Linux KernelAtlas

v7.2

kernel v7.2 · released 2026-08-14

The Linux Kernel Atlas

Explore Subsystems Read Kernel 7.2 Docs

Kernel Subsystems

// 8 major subsystems · annotated source references · interactive diagrams

Memory Management

Virtual memory, page allocator, slab/slub/slob, NUMA, huge pages, and OOM killer internals.

Process Scheduler

CFS, real-time scheduling classes, load balancing, and runqueue architecture.

Virtual File System

VFS layer, dentry/inode caches, file operations, and filesystem registration.

Network Stack

Socket layer, TCP/IP implementation, netfilter, and packet processing pipeline.

Device Drivers

Driver model, kobject hierarchy, platform devices, and interrupt handling.

System Calls

Syscall table, entry path, VDSO, seccomp, and audit framework.

IPC & Signals

Signals, pipes, POSIX message queues, shared memory, and semaphores.

Block Layer

Block I/O stack, request queues, I/O schedulers, and multi-queue architecture.

Featured Diagrams

// interactive · clickable · explorable

Process Lifecycle State Machine

Interactive →

TASK_RUNNING → TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE → TASK_STOPPED and all transitions

Virtual Memory Layout

Interactive →

User space, kernel space, VMALLOC area, and physical memory mapping

CFS Scheduler Runqueue

Interactive →

Red-black tree structure, vruntime accounting, and task selection

Latest Kernel 7.2 Docs

// recent commits · subsystem patches · API changes

2026-08-14[mm]a3f9c12Introduce per-node memory compaction throttling to reduce latency spikes under pressure

2026-08-11[sched]b7e2d45CFS: fix vruntime overflow on 32-bit architectures with high uptime

2026-08-09[net]c1a8f67tcp: implement RFC 9293 connection state machine corrections for TIME_WAIT handling

2026-08-07[vfs]d4b3e89dentry: reduce lock contention in d_lookup() on multi-core systems via RCU path walk

2026-08-03[drivers]e9c5a23platform: add devm_platform_get_irqs_optional() for optional IRQ resource handling

View full 7.2 changelog →

Tutorials

// step-by-step · annotated walkthroughs · inline code

INTERMEDIATE45 min

Writing Your First Kernel Module

Build, load, and debug a loadable kernel module from scratch. Covers module_init, module_exit, proc filesystem integration, and printk logging.

Start Tutorial →

Tracing Process Scheduling with ftrace

Use ftrace's function tracer and sched_switch events to instrument the CFS scheduler. Analyze wakeup latency and runqueue depth in real time.

Start Tutorial →

Understanding Page Fault Handling

Walk the page fault handler from CPU exception to do_page_fault(), through VMA lookup, COW logic, and swap-in paths in the mm subsystem.

Start Tutorial →

Go deeper into the kernel.

The Linux Kernel Atlas covers every major subsystem with annotated source references, interactive architecture diagrams, and step-by-step tutorials written for engineers who read kernel source for breakfast.

Browse All Subsystems

include/linux/sched.h

struct task_struct {
  /* -1 unrunnable, 0 runnable, >0 stopped: */
  volatile long        state;

  /* Per-task flags (PF_*), defined below: */
  unsigned int         flags;

  /* CPU-specific state of this task: */
  struct thread_struct thread;

  /* Filesystem information: */
  struct fs_struct     *fs;

  /* Open file information: */
  struct files_struct  *files;

  /* Namespaces: */
  struct nsproxy       *nsproxy;

  /* Signal handlers: */
  struct signal_struct *signal;
  struct sighand_struct __rcu *sighand;
};