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[[meta title="Towards a New Strategy of OS Design, an architectural overview by
Thomas Bushnell, BSG."]]


This article explains why FSF is developing a new operating system named the
Hurd, which will be a foundation of the whole GNU system.
The Hurd is built
on top of CMU's Mach 3.0 kernel and uses Mach's virtual memory management and
message-passing facilities.
The GNU C Library will provide the Unix system
call interface, and will call the Hurd for needed services it can't provide
itself.
The design and implementation of the Hurd is being lead by Michael
Bushnell, with assistance from Richard Stallman, Roland McGrath,
Jan Brittenson, and others.

<H2>Part 1: A More Usable Approach to OS Design</H2>
<P>
The fundamental purpose of an operating system (OS) is to enable a variety of
programs to share a single computer efficiently and productively.
This
demands memory protection, preemptively scheduled timesharing, coordinated
access to I/O peripherals, and other services.
In addition, an OS can allow
several users to share a computer.
In this case, efficiency demands services
that protect users from harming each other, enable them to share without
prior arrangement, and mediate access to physical devices.
<P>
On today's computer systems, programmers usually implement these goals
through a large program called the kernel.
Since this program must be
accessible to all user programs, it is the natural place to add functionality
to the system.
Since the only model for process interaction is that of
specific, individual services provided by the kernel, no one creates other
places to add functionality.
As time goes by, more and more is added to the
kernel.
<P>
A traditional system allows users to add components to a kernel only if they
both understand most of it and have a privileged status within the system.
Testing new components requires a much more painful edit-compile-debug cycle
than testing other programs.
It cannot be done while others are using the
system.
Bugs usually cause fatal system crashes, further disrupting others'
use of the system.
The entire kernel is usually non-pageable.
(There are
systems with pageable kernels, but deciding what can be paged is difficult
and error prone.
Usually the mechanisms are complex, making them difficult
to use even when adding simple extensions.)
<P>
Because of these restrictions, functionality which properly belongs
<STRONG>behind</STRONG>
the wall of a traditional kernel is usually left out of systems unless it is
absolutely mandatory.
Many good ideas, best done with an open/read/write
interface cannot be implemented because of the problems inherent in the
monolithic nature of a traditional system.
Further, even among those with
the endurance to implement new ideas, only those who are privileged users of
their computers can do so.
The software copyright system darkens the mire by
preventing unlicensed people from even reading the kernel source.
<P>
Some systems have tried to address these difficulties.
Smalltalk-80 and
the Lisp Machine both represented one method of getting around the problem.
System code is not distinguished from user code; all of the system is
accessible to the user and can be changed as need be.
Both systems were
built around languages that facilitated such easy replacement and extension,
and were moderately successful.
But they both were fairly poor at insulating
users and programs from each other, failing one of the principal goals of OS
design.
<P>
Most projects that use the Mach 3.0 kernel carry on the hard-to-change
tradition of OS design.
The internal structure is different, but the same
heavy barrier between user and system remains.
The single-servers, while
fairly easy to construct, inherit all the deficiencies of the monolithic
kernels.
<P>
A multi-server divides the kernel functionality up into logical blocks with
well-defined interfaces.
Properly done, it is easier to make changes and add
functionality.
So most multi-server projects do somewhat better.
Much more
of the system is pageable.
You can debug the system more easily.
You can
test new system components without interfering with other users.
But the
wall between user and system remains; no user can cross it without special
privilege.
<P>
The GNU&nbsp;Hurd, by contrast, is designed to make the area of
<STRONG>system</STRONG>
code as
limited as possible.
Programs are required to communicate only with a few
essential parts of the kernel; the rest of the system is replaceable
dynamically.
Users can use whatever parts of the remainder of the system
they want, and can easily add components themselves for other users to take
advantage of.
No mutual trust need exist in advance for users to use each
other's services, nor does the system become vulnerable by trusting the
services of arbitrary users.
<P>
This has been done by identifying those system components which users
<STRONG>must</STRONG>
use in order to communicate with each other.
One of these is responsible for
identifying users' identities and is called the
<DFN>
authentication server.
</DFN>
In
order to establish each other's identities, programs must communicate, each
with an authentication server they trust.
Another component establishes
control over system components by the superuser, provides global bookkeeping
operations, and is called the
<DFN>
process server.
</DFN>
<P>
Not all user programs need to communicate with the process server; it is only
necessary for programs which require its services.
Likewise, the
authentication server is only necessary for programs that wish to communicate
their identity to another.
None of the remaining services carry any special
status; not the network implementation, the filesystems, the program
execution mechanism (including setuid), or any others.

