NeKernel

Modern, Modular, and Secure Microkernel for Next-Generation Systems

Overview

NeKernel is a modern, multi-platform microkernel designed for security, modularity, and performance. It features a custom VFS, advanced memory management, a flexible DDK (Driver Development Kit), and robust userland tooling. NeKernel is built for research, education, and next-generation OS development.

Features

Modular Microkernel Architecture: Clean separation of kernel, drivers, userland, and frameworks.
Custom Filesystems: (HeFS), catalog/fork model (NeFS), and metadata handling.
Memory Management: Custom heap manager, page manager, and safe memory utilities. Kernel heap allocations are protected with metadata and CRCs. Userland and kernel memory separation.
Device and Driver Model: Abstracted device interfaces for storage, network, and more. DDK (Device Driver Kit) for writing drivers in C/C++ with kernel RPC and memory-safe APIs.
Userland Tooling: CLI tools for formatting, checking, and managing filesystems, disk image utilities, and system utilities. All tools interact with kernel or disk images using well-defined APIs.
System Call Interface: low-level syscall ABI, with a stable high-level SDK for user applications. System calls are routed through a syscall manager and abstracted by libSystem.
Security and Robustness: kernel and tooling (bounds checks, safe memory copy/set, error codes). Kernel panics and error reporting for critical failures. No dynamic code loading in kernel space.
Documentation and Specs: Full LaTeX specifications for HeFS and NeFS, with on-disk structure diagrams and API documentation. Markdown docs for tooling and usage.
Cross-Platform Boot Support: Bootloader and platform code for AMD64 and ARM64, with handover and hardware abstraction layers.
Testing and Debugging: Logging, debug output, and kernel test framework headers. (Note: Fuzzing/sanitizer support is planned but not fully implemented.)

Getting Started

Requirements

MinGW (cross-compiling)
Clang
NASM
NeBuild (build system)

Build & Run

git clone https://github.com/nekernel-org/nekernel.git
cd nekernel
./setup_x64.sh
./debug_ata_x64.sh   # For generic ATA PIO target (QEMU)

For ARM64 or other targets, see the scripts in dev/boot/.

Structure

dev/kernel/ — Core kernel source (scheduling, memory, VFS, drivers)
dev/boot/ — Bootloader, platform bring-up, and early system code
dev/ddk/ — Driver Development Kit (DDK) and sample drivers
dev/libSystem/ — Userland system call interface and runtime
public/tools/ — CLI tools (mkfs, fsck, open, manual, etc.)
public/frameworks/ — Userland frameworks (CoreFoundation, DiskImage, etc.)
docs/ — Specifications, design docs, and diagrams

Security

Vulnerability Disclosure:
Please report security issues privately via email or GitHub Security Advisories.

Documentation

Contributing

Please run format.sh before committing (uses .clang-format).
All contributions (code, docs, fuzzing, security) are welcome!

Authors & Credits

Amlal El Mahrouss — Lead developer, kernel architect
Full contributor list

License

This project is licensed under the [GPL-3.0 License](LICENSE).