* [PATCH 1/6] kho/abi: luo: make generated documentation more coherent
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 2/6] kho/abi: memfd: " Mike Rapoport
` (4 subsequent siblings)
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <rppt@kernel.org>
LUO ABI description starts with "This header defines" which is fine in
the header but reads weird in the generated html documentation.
Update it to make the generated documentation coherent.
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h | 8 ++++----
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
index bb099c92e469..beb86847b544 100644
--- a/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
/**
* DOC: Live Update Orchestrator ABI
*
- * This header defines the stable Application Binary Interface used by the
- * Live Update Orchestrator to pass state from a pre-update kernel to a
- * post-update kernel. The ABI is built upon the Kexec HandOver framework
- * and uses a Flattened Device Tree to describe the preserved data.
+ * Live Update Orchestrator uses the stable Application Binary Interface
+ * defined below to pass state from a pre-update kernel to a post-update
+ * kernel. The ABI is built upon the Kexec HandOver framework and uses a
+ * Flattened Device Tree to describe the preserved data.
*
* This interface is a contract. Any modification to the FDT structure, node
* properties, compatible strings, or the layout of the `__packed` serialization
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread* [PATCH 2/6] kho/abi: memfd: make generated documentation more coherent
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 1/6] kho/abi: luo: make generated documentation more coherent Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 3/6] kho: docs: combine concepts and FDT documentation Mike Rapoport
` (3 subsequent siblings)
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <rppt@kernel.org>
memfd preservation ABI description starts with "This header defines"
which is fine in the header but reads weird in the generated html
documentation.
Update it to make the generated documentation coherent.
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h | 4 ++--
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
index da7d063474a1..c211c31334a3 100644
--- a/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
/**
* DOC: memfd Live Update ABI
*
- * This header defines the ABI for preserving the state of a memfd across a
- * kexec reboot using the LUO.
+ * memfd uses the ABI defined below for preserving its state across a kexec
+ * reboot using the LUO.
*
* The state is serialized into a packed structure `struct memfd_luo_ser`
* which is handed over to the next kernel via the KHO mechanism.
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread* [PATCH 3/6] kho: docs: combine concepts and FDT documentation
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 1/6] kho/abi: luo: make generated documentation more coherent Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 2/6] kho/abi: memfd: " Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 4/6] kho: Introduce KHO FDT ABI header Mike Rapoport
` (2 subsequent siblings)
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <rppt@kernel.org>
Currently index.rst in KHO documentation looks empty and sad as it only
contains links to "Kexec Handover Concepts" and "KHO FDT" chapters.
Inline contents of these chapters into index.rst to provide a single
coherent chapter describing KHO.
While on it, drop parts of the KHO FDT description that will be superseded
by addition of KHO ABI documentation.
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/core-api/kho/concepts.rst | 74 -----------------------
Documentation/core-api/kho/fdt.rst | 80 -------------------------
Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst | 73 ++++++++++++++++++++--
Documentation/core-api/liveupdate.rst | 2 +-
Documentation/mm/memfd_preservation.rst | 2 +-
5 files changed, 70 insertions(+), 161 deletions(-)
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/concepts.rst
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/fdt.rst
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/concepts.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/concepts.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index d626d1dbd678..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/concepts.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
-.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
-.. _kho-concepts:
-
-=======================
-Kexec Handover Concepts
-=======================
-
-Kexec HandOver (KHO) is a mechanism that allows Linux to preserve memory
-regions, which could contain serialized system states, across kexec.
-
-It introduces multiple concepts:
-
-KHO FDT
-=======
-
-Every KHO kexec carries a KHO specific flattened device tree (FDT) blob
-that describes preserved memory regions. These regions contain either
-serialized subsystem states, or in-memory data that shall not be touched
-across kexec. After KHO, subsystems can retrieve and restore preserved
-memory regions from KHO FDT.
-
-KHO only uses the FDT container format and libfdt library, but does not
-adhere to the same property semantics that normal device trees do: Properties
-are passed in native endianness and standardized properties like ``regs`` and
-``ranges`` do not exist, hence there are no ``#...-cells`` properties.
-
-KHO is still under development. The FDT schema is unstable and would change
-in the future.
-
-Scratch Regions
-===============
-
-To boot into kexec, we need to have a physically contiguous memory range that
-contains no handed over memory. Kexec then places the target kernel and initrd
-into that region. The new kernel exclusively uses this region for memory
-allocations before during boot up to the initialization of the page allocator.
-
-We guarantee that we always have such regions through the scratch regions: On
-first boot KHO allocates several physically contiguous memory regions. Since
-after kexec these regions will be used by early memory allocations, there is a
-scratch region per NUMA node plus a scratch region to satisfy allocations
-requests that do not require particular NUMA node assignment.