<H3>The Translator Mechanism</H3>
<P>
The Hurd uses Mach ports primarily as methods for communicating between users
and servers.
(A Mach port is a communication point on a Mach task where
messages are sent and received.)  Each port implements a particular set of
protocols, representing operations that can be undertaken on the underlying
object represented by the port.
Some of the protocols specified by the Hurd
are the I/O protocol, used for generic I/O operations; the file protocol,
used for filesystem operations; the socket protocol, used for network
operations; and the process protocol, used for manipulating processes et al.
<P>
Most servers are accessed by opening files.
Normally, when you open a file,
you create a port associated with that file that is owned by the server
that owns the directory containing the file.
For example, a disk-based
filesystem will normally serve a large number of ports, each of which
represents an open file or directory.
When a file is opened, the server
creates a new port, associates it with the file, and returns the port to the
calling program.
<P>
However, a file can have a
<DFN>translator</DFN>
associated with it.
In this case,
rather than return its own port which refers to the contents of the file, the
server executes a translator program associated with that file.
This
translator is given a port to the actual contents of the file, and is then
asked to return a port to the original user to complete the open operation.
<P>
This mechanism is used for
<CODE>mount</CODE>
by having a translator associated with
each mount point.
When a program opens the mount point, the translator (in
this case, a program which understands the disk format of the mounted
filesystem) is executed and returns a port to the program.
After the
translator is started, it need not be run again unless it dies; the parent
filesystem retains a port to the translator to use in further requests.
<P>
The owner of a file can associate a translator with it without special
permission.
This means that any program can be specified as a translator.
Obviously the system will not work properly if the translator does not
implement the file protocol correctly.
However, the Hurd is constructed so
that the worst possible consequence is an interruptible hang.
<P>
One way to use translators is to access hierarchically structured data using
the file protocol.
For example, all the complexity of the user interface to
the
<CODE>ftp</CODE>
program is removed.
Users need only know that a particular
directory represents FTP and can use all the standard file manipulation
commands (e.g
<CODE>ls</CODE>
or
<CODE>cp</CODE>)
to access the remote system, rather than learning
a new set.
Similarly, a simple translator could ease the complexity of
<CODE>tar</CODE>
or
<CODE>gzip</CODE>.
(Such transparent access would have some added cost, but it would
be convenient.)

<H3>Generic Services</H3>
<P>
With translators, the filesystem can act as a rendezvous for interfaces which
are not similar to files.
Consider a service which implements some version
of the X protocol, using Mach messages as an underlying transport.
For each
X display, a file can be created with the appropriate program as its
translator.
X clients would open that file.
At that point, few file
operations would be useful (read and write, for example, would be useless),
but new operations (
<CODE>XCreateWindow</CODE>
or
<CODE>XDrawText</CODE>)
might become meaningful.
In this case, the filesystem protocol is used only to manipulate
characteristics of the node used for the rendezvous.
The node need not
support I/O operations, though it should reply to any such messages with a
<CODE>message_not_understood</CODE>
return code.
<P>
This translator technique is used to contact most of the services in the Hurd
that are not structured like hierarchical filesystems.
For example, the
password server, which hands out authorization tags in exchange for
passwords, is contacted this way.
Network protocol servers are also
contacted in this fashion.
Roland McGrath thought up this use of translators.

