Linux Kernel Development — Episode 1: Environment Setup

Posted Feb 25, 2026 Updated Apr 21, 2026

By Guilherme Dias Nunes de Abreu

1 min read

The first step into Linux kernel development is setting up a proper environment where we can safely build and test changes. For that, FLUSP provides a tutorial on setting up a test environment using QEMU and libvirt.

The goal here is to create a virtualized environment capable of running custom kernels without risking the host system. This is done using tools like qemu, libvirt, and virsh, which allow us to create and manage virtual machines.

Even working on a Linux machine, the setup required some adjustments. At first, some dependencies were not being found, which turned out to be related to missing or incomplete repository configurations. After fixing the repository sources and updating the system, the installation process worked as expected.

By the end of the tutorial, I had:

A working virtual machine created with virsh
Basic control over the VM lifecycle
SSH access configured between host and guest

This environment will be used in the next steps to build and test a custom Linux kernel.

linux-kernel, mac0470

linux mac0470

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.