The atomic replace runs pre/post (un)install callbacks only from the new
livepatch. There are several reasons for this:
+ Simplicity: clear ordering of operations, no interactions between
old and new callbacks.
+ Reliability: only new livepatch knows what changes can already be made
by older livepatches and how to take over the state.
+ Testing: the atomic replace can be properly tested only when a newer
livepatch is available. It might be too late to fix unwanted effect
of callbacks from older livepatches.
It might happen that an older change is not enough and the same system
state has to be modified another way. Different changes need to get
distinguished by a version number added to struct klp_state.
The version can also be used to prevent loading incompatible livepatches.
The check is done when the livepatch is enabled. The rules are:
+ Any completely new system state modification is allowed.
+ System state modifications with the same or higher version are allowed
for already modified system states.
+ Cumulative livepatches must handle all system state modifications from
already installed livepatches.
+ Non-cumulative livepatches are allowed to touch already modified
system states.
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20191030154313.13263-4-pmladek@suse.com
To: Jiri Kosina <jikos@kernel.org>
Cc: Kamalesh Babulal <kamalesh@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Cc: Nicolai Stange <nstange@suse.de>
Cc: live-patching@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Acked-by: Miroslav Benes <mbenes@suse.cz>
Acked-by: Joe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Petr Mladek <pmladek@suse.com>
This is another step how to help maintaining more livepatches.
One big help was the atomic replace and cumulative livepatches. These
livepatches replace the already installed ones. Therefore it should
be enough when each cumulative livepatch is consistent.
The problems might come with shadow variables and callbacks. They might
change the system behavior or state so that it is no longer safe to
go back and use an older livepatch or the original kernel code. Also,
a new livepatch must be able to detect changes which were made by
the already installed livepatches.
This is where the livepatch system state tracking gets useful. It
allows to:
- find whether a system state has already been modified by
previous livepatches
- store data needed to manipulate and restore the system state
The information about the manipulated system states is stored in an
array of struct klp_state. It can be searched by two new functions
klp_get_state() and klp_get_prev_state().
The dependencies are going to be solved by a version field added later.
The only important information is that it will be allowed to modify
the same state by more non-cumulative livepatches. It is similar
to allowing to modify the same function several times. The livepatch
author is responsible for preventing incompatible changes.
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20191030154313.13263-3-pmladek@suse.com
To: Jiri Kosina <jikos@kernel.org>
Cc: Kamalesh Babulal <kamalesh@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Cc: Nicolai Stange <nstange@suse.de>
Cc: live-patching@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Acked-by: Miroslav Benes <mbenes@suse.cz>
Acked-by: Joe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Petr Mladek <pmladek@suse.com>
