Relationship between ELF files and Process Control Blocks - unix

Question

Could someone explain the relationship between ELF files which from my understanding are the final executable file which is used by Unix-based OS' to start any application and the PCB (Process Control Blocks) is the program context which stores information about the running process. Obviously, these are two very different things I just want to know how they relate to each other, does the ELF file specify what is stored in a PCB or does the OS have a consistent PCB structure for every application?

Answer 1

The OS has a consistent struct for every application running. On Linux, it is the task_struct:
struct task_struct {
#ifdef CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK
/*
* For reasons of header soup (see current_thread_info()), this
* must be the first element of task_struct.
*/
struct thread_info thread_info;
#endif
/* -1 unrunnable, 0 runnable, >0 stopped: */
volatile long state;
/*
* This begins the randomizable portion of task_struct. Only
* scheduling-critical items should be added above here.
*/
randomized_struct_fields_start
void *stack;
refcount_t usage;
/* Per task flags (PF_*), defined further below: */
unsigned int flags;
unsigned int ptrace;
#ifdef CONFIG_SMP
int on_cpu;
struct __call_single_node wake_entry;
#ifdef CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK
/* Current CPU: */
unsigned int cpu;
#endif
unsigned int wakee_flips;
unsigned long wakee_flip_decay_ts;
struct task_struct *last_wakee;
/*
* recent_used_cpu is initially set as the last CPU used by a task
* that wakes affine another task. Waker/wakee relationships can
* push tasks around a CPU where each wakeup moves to the next one.
* Tracking a recently used CPU allows a quick search for a recently
* used CPU that may be idle.
*/
int recent_used_cpu;
int wake_cpu;
#endif
int on_rq;
int prio;
int static_prio;
int normal_prio;
unsigned int rt_priority;
const struct sched_class *sched_class;
struct sched_entity se;
struct sched_rt_entity rt;
#ifdef CONFIG_CGROUP_SCHED
struct task_group *sched_task_group;
#endif
struct sched_dl_entity dl;
#ifdef CONFIG_UCLAMP_TASK
/*
* Clamp values requested for a scheduling entity.
* Must be updated with task_rq_lock() held.
*/
struct uclamp_se uclamp_req[UCLAMP_CNT];
/*
* Effective clamp values used for a scheduling entity.
* Must be updated with task_rq_lock() held.
*/
struct uclamp_se uclamp[UCLAMP_CNT];
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_PREEMPT_NOTIFIERS
/* List of struct preempt_notifier: */
struct hlist_head preempt_notifiers;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IO_TRACE
unsigned int btrace_seq;
#endif
unsigned int policy;
int nr_cpus_allowed;
const cpumask_t *cpus_ptr;
cpumask_t cpus_mask;
void *migration_pending;
#ifdef CONFIG_SMP
unsigned short migration_disabled;
#endif
unsigned short migration_flags;
#ifdef CONFIG_PREEMPT_RCU
int rcu_read_lock_nesting;
union rcu_special rcu_read_unlock_special;
struct list_head rcu_node_entry;
struct rcu_node *rcu_blocked_node;
#endif /* #ifdef CONFIG_PREEMPT_RCU */
#ifdef CONFIG_TASKS_RCU
unsigned long rcu_tasks_nvcsw;
u8 rcu_tasks_holdout;
u8 rcu_tasks_idx;
int rcu_tasks_idle_cpu;
struct list_head rcu_tasks_holdout_list;
#endif /* #ifdef CONFIG_TASKS_RCU */
#ifdef CONFIG_TASKS_TRACE_RCU
int trc_reader_nesting;
int trc_ipi_to_cpu;
union rcu_special trc_reader_special;
bool trc_reader_checked;
struct list_head trc_holdout_list;
#endif /* #ifdef CONFIG_TASKS_TRACE_RCU */
struct sched_info sched_info;
struct list_head tasks;
#ifdef CONFIG_SMP
struct plist_node pushable_tasks;
struct rb_node pushable_dl_tasks;
#endif
struct mm_struct *mm;
struct mm_struct *active_mm;
/* Per-thread vma caching: */
struct vmacache vmacache;
#ifdef SPLIT_RSS_COUNTING
struct task_rss_stat rss_stat;
#endif
int exit_state;
int exit_code;
int exit_signal;
/* The signal sent when the parent dies: */
int pdeath_signal;
/* JOBCTL_*, siglock protected: */
unsigned long jobctl;
/* Used for emulating ABI behavior of previous Linux versions: */
unsigned int personality;
/* Scheduler bits, serialized by scheduler locks: */
unsigned sched_reset_on_fork:1;
unsigned sched_contributes_to_load:1;
unsigned sched_migrated:1;
#ifdef CONFIG_PSI
unsigned sched_psi_wake_requeue:1;
#endif
/* Force alignment to the next boundary: */
unsigned :0;
/* Unserialized, strictly 'current' */
/*
* This field must not be in the scheduler word above due to wakelist
* queueing no longer being serialized by p->on_cpu. However:
*
* p->XXX = X; ttwu()
* schedule() if (p->on_rq && ..) // false
* smp_mb__after_spinlock(); if (smp_load_acquire(&p->on_cpu) && //true
* deactivate_task() ttwu_queue_wakelist())
* p->on_rq = 0; p->sched_remote_wakeup = Y;
*
* guarantees all stores of 'current' are visible before
* ->sched_remote_wakeup gets used, so it can be in this word.
