Mono(tm) Binary Kernel Support for Linux — The Linux Kernel 5.18.5-gnu-1 documentation

# Mono(tm) Binary Kernel Support for Linux

To configure Linux to automatically execute Mono-based .NET binaries (in the form of .exe files) without the need to use the mono CLR wrapper, you can use the BINFMT_MISC kernel support.

This will allow you to execute Mono-based .NET binaries just like any other program after you have done the following:

1. You MUST FIRST install the Mono CLR support, either by downloading a binary package, a source tarball or by installing from Git. Binary packages for several distributions can be found at:

   > https://www.mono-project.com/download/

   Instructions for compiling Mono can be found at:

   > https://www.mono-project.com/docs/compiling-mono/linux/

   Once the Mono CLR support has been installed, just check that `/usr/bin/mono` (which could be located elsewhere, for example `/usr/local/bin/mono`) is working.

2. You have to compile BINFMT_MISC either as a module or into the kernel (`CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC`) and set it up properly. If you choose to compile it as a module, you will have to insert it manually with modprobe/insmod, as kmod cannot be easily supported with binfmt_misc. Read the file `binfmt_misc.txt` in this directory to know more about the configuration process.

3. Add the following entries to `/etc/rc.local` or similar script to be run at system startup:

       # Insert BINFMT_MISC module into the kernel
       if [ ! -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ]; then
           /sbin/modprobe binfmt_misc
           # Some distributions, like Fedora Core, perform
           # the following command automatically when the
           # binfmt_misc module is loaded into the kernel
           # or during normal boot up (systemd-based systems).
           # Thus, it is possible that the following line
           # is not needed at all.
           mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
       fi

       # Register support for .NET CLR binaries
       if [ -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ]; then
           # Replace /usr/bin/mono with the correct pathname to
           # the Mono CLR runtime (usually /usr/local/bin/mono
           # when compiling from sources or CVS).
           echo ':CLR:M::MZ::/usr/bin/mono:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
       else
           echo "No binfmt_misc support"
           exit 1
       fi

4. Check that `.exe` binaries can be ran without the need of a wrapper script, simply by launching the `.exe` file directly from a command prompt, for example:

       /usr/bin/xsd.exe

   Note

   If this fails with a permission denied error, check that the `.exe` file has execute permissions.