Aug 28 – 30, 2026
Asia/Kolkata timezone

Demystifying Linux Kernel Initialization

Aug 28, 2026, 7:30 PM
20m
Room 1

Room 1

Talk (20 min) Development/Coding

Speaker

Shuah Khan
The Linux Foundation

Description

If you ever wondered what happens between the time you power up your laptop and when you get back with that steaming cup of your favorite beverage? This talk will take the lid off and demystify the Linux kernel boot process.

In addition, it covers how to enable KNL (kernel start-up parameter) initcall_debug to allow trace init_calls as they are executed to get insight into the early boot sequence. Learning how to enable early debugging comes in handy when you are faced with a boot problem during boot, performance regressions during boot resulting in longer boot times, and a variety of other problems.

Special accommodations

Preferred time: August 28-30th, 2026 7 AM US Mountain or later. 4:30 PM or later IST

Session author's bio

Shuah Khan is a Kernel Maintainer & Linux Fellow at The Linux Foundation. She is an experienced Linux Kernel developer, maintainer, and contributor. She authored, A Beginner’s Guide to Linux Kernel Development (LFD103) training course. She designed and leads the Mentorship program aimed at increasing diversity in open source and providing equitable access to learning resources.

She serves on the Linux kernel Code of Conduct committee and the Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board.

Please confirm that there are included headshots of all speakers in their profiles Yes
Agree to Privacy Policy and Notice I agree
Level of Difficulty Advanced
In Person Attendance Remote

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.