-By default, size of the scratch region is calculated based on amount of memory
-allocated during boot. The ``kho_scratch`` kernel command line option may be
-used to explicitly define size of the scratch regions.
-The scratch regions are declared as CMA when page allocator is initialized so
-that their memory can be used during system lifetime. CMA gives us the
-guarantee that no handover pages land in that region, because handover pages
-must be at a static physical memory location and CMA enforces that only
-movable pages can be located inside.
-
-After KHO kexec, we ignore the ``kho_scratch`` kernel command line option and
-instead reuse the exact same region that was originally allocated. This allows
-us to recursively execute any amount of KHO kexecs. Because we used this region
-for boot memory allocations and as target memory for kexec blobs, some parts
-of that memory region may be reserved. These reservations are irrelevant for
-the next KHO, because kexec can overwrite even the original kernel.
-
-.. _kho-finalization-phase:
-
-KHO finalization phase
-======================
-
-To enable user space based kexec file loader, the kernel needs to be able to
-provide the FDT that describes the current kernel's state before
-performing the actual kexec. The process of generating that FDT is
-called serialization. When the FDT is generated, some properties
-of the system may become immutable because they are already written down
-in the FDT. That state is called the KHO finalization phase.
-
-Public API
-==========
-.. kernel-doc:: kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
- :export:
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/fdt.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/fdt.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 62505285d60d..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/fdt.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,80 +0,0 @@
-.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
-
-=======
-KHO FDT
-=======
-
-KHO uses the flattened device tree (FDT) container format and libfdt
-library to create and parse the data that is passed between the
-kernels. The properties in KHO FDT are stored in native format.
-It includes the physical address of an in-memory structure describing
-all preserved memory regions, as well as physical addresses of KHO users'
-own FDTs. Interpreting those sub FDTs is the responsibility of KHO users.
-
-KHO nodes and properties
-========================
-
-Property ``preserved-memory-map``
----------------------------------
-
-KHO saves a special property named ``preserved-memory-map`` under the root node.
-This node contains the physical address of an in-memory structure for KHO to
-preserve memory regions across kexec.
-
-Property ``compatible``
------------------------
-
-The ``compatible`` property determines compatibility between the kernel
-that created the KHO FDT and the kernel that attempts to load it.
-If the kernel that loads the KHO FDT is not compatible with it, the entire
-KHO process will be bypassed.
-
-Property ``fdt``
-----------------
-
-Generally, a KHO user serialize its state into its own FDT and instructs
-KHO to preserve the underlying memory, such that after kexec, the new kernel
-can recover its state from the preserved FDT.
-
-A KHO user thus can create a node in KHO root tree and save the physical address
-of its own FDT in that node's property ``fdt`` .
-
-Examples
-========
-
-The following example demonstrates KHO FDT that preserves two memory
-regions created with ``reserve_mem`` kernel command line parameter::
-
- /dts-v1/;
-
- / {
- compatible = "kho-v1";
-
- preserved-memory-map = <0x40be16 0x1000000>;
-
- memblock {
- fdt = <0x1517 0x1000000>;
- };
- };
-
-where the ``memblock`` node contains an FDT that is requested by the
-subsystem memblock for preservation. The FDT contains the following
-serialized data::
-
- /dts-v1/;
-
- / {
- compatible = "memblock-v1";
-
- n1 {
- compatible = "reserve-mem-v1";
- start = <0xc06b 0x4000000>;
- size = <0x04 0x00>;
- };
-
- n2 {
- compatible = "reserve-mem-v1";
- start = <0xc067 0x4000000>;
- size = <0x04 0x00>;
- };
- };
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
index 0c63b0c5c143..03cd9afbdb2e 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
@@ -4,10 +4,73 @@
Kexec Handover Subsystem
========================
-.. toctree::
- :maxdepth: 1
+Overview
+========
- concepts
- fdt
+Kexec HandOver (KHO) is a mechanism that allows Linux to preserve memory
+regions, which could contain serialized system states, across kexec.
-.. only:: subproject and html
+KHO uses :ref:`flattened device tree (FDT) <kho_fdt>` to pass information about
+the preserved state from pre-exec kernel to post-kexec kernel and :ref:`scratch
+memory regions <kho_scratch>` to ensure integrity of the preserved memory.
+
+.. _kho_fdt:
+
+KHO FDT
+=======
+Every KHO kexec carries a KHO specific flattened device tree (FDT) blob that
+describes the preserved state. The FDT includes properties describing preserved
+memory regions and nodes that hold subsystem specific state.
