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QNX Software Development Platform
QNX SDP is a cross-compiling and debugging environment, including an IDE and command-line tools, for building binary images and programs for target boards running the QNX OS 8.0.
OS Components & Operations
User's Guide
The QNX OS User's Guide is intended for all users of a QNX OS system, from system administrators to end users.
Securing Your System
Now that more and more computers and other devices are hooked up to insecure networks, security has become a very important issue. The word security can have many meanings, but in a computer context, it generally means preventing unauthorized people from making your computer do things that you don't want it to do.
General OS security
It should be fairly obvious that security is important; you don't want someone to take control of a device and disrupt its normal functioning—imagine the havoc if someone could stop air traffic control systems or hospital equipment from functioning properly.
Viruses
A virus is generally considered to be an infection that runs code on the host (e.g., a Trojan horse). Viruses need an entry point and a host.

QNX Momentics IDE User's Guide
This User's Guide describes version 8.0 of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that's part of the QNX Tool Suite.
QNX Software Development Platform
QNX SDP is a cross-compiling and debugging environment, including an IDE and command-line tools, for building binary images and programs for target boards running the QNX OS 8.0.
- Quickstart Guide
- System Architecture
  The System Architecture guide accompanies the QNX OS and is intended for both application developers and end-users.
- OS Components & Operations
  - Boot Optimization Guide
    The Boot Optimization Guide describes techniques you can use to reduce the time from your board's initial power on until you have a fully functional QNX system running on the board.
  - Building Embedded Systems
    The Building Embedded Systems guide is intended for developers who are developing or building BSPs for QNX OS embedded systems.
  - Customizing a BSP
    While QNX provides Board Support Packages (BSPs) for many common platforms and their individual variants, in some cases, you need a BSP for a board that QNX does not provide. If this is the case, you can modify a QNX BSP or develop your own.
  - Device Publishers Developer's Guide
  - High Availability Framework Developer's Guide
  - High-Performance Networking Stack (io-sock) User's Guide
    This guide contains instructions for implementing and using the QNX OS High-Performance Networking Stack and its manager, io-sock.
  - PCI Server User's Guide
  - Performance Tuning User's Guide
  - SMMUMAN User's Guide
  - System Analysis Toolkit (SAT) User's Guide
  - Technotes
  - User's Guide
    The QNX OS User's Guide is intended for all users of a QNX OS system, from system administrators to end users.
    - Getting to Know the OS
      Welcome to the QNX OS!
    - Logging In, Logging Out, and Shutting Down
      QNX OS is a multiuser operating system; it lets multiple users log in and use the system simultaneously, and it protects them from each other through a system of resource ownership and permissions.
    - Managing User Accounts
      This chapter explains how user accounts work, how users can change their password by using the passwd utility, and how system administrators can use the passwd utility and edit account database files to create and maintain users' accounts.
    - Using the Command Line
      Like QNX 4, Unix, and DOS, the QNX OS is based on a command-line interface that you might want or need to use instead of the GUI.
    - Working with Files
      In a QNX OS system, almost everything is a file; devices, data, and even services are all typically represented as files. This lets you work with local and remote resources easily from the command line, or through any program that works with files.
    - Using Editors
      An editor is a utility designed to view and modify files.
    - Configuring Your Environment
      The Building Embedded Systems guide describes what happens when you boot your system, and what you can do to customize it. This chapter describes how you can customize the environment that you get when you log in, and then describes some of the setup you might need to do.
    - Writing Shell Scripts
      Shell scripting, at its most basic, is taking a series of commands you might type at a command line and putting them into a file, so you can reproduce them again at a later date, or run them repeatedly without having to type them over again.
    - Working with Filesystems
      The QNX OS provides a variety of filesystems, so that you can easily access DOS, Linux, as well as native Power-Safe disks.
    - TCP/IP Networking
      The term TCP/IP implies two distinct protocols: TCP and IP. Since these protocols have been used so commonly together, TCP/IP has become a standard terminology in today's Internet. Essentially, TCP/IP refers to network communications where the TCP transport is used to deliver data across IP networks.
