linux-mm.kvack.org archive mirror
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: Breno Leitao <leitao@debian.org>
To: Alexander Graf <graf@amazon.com>, Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>,
	 Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin@soleen.com>,
	 Pratyush Yadav <pratyush@kernel.org>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, kexec@lists.infradead.org,
	 linux-mm@kvack.org, usamaarif642@gmail.com, rmikey@meta.com,
	clm@fb.com,  riel@surriel.com, Breno Leitao <leitao@debian.org>,
	 SeongJae Park <sj@kernel.org>,
	kernel-team@meta.com
Subject: [PATCH v5 4/4] kho: document kexec-metadata tracking feature
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2026 08:07:26 -0800	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260126-kho-v5-4-7cd0f69ab204@debian.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260126-kho-v5-0-7cd0f69ab204@debian.org>

Add documentation for the kexec-metadata feature that tracks the
previous kernel version and kexec boot count across kexec reboots.
This helps diagnose bugs that only reproduce when kexecing from
specific kernel versions.

Suggested-by: Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao <leitao@debian.org>
---
 Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 39 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst
index 6dc18ed4b8861..3771e764bb513 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/kho.rst
@@ -62,6 +62,45 @@ You can move the system out of KHO finalization phase again by calling ::
 After this command, the KHO FDT is no longer available in
 ``/sys/kernel/debug/kho/out/fdt``.
 
+Kexec Metadata
+==============
+
+KHO automatically tracks metadata about the kexec chain, passing information
+about the previous kernel to the next kernel. This feature helps diagnose
+bugs that only reproduce when kexecing from specific kernel versions.
+
+On each KHO kexec, the kernel logs the previous kernel's version and the
+number of kexec reboots since the last cold boot::
+
+    [    0.000000] KHO: exec from: 6.19.0-rc4-next-20260107 (count 1)
+
+The metadata includes:
+
+``previous_release``
+    The kernel version string (from ``uname -r``) of the kernel that
+    initiated the kexec.
+
+``kexec_count``
+    The number of kexec boots since the last cold boot. On cold boot,
+    this counter starts at 0 and increments with each kexec. This helps
+    identify issues that only manifest after multiple consecutive kexec
+    reboots.
+
+Use Cases
+---------
+
+This metadata is particularly useful for debugging kexec transition bugs,
+where a buggy kernel kexecs into a new kernel and the bug manifests only
+in the second kernel. Examples of such bugs include:
+
+- Memory corruption from the previous kernel affecting the new kernel
+- Incorrect hardware state left by the previous kernel
+- Firmware/ACPI state issues that only appear in kexec scenarios
+
+At scale, correlating crashes to the previous kernel version enables
+faster root cause analysis when issues only occur in specific kernel
+transition scenarios.
+
 debugfs Interfaces
 ==================
 

-- 
2.47.3



  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-01-26 16:08 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 11+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-01-26 16:07 [PATCH v5 0/4] kho: history: track previous kernel version and kexec boot count Breno Leitao
2026-01-26 16:07 ` [PATCH v5 1/4] kho: add size parameter to kho_add_subtree() Breno Leitao
2026-01-27  7:23   ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-27  7:25     ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-26 16:07 ` [PATCH v5 2/4] kho: rename fdt parameter to blob in kho_add/remove_subtree() Breno Leitao
2026-01-27  7:26   ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-27 13:41     ` Breno Leitao
2026-01-26 16:07 ` [PATCH v5 3/4] kho: kexec-metadata: track previous kernel chain Breno Leitao
2026-01-27  7:31   ` Mike Rapoport
2026-01-26 16:07 ` Breno Leitao [this message]
2026-01-27  7:32   ` [PATCH v5 4/4] kho: document kexec-metadata tracking feature Mike Rapoport

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=20260126-kho-v5-4-7cd0f69ab204@debian.org \
    --to=leitao@debian.org \
    --cc=clm@fb.com \
    --cc=graf@amazon.com \
    --cc=kernel-team@meta.com \
    --cc=kexec@lists.infradead.org \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-mm@kvack.org \
    --cc=pasha.tatashin@soleen.com \
    --cc=pratyush@kernel.org \
    --cc=riel@surriel.com \
    --cc=rmikey@meta.com \
    --cc=rppt@kernel.org \
    --cc=sj@kernel.org \
    --cc=usamaarif642@gmail.com \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox