Build Overview

This section covers building NØNOS from source. The build system is designed to be straightforward while maintaining cryptographic integrity throughout the process.

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Architecture

NØNOS consists of two primary components that work together:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        BUILD PIPELINE                           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│   ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐                     │
│   │  nonos-boot  │         │ nonos-kernel │                     │
│   │              │         │              │                     │
│   │  UEFI App    │         │  Bare Metal  │                     │
│   │  x86_64-uefi │         │  x86_64-nonos│                     │
│   └──────┬───────┘         └──────┬───────┘                     │
│          │                        │                             │
│          │    ┌───────────┐       │                             │
│          │    │  Ed25519  │       │                             │
│          │    │  Signing  │◄──────┘                             │
│          │    └─────┬─────┘                                     │
│          │          │                                           │
│          ▼          ▼                                           │
│   ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐                       │
│   │        EFI System Partition         │                       │
│   │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  │                       │
│   │  │ BOOTX64.EFI │  │  kernel.bin  │  │                       │
│   │  │   300 KB    │  │   221 KB     │  │                       │
│   │  └─────────────┘  └──────────────┘  │                       │
│   └─────────────────────────────────────┘                       │
│                         │                                       │
│                         ▼                                       │
│              ┌────────────────────┐                             │
│              │    nonos.iso       │                             │
│              │      ~65 MB        │                             │
│              └────────────────────┘                             │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Repositories

NØNOS is split across two repositories:

Repository	Description	Target
nonos-kernel	Core kernel, drivers, crypto	x86_64-nonos (custom)
nonos-boot	UEFI bootloader, verification	x86_64-unknown-uefi

---

Quick Start

# Clone repositories
git clone https://github.com/NON-OS/nonos-kernel.git

cd nonos-kernel

git clone https://github.com/NON-OS/nonos-boot.git

# Build and run
make nonos
make run

The Makefile handles everything: toolchain verification, signing key generation, cross-compilation, and QEMU configuration.

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Build Targets

Target	Description
make nonos	Build bootloader, kernel, prepare ESP
make run	Launch in QEMU with graphical output
make run-serial	Launch with serial console (debugging)
make debug	Launch with GDB server on :1234
make iso	Generate bootable ISO image
make clean	Remove build artifacts

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Build Output

target/
├── esp/                              # EFI System Partition
│   └── EFI/
│       ├── Boot/BOOTX64.EFI         # Signed bootloader (300 KB)
│       └── nonos/kernel.bin          # Signed kernel (221 KB)
│
├── x86_64-unknown-uefi/release/
│   └── nonos_boot.efi                # Raw bootloader binary
│
└── x86_64-nonos/release/
    └── nonos-kernel                  # Raw kernel binary

---

Cryptographic Signing

Every kernel binary is signed with Ed25519 before deployment:

1. Development builds — Makefile auto-generates dev_signing_key.bin if missing

2. Production builds — Set SIGNING_KEY=/path/to/key.bin environment variable

The bootloader embeds public keys and verifies signatures at boot time. An unsigned or incorrectly signed kernel will not execute.

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Platform Support

The build system auto-detects your platform and configures paths accordingly:

Platform	QEMU	OVMF	Notes
Linux	System package	/usr/share/OVMF/	apt install qemu-system-x86 ovmf
macOS	Homebrew	Bundled with QEMU	brew install qemu + Xcode CLT
Windows	WSL2	Via Ubuntu	Follow Linux instructions in WSL

Toolchain Requirements

• Rust nightly with x86_64-unknown-uefi target

• rust-src and llvm-tools-preview components

• QEMU with OVMF/UEFI firmware

See Environment Setup for detailed installation instructions.

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What's Next

Building the Kernel Building the Bootloader	Running in QEMU Creating Bootable Media Booting on Hardware