*/
unsigned sched_remote_wakeup:1;
/* Bit to tell LSMs we're in execve(): */
unsigned in_execve:1;
unsigned in_iowait:1;
#ifndef TIF_RESTORE_SIGMASK
unsigned restore_sigmask:1;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_MEMCG
unsigned in_user_fault:1;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK
unsigned brk_randomized:1;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_CGROUPS
/* disallow userland-initiated cgroup migration */
unsigned no_cgroup_migration:1;
/* task is frozen/stopped (used by the cgroup freezer) */
unsigned frozen:1;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP
unsigned use_memdelay:1;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_PSI
/* Stalled due to lack of memory */
unsigned in_memstall:1;
#endif
unsigned long atomic_flags; /* Flags requiring atomic access. */
struct restart_block restart_block;
pid_t pid;
pid_t tgid;
#ifdef CONFIG_STACKPROTECTOR
/* Canary value for the -fstack-protector GCC feature: */
unsigned long stack_canary;
#endif
/*
* Pointers to the (original) parent process, youngest child, younger sibling,
* older sibling, respectively. (p->father can be replaced with
* p->real_parent->pid)
*/
/* Real parent process: */
struct task_struct __rcu *real_parent;
/* Recipient of SIGCHLD, wait4() reports: */
struct task_struct __rcu *parent;
/*
* Children/sibling form the list of natural children:
*/
struct list_head children;
struct list_head sibling;
struct task_struct *group_leader;
/*
* 'ptraced' is the list of tasks this task is using ptrace() on.
*
* This includes both natural children and PTRACE_ATTACH targets.
* 'ptrace_entry' is this task's link on the p->parent->ptraced list.
*/
struct list_head ptraced;
struct list_head ptrace_entry;
/* PID/PID hash table linkage. */
struct pid *thread_pid;
struct hlist_node pid_links[PIDTYPE_MAX];
struct list_head thread_group;
struct list_head thread_node;
struct completion *vfork_done;
/* CLONE_CHILD_SETTID: */
int __user *set_child_tid;
/* CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID: */
int __user *clear_child_tid;
u64 utime;
u64 stime;
#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_SCALED_CPUTIME
u64 utimescaled;
u64 stimescaled;
#endif
u64 gtime;
struct prev_cputime prev_cputime;
#ifdef CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN
struct vtime vtime;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL
atomic_t tick_dep_mask;
#endif
/* Context switch counts: */
unsigned long nvcsw;
unsigned long nivcsw;
/* Monotonic time in nsecs: */
u64 start_time;
/* Boot based time in nsecs: */
u64 start_boottime;
/* MM fault and swap info: this can arguably be seen as either mm-specific or thread-specific: */
unsigned long min_flt;
unsigned long maj_flt;
/* Empty if CONFIG_POSIX_CPUTIMERS=n */
struct posix_cputimers posix_cputimers;
#ifdef CONFIG_POSIX_CPU_TIMERS_TASK_WORK
struct posix_cputimers_work posix_cputimers_work;
#endif
/* Process credentials: */
/* Tracer's credentials at attach: */
const struct cred __rcu *ptracer_cred;
/* Objective and real subjective task credentials (COW): */
const struct cred __rcu *real_cred;
/* Effective (overridable) subjective task credentials (COW): */
const struct cred __rcu *cred;
#ifdef CONFIG_KEYS
/* Cached requested key. */
struct key *cached_requested_key;
#endif
/*
* executable name, excluding path.