+
+The preserved memory regions contain either serialized subsystem states, or
+in-memory data that shall not be touched across kexec. After KHO, subsystems
+can retrieve and restore the preserved state from KHO FDT.
+
+Subsystems participating in KHO can define their own format for state
+serialization and preservation.
+
+.. _kho_scratch:
+
+Scratch Regions
+===============
+
+To boot into kexec, we need to have a physically contiguous memory range that
+contains no handed over memory. Kexec then places the target kernel and initrd
+into that region. The new kernel exclusively uses this region for memory
+allocations before during boot up to the initialization of the page allocator.
+
+We guarantee that we always have such regions through the scratch regions: On
+first boot KHO allocates several physically contiguous memory regions. Since
+after kexec these regions will be used by early memory allocations, there is a
+scratch region per NUMA node plus a scratch region to satisfy allocations
+requests that do not require particular NUMA node assignment.
+By default, size of the scratch region is calculated based on amount of memory
+allocated during boot. The ``kho_scratch`` kernel command line option may be
+used to explicitly define size of the scratch regions.
+The scratch regions are declared as CMA when page allocator is initialized so
+that their memory can be used during system lifetime. CMA gives us the
+guarantee that no handover pages land in that region, because handover pages
+must be at a static physical memory location and CMA enforces that only
+movable pages can be located inside.
+
+After KHO kexec, we ignore the ``kho_scratch`` kernel command line option and
+instead reuse the exact same region that was originally allocated. This allows
+us to recursively execute any amount of KHO kexecs. Because we used this region
+for boot memory allocations and as target memory for kexec blobs, some parts
+of that memory region may be reserved. These reservations are irrelevant for
+the next KHO, because kexec can overwrite even the original kernel.
+
+KHO finalization phase
+======================
+
+To enable user space based kexec file loader, the kernel needs to be able to
+provide the FDT that describes the current kernel's state before
+performing the actual kexec. The process of generating that FDT is
+called serialization. When the FDT is generated, some properties
+of the system may become immutable because they are already written down
+in the FDT. That state is called the KHO finalization phase.
+
+See Also
+========
+
+- :doc:`/admin-guide/mm/kho`
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/liveupdate.rst b/Documentation/core-api/liveupdate.rst
index 7960eb15a81f..e2aba13494cf 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/liveupdate.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/liveupdate.rst
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ See Also
========
- :doc:`Live Update uAPI </userspace-api/liveupdate>`
-- :doc:`/core-api/kho/concepts`
+- :doc:`/core-api/kho/index`
diff --git a/Documentation/mm/memfd_preservation.rst b/Documentation/mm/memfd_preservation.rst
index 66e0fb6d5ef0..a8a5b476afd3 100644
--- a/Documentation/mm/memfd_preservation.rst
+++ b/Documentation/mm/memfd_preservation.rst
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ See Also
========
- :doc:`/core-api/liveupdate`
-- :doc:`/core-api/kho/concepts`
+- :doc:`/core-api/kho/index`
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread* [PATCH 4/6] kho: Introduce KHO FDT ABI header
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
` (2 preceding siblings ...)
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 3/6] kho: docs: combine concepts and FDT documentation Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 5/6] kho: Relocate vmalloc preservation structure to KHO " Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 6/6] kho/abi: add memblock " Mike Rapoport
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: Jason Miu <jasonmiu@google.com>
Introduce the `include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h` header file,
which defines the stable ABI for the KHO mechanism. This header specifies
how preserved data is passed between kernels using an FDT.
The ABI contract includes the FDT structure, node properties, and the
"kho-v1" compatible string. By centralizing these definitions, this
header serves as the foundational agreement for inter-kernel
communication of preserved states, ensuring forward compatibility and
preventing misinterpretation of data across kexec transitions.
Since the ABI definitions are now centralized in the header files, the
YAML files that previously described the FDT interfaces are
redundant. These redundant files have therefore been removed.
Signed-off-by: Jason Miu <jasonmiu@google.com>
Co-developed-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst | 16 ++++
Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/kho.yaml | 43 ----------
.../core-api/kho/bindings/sub-fdt.yaml | 27 ------
Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst | 9 ++
MAINTAINERS | 1 +
include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h | 85 +++++++++++++++++++
kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c | 19 ++---
7 files changed, 120 insertions(+), 80 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/kho.yaml
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/sub-fdt.yaml
create mode 100644 include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a1ee0f481727
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+==================
+Kexec Handover ABI
+==================
+
+Core Kexec Handover ABI
+========================
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
+ :doc: Kexec Handover ABI
+
+See Also
+========
+
+- :doc:`/admin-guide/mm/kho`
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/kho.yaml b/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/kho.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 11e8ab7b219d..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/kho.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause)
-%YAML 1.2
----
-title: Kexec HandOver (KHO) root tree
-
-maintainers:
- - Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
- - Changyuan Lyu <changyuanl@google.com>
-
-description: |
- System memory preserved by KHO across kexec.
