Manuals

The Manuals section has the current defining L4 API specification document. For reference, previous specifications are available as well.

Internals

Inside L4/MIPS is an attempt to document the internal structure of L4 and its operations. It is based on the Version 2 L4/MIPS, kernel version 79 (February 1999). The document is meant as an aid in teaching operating systems internals, and as a guide for kernel implementors. While the actual code discussed is very specific to the MIPS processor, much of the overall structure and logic of L4 is quite similar across platforms.

The most serious limitation of the document is that modern L4 versions are almost fully implemented in higher-level languages, while the version on which this document is based is about half assembler. This means it is written at a (now) unecessarily low level. Unfortunately no-one has yet found the time to write a similar document for L4Ka::Pistachio.

Slides

Slides of the lecture Microkernel Construction as it is taught at the University of Karlsruhe. They explain L4 concepts and how these can be implemented efficiently. The slides are based on Jochen Liedtke's original set of slides but have been updated to L4 Version X.2 and its reference implementation L4Ka::Pistachio.

API slides used for teaching COMP9242 Advanced Operating Systems at UNSW.

There also exists a lecture in Dresden on Microkernel Construction, which was inspired by the Karlsruhe lecture, but rather focuses on Dresden's implementation Fiasco. Additionally, a user land lecture, Microkernel-Based Systems, is held in Dresden.