game running in full screen +directly in the frame buffer. However, when running in a common desktop +scenario, the fixed size of the frame buffer used in Genode's SDL video back +end is a noticeable limitation. So, in addition to removing the usage of +deprecated APIs in the SDL back ends, we lifted this limitation as well. + +Removing the usage of the deprecated APIs, which rely on a global environment, +led to the addition of the Genode-specific initialization function +'sdl_init_genode' that has to be called prior to 'SDL_Init'. For that purpose, +we introduce a stub library 'sdlmain'. In accordance to the posix library, it +handles command-line argument parsing, proper SDL initializing, and the call +to SDL's 'main' function. For interacting with the Genode API, we might have +to execute signal handlers, e.g., whenever a framebuffer mode change signal is +received. This is complicated from within a thread that is running libc code, +which is true for most if not all SDL-based components. Therefor and because +those components come with their own event loop, that polls SDL for events, we +start the 'main' function in its own thread. The main entrypoint of the +component does all the signal handling and the dispatcher flag signals in a +way that SDL can transform them into SDL_Events and inject them into the event +loop. + +This changes enable the seamless resizing of a running avplay instance. + + +Front end for the Libretro API +============================== + +A component that has been in the world repository for almost a year has been +refactored and is ready for mention. The 'retro_frontend' is a native front +end to games implemented as "Libretro cores". +[https://libretro.com - Libretro] is an API that exposes generic +audio/video/input callbacks from a dynamic library to a front end. The front +end handles video output, audio output, input, and the application's life +cycle. This novel arrangement is intended to minimize the effort of porting +games to different platforms and to increase future backwards compatibility. +On Genode, these cores are executed frame-by-frame as compelled by the front +end rather than by a main loop within the game. Game assets are loaded as +configured in a general manner at the front end and multiple input devices can +be managed and mapped into cores. This in effect moves the platform +abstraction layer tighter around the game engine and relinquished more control +and configuration to a native layer provided by the user. Documentation on +using the front end can be found in the world repository along with examples +for emulating a few game consoles. + + +Platforms +######### + +UEFI boot, consistent use of GRUB2 on x86 +========================================= + +With the previous release, we already added support for GRUB2 when booting in +UEFI mode. However, for non-UEFI boots, we still relied on GRUB-0.97 and +ISOLINUX from the Syslinux Project as boot loaders. + +With the experiences gained from GRUB2, we decided to modernize our bootloader +chain for x86. With this release, we solely use GRUB2 during all x86 boots. + +For ISO creation, we now leverage the images - shipped by GRUB2 - +'embedded.img' and 'eltorito.img', together with the 'xorriso' tool. Due to +this change, we were able to remove the ISOLINUX binaries and eltorito files +of ancient GRUB1. + +The final GRUB2 binaries are now integrated as external Genode port, which +can be installed by invoking: + +! tool/ports/prepare_port grub2 + +The 'grub2' port contains the GRUB2 binaries. Additionally, the port contains +the instructions and the references to the git source code of GRUB2 used to +generate the bootloader binaries. With the information provided within the +port, one can easily reproduce the GRUB2 builds if desired. + + +Enabling MMU-based threat mitigations by default +================================================ + +With this release, we enabled support to leverage non-executable memory on +Genode. On hardware and kernels supporting this feature, it is now enabled by +default. + +On ARM this feature is available to all supported kernels, namely our own +hw kernel, seL4, and Fiasco.OC. + +On x86 the 64bit kernels hw, NOVA, and Fiasco.OC support this feature. + +SeL4 currently misses support on x86. The remaining x86 32bit kernels (i.e., +OKL4, Pistachio and Fiasco) don't offer non-executable memory support, since +they do not configure the page-tables in the PAE (physical address extension) +format, which is required by non-executable memory. + + +Updated seL4 to kernel branch 7.0 +================================= + +In the previous releases, we extended our seL4 support and thereby collected a +patch series for the seL4 kernel, e.g. UEFI boot support. We submitted the +patches to the seL4 developers who integrated most of our changes into the +seL4 7.0 kernel release. + +Additionally to the update, we extended the UEFI framebuffer support for the +seL4 kernel so that our simple boot framebuffer driver may now utilize the +graphics device if setup by GRUB2 during UEFI boot. The patches to the kernel +got submitted to the seL4 maintainers for review and for inclusion. + + +Execution on bare hardware (base-hw) +==================================== + +During the previous releases, several preparation steps were made to enable +the execution of Genode's core as privileged code inside the protection domain +of each component. With this release, we pushed the genesis of the base-hw +core component and its kernel library to finally achieve that goal. Now, the +virtual address space of each component is split into a privileged and an +unprivileged part. The privileged part is shared between all components and +does not vary when switching between different protection domains. +Nonetheless, it is accessible by the privileged threads of core and the kernel +library's context only. The advantages of this approach are less context +switch overhead and less complex assembler code with respect to the +platform-specific exception and system call entry path. + + +Improved offline validation of Genode configurations +==================================================== + +Genode's configuration is based on XML and gets validated by xmllint during +each run tool invocation. Up to now, we used xmllint to check for a valid XML +syntax. + +With this release, we added an additional semantic check for Genode's 'init' +component. The check determines whether the XML nodes and attributes are known +and understood by 'init'. This check is performed on each run tool invocation +at integration time. The XML schema file is located in + +! tool/run/genode.xsd + +and gets applied by xmllint.