-
-properties:
- compatible:
- enum:
- - kho-v1
-
- preserved-memory-map:
- description: |
- physical address (u64) of an in-memory structure describing all preserved
- folios and memory ranges.
-
-patternProperties:
- "$[0-9a-f_]+^":
- $ref: sub-fdt.yaml#
- description: physical address of a KHO user's own FDT.
-
-required:
- - compatible
- - preserved-memory-map
-
-additionalProperties: false
-
-examples:
- - |
- kho {
- compatible = "kho-v1";
- preserved-memory-map = <0xf0be16 0x1000000>;
-
- memblock {
- fdt = <0x80cc16 0x1000000>;
- };
- };
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/sub-fdt.yaml b/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/sub-fdt.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index b9a3d2d24850..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/sub-fdt.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause)
-%YAML 1.2
----
-title: KHO users' FDT address
-
-maintainers:
- - Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
- - Changyuan Lyu <changyuanl@google.com>
-
-description: |
- Physical address of an FDT blob registered by a KHO user.
-
-properties:
- fdt:
- description: |
- physical address (u64) of an FDT blob.
-
-required:
- - fdt
-
-additionalProperties: false
-
-examples:
- - |
- memblock {
- fdt = <0x80cc16 0x1000000>;
- };
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
index 03cd9afbdb2e..f56579b5c351 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/kho/index.rst
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ can retrieve and restore the preserved state from KHO FDT.
Subsystems participating in KHO can define their own format for state
serialization and preservation.
+KHO FDT and structures defined by the subsystems form an ABI between pre-kexec
+and post-kexec kernels. This ABI is defined by header files in
+``include/linux/kho/abi`` directory.
+
+.. toctree::
+ :maxdepth: 1
+
+ abi.rst
+
.. _kho_scratch:
Scratch Regions
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 12f49de7fe03..cadaa9270346 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -13959,6 +13959,7 @@ S: Maintained
F: Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst
F: Documentation/core-api/kho/*
F: include/linux/kexec_handover.h
+F: include/linux/kho/abi/
F: kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover*
F: lib/test_kho.c
F: tools/testing/selftests/kho/
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..af9fa8c134c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only */
+
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2023 Alexander Graf <graf@amazon.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2025 Microsoft Corporation, Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
+ * Copyright (C) 2025 Google LLC, Changyuan Lyu <changyuanl@google.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2025 Google LLC, Jason Miu <jasonmiu@google.com>
+ */
+
+#ifndef _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H
+#define _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H
+
+/**
+ * DOC: Kexec Handover ABI
+ *
+ * Kexec Handover uses the ABI defined below for passing preserved data from
+ * one kernel to the next.
+ * The ABI uses Flattened Device Tree (FDT) format. The first kernel creates an
+ * FDT which is then passed to the next kernel during a kexec handover.
+ *
+ * This interface is a contract. Any modification to the FDT structure, node
+ * properties, compatible string, or the layout of the data structures
+ * referenced here constitutes a breaking change. Such changes require
+ * incrementing the version number in KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE to prevent a new kernel
+ * from misinterpreting data from an older kernel. Changes are allowed provided
+ * the compatibility version is incremented. However, backward/forward
+ * compatibility is only guaranteed for kernels supporting the same ABI version.
+ *
+ * FDT Structure Overview:
+ * The FDT serves as a central registry for physical
+ * addresses of preserved data structures and sub-FDTs. The first kernel
+ * populates this FDT with references to memory regions and other FDTs that
+ * need to persist across the kexec transition. The subsequent kernel then
+ * parses this FDT to locate and restore the preserved data.::
+ *
+ * / {
+ * compatible = "kho-v1";
+ *
+ * preserved-memory-map = <0x...>;
+ *
+ * <subnode-name-1> {
+ * fdt = <0x...>;
+ * };
+ *
+ * <subnode-name-2> {
+ * fdt = <0x...>;
+ * };
+ * ... ...
+ * <subnode-name-N> {
+ * fdt = <0x...>;
+ * };
+ * };
+ *
+ * Root KHO Node (/):
+ * - compatible: "kho-v1"
+ *
+ * Indentifies the overall KHO ABI version.
+ *
+ * - preserved-memory-map: u64
+ *
+ * Physical memory address pointing to the root of the
+ * preserved memory map data structure.