<H3>Clever Filesystem Pictures</H3>
<P>
In the Hurd, translators can also be used to present a filesystem-like view
of another part of the filesystem, with some semantics changed.
For example,
it would be nice to have a filesystem that cannot itself be changed, but
nonetheless records changed versions of its files elsewhere.
(This could be
useful for source code management.)
<P>
The Hurd will have a translator which creates a directory which is a
conceptual union of other directories, with collision resolution rules of
various sorts.
This can be used to present a single directory to users that
contains all the programs they would want to execute.
There are other useful
variations on this theme.

<H3>What The User Can Do</H3>
<P>
No translator gains extra privilege by virtue of being hooked into the
filesystem.
Translators run with the uid of the owner of the file being
translated, and can only be set or changed by that owner.
The I/O and
filesystem protocols are carefully designed to allow their use by mutually
untrusting clients and servers.
Indeed, translators are just ordinary
programs.
The GNU C library has a variety of facilities to make common sorts
of translators easier to write.
<P>
Some translators may need special privileges, such as the password server or
translators which allow setuid execution.
These translators could be run by
anyone, but only if they are set on a root-owned node would they be able to
provide all their services successfully.
This is analogous to letting any
user call the
<CODE>reboot</CODE>
system call, but only honoring it if that user is root.

<H3>Why This Is So Different</H3>
<P>
What this design provides is completely novel to the Unix world.
Until now,
OSs have kept huge portions of their functionality in the realm of system
code, thus preventing its modification and extension except in extreme need.
Users cannot replace parts of the system in their programs no matter how much
easier that would make their task, and system managers are loath to install
random tweaks off the net into their kernels.
<P>
In the Hurd, users can change almost all of the things that are decided for
them in advance by traditional systems.
In combination with the tremendous
control given by the Mach kernel over task address spaces and properties, the
Hurd provides a system in which users will, for the first time, be able to
replace parts of the system they dislike, without disrupting other users.
<P>
Most Mach-based OSs to date have mostly implemented a wider set of the
<STRONG>
same old
</STRONG>
Unix semantics in a new environment.
In contrast, GNU is extending
those semantics to allow users to improve, bypass, or replace them.


