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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.19: https://docutils.sourceforge.io/" /> <title>The Linux Kernel documentation — The Linux Kernel documentation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/pygments.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/alabaster.css" /> <script data-url_root="./" id="documentation_options" src="_static/documentation_options.js"></script> <script src="_static/jquery.js"></script> <script src="_static/underscore.js"></script> <script src="_static/_sphinx_javascript_frameworks_compat.js"></script> <script src="_static/doctools.js"></script> <script src="_static/sphinx_highlight.js"></script> <link rel="index" title="Index" href="genindex.html" /> <link rel="search" title="Search" href="search.html" /> <link rel="next" title="A guide to the Kernel Development Process" href="process/development-process.html" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/custom.css" type="text/css" /> </head><body> <div class="document"> <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation"> <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> <p class="logo"><a href="#"> <img class="logo" src="_static/logo.svg" alt="Logo"/> </a></p> <h1 class="logo"><a href="#">The Linux Kernel</a></h1> <p class="blurb">6.13.0-rc2</p> <div id="searchbox" style="display: none" role="search"> <h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3> <div class="searchformwrapper"> <form class="search" action="search.html" method="get"> <input type="text" name="q" aria-labelledby="searchlabel" autocomplete="off" autocorrect="off" autocapitalize="off" spellcheck="false"/> <input type="submit" value="Go" /> </form> </div> </div> <script>document.getElementById('searchbox').style.display = "block"</script> <p> <h3 class="kernel-toc-contents">Contents</h3> <input type="checkbox" class="kernel-toc-toggle" id = "kernel-toc-toggle" checked> <label class="kernel-toc-title" for="kernel-toc-toggle"></label> <div class="kerneltoc" id="kerneltoc"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/development-process.html">Development process</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/submitting-patches.html">Submitting patches</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/code-of-conduct.html">Code of conduct</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="maintainer/index.html">Maintainer handbook</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/index.html">All development-process docs</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="core-api/index.html">Core API</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="driver-api/index.html">Driver APIs</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="subsystem-apis.html">Subsystems</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="locking/index.html">Locking</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/license-rules.html">Licensing rules</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="doc-guide/index.html">Writing documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="dev-tools/index.html">Development tools</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="dev-tools/testing-overview.html">Testing guide</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="kernel-hacking/index.html">Hacking guide</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="trace/index.html">Tracing</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="fault-injection/index.html">Fault injection</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="livepatch/index.html">Livepatching</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="rust/index.html">Rust</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="admin-guide/index.html">Administration</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="kbuild/index.html">Build system</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="admin-guide/reporting-issues.html">Reporting issues</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="tools/index.html">Userspace tools</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="userspace-api/index.html">Userspace API</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="firmware-guide/index.html">Firmware</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="devicetree/index.html">Firmware and Devicetree</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/index.html">CPU architectures</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="staging/index.html">Unsorted documentation</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/index.html">Translations</a></li> </ul> </div> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> <div role="note" aria-label="source link"> <h3>This Page</h3> <ul class="this-page-menu"> <li><a href="_sources/index.rst.txt" rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="documentwrapper"> <div class="bodywrapper"> <div class="body" role="main">   <div class="language-selection"> English <ul> <li><a href="translations/zh_CN/index.html">Chinese (Simplified)</a></li> <li><a href="translations/zh_TW/index.html">Chinese (Traditional)</a></li> <li><a href="translations/it_IT/index.html">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="translations/ja_JP/index.html">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="translations/ko_KR/index.html">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="translations/sp_SP/index.html">Spanish</a></li> </ul> </div> <section id="the-linux-kernel-documentation"> <span id="linux-doc"></span><h1>The Linux Kernel documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#the-linux-kernel-documentation" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h1> <p>This is the top level of the kernel’s documentation tree. Kernel documentation, like the kernel itself, is very much a work in progress; that is especially true as we work to integrate our many scattered documents into a coherent whole. Please note that improvements to the documentation are welcome; join the linux-doc list at vger.kernel.org if you want to help out.</p> <section id="working-with-the-development-community"> <h2>Working with the development community<a class="headerlink" href="#working-with-the-development-community" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>The essential guides for interacting with the kernel’s development community and getting your work upstream.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/development-process.html">Development process</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/submitting-patches.html">Submitting patches</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/code-of-conduct.html">Code of conduct</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="maintainer/index.html">Maintainer handbook</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/index.html">All development-process docs</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="internal-api-manuals"> <h2>Internal API manuals<a class="headerlink" href="#internal-api-manuals" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>Manuals for use by developers working to interface with the rest of the kernel.