Navigate Linux kernel source code using Eclipse

I've learned the way to set up Eclipse to navigate Linux kernel source code from this post. It is tested to work with Eclipse IDE 2018-12 and Linux kernel 5.0.3 too. Below are the steps.

Download Linux kernel source code from here. 5.0.3 is the latest stable version as of this writing.

Decompress the archive file:

tar xvf linux-5.0.3.tar.xz

Put the decompressed directory somewhere of your choice:

mkdir -p /opt/linux_kernel/5.0.3

mv -Tv linux-5.0.3 /opt/linux_kernel/5.0.3/code

Generate the kconfig.h file that will be used by Eclipse's indexer:

cd /opt/linux_kernel/5.0.3/code

make prepare

Download Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers from here. Eclipse IDE 2018-12 is the latest version as of this writing.

Decompress the archive file:

tar xvf eclipse-cpp-2018-12-R-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz

Put the decompressed directory somewhere of your choice:

mkdir -p /opt/eclipse/2018-12

mv -Tv eclipse /opt/eclipse/2018-12/dst

Create a link file for the eclipse executable file:

ln -sf /opt/eclipse/2018-12/dst/eclipse /usr/local/bin/eclipse

Run the eclipse executable file:

eclipse

Click menu File - New - Makefile Project with Existing Code.

In the Project Name textbox, enter the project name of your choice.

In the Existing Code Location, enter the kernel source code location /opt/linux_kernel/5.0.3/code.

In the Toolchain for Indexer Settings listbox, select Linux GCC

Click Finish button.

In the Project Explorer panel, right click the project name, click menu Properties.

In the Properties dialog, click menu C/C++ General - Indexer. Enable the Enable project specific settings checkbox. Disable the Index source files not included in the build checkbox. Disable the Enable indexer checkbox. Click Apply button. This will disable the indexer for now. We will enable it after the configuration the done.

In the Properties dialog, click menu C/C++ General - Preprocessor Include. In the Entries tab, in the Languages listbox, select GNU C. In the Setting Entries listbox, select CDT User Settings Entries. Click Add... button. In the dialog's top left drop-down list, select Preprocessor Macro File. In the File: textbox, enter the kconfig.h file's path /opt/linux_kernel/5.0.3/code/include/linux/kconfig.h. Click OK button. In the Providers tab, select CDT GCC Built-in Compiler Settings. Disable the Use global provider shared between projects checkbox. In the Command to get compile specs textbox, append -nostdinc -iwithprefix include. Enable the Allocate console in the Console View checkbox. Click Apply button.

In the Properties dialog, click menu C/C++ General - Paths and Symbols. In the Includes tab, in the Languages listbox, select GNU C. Click Add... button. Click Workspace... button. Select kernel source code's include, include/uapi, arch/x86/include, and arch/x86/include/uapi directories. In the Symbols tab, in the Languages listbox, select GNU C. Click Add... button. In the Name: textbox, enter __KERNEL__. In the Value: textbox, enter 1. Click OK button. In the Source Location tab, click the little arrow next to your project name to expand it to show the Filter item. Click the Filter item. Click Edit Filter... button. Select all of the arch/* directories that are not arch/x86. Click OK button. Click Apply button.

In the Properties dialog, click menu C/C++ General - Indexer. Enable the Enable indexer checkbox. Click Apply button. This will enable the indexer.

It takes a while for the indexing to finish. After it is done, you should be able to jump to symbol definition with Ctrl+Click. I also recommend you to set the Backward History and Forward History hotkeys to jump back and forth easily.