As usual, Codasip kept pace with recent Linux kernel releases and published v7.1 of Linux on CHERI. The company also contributed its RVY adaptation of the Linux Test Project (LTP) to the CHERI community. Corresponding cheribuild targets were created by Hesham Almatary.
Hesham combined Linux on CHERI with the Debian user space, using the compatibility layer for non-CHERI legacy software. This enables both legacy AArch64 programs (e.g. systemd and other Debian packages) and purecap CHERI programs (e.g. LTP and Paul Metzger’s port of the CheriBSD test suite) to run within the same Debian/Linux on CHERI environment. He also created cheribuild targets for running Linux on CHERI with both stock Debian and Morello Debian images on QEMU, including support for the 9p file system and SSH. With his Morello pull requests now merged, the configuration with stock Debian user space works on both Morello and RVY. Because this significantly simplifies porting software to Linux on CHERI, the working group discussed options for providing CHERI LLVM in this setup.
Uwe Kleine-König anticipates that his patches will be included in the next upstream Linux v7.2 release. These patches are expected to ease future upstreaming efforts, and with currently around 130 submitted by him, he will likely be one of the top contributors to this release.
Benjamin Braddock and Hesham have been working on CVA6 support and successfully booted the Linux on CHERI fork. Yocto meta-cheri support and cheribuild targets for this are currently work in progress.
Allison Randal worked on guides available on cheri-linux.org and participated in discussions about hosting the website on a CHERI system. She also tested externally developed CHERI porting tools.
Unfortunately, UKRI funding for the Capable Hub has stopped and most employees have ceased working on CHERI. It is anticipated that this is only temporary.