*
* - normally initialized setup_new_exec()
* - access it with [gs]et_task_comm()
* - lock it with task_lock()
*/
char comm[TASK_COMM_LEN];
struct nameidata *nameidata;
#ifdef CONFIG_SYSVIPC
struct sysv_sem sysvsem;
struct sysv_shm sysvshm;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK
unsigned long last_switch_count;
unsigned long last_switch_time;
#endif
/* Filesystem information: */
struct fs_struct *fs;
/* Open file information: */
struct files_struct *files;
#ifdef CONFIG_IO_URING
struct io_uring_task *io_uring;
#endif
/* Namespaces: */
struct nsproxy *nsproxy;
/* Signal handlers: */
struct signal_struct *signal;
struct sighand_struct __rcu *sighand;
sigset_t blocked;
sigset_t real_blocked;
/* Restored if set_restore_sigmask() was used: */
sigset_t saved_sigmask;
struct sigpending pending;
unsigned long sas_ss_sp;
size_t sas_ss_size;
unsigned int sas_ss_flags;
struct callback_head *task_works;
#ifdef CONFIG_AUDIT
#ifdef CONFIG_AUDITSYSCALL
struct audit_context *audit_context;
#endif
kuid_t loginuid;
unsigned int sessionid;
#endif
struct seccomp seccomp;
struct syscall_user_dispatch syscall_dispatch;
/* Thread group tracking: */
u64 parent_exec_id;
u64 self_exec_id;
/* Protection against (de-)allocation: mm, files, fs, tty, keyrings, mems_allowed, mempolicy: */
spinlock_t alloc_lock;
/* Protection of the PI data structures: */
raw_spinlock_t pi_lock;
struct wake_q_node wake_q;
#ifdef CONFIG_RT_MUTEXES
/* PI waiters blocked on a rt_mutex held by this task: */
struct rb_root_cached pi_waiters;
/* Updated under owner's pi_lock and rq lock */
struct task_struct *pi_top_task;
/* Deadlock detection and priority inheritance handling: */
struct rt_mutex_waiter *pi_blocked_on;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES
/* Mutex deadlock detection: */
struct mutex_waiter *blocked_on;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP
int non_block_count;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_TRACE_IRQFLAGS
struct irqtrace_events irqtrace;
unsigned int hardirq_threaded;
u64 hardirq_chain_key;
int softirqs_enabled;
int softirq_context;
int irq_config;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_LOCKDEP
# define MAX_LOCK_DEPTH 48UL
u64 curr_chain_key;
int lockdep_depth;
unsigned int lockdep_recursion;
struct held_lock held_locks[MAX_LOCK_DEPTH];
#endif
#if defined(CONFIG_UBSAN) && !defined(CONFIG_UBSAN_TRAP)
unsigned int in_ubsan;
#endif
/* Journalling filesystem info: */
void *journal_info;
/* Stacked block device info: */
struct bio_list *bio_list;
#ifdef CONFIG_BLOCK
/* Stack plugging: */
struct blk_plug *plug;
#endif
/* VM state: */
struct reclaim_state *reclaim_state;
struct backing_dev_info *backing_dev_info;
struct io_context *io_context;
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPACTION
struct capture_control *capture_control;
#endif
/* Ptrace state: */
unsigned long ptrace_message;
kernel_siginfo_t *last_siginfo;
struct task_io_accounting ioac;
#ifdef CONFIG_PSI
/* Pressure stall state */
unsigned int psi_flags;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_TASK_XACCT
/* Accumulated RSS usage: */
u64 acct_rss_mem1;
/* Accumulated virtual memory usage: */
u64 acct_vm_mem1;
/* stime + utime since last update: */
u64 acct_timexpd;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_CPUSETS
/* Protected by ->alloc_lock: */
nodemask_t mems_allowed;
/* Seqence number to catch updates: */
seqcount_spinlock_t mems_allowed_seq;
int cpuset_mem_spread_rotor;
int cpuset_slab_spread_rotor;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_CGROUPS
/* Control Group info protected by css_set_lock: */
struct css_set __rcu *cgroups;
/* cg_list protected by css_set_lock and tsk->alloc_lock: */