+ *
+ * Subnodes (<subnode-name-N>):
+ * Subnodes can also be added to the root node to
+ * describe other preserved data blobs. The <subnode-name-N>
+ * is provided by the subsystem that uses KHO for preserving its
+ * data.
+ *
+ * - fdt: u64
+ *
+ * Physical address pointing to a subnode FDT blob that is also
+ * being preserved.
+ */
+
+/* The compatible string for the KHO FDT root node. */
+#define KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE "kho-v1"
+
+/* The FDT property for the preserved memory map. */
+#define KHO_FDT_MEMORY_MAP_PROP_NAME "preserved-memory-map"
+
+/* The FDT property for sub-FDTs. */
+#define KHO_FDT_SUB_TREE_PROP_NAME "fdt"
+
+#endif /* _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H */
diff --git a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
index 9dc51fab604f..d3d02a9ea391 100644
--- a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
+++ b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
#include <linux/count_zeros.h>
#include <linux/kexec.h>
#include <linux/kexec_handover.h>
+#include <linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h>
#include <linux/libfdt.h>
#include <linux/list.h>
#include <linux/memblock.h>
@@ -33,10 +34,7 @@
#include "../kexec_internal.h"
#include "kexec_handover_internal.h"
-#define KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE "kho-v1"
-#define PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP "preserved-memory-map"
-#define PROP_SUB_FDT "fdt"
-
+/* The magic token for preserved pages */
#define KHO_PAGE_MAGIC 0x4b484f50U /* ASCII for 'KHOP' */
/*
@@ -378,7 +376,7 @@ static void kho_update_memory_map(struct khoser_mem_chunk *first_chunk)
void *ptr;
u64 phys;
- ptr = fdt_getprop_w(kho_out.fdt, 0, PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP, NULL);
+ ptr = fdt_getprop_w(kho_out.fdt, 0, KHO_FDT_MEMORY_MAP_PROP_NAME, NULL);
/* Check and discard previous memory map */
phys = get_unaligned((u64 *)ptr);
@@ -468,7 +466,7 @@ static bool __init kho_mem_deserialize(const void *fdt)
u64 mem;
int len;
- mem_ptr = fdt_getprop(fdt, 0, PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP, &len);
+ mem_ptr = fdt_getprop(fdt, 0, KHO_FDT_MEMORY_MAP_PROP_NAME, &len);
if (!mem_ptr || len != sizeof(u64)) {
pr_err("failed to get preserved memory bitmaps\n");
return false;
@@ -733,7 +731,8 @@ int kho_add_subtree(const char *name, void *fdt)
goto out_pack;
}
- err = fdt_setprop(root_fdt, off, PROP_SUB_FDT, &phys, sizeof(phys));
+ err = fdt_setprop(root_fdt, off, KHO_FDT_SUB_TREE_PROP_NAME,
+ &phys, sizeof(phys));
if (err < 0)
goto out_pack;
@@ -764,7 +763,7 @@ void kho_remove_subtree(void *fdt)
const u64 *val;
int len;
- val = fdt_getprop(root_fdt, off, PROP_SUB_FDT, &len);
+ val = fdt_getprop(root_fdt, off, KHO_FDT_SUB_TREE_PROP_NAME, &len);
if (!val || len != sizeof(phys_addr_t))
continue;
@@ -1310,7 +1309,7 @@ int kho_retrieve_subtree(const char *name, phys_addr_t *phys)
if (offset < 0)
return -ENOENT;
- val = fdt_getprop(fdt, offset, PROP_SUB_FDT, &len);
+ val = fdt_getprop(fdt, offset, KHO_FDT_SUB_TREE_PROP_NAME, &len);
if (!val || len != sizeof(*val))
return -EINVAL;
@@ -1330,7 +1329,7 @@ static __init int kho_out_fdt_setup(void)
err |= fdt_finish_reservemap(root);
err |= fdt_begin_node(root, "");
err |= fdt_property_string(root, "compatible", KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE);
- err |= fdt_property(root, PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP, &empty_mem_map,
+ err |= fdt_property(root, KHO_FDT_MEMORY_MAP_PROP_NAME, &empty_mem_map,
sizeof(empty_mem_map));
err |= fdt_end_node(root);
err |= fdt_finish(root);
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread* [PATCH 5/6] kho: Relocate vmalloc preservation structure to KHO ABI header
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
` (3 preceding siblings ...)
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 4/6] kho: Introduce KHO FDT ABI header Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 6/6] kho/abi: add memblock " Mike Rapoport
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: Jason Miu <jasonmiu@google.com>
The `struct kho_vmalloc` defines the in-memory layout for preserving
vmalloc regions across kexec. This layout is a contract between kernels
and part of the KHO ABI.
