> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://echostone.gitbook.io/pintos/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://echostone.gitbook.io/pintos/getting-started/pintos-world/building-pintos.md).

# Building Pintos

{% hint style="info" %}
**There is one Makefile under each lab directory (`threads/`, `userprog/`, `vm/`, `filesys/`).** When you are working on a specific lab, you should build Pintos under its corresponding directory.

* **Lab0 will use the same directory as Lab1, i.e., `threads/`.**
  {% endhint %}

{% hint style="success" %}
If you take a look at the content of these Makefiles, you may be surprised that they are all the same! So what's the difference when you run `make` under different lab directories?\
(hint: Make.vars)
{% endhint %}

Now let's build the kernel from the source code supplied for Lab0.

{% hint style="info" %}
**If you set up your environment using docker, we assume that you are always in the container environment mounted with the Pintos directory from now on.**
{% endhint %}

1. **First, `cd` into the `threads/` directory.**
2. **Then, issue the `make` command.** This will create a build directory under `threads/`, populate it with a Makefile and a few subdirectories, and then build the kernel inside. The entire build should take less than 30 seconds.
3. **This is the end of building.**

After building, the followings are the interesting files in the `build/` directory:

* <mark style="color:blue;">**"Makefile"**</mark>
  * A copy of `pintos/src/Makefile.build`. It describes how to build the kernel.
* <mark style="color:blue;">**"kernel.o"**</mark>
  * <mark style="color:red;">**Object file for the entire kernel.**</mark> This is the result of linking object files compiled from each individual kernel source file into a single object file. It contains debug information, so you can run GDB or `backtrace` (see section [Debugging](/pintos/getting-started/debug-and-test/debugging.md)) on it.
* <mark style="color:blue;">**"kernel.bin"**</mark>
  * **Memory image of the kernel**, that is, the exact bytes loaded into memory to run the Pintos kernel. This is just `kernel.o` with debug information stripped out, which saves a lot of space, which in turn keeps the kernel from bumping up against the 512 kB size limit imposed by the kernel loader's design.
* <mark style="color:blue;">**"loader.bin"**</mark>
  * **Memory image for the kernel loader**, a small chunk of code written in assembly language that reads the kernel from disk into memory and starts it up. It is exactly 512 bytes long, a size fixed by the PC BIOS.

Subdirectories of build contain object files (.o) and dependency files (.d), both produced by the compiler. The dependency files tell `make` which source files need to be recompiled when other source or header files are changed.