struct list_head cg_list;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_X86_CPU_RESCTRL
u32 closid;
u32 rmid;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_FUTEX
struct robust_list_head __user *robust_list;
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPAT
struct compat_robust_list_head __user *compat_robust_list;
#endif
struct list_head pi_state_list;
struct futex_pi_state *pi_state_cache;
struct mutex futex_exit_mutex;
unsigned int futex_state;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_PERF_EVENTS
struct perf_event_context *perf_event_ctxp[perf_nr_task_contexts];
struct mutex perf_event_mutex;
struct list_head perf_event_list;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT
unsigned long preempt_disable_ip;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
/* Protected by alloc_lock: */
struct mempolicy *mempolicy;
short il_prev;
short pref_node_fork;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
int numa_scan_seq;
unsigned int numa_scan_period;
unsigned int numa_scan_period_max;
int numa_preferred_nid;
unsigned long numa_migrate_retry;
/* Migration stamp: */
u64 node_stamp;
u64 last_task_numa_placement;
u64 last_sum_exec_runtime;
struct callback_head numa_work;
/*
* This pointer is only modified for current in syscall and
* pagefault context (and for tasks being destroyed), so it can be read
* from any of the following contexts:
* - RCU read-side critical section
* - current->numa_group from everywhere
* - task's runqueue locked, task not running
*/
struct numa_group __rcu *numa_group;
/*
* numa_faults is an array split into four regions:
* faults_memory, faults_cpu, faults_memory_buffer, faults_cpu_buffer
* in this precise order.
*
* faults_memory: Exponential decaying average of faults on a per-node
* basis. Scheduling placement decisions are made based on these
* counts. The values remain static for the duration of a PTE scan.
* faults_cpu: Track the nodes the process was running on when a NUMA
* hinting fault was incurred.
* faults_memory_buffer and faults_cpu_buffer: Record faults per node
* during the current scan window. When the scan completes, the counts
* in faults_memory and faults_cpu decay and these values are copied.
*/
unsigned long *numa_faults;
unsigned long total_numa_faults;
/*
* numa_faults_locality tracks if faults recorded during the last
* scan window were remote/local or failed to migrate. The task scan
* period is adapted based on the locality of the faults with different
* weights depending on whether they were shared or private faults
*/
unsigned long numa_faults_locality[3];
unsigned long numa_pages_migrated;
#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
#ifdef CONFIG_RSEQ
struct rseq __user *rseq;
u32 rseq_sig;
/*
* RmW on rseq_event_mask must be performed atomically
* with respect to preemption.
*/
unsigned long rseq_event_mask;
#endif
struct tlbflush_unmap_batch tlb_ubc;
union {
refcount_t rcu_users;
struct rcu_head rcu;
};
/* Cache last used pipe for splice(): */
struct pipe_inode_info *splice_pipe;
struct page_frag task_frag;
#ifdef CONFIG_TASK_DELAY_ACCT
struct task_delay_info *delays;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_FAULT_INJECTION
int make_it_fail;
unsigned int fail_nth;
#endif
/*
* When (nr_dirtied >= nr_dirtied_pause), it's time to call
* balance_dirty_pages() for a dirty throttling pause:
*/
int nr_dirtied;
int nr_dirtied_pause;
/* Start of a write-and-pause period: */
unsigned long dirty_paused_when;
#ifdef CONFIG_LATENCYTOP
int latency_record_count;
struct latency_record latency_record[LT_SAVECOUNT];
#endif
/*
* Time slack values; these are used to round up poll() and
* select() etc timeout values. These are in nanoseconds.
