Part 5: Practical Projects

Build complete, real-world UEFI applications.

Projects Overview

Chapter	Project	Description	Key Skills
24. Shell Command	Custom Shell Command	Argument parsing, help text, output formatting	ShellPkg, ShellLib
25. Boot Menu	Graphical Boot Menu	Visual boot selector with keyboard navigation	GOP, input, boot options
26. Network App	Network Application	HTTP client and network diagnostics	TCP4, HTTP, DNS
27. Boot Loader	Custom Boot Loader	Load and execute kernel images	File I/O, ExitBootServices

Project Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph "Project Components"
        APP[UEFI Application]
        LIB[Library Dependencies]
        PROTO[Protocol Usage]
        HW[Hardware Interaction]
    end

    subgraph "Common Patterns"
        INIT[Initialization]
        CONFIG[Configuration]
        EXEC[Execution]
        CLEAN[Cleanup]
    end

    APP --> LIB
    LIB --> PROTO
    PROTO --> HW

    INIT --> CONFIG --> EXEC --> CLEAN

    style APP fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style EXEC fill:#2ecc71,color:#fff

Project Structure Template

Each project follows a consistent structure:

ProjectName/
├── ProjectName.c          # Main application source
├── ProjectName.h          # Header with declarations
├── ProjectName.inf        # Module information file
├── ProjectNameLib.c       # Support library (optional)
└── README.md              # Project documentation

Skills Matrix

graph LR
    subgraph "Shell Command"
        S1[ShellPkg APIs]
        S2[Argument Parsing]
        S3[Output Formatting]
    end

    subgraph "Boot Menu"
        B1[GOP Drawing]
        B2[Keyboard Input]
        B3[Boot Variables]
    end

    subgraph "Network App"
        N1[TCP/HTTP Stack]
        N2[DNS Resolution]
        N3[Async Operations]
    end

    subgraph "Boot Loader"
        L1[File Loading]
        L2[Memory Setup]
        L3[ExitBootServices]
    end

    style S1 fill:#e74c3c,color:#fff
    style B1 fill:#e67e22,color:#fff
    style N1 fill:#2ecc71,color:#fff
    style L1 fill:#9b59b6,color:#fff

What You’ll Build

Chapter 24: Custom Shell Command

Shell> sysinfo --all
System Information Utility v1.0

Firmware Vendor: EDK II
Firmware Version: 0x00010000
UEFI Revision: 2.80

Memory Map:
  Conventional: 2048 MB
  Reserved: 128 MB
  MMIO: 256 MB

CPU Information:
  Cores: 4
  Architecture: X64

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│       UEFI Boot Menu v1.0           │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                     │
│  ► Windows Boot Manager             │
│    Ubuntu                           │
│    Fedora                           │
│    UEFI Shell                       │
│                                     │
│  [↑/↓] Select  [Enter] Boot  [Esc] │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Chapter 26: Network Application

Shell> httpget http://example.com/file.txt
Resolving example.com... 93.184.216.34
Connecting to 93.184.216.34:80...
GET /file.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Length: 1234

Downloaded 1234 bytes to file.txt

Chapter 27: Boot Loader

MyLoader v1.0
Loading kernel from \EFI\myos\kernel.elf...
  Kernel size: 2.5 MB
  Entry point: 0x100000

Setting up memory map...
Calling ExitBootServices...
Jumping to kernel...

Development Workflow

sequenceDiagram
    participant D as Developer
    participant E as EDK2 Build
    participant Q as QEMU
    participant S as UEFI Shell

    D->>E: Write/Modify Code
    E->>E: build -a X64 -p Package.dsc
    E->>Q: Copy .efi to ESP
    Q->>S: Boot UEFI Shell
    S->>S: Run Application
    S->>D: Debug Output
    D->>D: Iterate

Prerequisites

Before starting these projects, ensure you’re comfortable with:

Part 1: UEFI application structure and build system
Part 2: Protocols, handles, and memory management
Part 3: Console, graphics, file, and network services

Testing Environment

All projects can be tested in QEMU:

# Build project
cd edk2
source edksetup.sh
build -a X64 -t GCC5 -p UefiGuidePkg/UefiGuidePkg.dsc

# Create ESP image
dd if=/dev/zero of=esp.img bs=1M count=64
mkfs.vfat esp.img
mkdir mnt && sudo mount esp.img mnt
sudo mkdir -p mnt/EFI/BOOT
sudo cp Build/UefiGuidePkg/DEBUG_GCC5/X64/Project.efi mnt/EFI/BOOT/
sudo umount mnt

# Run QEMU
qemu-system-x86_64 \
    -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=OVMF_CODE.fd,readonly=on \
    -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=OVMF_VARS.fd \
    -drive format=raw,file=esp.img \
    -net none \
    -serial stdio

Extension Ideas

After completing the base projects, consider these extensions:

Project	Extensions
Shell Command	Add configuration file support, colored output
Boot Menu	Add timeout countdown, theme support, password protection
Network App	Add HTTPS support, download progress bar, resume capability
Boot Loader	Add multi-boot support, kernel command line, initrd loading

Skill Level: Professional Prerequisites: Parts 1-4 recommended Estimated Time: 2-4 hours per project