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Mauro Carvalho Chehab609d99a2016-09-19 08:07:56 -03001.. _stable_kernel_rules:
2
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -03003Everything you ever wanted to know about Linux -stable releases
4===============================================================
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -07005
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -08006Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are not, into the
7"-stable" tree:
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -07008
9 - It must be obviously correct and tested.
Matt LaPlante84eb8d02006-10-03 22:53:09 +020010 - It cannot be bigger than 100 lines, with context.
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -070011 - It must fix only one thing.
12 - It must fix a real bug that bothers people (not a, "This could be a
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -080013 problem..." type thing).
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -070014 - It must fix a problem that causes a build error (but not for things
15 marked CONFIG_BROKEN), an oops, a hang, data corruption, a real
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -080016 security issue, or some "oh, that's not good" issue. In short, something
17 critical.
Mel Gorman8191e0d2012-06-21 11:36:50 +010018 - Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may also
19 be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity issue.
20 As these fixes are not as obvious and have a higher risk of a subtle
21 regression they should only be submitted by a distribution kernel
22 maintainer and include an addendum linking to a bugzilla entry if it
23 exists and additional information on the user-visible impact.
Josh Boyer79cd80a2008-10-24 10:10:42 -040024 - New device IDs and quirks are also accepted.
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -080025 - No "theoretical race condition" issues, unless an explanation of how the
26 race can be exploited is also provided.
Matt LaPlante84eb8d02006-10-03 22:53:09 +020027 - It cannot contain any "trivial" fixes in it (spelling changes,
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -080028 whitespace cleanups, etc).
Mauro Carvalho Chehabdca22a62016-09-21 08:51:05 -030029 - It must follow the
30 :ref:`Documentation/SubmittingPatches <submittingpatches>`
31 rules.
Stefan Richter959fb1c2010-04-01 22:01:52 +020032 - It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream).
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -070033
34
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030035Procedure for submitting patches to the -stable tree
36----------------------------------------------------
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -070037
Dave Chilukb76fc282014-06-24 10:11:26 -050038 - If the patch covers files in net/ or drivers/net please follow netdev stable
39 submission guidelines as described in
40 Documentation/networking/netdev-FAQ.txt
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080041 - Security patches should not be handled (solely) by the -stable review
Mauro Carvalho Chehabdca22a62016-09-21 08:51:05 -030042 process but should follow the procedures in
43 :ref:`Documentation/SecurityBugs <securitybugs>`.
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080044
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030045For all other submissions, choose one of the following procedures
46-----------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080047
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030048.. _option_1:
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080049
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030050Option 1
51********
52
53To have the patch automatically included in the stable tree, add the tag
54
55.. code-block:: none
56
Josh Boyer5fa22422011-10-17 21:16:39 -040057 Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080058
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030059in the sign-off area. Once the patch is merged it will be applied to
60the stable tree without anything else needing to be done by the author
61or subsystem maintainer.
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080062
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030063.. _option_2:
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080064
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030065Option 2
66********
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080067
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030068After the patch has been merged to Linus' tree, send an email to
69stable@vger.kernel.org containing the subject of the patch, the commit ID,
70why you think it should be applied, and what kernel version you wish it to
71be applied to.
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -080072
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030073.. _option_3:
Christoffer Dallbde1b292015-05-13 22:01:07 +020074
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030075Option 3
76********
77
78Send the patch, after verifying that it follows the above rules, to
79stable@vger.kernel.org. You must note the upstream commit ID in the
80changelog of your submission, as well as the kernel version you wish
81it to be applied to.
82
83:ref:`option_1` is **strongly** preferred, is the easiest and most common.
84:ref:`option_2` and :ref:`option_3` are more useful if the patch isn't deemed
85worthy at the time it is applied to a public git tree (for instance, because
86it deserves more regression testing first). :ref:`option_3` is especially
87useful if the patch needs some special handling to apply to an older kernel
88(e.g., if API's have changed in the meantime).
89
90Note that for :ref:`option_3`, if the patch deviates from the original
91upstream patch (for example because it had to be backported) this must be very
92clearly documented and justified in the patch description.
