proc server

Some time ago there was a task list (things to be done and who does them) which
had an entry "/proc server". It seems that nobody started to work on this, and
so I would like to volunteer. Actually I have already started coding a little
test program, but without much success. It was easy to get the addresses of
various kernel variables, but how do I access these variables? As far as I can
see, kernel memory is already mapped in a process' adress space (good), but it
is mapped at linear adress 0, and the process' data segment's descriptor starts
at address 2GB (bad). I can only think of two solutions:
1. get a descriptor starting at address 0
or
2. mmap() kernel memory at an address I can access.
I think solution 2 is preferable, but can mmap() do this? It seems to me that
mmap() can only map files, physical memory and unused (free) memory, or am I
missing something?

Any help would be appreciated.

Robert

P.S.: Actually there is a third solution: inside the kernel one could tfork()
a server which makes kernel memory accessible as a file. The port would have to
be "well known". Any comments on this? Is tfork() possible inside the kernel?
Is a server inside the kernel a good idea?
Received on Sun Mar 27 08:59:47 1994