How to add a new system call?

[JohnReese]

Hello,

I am working with 32bit version of RPiOS (kernel version 5.10.103) on raspberry pi 4. I am tying to add a new system call that will first simply print hello world. On the internet i have found many guids but most of them are for x86 architecture.


Nevertheless i tried to follow the steps from

https://www.linuxbnb.net/home/adding-a- ... hitecture/

and did the following:

1.
In include/uapi/asm-generic/unistd.h i added the following:

#define __NR_process_hello 441
__SYSCALL(__NR_process_hello, sys_hello)

and modified the counter by adding one to it:

#undef __NR_syscalls
#define __NR_syscalls 442

2.
In include/linux/syscalls.h. i added the following line:

asmlinkage long sys_hello(void);


3. In kernel/sys.c i added the implementation of the sys call:

SYSCALL_DEFINE0(hello)
{
printk("Hello world\n");
return 0;
}

Still the system call is not working and returns -1, what am I doing wrong?

 

[dos2unix]

1. System Call Number Assignment: When adding a new system call, you need to assign a unique number to it. The number you chose (441) seems high and may conflict with existing or future system calls. It's a good practice to check the existing system call numbers in arch/arm/include/uapi/asm/unistd.h and choose an unused number. However, on ARM architecture, you can use the __ARM_NR_BASE macro as a base number for your custom system calls. So, you can define your syscall like this:
   
   #define __NR_process_hello (__ARM_NR_BASE + 441)
   
   
2. sys_hello vs. hello Function Names: You've defined sys_hello as the system call function in include/uapi/asm-generic/unistd.h, but in your implementation in kernel/sys.c, you've named it hello. These names should match. So, you should change the function name in sys.c to sys_hello:
   
   SYSCALL_DEFINE0(sys_hello)
   {
   printk("Hello world\n");
   return 0;
   }
   
   
3. Header File Inclusion: Make sure that you've included your modified header file in the right places. Ensure that include/uapi/asm-generic/unistd.h and include/linux/syscalls.h are properly included.

 

[JohnReese]

1. System Call Number Assignment: When adding a new system call, you need to assign a unique number to it. The number you chose (441) seems high and may conflict with existing or future system calls. It's a good practice to check the existing system call numbers in arch/arm/include/uapi/asm/unistd.h and choose an unused number. However, on ARM architecture, you can use the __ARM_NR_BASE macro as a base number for your custom system calls. So, you can define your syscall like this:
   
   #define __NR_process_hello (__ARM_NR_BASE + 441)
   
   
2. sys_hello vs. hello Function Names: You've defined sys_hello as the system call function in include/uapi/asm-generic/unistd.h, but in your implementation in kernel/sys.c, you've named it hello. These names should match. So, you should change the function name in sys.c to sys_hello:
   
   SYSCALL_DEFINE0(sys_hello)
   {
   printk("Hello world\n");
   return 0;
   }
   
   
3. Header File Inclusion: Make sure that you've included your modified header file in the right places. Ensure that include/uapi/asm-generic/unistd.h and include/linux/syscalls.h are properly included.

1. 441 was the first free number, that was also the initial value of __NR_syscalls. If I use this:

#define __NR_process_hello (__ARM_NR_BASE + 441)

What value should __NR_syscalls get assigned?

2. I repaired it but it is still returning -1.

3. I didn't create any new files so I assume this is not the issue?


In tutorials for x86, they are always adding the new system call to a system call table, in the files I see that ARM has also simmilair table, why the author of the ARM tutorial is not adding anythin there? What is the function of the table?

 

[yibinzhang]

I watch the same tutorial adding a sys call in arm so do you resolve how to add syscall in linux-arm now?