<H2>Part 2: A Look at Some of the Hurd's Beasts</H2>
<H3>The Authentication Server</H3>
<P>
One of the Hurd's more central servers is the authentication server.
Each
port to this server identifies a user and is associated by this server with
an
<DFN>id block</DFN>.
Each id block contains sets of user and group ids.
Either
set may be empty.
This server is not the same as the password server
referred to above.
<P>
The authentication server exports three services.
First, it provides simple
boolean operations on authentication ports: given two authentication ports,
this server will provide a third port representing the union of the two sets
of uids and gids.
Second,  this server allows any user with a uid of zero to
create an arbitrary authentication port.
Finally, this server provides RPCs
(Remote Procedure Calls between different programs and possibly different
hosts) which allow mutually untrusting clients and servers to establish their
identities and pass initial information on each other.
This is crucial to
the security of the filesystem and I/O protocols.
<P>
Any user could write a program which implements the authentication protocol;
this does not violate the system's security.
When a service needs to
authenticate a user, it communicates with its trusted authentication server.
If that user is using a different authentication server, the transaction will
fail and the server can refuse to communicate further.
Because, in effect,
this forces all programs on the system to use the same authentication server,
we have designed its interface to make any safe operation possible, and to
include no extraneous operations.
(This is why there is a separate password
server.)
<H3>The Process Server</H3>
<P>
The process server acts as an information categorization repository.
There
are four main services supported by this server.
First, the process server
keeps track of generic host-level information not handled by the Mach kernel.
For example, the hostname, the hostid, and the system version are maintained
by the process server.
Second, this server maintains the Posix notions of
sessions and process groups, to help out programs that wish to use Posix
features.
<P>
Third, the process server maintains a one-to-one mapping between Mach tasks
and Hurd processes.
Every task is assigned a pid.
Processes can register a
message port with this server, which can then be given out to any program
which requests it.
This server makes no attempt to keep these message ports
private, so user programs are expected to implement whatever security they
need themselves.
(The GNU C Library provides convenient functions for all
this.) Processes can tell the process server their current `argv' and `envp'
values; this server will then provide, on request, these vectors of arguments
and environment.
This is useful for writing
<CODE>ps</CODE>-like
programs and also
makes it easier to hide or change this information.
None of these features
are mandatory.
Programs are free to disregard all of this and never register
themselves with the process server at all.
They will, however, still have a
pid assigned.
<P>
Finally, the process server implements
<DFN>process collections</DFN>,
which are used
to collect a number of process message ports at the same time.
Also,
facilities are provided for converting between pids, process server ports,
and Mach task ports, while ensuring the security of the ports managed.
<P>
It is important to stress that the process server is optional.
Because of
restrictions in Mach, programs must run as root in order to identify all the
tasks in the system.
But given that, multiple process servers could
co-exist, each with their own clients, giving their own model of the
universe.
Those process server features which do not require root privileges
to be implemented could be done as per-user servers.
The user's hands are
not tied.
<H3>Transparent FTP</H3>
<P>
Transparent FTP is an intriguing idea whose time has come.
The popular
<CODE>ange-ftp</CODE>
package available for GNU Emacs makes access to FTP files
virtually transparent to all the Emacs file manipulation functions.
Transparent FTP does the same thing, but in a system wide fashion.
This
server is not yet written; the details remain to be fleshed out, and will
doubtless change with experience.
<P>
In a BSD kernel, a transparent FTP filesystem would be no harder to write
than in the Hurd.
But mention the idea to a BSD kernel hacker, and the
response is that ``such a thing doesn't belong in the kernel''.
In a sense,
this is correct.
It violates all the layering principles of such systems to
place such things in the kernel.
The unfortunate side effect, however, is
that the design methodology (which is based on preventing users from changing
things they don't like) is being used to prevent system designers from making
things better.
(Recent BSD kernels make it possible to write a user program
that provides transparent FTP.
An example is
<CODE>alex</CODE>,
but it needs to run
with full root privileges.)
<P>
In the Hurd, there are no obstacles to doing transparent FTP.
A translator
will be provided for the node
<CODE>/ftp</CODE>.
The contents of
<CODE>/ftp</CODE>
will probably
not be directly listable, though further subdirectories will be.
There will
be a variety of possible formats.
For example, to access files on uunet, one
could
<CODE>
cd /ftp/ftp.uu.net:anonymous:mib@gnu.
</CODE>
Or to access files on a remote
account, one might
<CODE>
cd /ftp/gnu.org:mib:passwd.
</CODE>
Parts of this
command could be left out and the transparent FTP program would read them
from a user's
<CODE>.netrc</CODE>
file.
In the last case, one might just
<CODE>
cd /ftp/gnu.org;
</CODE>
when the rest of the data is already in
<CODE>.netrc</CODE>.
<P>
There is no need to do a
<CODE>cd</CODE>
first--use any file command.
To find out about
RFC 1097 (the Telnet Subliminal Message Option), just type
<CODE>
more /ftp/ftp.uu.net/inet/rfc/rfc1097.
</CODE>
A copy command to a local disk
could be used if the RFC would be read frequently.
<H3>Filesystems</H3>
<P>
Ordinary filesystems are also being implemented.
The initial release of the
Hurd will contain a filesystem upwardly compatible with the BSD 4.4 Fast File
System.
In addition to the ordinary semantics, it will provide means to
record translators, offer thirty-two bit user ids and group ids, and supply a
new id per file, called the
<DFN>author</DFN>
of the file, which can be set by the
owner arbitrarily.
In addition, because users in the Hurd can have multiple
uids (or even none), there is an additional set of permission bits providing
access control for
<DFN>
unknown user
</DFN>
(no uids) as distinct from
<DFN>
known but arbitrary user
</DFN>
(some uids: the existing
<DFN>world</DFN>
category of file
permissions).
<P>
The Network File System protocol will be implemented using 4.4 BSD as a
starting point.
A log-structured filesystem will also be implemented using
the same ideas as in Sprite, but probably not the same format.
A GNU network
file protocol may be designed in time, or NFS may be extended to remove its
deficiencies.
There will also be various ``little'' filesystems, such as the
MS-DOS filesystem, to help people move files between GNU and other OSs.

