kernel-fxtec-pro1x/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 1d9c5d79e6 Merge branch 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jikos/livepatching
Pull live patching infrastructure from Jiri Kosina:
 "Let me provide a bit of history first, before describing what is in
  this pile.

  Originally, there was kSplice as a standalone project that implemented
  stop_machine()-based patching for the linux kernel.  This project got
  later acquired, and the current owner is providing live patching as a
  proprietary service, without any intentions to have their
  implementation merged.

  Then, due to rising user/customer demand, both Red Hat and SUSE
  started working on their own implementation (not knowing about each
  other), and announced first versions roughly at the same time [1] [2].

  The principle difference between the two solutions is how they are
  making sure that the patching is performed in a consistent way when it
  comes to different execution threads with respect to the semantic
  nature of the change that is being introduced.

  In a nutshell, kPatch is issuing stop_machine(), then looking at
  stacks of all existing processess, and if it decides that the system
  is in a state that can be patched safely, it proceeds insterting code
  redirection machinery to the patched functions.

  On the other hand, kGraft provides a per-thread consistency during one
  single pass of a process through the kernel and performs a lazy
  contignuous migration of threads from "unpatched" universe to the
  "patched" one at safe checkpoints.

  If interested in a more detailed discussion about the consistency
  models and its possible combinations, please see the thread that
  evolved around [3].

  It pretty quickly became obvious to the interested parties that it's
  absolutely impractical in this case to have several isolated solutions
  for one task to co-exist in the kernel.  During a dedicated Live
  Kernel Patching track at LPC in Dusseldorf, all the interested parties
  sat together and came up with a joint aproach that would work for both
  distro vendors.  Steven Rostedt took notes [4] from this meeting.

  And the foundation for that aproach is what's present in this pull
  request.

  It provides a basic infrastructure for function "live patching" (i.e.
  code redirection), including API for kernel modules containing the
  actual patches, and API/ABI for userspace to be able to operate on the
  patches (look up what patches are applied, enable/disable them, etc).

  It's relatively simple and minimalistic, as it's making use of
  existing kernel infrastructure (namely ftrace) as much as possible.
  It's also self-contained, in a sense that it doesn't hook itself in
  any other kernel subsystem (it doesn't even touch any other code).
  It's now implemented for x86 only as a reference architecture, but
  support for powerpc, s390 and arm is already in the works (adding
  arch-specific support basically boils down to teaching ftrace about
  regs-saving).

  Once this common infrastructure gets merged, both Red Hat and SUSE
  have agreed to immediately start porting their current solutions on
  top of this, abandoning their out-of-tree code.  The plan basically is
  that each patch will be marked by flag(s) that would indicate which
  consistency model it is willing to use (again, the details have been
  sketched out already in the thread at [3]).

  Before this happens, the current codebase can be used to patch a large
  group of secruity/stability problems the patches for which are not too
  complex (in a sense that they don't introduce non-trivial change of
  function's return value semantics, they don't change layout of data
  structures, etc) -- this corresponds to LEAVE_FUNCTION &&
  SWITCH_FUNCTION semantics described at [3].

  This tree has been in linux-next since December.

    [1] https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/4/30/477
    [2] https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/7/14/857
    [3] https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/11/7/354
    [4] http://linuxplumbersconf.org/2014/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/LPC2014_LivePatching.txt

  [ The core code is introduced by the three commits authored by Seth
    Jennings, which got a lot of changes incorporated during numerous
    respins and reviews of the initial implementation.  All the followup
    commits have materialized only after public tree has been created,
    so they were not folded into initial three commits so that the
    public tree doesn't get rebased ]"

