complete vmlinux transpiler.

TODO: struct_kioctx for x86_64 vmlinux.h has anonymous structs that refused to transpile well, so an extra rule has been written to make only the structs of that external. Fix this in the future.

Author: varun-r-mallya

examples/kprobes.py

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from pythonbpf import bpf, section, bpfglobal, BPF
+from ctypes import c_void_p, c_int64
+
+
+@bpf
+@section("kretprobe/do_unlinkat")
+def hello_world(ctx: c_void_p) -> c_int64:
+    print("Hello, World!")
+    return c_int64(0)
+
+@bpf
+@section("kprobe/do_unlinkat")
+def hello_world(ctx: c_void_p) -> c_int64:
+    print("Hello, World!")
+    return c_int64(0)
+
+@bpf
+@bpfglobal
+def LICENSE() -> str:
+    return "GPL"
+
+
+b = BPF()
+b.load_and_attach()
+while True:
+    print("running")
+# Now cat /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/trace_pipe to see results of unlink kprobe.

tests/c-form/kprobe.bpf.c

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#include "vmlinux.h"
+#include <bpf/bpf_helpers.h>
+#include <bpf/bpf_tracing.h>
+
+char LICENSE[] SEC("license") = "Dual BSD/GPL";
+
+SEC("kprobe/do_unlinkat")
+int kprobe_execve(struct pt_regs *ctx)
+{
+    bpf_printk("unlinkat created");
+    return 0;
+}
+
+SEC("kretprobe/do_unlinkat")
+int kretprobe_execve(struct pt_regs *ctx)
+{
+    bpf_printk("unlinkat returned\n");
+    return 0;
+}

tools/vmlinux-gen.py

@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 This tool automates the process of:
 1. Dumping BTF from vmlinux
 2. Preprocessing enum definitions
-3. Running C preprocessor
-4. Converting to Python ctypes using clang2py
-5. Post-processing the output
+3. Processing struct kioctx to extract anonymous nested structs
+4. Running C preprocessor
+5. Converting to Python ctypes using clang2py
+6. Post-processing the output
 
 Requirements:
 - bpftool
@@ -96,6 +97,115 @@ def step2_preprocess_enums(self, input_file):
 
         return output_file
 
+    def step2_5_process_kioctx(self, input_file):
+        #TODO: this is a very bad bug and design decision. A single struct has an issue mostly.
+        """Step 2.5: Process struct kioctx to extract nested anonymous structs."""
+        self.log("Processing struct kioctx nested structs...")
+
+        with open(input_file, 'r') as f:
+            content = f.read()
+
+        # Pattern to match struct kioctx with its full body (handles multiple nesting levels)
+        kioctx_pattern = r'struct\s+kioctx\s*\{(?:[^{}]|\{(?:[^{}]|\{[^{}]*\})*\})*\}\s*;'
+
+        def process_kioctx_replacement(match):
+            full_struct = match.group(0)
+            self.log(f"Found struct kioctx, length: {len(full_struct)} chars")
+
+            # Extract the struct body (everything between outermost { and })
+            body_match = re.search(r'struct\s+kioctx\s*\{(.*)\}\s*;', full_struct, re.DOTALL)
+            if not body_match:
+                return full_struct
+
+            body = body_match.group(1)
+
+            # Find all anonymous structs within the body
+            # Pattern: struct { ... } followed by ; (not a member name)
+            anon_struct_pattern = r'struct\s*\{[^}]*\}'
+
+            anon_structs = []
+            anon_counter = 4  # Start from 4, counting down to 1
+
+            def replace_anonymous_struct(m):
+                nonlocal anon_counter
+                anon_struct_content = m.group(0)
+
+                # Extract the body of the anonymous struct
+                anon_body_match = re.search(r'struct\s*\{(.*)\}', anon_struct_content, re.DOTALL)
+                if not anon_body_match:
+                    return anon_struct_content
+
+                anon_body = anon_body_match.group(1)
+
+                # Create the named struct definition
+                anon_name = f"__anon{anon_counter}"
+                member_name = f"a{anon_counter}"
+
+                # Store the struct definition
+                anon_structs.append(f"struct {anon_name} {{{anon_body}}};")
+
+                anon_counter -= 1
+
+                # Return the member declaration
+                return f"struct {anon_name} {member_name}"
+
+            # Process the body, finding and replacing anonymous structs
+            # We need to be careful to only match anonymous structs followed by ;
+            processed_body = body
+
+            # Find all occurrences and process them
+            pattern_with_semicolon = r'struct\s*\{([^}]*)\}\s*;'
+            matches = list(re.finditer(pattern_with_semicolon, body, re.DOTALL))
+
+            if not matches:
+                self.log("No anonymous structs found in kioctx")
+                return full_struct
+
+            self.log(f"Found {len(matches)} anonymous struct(s)")
+
+            # Process in reverse order to maintain string positions
+            for match in reversed(matches):
+                anon_struct_content = match.group(1)
+                start_pos = match.start()
+                end_pos = match.end()
+
+                # Create the named struct definition
+                anon_name = f"__anon{anon_counter}"
+                member_name = f"a{anon_counter}"
+
+                # Store the struct definition
+                anon_structs.insert(0, f"struct {anon_name} {{{anon_struct_content}}};")
+
+                # Replace in the body
+                replacement = f"struct {anon_name} {member_name};"
+                processed_body = processed_body[:start_pos] + replacement + processed_body[end_pos:]
+
+                anon_counter -= 1
+
+            # Rebuild the complete definition
+            if anon_structs:
+                # Prepend the anonymous struct definitions
+                anon_definitions = '\n'.join(anon_structs) + '\n\n'
+                new_struct = f"struct kioctx {{{processed_body}}};"
+                return anon_definitions + new_struct
+            else:
+                return full_struct
+
+        # Apply the transformation
+        processed_content = re.sub(
+            kioctx_pattern,
+            process_kioctx_replacement,
+            content,
+            flags=re.DOTALL
+        )
+
+        output_file = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "vmlinux_kioctx_processed.h")
+        with open(output_file, 'w') as f:
+            f.write(processed_content)
+
+        self.log(f"Saved kioctx-processed output to {output_file}")
+        return output_file
+
     def step3_run_preprocessor(self, input_file):
         """Step 2: Run C preprocessor."""
         output_file = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "vmlinux.i")
@@ -161,14 +271,17 @@ def convert(self):
             # Run conversion pipeline
             vmlinux_h = self.step1_dump_btf()
             vmlinux_processed_h = self.step2_preprocess_enums(vmlinux_h)
-            vmlinux_i = self.step3_run_preprocessor(vmlinux_processed_h)
+            vmlinux_kioctx_h = self.step2_5_process_kioctx(vmlinux_processed_h)
+            vmlinux_i = self.step3_run_preprocessor(vmlinux_kioctx_h)
             vmlinux_raw_py = self.step4_convert_to_ctypes(vmlinux_i)
             self.step5_postprocess(vmlinux_raw_py)
 
             print(f"\n✓ Conversion complete! Output saved to: {self.output_file}")
 
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"\n✗ Error during conversion: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+            import traceback
+            traceback.print_exc()
             sys.exit(1)
         finally:
             self.cleanup()