The Kernel Newbie Corner: Your First Loadable Kernel Module

"While I'll try to keep this series distro-agnostic, I'll admit up front that I have a tendency to do all my work under the latest version of Fedora, but translating to some other Linux distro should not be difficult. And so, to work.

"Getting Started
Every beginning kernel programmer has a dream--to write, compile and load their first kernel module. So if you follow along here, we're going to do exactly that. In this opening article, we're going to keep it simple, and leave the trickier stuff for later pieces. One step at a time, as they say.

"Do You Need Root Privilege?
Ultimately, yes. There are ways to get around needing root privilege for things like setting up your kernel source tree and compiling your module, but there's no way to avoid being superuser when you're finally ready to load that module. So you either need the root password, or you need a friendly administrator--whichever is easier to get your hands on."

Complete Story

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