    - Backing Up Data
      No matter how reliable your hardware and electrical supply are, or how sure you are that you'll never accidentally erase all your work, it's just common sense to keep backups of your files. Backup strategies differ in ease of use, speed, robustness, and cost.
    - Securing Your System
      Now that more and more computers and other devices are hooked up to insecure networks, security has become a very important issue. The word security can have many meanings, but in a computer context, it generally means preventing unauthorized people from making your computer do things that you don't want it to do.
      - General OS security
        It should be fairly obvious that security is important; you don't want someone to take control of a device and disrupt its normal functioning—imagine the havoc if someone could stop air traffic control systems or hospital equipment from functioning properly.
        Remote and local attacks
        Effects of attacks
        Another way of classifying exploits is by their effect.
        Viruses
        A virus is generally considered to be an infection that runs code on the host (e.g., a Trojan horse). Viruses need an entry point and a host.
        QNX OS security in general
        QNX OS is a Unix-style operating system, so almost all of the general Unix security information (whether generic, Linux, BSD, etc.) applies to QNX OS as well. A quick Internet search for Unix or Linux security will yield plenty of papers. You'll also find many titles at a bookstore or library.
      - QNX OS-specific security issues
      - Setting up a firewall
        Just as a building or vehicle uses specially constructed walls to prevent the spread of fire, so computer systems use firewalls to prevent or limit access to certain applications or systems and to protect systems from malicious attacks.
    - Fine-Tuning Your System
      This chapter describes how you can improve your system's performance.
    - Understanding System Limits
      Resources on a system tend to be finite (alas!), and some are more limited than others. This chapter describes some of the limits on a QNX OS system.
    - Examples
      This appendix includes samples of some of the files described in this guide.
    - Glossary
- Graphics
- Programming
- System Security Guide
  The QNX System Security Guide is intended for both system integrators who are responsible for the security of a QNX OS system and developers who want to create a QNX OS resource manager free from vulnerabilities.
- Utilities & Libraries
- Migrating to QNX OS 8.0
QNX Software in the Cloud
QNX Software in the Cloud enables developers to use the QNX OS in the Amazon cloud environment.
QNX Toolkit for Visual Studio Code
This User's Guide describes the QNX^® Toolkit for Visual Studio Code. The guide introduces you to the QNX Toolkit by explaining the QNX development environment and how to build, run, and debug your QNX^® Operating System (OS) applications and systems.
QNX Hypervisor User's Guide
This User's Guide explains the QNX hypervisor architecture and provides instructions for installing and running a QNX Hypervisor system, changing system components and configuration, and using hypervisor features such as virtual devices (vdevs).
Typographical Conventions, Support, and Licensing
This section describes the typographical conventions used throughout the documentation, explains how to obtain technical support, and provides some information about licensing.

Viruses

QNX SDP8.0User's GuideUser

A virus is generally considered to be an infection that runs code on the host (e.g., a Trojan horse). Viruses need an entry point and a host.

The entry points for a virus include:

an open interface (e.g., ActiveX)—QNX OS has none
a security hole (such as buffer overflows)—these are specific to flaws in specific services, based on a common industry-standard code base. These are limited, since we ship only a limited set of standard (BSD) services.

The hosts for a virus are system-call interfaces that are accessible from the point of entry (an infected program), such as sendmail or an HTTP server. The hosts are platform-specific, so a virus for Linux would in all likelihood terminate the host under QNX OS as soon as it tried to do anything damaging.

The viruses that circulate via email are OS-specific, generally targeted at Windows, and can't harm QNX OS systems, since they simply aren't compatible. Most Unix-style systems aren't susceptible to viruses since the ability to do (much) damage is limited by the host. We have never heard of a true virus that could infect QNX OS.

In addition, since deployed QNX OS systems are highly customized to their designated application, they often don't contain the software that's open to such attacks (e.g., logins, web browsers, email, Telnet and FTP servers).

Page updated: March 05, 2025