*/
u64 timer_slack_ns;
u64 default_timer_slack_ns;
#if defined(CONFIG_KASAN_GENERIC) || defined(CONFIG_KASAN_SW_TAGS)
unsigned int kasan_depth;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_KCSAN
struct kcsan_ctx kcsan_ctx;
#ifdef CONFIG_TRACE_IRQFLAGS
struct irqtrace_events kcsan_save_irqtrace;
#endif
#endif
#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KUNIT)
struct kunit *kunit_test;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER
/* Index of current stored address in ret_stack: */
int curr_ret_stack;
int curr_ret_depth;
/* Stack of return addresses for return function tracing: */
struct ftrace_ret_stack *ret_stack;
/* Timestamp for last schedule: */
unsigned long long ftrace_timestamp;
/*
* Number of functions that haven't been traced
* because of depth overrun:
*/
atomic_t trace_overrun;
/* Pause tracing: */
atomic_t tracing_graph_pause;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_TRACING
/* State flags for use by tracers: */
unsigned long trace;
/* Bitmask and counter of trace recursion: */
unsigned long trace_recursion;
#endif /* CONFIG_TRACING */
#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
/* See kernel/kcov.c for more details. */
/* Coverage collection mode enabled for this task (0 if disabled): */
unsigned int kcov_mode;
/* Size of the kcov_area: */
unsigned int kcov_size;
/* Buffer for coverage collection: */
void *kcov_area;
/* KCOV descriptor wired with this task or NULL: */
struct kcov *kcov;
/* KCOV common handle for remote coverage collection: */
u64 kcov_handle;
/* KCOV sequence number: */
int kcov_sequence;
/* Collect coverage from softirq context: */
unsigned int kcov_softirq;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_MEMCG
struct mem_cgroup *memcg_in_oom;
gfp_t memcg_oom_gfp_mask;
int memcg_oom_order;
/* Number of pages to reclaim on returning to userland: */
unsigned int memcg_nr_pages_over_high;
/* Used by memcontrol for targeted memcg charge: */
struct mem_cgroup *active_memcg;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP
struct request_queue *throttle_queue;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_UPROBES
struct uprobe_task *utask;
#endif
#if defined(CONFIG_BCACHE) || defined(CONFIG_BCACHE_MODULE)
unsigned int sequential_io;
unsigned int sequential_io_avg;
#endif
struct kmap_ctrl kmap_ctrl;
#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP
unsigned long task_state_change;
#endif
int pagefault_disabled;
#ifdef CONFIG_MMU
struct task_struct *oom_reaper_list;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_VMAP_STACK
struct vm_struct *stack_vm_area;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK
/* A live task holds one reference: */
refcount_t stack_refcount;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_LIVEPATCH
int patch_state;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_SECURITY
/* Used by LSM modules for access restriction: */
void *security;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK
unsigned long lowest_stack;
unsigned long prev_lowest_stack;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_X86_MCE
void __user *mce_vaddr;
__u64 mce_kflags;
u64 mce_addr;
__u64 mce_ripv : 1,
mce_whole_page : 1,
__mce_reserved : 62;
struct callback_head mce_kill_me;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_KRETPROBES
struct llist_head kretprobe_instances;
#endif
/*
* New fields for task_struct should be added above here, so that
* they are included in the randomized portion of task_struct.
*/
randomized_struct_fields_end
/* CPU-specific state of this task: */
struct thread_struct thread;
/*
* WARNING: on x86, 'thread_struct' contains a variable-sized
* structure. It *MUST* be at the end of 'task_struct'.
*
* Do not put anything below here!
*/
};
As you can see it is a very long structure. The ELF file specifies mostly the virtual addresses of the different segments. Today, some executables are even relocatable so they keep information on how to relocate them before runtime. The Android OS which runs on top of Linux is using only relocatable executables for security matters (ASLR).
The ELF file has a header. The header tells where to find the program header. The program header contains segments. Each segment can be loadable or other. If it is loadable. then the OS should just take the segment and load it at the virtual address specified by the segment header. So the ELF file has a header which point to a program header which points to segments header which point to the actual code (or segment of code). In the case of dynamically linked stuff, it is more complex. I'm not totally sure how that works so I'll leave this to you to understand.
One important fields of the task_struct is the mm field which is pointer to an mm_struct. It contains the memory map for the process. Also, there are a lot of #ifdef accompanied with #endif depending on the configuration of compilation and depending on the system you compile for.
I leave it as an exercice to find the task_struct in the source code. You can search the source code on https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/latest/source.