* 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jikos/livepatching:
  livepatch: add missing newline to error message
  livepatch: rename config to CONFIG_LIVEPATCH
  livepatch: fix uninitialized return value
  livepatch: support for repatching a function
  livepatch: enforce patch stacking semantics
  livepatch: change ARCH_HAVE_LIVE_PATCHING to HAVE_LIVE_PATCHING
  livepatch: fix deferred module patching order
  livepatch: handle ancient compilers with more grace
  livepatch: kconfig: use bool instead of boolean
  livepatch: samples: fix usage example comments
  livepatch: MAINTAINERS: add git tree location
  livepatch: use FTRACE_OPS_FL_IPMODIFY
  livepatch: move x86 specific ftrace handler code to arch/x86
  livepatch: samples: add sample live patching module
  livepatch: kernel: add support for live patching
  livepatch: kernel: add TAINT_LIVEPATCH
2015-02-10 18:35:40 -08:00
..
obsolete Merge branches 'for-3.7/upstream-fixes', 'for-3.8/hidraw', 'for-3.8/i2c-hid', 'for-3.8/multitouch', 'for-3.8/roccat', 'for-3.8/sensors' and 'for-3.8/upstream' into for-linus 2012-12-12 21:41:55 +01:00
removed net_dma: simple removal 2014-09-28 07:05:16 -07:00
stable USB patches for 3.19-rc1 2014-12-14 14:57:16 -08:00
testing Merge branch 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jikos/livepatching 2015-02-10 18:35:40 -08:00
README Documentation/ABI: document the non-ABI status of Kconfig and symbols 2013-11-13 12:09:32 +09:00

This directory attempts to document the ABI between the Linux kernel and
userspace, and the relative stability of these interfaces.  Due to the
everchanging nature of Linux, and the differing maturity levels, these
interfaces should be used by userspace programs in different ways.

We have four different levels of ABI stability, as shown by the four
different subdirectories in this location.  Interfaces may change levels
of stability according to the rules described below.

The different levels of stability are:

  stable/
	This directory documents the interfaces that the developer has
	defined to be stable.  Userspace programs are free to use these
	interfaces with no restrictions, and backward compatibility for
	them will be guaranteed for at least 2 years.  Most interfaces
	(like syscalls) are expected to never change and always be
	available.

  testing/
	This directory documents interfaces that are felt to be stable,
	as the main development of this interface has been completed.
	The interface can be changed to add new features, but the
	current interface will not break by doing this, unless grave
	errors or security problems are found in them.  Userspace
	programs can start to rely on these interfaces, but they must be
	aware of changes that can occur before these interfaces move to
	be marked stable.  Programs that use these interfaces are
	strongly encouraged to add their name to the description of
	these interfaces, so that the kernel developers can easily
	notify them if any changes occur (see the description of the
	layout of the files below for details on how to do this.)

  obsolete/
  	This directory documents interfaces that are still remaining in
	the kernel, but are marked to be removed at some later point in
	time.  The description of the interface will document the reason
	why it is obsolete and when it can be expected to be removed.

  removed/
	This directory contains a list of the old interfaces that have
	been removed from the kernel.

Every file in these directories will contain the following information:

What:		Short description of the interface
Date:		Date created
KernelVersion:	Kernel version this feature first showed up in.
Contact:	Primary contact for this interface (may be a mailing list)
Description:	Long description of the interface and how to use it.
Users:		All users of this interface who wish to be notified when
		it changes.  This is very important for interfaces in
		the "testing" stage, so that kernel developers can work
		with userspace developers to ensure that things do not
		break in ways that are unacceptable.  It is also
		important to get feedback for these interfaces to make
		sure they are working in a proper way and do not need to
		be changed further.


How things move between levels:

Interfaces in stable may move to obsolete, as long as the proper
notification is given.

Interfaces may be removed from obsolete and the kernel as long as the
documented amount of time has gone by.

Interfaces in the testing state can move to the stable state when the
developers feel they are finished.  They cannot be removed from the
kernel tree without going through the obsolete state first.

It's up to the developer to place their interfaces in the category they
wish for it to start out in.


Notable bits of non-ABI, which should not under any circumstances be considered
stable:

- Kconfig.  Userspace should not rely on the presence or absence of any
  particular Kconfig symbol, in /proc/config.gz, in the copy of .config
  commonly installed to /boot, or in any invocation of the kernel build
  process.

- Kernel-internal symbols.  Do not rely on the presence, absence, location, or
  type of any kernel symbol, either in System.map files or the kernel binary
  itself.  See Documentation/stable_api_nonsense.txt.