Introducing KasperskyOS Community Edition
SDK 2.0

KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK is taking a major step forward with version 2.0. This second major release brings significant improvements: we’ve added RISC-V support, migrated QEMU to the arm64 virt-qemu virtual platform, and redesigned the internal architecture and boot process of OS components.

Let’s take a closer look at the key changes in KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK 2.0.

RISC-V Comes to KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK

One of the biggest changes in version 2.0 is support for the RISC-V architecture.

The first supported RISC-V hardware platform is the OrangePi RV2 single-board computer, with support for the rv64gc_zba_zbb_zbc_zbs ISA.

The SDK also includes a set of drivers for OrangePi RV2:

• BSP
• Ethernet
• SD/eMMC
• UART
• Pinctrl
• GPIO
• I2C
• SPI
• USB with HID and Mass Storage support

KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK is now available in three variants: for the QEMU emulator and for the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and OrangePi RV2 hardware platforms.

QEMU Gets Closer to Real Hardware

The second major improvement concerns development in the emulator. The QEMU version of the SDK has migrated to the arm64 virt-qemu virtual platform, a change designed to improve performance when running and testing solutions.

The SDK now also includes Virtiofs, a virtual file system that enables file sharing between the host system and virtual machines. A dedicated virtiofs example has been added to help developers get started.

Developers who use VIM have another new option: a debugging adapter is now available in experimental mode in the QEMU version of the SDK.

A New Way to Boot the OS

KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK 2.0 introduces a redesigned internal architecture and boot process for OS components and system programs. The components required to launch a solution are now divided between two images according to their purpose.

InitROMFS is a boot image containing a minimal set of system programs required to start the solution and launch applications packaged as KPA packages.

VendorROMFS contains additional system programs and drivers required for a specific execution environment, whether the QEMU emulator or the selected hardware platform.

This separation distinguishes the core components needed to start the system from the platform-specific components. Applications are distributed separately as KPA packages.

New Drivers for Raspberry Pi 4B

Support for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B has been expanded. SDK 2.0 adds the following drivers:

• USB-UART
• Pinctrl

Get Started with KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK 2.0

And that’s far from everything new in KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK 2.0. We’ve also updated the collection of examples, revised the Developer Guide, and upgraded the third-party libraries and tools included in the SDK. For the complete list of changes, see the Developer Guide.

As always, you can download KasperskyOS Community Edition SDK 2.0 from the Development section of the KasperskyOS website or from the Kaspersky Appicenter for Developers portal.