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Building, Running, and Deployment

BoredOS uses a single top-level Makefile to orchestrate the build process.

The Build Process

When you run make in the root directory, the following stages occur automatically:

  1. Limine Setup (limine-setup): If the Limine bootloader binaries are missing, the Makefile automatically clones the appropriate Limine binary release from GitHub and compiles its host utility.
  2. Kernel Compilation: All .c files in src/core, src/mem, src/dev, src/sys, src/fs, src/wm, and src/net are compiled into object files (.o) inside the build/ directory using x86_64-elf-gcc.
  3. Kernel Assembly: All .asm files in src/arch/ are assembled into object files using nasm.
  4. Kernel Linking: x86_64-elf-ld links the kernel object files together, instructed by the linker.ld script, outputting the boredos.elf kernel binary.
  5. Userland Compilation: The Makefile shifts into the src/userland directory, compiling the custom libc and generating bin/*.elf executable user applications.
  6. ISO Generation: The iso_root directory is staged. The kernel, Limine configuration, fonts, images, and userland applications are copied in. Finally, xorriso generates the boredos.iso bootable image.

Minimum System Requirements

To run BoredOS successfully (either in emulation or on bare metal), your target machine should meet the following minimum requirements:

  • CPU: An x86_64 (64-bit) compatible processor.
  • Memory: Approximately ~256 MB of RAM.
  • Display: A VGA-compatible display (required for the GUI Window Manager).
  • Networking (Optional): A compatible Network Interface Card (NIC) is required if you want to use the networking stack (e.g., an Intel E1000 or similar supported by the net/nic/ drivers). Networking is not strictly required for the OS to boot or run offline applications.

Running in Emulation

To test the generated ISO quickly without real hardware, use the QEMU emulator:

make run

This command automatically detects your operating system and invokes QEMU with specific arguments:

  • -m 4G: Allocates 4 Gigabytes of RAM.
  • -cdrom boredos.iso: Mounts the built OS image as a CD-ROM.
  • -smp 4: Enables 4 CPU cores.

Running on Bare Metal

CAUTION

Running hobby operating systems on real hardware is at your own risk and may cause undefined behavior.

To boot BoredOS on a physical PC:

  1. Build the OS to get boredos.iso.
  2. Use a flashing tool like Balena Etcher or dd to write the ISO to a USB flash drive.
  3. Reboot your target computer, enter the BIOS/UEFI setup.
  4. Boot Configuration: BoredOS supports booting on both modern UEFI systems and legacy BIOS systems natively via Limine. Ensure Secure Boot is disabled in your firmware settings.
  5. Select the USB drive from the boot menu.