To reflect this relationship, the related structs and helper macros are
relocated to the ABI header, `include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h`.
This move places the structure's definition under the protection of the
KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE version string.
The structure and its components are now also documented within the
ABI header to describe the contract and prevent ABI breaks.
Signed-off-by: Jason Miu <jasonmiu@google.com>
Co-developed-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst | 6 ++
include/linux/kexec_handover.h | 27 +--------
include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h | 78 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h | 2 +-
kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c | 15 -----
lib/test_kho.c | 1 +
6 files changed, 88 insertions(+), 41 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
index a1ee0f481727..1d9916adee23 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ Core Kexec Handover ABI
.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
:doc: Kexec Handover ABI
+vmalloc preservation ABI
+========================
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
+ :doc: Kexec Handover ABI for vmalloc Preservation
+
See Also
========
diff --git a/include/linux/kexec_handover.h b/include/linux/kexec_handover.h
index 5f7b9de97e8d..a56ff3ffaf17 100644
--- a/include/linux/kexec_handover.h
+++ b/include/linux/kexec_handover.h
@@ -11,34 +11,11 @@ struct kho_scratch {
phys_addr_t size;
};
+struct kho_vmalloc;
+
struct folio;
struct page;
-#define DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(name, type) \
- union { \
- phys_addr_t phys; \
- type ptr; \
- } name
-#define KHOSER_STORE_PTR(dest, val) \
- ({ \
- typeof(val) v = val; \
- typecheck(typeof((dest).ptr), v); \
- (dest).phys = virt_to_phys(v); \
- })
-#define KHOSER_LOAD_PTR(src) \
- ({ \
- typeof(src) s = src; \
- (typeof((s).ptr))((s).phys ? phys_to_virt((s).phys) : NULL); \
- })
-
-struct kho_vmalloc_chunk;
-struct kho_vmalloc {
- DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(first, struct kho_vmalloc_chunk *);
- unsigned int total_pages;
- unsigned short flags;
- unsigned short order;
-};
-
#ifdef CONFIG_KEXEC_HANDOVER
bool kho_is_enabled(void);
bool is_kho_boot(void);
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
index af9fa8c134c7..285eda8a36e4 100644
--- a/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
#ifndef _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H
#define _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H
+#include <linux/types.h>
+
/**
* DOC: Kexec Handover ABI
*
@@ -82,4 +84,80 @@
/* The FDT property for sub-FDTs. */
#define KHO_FDT_SUB_TREE_PROP_NAME "fdt"
+/**
+ * DOC: Kexec Handover ABI for vmalloc Preservation
+ *
+ * The Kexec Handover ABI for preserving vmalloc'ed memory is defined by
+ * a set of structures and helper macros. The layout of these structures is a
+ * stable contract between kernels and is versioned by the KHO_FDT_COMPATIBLE
+ * string.
+ *
+ * The preservation is managed through a main descriptor &struct kho_vmalloc,
+ * which points to a linked list of &struct kho_vmalloc_chunk structures. These
+ * chunks contain the physical addresses of the preserved pages, allowing the
+ * next kernel to reconstruct the vmalloc area with the same content and layout.
+ * Helper macros are also defined for storing and loading pointers within
+ * these structures.
+ */
+
+/* Helper macro to define a union for a serializable pointer. */
+#define DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(name, type) \
+ union { \
+ u64 phys; \
+ type ptr; \
+ } name
+
+/* Stores the physical address of a serializable pointer. */
+#define KHOSER_STORE_PTR(dest, val) \
+ ({ \
+ typeof(val) v = val; \
+ typecheck(typeof((dest).ptr), v); \
+ (dest).phys = virt_to_phys(v); \
+ })
+
+/* Loads the stored physical address back to a pointer. */
+#define KHOSER_LOAD_PTR(src) \
+ ({ \
+ typeof(src) s = src; \
+ (typeof((s).ptr))((s).phys ? phys_to_virt((s).phys) : NULL); \
+ })
+
+/*
+ * This header is embedded at the beginning of each `kho_vmalloc_chunk`
+ * and contains a pointer to the next chunk in the linked list,
+ * stored as a physical address for handover.
+ */
+struct kho_vmalloc_hdr {
+ DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(next, struct kho_vmalloc_chunk *);
+};
+
+#define KHO_VMALLOC_SIZE \
+ ((PAGE_SIZE - sizeof(struct kho_vmalloc_hdr)) / \
+ sizeof(u64))
+
+/*
+ * Each chunk is a single page and is part of a linked list that describes
+ * a preserved vmalloc area. It contains the header with the link to the next
+ * chunk and an array of physical addresses of the pages that make up the
+ * preserved vmalloc area.
