Build Backend Pool

Summary

This page details how to scale your laboratory environment up to a pool of backend target machines available for remote access.

The Big Picture

XINU Backends

Backend targets upload a student's kernel over a private network on boot, and run the O/S directly. No simulations or emulation are involved; this is real hardware.

MIPS targets: We use Linksys WRT54GL wireless routers (~$60) with serial port modifications (~$10) running an embedded MIPS32 200MHz processor, 4 MB flash, 16 MB RAM, two UARTs, wired and wireless network interfaces.

PowerPC targets: We use Apple G3 desktops (recycled) with 512 MB RAM, linear framebuffer, PCI bus, NIC, HD. Apple G4 MiniMac also supported.

CISC targets: Classic XINU runs on Intel x86, Sun 3/Motorola 68K, Sparc, and VAX, among others.

XINU Server

A general purpose server with multiple network interfaces manages a private network for the XINU backends, using standard network protocols like DHCP and TFTP.

Backend serial consoles can connect directly to server's serial ports, or, in larger installations, to a serial annex or concentrator that allows many more serial ports.

A daemon running on the server allows users on frontend workstations to remotely access backend serial consoles, or upload fresh kernels. Optional rebooting hardware allows clients to remotely reset crashed backends.

Our Console Tools are freely available for modern UNIX platforms, including Fedora Linux and Solaris.

XINU Frontends

General purpose computer laboratory workstations can compile the XINU kernel, using a standard GNU C compiler and UNIX toolchain. GCC crosscompilers are readily available when the frontend architecture does not match the backend architecture.

Backend consoles can be connected directly to frontend serial ports, or frontends can communicate with the server daemon that manages collections of backend serial consoles.

With fully remote console access, kernel upload and powercycling, any machine on the network is a potential frontend, and need not be physically near the XINU server and laboratory hardware. Students can work on their operating system projects from their dorm room computers.

Additional (Optional) hardware

• Terminal Annex (EtherLite 32)
• Serial-Controlled Power Strip (BayTech)

The Server

Our XINU Server is a PowerPC G5 XServe running Fedora Core Linux. We use this configuration as a model for the information below, but other architecture / O/S combinations are known to work, and there's no reason this shouldn't work for virtually any machine with two network interfaces running a modern UNIX O/S.

DHCP Daemon

Many modern firmware implementations will allow a device to automatically acquire an IP address using the DHCP protocol even before the O/S kernel begins to boot. The CFE on our Linksys backends will attempt to configure its primary ethernet interface when issued the command,

  ifconfig -auto eth0

over the serial console. See HOWTO:Run your own code for more details.

In our configuration, the XINU Server runs a DHCP daemon that is configured to supply addresses to backends on the private network. We use the standard dchp server package that comes stock with our Linux distribution (dhcp-3.0.5-3.fc6, as of this writing). Here is a sample configuration file, dhcpd.conf. Our configuration supplies a fixed IP address for each backend, based upon MAC address. It is important to note that the "filename" field designates a unique boot image for each backend; this allows each backend to boot a distinct image, customized by the student currently connected to that backend's serial console.

TFTP Daemon

Many modern firmware implementations will allow a device to upload a boot image over a network device using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). We use the stock TFTP server available with our Linux distribution (tftp-server-0.42-3.1, at this writing,) configured to answer requests on the private network, and with the /tftpboot directory writable by the xinu-console daemon user ID. Most TFTP daemons use TCP wrapper to regulate access; see the notes on security below.

XINU Console Daemon

The XINU Console Daemon and various associated utilities provide network clients with connectivity to backend consoles that are really only connected directly to the console host. The xinu-console software package is now freely available for UNIX console hosts and front end clients.

(GZipped tarball xinu-console-2.02.tar.gz)

(Fedora Core Source RPM xinu-console-2.02-2.src.rpm)

The XINU Console Daemon uses TCP wrappers to prevent unauthorized access; see the notes on security below.

The Client

Cross-Compiler

In order to compile Embedded MIPS kernels on a workstation that is not itself a MIPS processor, it is necessary to build and install an appropriate cross compiler. There are many ways to accomplish this; for reference, we list the specific versions and steps we used for our installation.

As always, one should be wary of installing unfamilar software as the root user of the system. All of the steps below have been carried out as a lesser-privileged user with write access to the necessary directories.

First, we downloaded, compiled, and installed the appropriate binary utilities. We downloaded binutils version 2.17, untarred the source code, and and ran the following commands:

  ./configure  --prefix=/usr/local/project/mipsel-dev --target=mipsel
  make
  make install

We have chosen the path "/usr/local/project/mipsel-dev" to host our cross-compiler installation. Whatever path it used here must be reflected in the XINU build configuration file, "compile/makeVars" when you arrive at that step.

We are not building a true, full-blown UNIX cross-compiler here, and do not need a proper installation of the platform-specific C libraries; XINU has its own small libraries that compile with the kernel. However, the GCC compilation will want to see appropriate library headers, so we cheat here by linking the platform-specific include directory to the host machine's include directory.

  mkdir -p /usr/local/project/mipsel-dev/mipsel/usr
  ln -s /usr/include /usr/local/project/mipsel-dev/mipsel/usr/include

Second, we downloaded, patched, compiled and installed the GNU C Compiler. We downloaded GCC version 3.4.6. We applied a short patch to correct some kind of obscure fixproto error. We added the newly compiled binutils into the shell path (/usr/local/project/mipsel-dev/bin) for the gcc compilation to find them.

  ./configure  --prefix=/usr/local/project/mipsel-dev --target=mipsel --with-sysroot=/usr/local/project/mipsel-dev/mipsel/ --enable-languages=c
  make
  make install

If all has gone well, you should now have a gcc cross-compiler from your host's native architecture to little-endian MIPS:

  /usr/local/project/mipsel-dev/bin/mipsel-gcc

Console Access

Source for xinu-console included in Console Tools tarball. Explain environment variables. Ssh tunneling? Mips-console wrapper script.

Security

A word on security. Isolated private network. TCP Wrappers. Iptables packet filtering.