Christoffer Dallbde1b292015-05-13 22:01:07 +020093
94The upstream commit ID must be specified with a separate line above the commit
95text, like this:
96
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -030097.. code-block:: none
98
Christoffer Dallbde1b292015-05-13 22:01:07 +020099 commit <sha1> upstream.
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -0800100
101Additionally, some patches submitted via Option 1 may have additional patch
102prerequisites which can be cherry-picked. This can be specified in the following
103format in the sign-off area:
Sebastian Andrzej Siewior8e9b9362009-12-06 12:24:31 +0100104
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300105.. code-block:: none
106
Paul Gortmaker2584f522012-06-05 11:15:50 -0400107 Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: a1f84a3: sched: Check for idle
108 Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: 1b9508f: sched: Rate-limit newidle
109 Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: fd21073: sched: Fix affinity logic
110 Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300111 Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Sebastian Andrzej Siewior8e9b9362009-12-06 12:24:31 +0100112
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300113The tag sequence has the meaning of:
114
115.. code-block:: none
116
Sebastian Andrzej Siewior8e9b9362009-12-06 12:24:31 +0100117 git cherry-pick a1f84a3
118 git cherry-pick 1b9508f
119 git cherry-pick fd21073
120 git cherry-pick <this commit>
121
David Daneyfdc81b72015-03-26 10:09:08 -0700122Also, some patches may have kernel version prerequisites. This can be
123specified in the following format in the sign-off area:
124
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300125.. code-block:: none
126
Richard Weinbergerf9024932015-11-18 09:58:38 +0100127 Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x-
David Daneyfdc81b72015-03-26 10:09:08 -0700128
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300129The tag has the meaning of:
130
131.. code-block:: none
132
David Daneyfdc81b72015-03-26 10:09:08 -0700133 git cherry-pick <this commit>
134
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300135For each "-stable" tree starting with the specified version.
David Daneyfdc81b72015-03-26 10:09:08 -0700136
Brian Norris5de61e72014-12-18 14:55:53 -0800137Following the submission:
138
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -0800139 - The sender will receive an ACK when the patch has been accepted into the
140 queue, or a NAK if the patch is rejected. This response might take a few
141 days, according to the developer's schedules.
142 - If accepted, the patch will be added to the -stable queue, for review by
Stefan Richter46cdf8712008-02-08 23:26:02 +0100143 other developers and by the relevant subsystem maintainer.
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700144
145
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300146Review cycle
147------------
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700148
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -0800149 - When the -stable maintainers decide for a review cycle, the patches will be
150 sent to the review committee, and the maintainer of the affected area of
151 the patch (unless the submitter is the maintainer of the area) and CC: to
152 the linux-kernel mailing list.
153 - The review committee has 48 hours in which to ACK or NAK the patch.
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700154 - If the patch is rejected by a member of the committee, or linux-kernel
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -0800155 members object to the patch, bringing up issues that the maintainers and
156 members did not realize, the patch will be dropped from the queue.
157 - At the end of the review cycle, the ACKed patches will be added to the
158 latest -stable release, and a new -stable release will happen.
159 - Security patches will be accepted into the -stable tree directly from the
160 security kernel team, and not go through the normal review cycle.
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700161 Contact the kernel security team for more details on this procedure.
162
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300163Trees
164-----
Paul Gortmaker2584f522012-06-05 11:15:50 -0400165
166 - The queues of patches, for both completed versions and in progress
167 versions can be found at:
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300168
Paul Gortmaker2584f522012-06-05 11:15:50 -0400169 http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300170
Paul Gortmaker2584f522012-06-05 11:15:50 -0400171 - The finalized and tagged releases of all stable kernels can be found
172 in separate branches per version at:
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300173
Paul Gortmaker2584f522012-06-05 11:15:50 -0400174 http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
175
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700176
Mauro Carvalho Chehab5fe270a2016-09-19 08:07:51 -0300177Review committee
178----------------
Greg KHfc185d92005-07-29 12:14:34 -0700179
Jesper Juhle48e9902006-01-09 20:53:59 -0800180 - This is made up of a number of kernel developers who have volunteered for
181 this task, and a few that haven't.