If you are using the class vm, to compile, just run make xv6.img in the project directory. That will build xv6.img. Assuimging that was successful, you can then run xv6 by running make qemu. If you make changes to any xv6, you will likely need to first clean out the "stale" binaries before rebuilding xv6.img. You can clean your build environment with make clean.
You will then want to navigate to
run make clean && make qemu-vscode once the gdb server has started, it will wait for connections. You can then
navigate to your debug console in VSCode and select gdb from the gear icon. You should see an "Attach to QEMU" profile
available. When you run this, you should connect to the gdb server. Go ahead and try to set up breakpoints and whatnot.
If you are already a linux power user, you can compile natively with docker. You can compile xv6 with docker my running make docker. That will run an ubuntu 18.04 container that will compile xv6.img for you. I would not recommend relying on this unless you are already profcient with docker.
If you are compiling natively, will need to add a plugin to your vscode. To install the necessary dependencies for debugging in vscode, press ctrl p then enter ext install webfreak.debug.
That will install this vscode module. You will also need to install
gdb and lldb if you haven't already. On debian that is sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gdb lldb, on arch
(btw) sudo pacman -S gdb lldb, and alpine sudo apk add --update gdb lldb.
xv6 is a re-implementation of Dennis Ritchie's and Ken Thompson's Unix Version 6 (v6). xv6 loosely follows the structure and style of v6, but is implemented for a modern x86-based multiprocessor using ANSI C.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xv6 is inspired by John Lions's Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition (Peer to Peer Communications; ISBN: 1-57398-013-7; 1st edition (June 14, 2000)). See also http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.828/2014/xv6.html, which provides pointers to on-line resources for v6.
xv6 borrows code from the following sources: JOS (asm.h, elf.h, mmu.h, bootasm.S, ide.c, console.c, and others) Plan 9 (entryother.S, mp.h, mp.c, lapic.c) FreeBSD (ioapic.c) NetBSD (console.c)
The following people have made contributions: Russ Cox (context switching, locking) Cliff Frey (MP) Xiao Yu (MP) Nickolai Zeldovich Austin Clements
In addition, we are grateful for the bug reports and patches contributed by Silas Boyd-Wickizer, Peter Froehlich, Shivam Handa, Anders Kaseorg, Eddie Kohler, Yandong Mao, Hitoshi Mitake, Carmi Merimovich, Joel Nider, Greg Price, Eldar Sehayek, Yongming Shen, Stephen Tu, and Zouchangwei.
The code in the files that constitute xv6 is Copyright 2006-2014 Frans Kaashoek, Robert Morris, and Russ Cox.
ERROR REPORTS
If you spot errors or have suggestions for improvement, please send email to Frans Kaashoek and Robert Morris (kaashoek,rtm@csail.mit.edu).
BUILDING AND RUNNING XV6
To build xv6 on an x86 ELF machine (like Linux or FreeBSD), run "make". On non-x86 or non-ELF machines (like OS X, even on x86), you will need to install a cross-compiler gcc suite capable of producing x86 ELF binaries. See http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.828/2014/tools.html. Then run "make TOOLPREFIX=i386-jos-elf-".
To run xv6, install the QEMU PC simulators. To run in QEMU, run "make qemu".
To create a typeset version of the code, run "make xv6.pdf". This requires the "mpage" utility. See http://www.mesa.nl/pub/mpage/.