+ */
+struct kho_vmalloc_chunk {
+ struct kho_vmalloc_hdr hdr;
+ u64 phys[KHO_VMALLOC_SIZE];
+};
+
+static_assert(sizeof(struct kho_vmalloc_chunk) == PAGE_SIZE);
+
+/*
+ * Describes a preserved vmalloc memory area, including the
+ * total number of pages, allocation flags, page order, and a pointer to the
+ * first chunk of physical page addresses.
+ */
+struct kho_vmalloc {
+ DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(first, struct kho_vmalloc_chunk *);
+ unsigned int total_pages;
+ unsigned short flags;
+ unsigned short order;
+};
+
#endif /* _LINUX_KHO_ABI_KEXEC_HANDOVER_H */
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
index c211c31334a3..68cb6303b846 100644
--- a/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/memfd.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
#define _LINUX_KHO_ABI_MEMFD_H
#include <linux/types.h>
-#include <linux/kexec_handover.h>
+#include <linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h>
/**
* DOC: memfd Live Update ABI
diff --git a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
index d3d02a9ea391..a180b3367e8f 100644
--- a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
+++ b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
@@ -882,21 +882,6 @@ void kho_unpreserve_pages(struct page *page, unsigned int nr_pages)
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kho_unpreserve_pages);
-struct kho_vmalloc_hdr {
- DECLARE_KHOSER_PTR(next, struct kho_vmalloc_chunk *);
-};
-
-#define KHO_VMALLOC_SIZE \
- ((PAGE_SIZE - sizeof(struct kho_vmalloc_hdr)) / \
- sizeof(phys_addr_t))
-
-struct kho_vmalloc_chunk {
- struct kho_vmalloc_hdr hdr;
- phys_addr_t phys[KHO_VMALLOC_SIZE];
-};
-
-static_assert(sizeof(struct kho_vmalloc_chunk) == PAGE_SIZE);
-
/* vmalloc flags KHO supports */
#define KHO_VMALLOC_SUPPORTED_FLAGS (VM_ALLOC | VM_ALLOW_HUGE_VMAP)
diff --git a/lib/test_kho.c b/lib/test_kho.c
index 47de56280795..3431daca6968 100644
--- a/lib/test_kho.c
+++ b/lib/test_kho.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
#include <linux/printk.h>
#include <linux/vmalloc.h>
#include <linux/kexec_handover.h>
+#include <linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h>
#include <net/checksum.h>
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread* [PATCH 6/6] kho/abi: add memblock ABI header
2026-01-05 16:58 [PATCH 0/6] kho: ABI headers and Documentation updates Mike Rapoport
` (4 preceding siblings ...)
2026-01-05 16:58 ` [PATCH 5/6] kho: Relocate vmalloc preservation structure to KHO " Mike Rapoport
@ 2026-01-05 16:58 ` Mike Rapoport
5 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Mike Rapoport @ 2026-01-05 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Morton
Cc: Alexander Graf, Jason Miu, Jonathan Corbet, Mike Rapoport,
Pasha Tatashin, Pratyush Yadav, kexec, linux-doc, linux-kernel,
linux-mm
From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <rppt@kernel.org>
Introduce KHO ABI header describing preservation ABI for memblock's
reserve_mem regions and link the relevant documentation to KHO docs.
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst | 6 ++
.../kho/bindings/memblock/memblock.yaml | 39 ----------
.../kho/bindings/memblock/reserve-mem.yaml | 40 -----------
include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h | 72 +++++++++++++++++++
mm/memblock.c | 4 +-
5 files changed, 79 insertions(+), 82 deletions(-)
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/memblock.yaml
delete mode 100644 Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/reserve-mem.yaml
create mode 100644 include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
index 1d9916adee23..2e63be3486cf 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/kho/abi.rst
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ vmalloc preservation ABI
.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/kho/abi/kexec_handover.h
:doc: Kexec Handover ABI for vmalloc Preservation
+memblock preservation ABI
+=========================
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h
+ :doc: memblock kexec handover ABI
+
See Also
========
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/memblock.yaml b/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/memblock.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index d388c28eb91d..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/memblock.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause)
-%YAML 1.2
----
-title: Memblock reserved memory
-
-maintainers:
- - Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
-
-description: |
- Memblock can serialize its current memory reservations created with
- reserve_mem command line option across kexec through KHO.
- The post-KHO kernel can then consume these reservations and they are
- guaranteed to have the same physical address.
