Search for Linux kernel source code

The Linux kernel source code is quite extensive. The soure code is available on kernel.org for download. To specifically search for the source code of the Linux kernel, the company Bootlin from France offers the webservice Elixir.

Searching for Linux source code on elixir.bootlin.com

Boolin provides a webservice for searching the Linux kernel source code under https://elixir.bootlin.com/

The following example shows the search for ATA_LPM_MIN_POWER:

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Elixir source code cross-reference

Elixir is a source code cross-reference that was inspired by LXR. Elixir is written in Python. Its main purpose is to indicate every version of a C- or C++-projects (such as the Linux kernel) as resource protecting as possible.

Elixir uses Git as source code file storage and Berkeley DB for cross-reference data. Internally, Elixir indexes Git blobs instead of file trees to avoid duplicate work and data. Elixir has a simple data structure (that reminds of older LXR-versions) to keep queries easy and fast.

References

Author: Werner Fischer Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.