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="core-api/index.html">Core API</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="driver-api/index.html">Driver APIs</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="subsystem-apis.html">Subsystems</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="locking/index.html">Locking</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="development-tools-and-processes"> <h2>Development tools and processes<a class="headerlink" href="#development-tools-and-processes" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>Various other manuals with useful information for all kernel developers.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="process/license-rules.html">Licensing rules</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="doc-guide/index.html">Writing documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="dev-tools/index.html">Development tools</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="dev-tools/testing-overview.html">Testing guide</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="kernel-hacking/index.html">Hacking guide</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="trace/index.html">Tracing</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="fault-injection/index.html">Fault injection</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="livepatch/index.html">Livepatching</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="rust/index.html">Rust</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="user-oriented-documentation"> <h2>User-oriented documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#user-oriented-documentation" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>The following manuals are written for <em>users</em> of the kernel — those who are trying to get it to work optimally on a given system and application developers seeking information on the kernel’s user-space APIs.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="admin-guide/index.html">Administration</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="kbuild/index.html">Build system</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="admin-guide/reporting-issues.html">Reporting issues</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="tools/index.html">Userspace tools</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="userspace-api/index.html">Userspace API</a></li> </ul> </div> <p>See also: the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/">Linux man pages</a>, which are kept separately from the kernel’s own documentation.</p> </section> <section id="firmware-related-documentation"> <h2>Firmware-related documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#firmware-related-documentation" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>The following holds information on the kernel’s expectations regarding the platform firmwares.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="firmware-guide/index.html">Firmware</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="devicetree/index.html">Firmware and Devicetree</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="architecture-specific-documentation"> <h2>Architecture-specific documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#architecture-specific-documentation" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/index.html">CPU architectures</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/arc/index.html">ARC architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/arm/index.html">ARM Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/arm64/index.html">ARM64 Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/loongarch/index.html">LoongArch Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/m68k/index.html">m68k Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/mips/index.html">MIPS-specific Documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/nios2/index.html">Nios II Specific Documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/openrisc/index.html">OpenRISC Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/parisc/index.html">PA-RISC Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/powerpc/index.html">powerpc</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/riscv/index.html">RISC-V architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/s390/index.html">s390 Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/sh/index.html">SuperH Interfaces Guide</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/sparc/index.html">Sparc Architecture</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/x86/index.html">x86-specific Documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="arch/xtensa/index.html">Xtensa Architecture</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="other-documentation"> <h2>Other documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#other-documentation" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>There are several unsorted documents that don’t seem to fit on other parts of the documentation body, or may require some adjustments and/or conversion to reStructuredText format, or are simply too old.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="staging/index.html">Unsorted documentation</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="translations"> <h2>Translations<a class="headerlink" href="#translations" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/index.html">Translations</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/zh_CN/index.html">中文翻译</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/zh_TW/index.html">繁體中文翻譯</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/it_IT/index.html">La documentazione del kernel Linux</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/ko_KR/index.html">한국어 번역</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/ja_JP/index.html">日本語訳</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/sp_SP/index.html">Traducción al español</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translations/index.html#disclaimer">Disclaimer</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="indices-and-tables"> <h2>Indices and tables<a class="headerlink" href="#indices-and-tables" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2> <ul class="simple"> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="genindex.html"><span class="std std-ref">Index</span></a></p></li> </ul> </section> </section> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearer"></div> </div> <div class="footer"> ©The kernel development community. | Powered by <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx 5.3.0</a> & <a href="https://alabaster.readthedocs.io">Alabaster 0.7.16</a> | <a href="_sources/index.rst.txt" rel="nofollow">Page source</a> </div> </body> </html>