-
-properties:
- compatible:
- enum:
- - reserve-mem-v1
-
-patternProperties:
- "$[0-9a-f_]+^":
- $ref: reserve-mem.yaml#
- description: reserved memory regions
-
-required:
- - compatible
-
-additionalProperties: false
-
-examples:
- - |
- memblock {
- compatible = "memblock-v1";
- n1 {
- compatible = "reserve-mem-v1";
- start = <0xc06b 0x4000000>;
- size = <0x04 0x00>;
- };
- };
diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/reserve-mem.yaml b/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/reserve-mem.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 10282d3d1bcd..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/core-api/kho/bindings/memblock/reserve-mem.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause)
-%YAML 1.2
----
-title: Memblock reserved memory regions
-
-maintainers:
- - Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
-
-description: |
- Memblock can serialize its current memory reservations created with
- reserve_mem command line option across kexec through KHO.
- This object describes each such region.
-
-properties:
- compatible:
- enum:
- - reserve-mem-v1
-
- start:
- description: |
- physical address (u64) of the reserved memory region.
-
- size:
- description: |
- size (u64) of the reserved memory region.
-
-required:
- - compatible
- - start
- - size
-
-additionalProperties: false
-
-examples:
- - |
- n1 {
- compatible = "reserve-mem-v1";
- start = <0xc06b 0x4000000>;
- size = <0x04 0x00>;
- };
diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fbfb2eb1b1cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/memblock.h
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+
+#ifndef _LINUX_KHO_ABI_MEMBLOCK_H
+#define _LINUX_KHO_ABI_MEMBLOCK_H
+
+/**
+ * DOC: memblock kexec handover ABI
+ *
+ * Memblock can serialize its current memory reservations created with
+ * reserve_mem command line option across kexec through KHO.
+ * The post-KHO kernel can then consume these reservations and they are
+ * guaranteed to have the same physical address.
+ *
+ * The state is serialized using Flattened Device Tree (FDT) format. Any
+ * modification to the FDT structure, node properties, or the compatible
+ * strings constitutes a breaking change. Such changes require incrementing the
+ * version number in the relevant `_COMPATIBLE` string to prevent a new kernel
+ * from misinterpreting data from an old kernel.
+ *
+ * Changes are allowed provided the compatibility version is incremented.
+ * However, backward/forward compatibility is only guaranteed for kernels
+ * supporting the same ABI version.
+ *
+ * FDT Structure Overview:
+ * The entire memblock state is encapsulated within a single KHO entry named
+ * "memblock".
+ * This entry contains an FDT with the following layout:
+ *
+ * .. code-block:: none
+ *
+ * / {
+ * compatible = "memblock-v1";
+ *
+ * n1 {
+ * compatible = "reserve-mem-v1";
+ * start = <0xc06b 0x4000000>;
+ * size = <0x04 0x00>;
+ * };
+ * };
+ *
+ * Main memblock node (/):
+ *
+ * - compatible: "memblock-v1"
+
+ * Identifies the overall memblock ABI version.
+ *
+ * reserved_mem node:
+ * These nodes describe all reserve_mem regions.
+ *
+ * - compatible: "reserve-mem-v1"
+ *
+ * Identifies the ABI version of reserve_mem descriptions
+ *
+ * - start: u64
+ *
+ * Physical address of the reserved memory region.
+ *
+ * - size: u64
+ *
+ * size in bytes of the reserved memory region.
+ */
+
+/* Top level memblock FDT node name. */
+#define MEMBLOCK_KHO_FDT "memblock"
+
+/* The compatible string for the memblock FDT root node. */
+#define MEMBLOCK_KHO_NODE_COMPATIBLE "memblock-v1"
+
+/* The compatible string for the reserve_mem FDT nodes. */
+#define RESERVE_MEM_KHO_NODE_COMPATIBLE "reserve-mem-v1"
+
+#endif /* _LINUX_KHO_ABI_MEMBLOCK_H */
diff --git a/mm/memblock.c b/mm/memblock.c
index 905d06b16348..6cff515d82f4 100644
--- a/mm/memblock.c
+++ b/mm/memblock.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
#ifdef CONFIG_KEXEC_HANDOVER
#include <linux/libfdt.h>
#include <linux/kexec_handover.h>
+#include <linux/kho/abi/memblock.h>
#endif /* CONFIG_KEXEC_HANDOVER */
#include <asm/sections.h>
@@ -2442,9 +2443,6 @@ int reserve_mem_release_by_name(const char *name)
}
#ifdef CONFIG_KEXEC_HANDOVER
-#define MEMBLOCK_KHO_FDT "memblock"
-#define MEMBLOCK_KHO_NODE_COMPATIBLE "memblock-v1"
-#define RESERVE_MEM_KHO_NODE_COMPATIBLE "reserve-mem-v1"
static int __init reserved_mem_preserve(void)
{
--
2.51.0
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread