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https://github.com/mohnkhan/myos2026

VM First Experimental Operating System written in Rust, A Rust OS operating System
https://github.com/mohnkhan/myos2026

clang cpp experimental kernel linux-app linux-compatibility no-std operating-system porting qemu rust rustos vm x86-64

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VM First Experimental Operating System written in Rust, A Rust OS operating System

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README 

          
# MyOS2026 — VM-First Operating System in Rust



> A modern, minimal, secure x86_64 operating system written entirely in Rust — designed **specifically for virtual machines**. Fast boot, reproducible images, Linux-compatible syscall ABI, and a full Unix utility layer, all built from scratch with no C in the kernel.



---



## Project Resources



- **Download & run (testers)**: [`docs/QUICKSTART.md`](docs/QUICKSTART.md) — boot a released image in QEMU or VirtualBox in minutes, no build required

- **Known issues**: [`KNOWN_ISSUES.md`](KNOWN_ISSUES.md) — current v0.7 limitations; read before filing a bug

- **Live status & metrics**: [`docs/STATUS.md`](docs/STATUS.md) — test counts, CI gates, success-criteria dashboard (updated on every feature merge)

- **Capability inventory**: [`docs/CAPABILITIES.md`](docs/CAPABILITIES.md) — kernel subsystems, syscalls, /proc files, userland binaries

- **Per-feature history**: [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) — what shipped, when, with what trade-offs

- **Design rationale**: [`Learnings.MD`](Learnings.MD) — what was hard, root causes, non-obvious decisions

- **Roadmap**: [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) — tiered follow-up work

- **Validation**: [`VALIDATION.md`](VALIDATION.md) — proof against the 11 success criteria

- **Wiki**: [github.com/mohnkhan/MyOS2026/wiki](https://github.com/mohnkhan/MyOS2026/wiki) — architecture overviews, getting-started guides, HOWTOs, compatibility matrices



---



## Why MyOS2026



- **Boots in under 2 seconds** to an `nsh$` prompt on BIOS-headless QEMU, with SSH ready in under 5 seconds.

- **Reproducible images** (identical SHA-256 across runs) and **verified boot** (BLAKE2b → ed25519 attestation chain) by default.

- **Written entirely in Rust** with ~170 LOC of hand-written assembly. KASAN + FASAN catch memory-safety bugs at the corruption site, not the crash site.

- **Linux-compatible syscall ABI** on x86_64 — statically-linked musl and glibc ELF binaries run unmodified; 400+ syscalls implemented and differential-tested against Linux.



---



## Use Cases



- **OS learning platform** — every subsystem fits in your head, written in safe Rust with no hidden C glue.

- **Secure ephemeral VMs** — sandbox + verified boot + fast teardown via snapshot/rollback.

- **CI/CD throwaway environments** — sub-2-second boot, 18 MB image, SSH ready in under 1 second.

- **Kernel and systems-programming research** — modify the kernel, rebuild, boot in under 2 minutes. 



---



## Quick Start



> **Just want to boot it?** If you only want to run a released image (not build from source), follow the

> [download-and-run quickstart](docs/QUICKSTART.md) — QEMU/VirtualBox in a few commands, no toolchain needed.



```sh

# Prerequisites

apt install qemu-system-x86 ovmf sgdisk mtools e2fsprogs qemu-utils nasm python3

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

rustup toolchain install nightly

rustup component add rust-src --toolchain nightly

rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-musl



# Build and boot

RELEASE=1 bash build/scripts/assemble-image.sh myos.qcow2

make qemu

```



> **Save your SSD**: `make tmpfs-setup` redirects `target/` and `dist/` (the only large gitignored output trees) into `/tmp/MyOS//` so the write-heavy build cycle hits RAM. Reversible, idempotent, opt-in, no-op on CI. See [`docs/dev-tmpfs.md`](docs/dev-tmpfs.md).



### Interactive session



Boot in a graphical window with the kernel framebuffer terminal, and SSH in on port 2222 simultaneously:



```sh

make qemu-sdl

ssh -p 2222 -i tests/keys/test_id_ed25519 \

  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no root@127.0.0.1

```



For headless and VirtualBox boot recipes, see [`docs/CAPABILITIES.md`](docs/CAPABILITIES.md) and [`specs/001-vm-optimized-os/quickstart.md`](specs/001-vm-optimized-os/quickstart.md).



---



## Demo



![MyOS2026 shell demo](docs/screenshots/demo.png)



*nsh$ prompt with mybox applets, pipe chains, and standard utilities — captured via `make screenshot`.*



![Animated terminal demo](docs/demo.gif)



*Real nsh session over SSH — `uname`, `/proc/meminfo`, `/proc/cpuinfo`, `ps`, a `base64` pipe, and the colored prompt. Generated via `make demo-gif`.*



---



## What's Inside



A complete, self-contained OS stack — kernel, drivers, networking, filesystem, security, and a full Unix userland:



```

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  User Space   init | nsh | mybox (432 applets) | mymc |

|               cloud-init | dropbear | sandbox         |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  Security     Per-process syscall allowlist           |

|               Real UID/GID + supplementary groups     |

|               Credential audit ring                   |

|               Verified boot (BLAKE2b → ed25519)       |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  System       VFS | Syscall dispatch | Pipes | IPC    |

|               MLFQ scheduler | Linux ELF compat       |

|               epoll(7) | poll(2) | WaitQueue       |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  Kernel       MM (demand paging + CoW fork)           |

|               APIC/HPET | smoltcp | DHCP | ext2       |

|               procfs (100+ nodes: /net /sys per-PID)  |

|               KASAN + FASAN + DWARF panic backtraces  |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  Drivers      virtio-{blk,net,console,rng,scsi}       |

|               LSI Logic MPT SCSI | Intel E1000        |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

|  Hardware     QEMU q35 (primary) | VirtualBox         |

+-------------------------------------------------------+

```



For the full enumeration of subsystems, syscalls, and userland binaries, see [`docs/CAPABILITIES.md`](docs/CAPABILITIES.md).



---



## Highlights



### mybox — Busybox-in-Rust (432 applets)



A multi-call binary providing 432 Unix applets via symlinks in `/bin`. Dispatch is purely by `argv[0]` basename — no runtime overhead per applet. Covers file ops, text processing, filesystem inspection, process control, system info, archives, shell utilities, networking (DNS, HTTP, nc, ping), and `strace`.



```sh

nsh$ /bin/grep -i root /etc/passwd

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/sh

nsh$ /bin/ls -la /bin/ls

lrwxrwxrwx        10 ls -> /bin/mybox

nsh$ mybox --list | wc -l

432

```



### Linux ELF binary compatibility



Statically-linked musl ELF binaries compiled on Linux run directly on MyOS2026 without modification:



```sh

# On a Linux host:

musl-gcc -static -o hello hello.c



# Copy to MyOS2026 and run:

nsh$ /bin/hello

Hello, World!

```



Full System V AMD64 ABI initial stack with correct `AT_PHDR` (vaddr-not-file-offset) and `AT_SECURE` on suid exec. All musl startup syscalls supported. Invalid accesses deliver `SIGSEGV`; stack overflows are caught at the guard. Dynamically-linked glibc binaries are also supported via the bundled `ld-linux-x86-64.so.2`. See [`docs/CAPABILITIES.md`](docs/CAPABILITIES.md#linux-elf-binary-compatibility).



### Per-process syscall sandbox



```sh

nsh$ sandbox --allow=read,write,exit /usr/bin/exploit-test

BLOCKED (errno=1)      ← mount(2) blocked by kernel allowlist

```



The kernel enforces a deny-by-default syscall filter per process, installed via `SYS_SANDBOX_ENTER`. Filters survive `execve` and are independent across processes.



### Verified boot



Every RELEASE build embeds a BLAKE2b hash chain:



```

UEFI → Limine (config hash enrolled) → kernel.elf (BLAKE2b verified)

     → kernel_main ([vboot] ACTIVE  pubkey: be5f7844108bcdd1)

```



Any binary tampering before a single kernel instruction executes causes an immediate boot abort.



### Reproducible builds



Two independent builds from identical source produce byte-identical QCOW2. Achieved via `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH`, pinned GPT/FAT UUIDs, and `build/scripts/fix-ext2-timestamps.py`.