<H3>Terminals</H3>
<P>
An I/O server will provide the terminal semantics of Posix.
The GNU C
Library has features for keeping track of the controlling terminal and for
arranging to have proper job control signals sent at the proper times, as
well as features for obeying keyboard and hangup signals.
<P>
Programs will be able to insert a terminal driver into communications
channels in a variety of ways.
Servers like
<CODE>rlogind</CODE>
will be able to insert
the terminal protocol onto their network communication port.
Pseudo-terminals will not be necessary, though they will be provided for
backward compatibility with older programs.
No programs in GNU will depend
on them.
<P>
Nothing about a terminal driver is forced upon users.
A terminal driver
allows a user to get at the underlying communications channel easily, to
bypass itself on an as-needed basis or altogether, or to substitute a
different terminal driver-like program.
In the last case, provided the
alternate program implements the necessary interfaces, it will be used by the
C Library exactly as if it were the ordinary terminal driver.
<P>
Because of this flexibility, the original terminal driver will not provide
complex line editing features, restricting itself to the behavior found in
Posix and BSD.
In time, there will be a
<CODE>readline</CODE>-based
terminal driver,
which will provide complex line-editing features for those users who want
them.
<P>
The terminal driver will probably not provide good support for the
high-volume, rapid data transmission required by UUCP or SLIP.
Those
programs do not need any of its features.
Instead they will be using the
underlying Mach device ports for terminals, which support moving large
amounts of data efficiently.

<H3>Executing Programs</H3>
<P>
The implementation of the
<CODE>execve</CODE>
call is spread across three programs.
The
library marshals the argument and environment vectors.
It then sends a
message to the file server that holds the file to be executed.
The file
server checks execute permissions and makes whatever changes it desires in
the exec call.
For example, if the file is marked setuid and the fileserver
has the ability, it will change the user identification of the new image.
The file server also decides if programs which had access to the old task
should continue to have access to the new task.
If the file server is
augmenting permissions, or executing an unreadable image, then the exec needs
to take place in a new Mach task to maintain security.
<P>
After deciding the policy associated with the new image, the filesystem calls
the exec server to load the task.
This server, using the BFD (Binary File
Descriptor) library, loads the image.
BFD supports a large number of object
file formats; almost any supported format will be executable.
This server
also handles scripts starting with
<CODE>#!</CODE>,
running them through the indicated
program.
<P>
The standard exec server also looks at the environment of the new image; if
it contains a variable
<CODE>EXECSERVERS</CODE>
then it uses the programs specified
there as exec servers instead of the system default.
(This is, of course,
not done for execs that the file server has requested be kept secure.)
<P>
The new image starts running in the GNU C Library, which sends a message to
the exec server to get the arguments, environment, umask, current directory,
etc.
None of this additional state is special to the file or exec servers;
if programs wish, they can use it in a different manner than the Library.

<H3>New Processes</H3>
<P>
The
<CODE>fork</CODE>
call is implemented almost entirely in the GNU C Library.
The new
task is created by Mach kernel calls.
The C Library arranges to have its
image inherited properly.
The new task is registered with the process server
(though this is not mandatory).
The C Library provides vectors of functions
to be called at fork time: one vector to be called before the fork, one after
in the parent, and one after in the child.
(These features should not be
used to replace the normal fork-calling sequence; it is intended for
libraries which need to close ports or clean up before a fork occurs.)
The C
library will implement both fork calls specified by the draft Posix.4a (the
proposed standard dealing with the threads extension to the real-time
extension).
<P>
Nothing forces the user to create new tasks this way.
If a program wants to
use almost the normal fork, but with some special characteristics, then it
can do so.
Hooks will be provided by the C Library, or the function can even
be completely replaced.
None of this is possible in a traditional Unix
system.