---



## Architecture



### Design principles



| Principle | Choice |

|-----------|--------|

| Kernel type | Minimal monolithic (Rust, no_std) |

| Bootloader | Limine v8.x (BIOS + UEFI, single config) |

| I/O model | virtio-only (blk / net / console / rng / scsi) |

| Network | smoltcp 0.11 (pure Rust, no_std) |

| Filesystem | ext2 (custom pure-Rust read/write driver) |

| SSH | Dropbear (userspace, cross-compiled for musl) |

| Userland | Rust + statically linked musl |

| Assembly | ~170 LOC total (entry stub, ISR trampoline, context-switch) |



### Repository layout



```

kernel/          Rust kernel (no_std)

userland/        Userspace crates (musl-static): init, nsh, mybox, mymc, ...

bootloader/      Limine config + vendored binaries

build/           Makefile, image assembly scripts, CI helpers

tests/           Boot, SSH, shell, sandbox, syscall, scheduler integration tests

specs/           Per-feature specs (NNN-name/{spec,plan,tasks,quickstart}.md)

docs/            STATUS.md, CAPABILITIES.md, dev-tmpfs.md, syscall-diff.md

```



For the full layout, see [`docs/CAPABILITIES.md`](docs/CAPABILITIES.md#repository-layout).



---



## How It's Built



- **Per-feature spec-kit workflow** — every feature has `specs/NNN-name/{spec,plan,research,tasks}.md` and a quickstart. Implementation follows tests-before-code per the project constitution.

- **CI gate on every PR** — clippy (`-D warnings`), unit tests in parallel + sequential modes, boot integration under `smp ∈ {1, 2}`, SSH login, sandbox, KASAN, ABI-drift, and docs-gate (per the constituent jobs listed in [`docs/STATUS.md`](docs/STATUS.md#ci-gates)).

- **Run the pipeline locally before pushing**:

  ```sh

  make ci-local       # ~15 min; same step order and timeouts as remote CI

  ```

- **In-kernel diagnostics**: dmesg ring (`/proc/dmesg`), per-PID syscall trace (`/proc//trace`), symbolized panic backtraces with DWARF line numbers, `kassert!` with PCB context, KASAN + FASAN memory-safety sanitizers.



---



## Contributing



All changes go through a feature branch and pull request — direct commits to `master` are prohibited.



1. Fork the repository.

2. Create a feature branch: `git checkout -b NNN-short-description origin/master`.

3. Read the constitution at `.specify/memory/constitution.md` and the existing specs in `specs/`.

4. Use the spec-kit workflow: `/speckit-specify`, `/speckit-plan`, `/speckit-tasks`, `/speckit-implement`.

5. Run `make ci-local` before pushing.

6. Open a PR targeting `master`. Every feature PR must update [`Learnings.MD`](Learnings.MD), [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md), and [`docs/STATUS.md`](docs/STATUS.md) (enforced by the `docs-gate` CI step; bypass with `[no-docs]` in any commit message for docs-only or infra-only PRs).



For project conventions, MANDATORY workflows, and operational guides (in-kernel dmesg + GDB, KASAN, syscall-diff harness, tmpfs build redirection), see [`CLAUDE.md`](CLAUDE.md).



**Good first issues:**



- POSIX `lstat()` that does not follow the final symlink component

- Dynamic ELF loader (PT_INTERP support) — enables glibc-linked binaries

- GPG signing pipeline for release artifacts



See [the issue tracker](https://github.com/mohnkhan/MyOS2026/issues) for follow-up work tagged `good-first-issue` and `follow-up`.



---



## Lineage & Inspirations



MyOS2026 is the third generation in a personal operating-systems family built by [Mohiuddin Khan Inamdar](https://github.com/mohnkhan), carrying forward lessons learned across two earlier generations:



- **MyRTOS family** — bare-metal real-time operating systems in C; established the interrupt model, timer substrate, scheduling fundamentals, and boot-sequencing patterns that this kernel refines in Rust.

- **MyOS-Mini family** — minimal x86 OS experiments that validated the VFS layer, process model, and memory-management architecture later rewritten here with Rust's ownership model.



**Inspirations from the broader OS world:**



- **BSD** (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD) — process and credential model, VFS layer design, the philosophy of small auditable subsystems with clear contracts, and the importance of a rigorous manual-page ABI.

- **Linux** — the x86_64 syscall ABI that MyOS2026 targets for compatibility, ELF loading conventions, `/proc` filesystem layout, virtio device model, and the `no_std` discipline shown by the kernel's C99 environment.

- **Academic kernels** (xv6, Minix, L4) — clarity-over-features design discipline; every subsystem in MyOS2026 should be explainable from first principles in a single sitting.

- **Rust OS community** (Redox, blog_os, Tock) — prior art on applying Rust's ownership model to kernel concurrency, `no_std` ecosystem crate choices, and inline-assembly idioms.



---



## License



Mozilla Public License 2.0