<H3>Asynchronous Messages</H3>
<P>
As mentioned above, the process server maintains a
<DFN>
message port
</DFN>
for each
task registered with it.
These ports are public, and are used to send
asynchronous messages to the task.
Signals, for example, are sent to the
message port.
The signal message also provides a port as an indication that
the sender should be trusted to send the signal.
The GNU C Library lists a
variety of ports in a table, each of which identifies a set of signals that
can be sent by anyone who possesses that port.
For example, if the user
possesses the task's kernel port, it is allowed to send any signal.
If the
user possesses a special
<DFN>
terminal id
</DFN>
port, it is allowed to send the
keyboard and hangup signals.
Users can add arbitrary new entries into the C
library's signal permissions table.
<P>
When a process's process group changes, the process server will send it a
message indicating the new process group.
In this case, the process server
proves its authority by providing the task's kernel port.
<P>
The C library also has messages to add and delete uids currently used by the
process.
If new uids are sent to the program, the library adds them to its
current set, and then exchanges messages with all the I/O servers it knows
about, proving to them its new authorization.
Similarly, a message can
delete uids.
In the latter case, the caller must provide the process's task
port.
(You can't harm a process by giving it extra permission, but you can
harm it by taking permission away.)  The Hurd will provide user programs to
send these messages to processes.
For example, the
<CODE>su</CODE>
command will be able
to cause all the programs in your current login session, to gain a new uid,
rather than spawn a subshell.
<P>
The C library will allow programs to add asynchronous messages they wish to
recognize, as well as prevent recognition of the standard set.
<H3>Making It Look Like Unix</H3>
<P>
The C Library will implement all of the calls from BSD and Posix as well as
some obvious extensions to them.
This enables users to replace those calls
they dislike or bypass them entirely, whereas in Unix the calls must be used
``as they come'' with no alternatives possible.
<P>
In some environments binary compatibility will also be supported.
This works
by building a special version of the library which is then loaded somewhere
in the address space of the process.
(For example, on a VAX, it would be
tucked in above the stack.)  A feature of Mach, called system call
redirection, is then used to trap Unix system calls and turn them into jumps
into this special version of the library.
(On almost all machines, the cost
of such a redirection is very small; this is a highly optimized path in Mach.
On a 386 it's about two dozen instructions.
This is little worse than a
simple procedure call.)
<P>
Many features of Unix, such as signal masks and vectors, are handled
completely by the library.
This makes such features significantly cheaper
than in Unix.
It is now reasonable to use
<CODE>sigblock</CODE>
extensively to protect
critical sections, rather than seeking out some other, less expensive method.

<H3>Network Protocols</H3>
<P>
The Hurd will have a library that will make it very easy to port 4.4 BSD
protocol stacks into the Hurd.
This will enable operation, virtually for
free, of all the protocols supported by BSD.
Currently, this includes the
CCITT protocols, the TCP/IP protocols, the Xerox NS protocols, and the ISO
protocols.
<P>
For optimal performance some work would be necessary to take advantage of
Hurd features that provide for very high speed I/O.
For most protocols this
will require some thought, but not too much time.
The Hurd will run the
TCP/IP protocols as efficiently as possible.
<P>
As an interesting example of the flexibility of the Hurd design, consider the
case of IP trailers, used extensively in BSD for performance.
While the Hurd
will be willing to send and receive trailers, it will gain fairly little
advantage in doing so because there is no requirement that data be copied and
avoiding copies for page-aligned data is irrelevant.