Re: [PATCH v2 1/6] panic: Add a notifier chain for pre-kdump callbacks

[Petr Mladek]

On Tue 2026-10-20 14:01:43, Petr Mladek wrote:
> On Mon 2026-10-19 19:05:21, Guilherme G. Piccoli wrote:
> > On 28/09/2026 14:55, Zack Rusin wrote:
> > > Selected crash callbacks should not require running every panic notifier
> > > before kdump. Add a separate atomic chain with an at-most-once dispatch
> > > helper, and invoke it before panic reaches the kmsg dumpers.
> > > 
> > > The helper permits another call from the crash path without repeating
> > > callbacks or recursing into them. Document that callbacks may run in NMI
> > > context, with other CPUs running and the kexec lock held.
> > > 
> > > Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/aquttpMVKX8e6zGB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Signed-off-by: Zack Rusin <zack.rusin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > ---
> > > New in v2: separate pre-kdump chain, with a set-once dispatch guard.
> > > 
> > >  include/linux/panic_notifier.h |  3 +++
> > >  kernel/panic.c                 | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > >  2 files changed, 29 insertions(+)
> > > 
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/panic_notifier.h b/include/linux/panic_notifier.h
> > > index 41e32483d7a7..3ad390764a41 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/panic_notifier.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/panic_notifier.h
> > > @@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
> > >  #include <linux/types.h>
> > >  
> > >  extern struct atomic_notifier_head panic_notifier_list;
> > > +extern struct atomic_notifier_head panic_pre_kdump_list;
> > > +
> > > +void panic_notify_pre_kdump(char *msg);
> > >  
> > >  extern bool crash_kexec_post_notifiers;
> > >  
> > > diff --git a/kernel/panic.c b/kernel/panic.c
> > > index 213725b612aa..d78e90abb192 100644
> > > --- a/kernel/panic.c
> > > +++ b/kernel/panic.c
> > > @@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ ATOMIC_NOTIFIER_HEAD(panic_notifier_list);
> > >  
> > >  EXPORT_SYMBOL(panic_notifier_list);
> > >  
> > > +struct atomic_notifier_head panic_pre_kdump_list =
> > > +	ATOMIC_NOTIFIER_INIT(panic_pre_kdump_list);
> > > +EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(panic_pre_kdump_list);
> > > +
> > >  static void panic_print_deprecated(void)
> > >  {
> > >  	pr_info_once("Kernel: The 'panic_print' parameter is now deprecated. Please use 'panic_sys_info' and 'panic_console_replay' instead.\n");
> > > @@ -567,6 +571,27 @@ static void panic_other_cpus_shutdown(bool crash_kexec)
> > >  		crash_smp_send_stop();
> > >  }
> > >  
> > > +/**
> > > + * panic_notify_pre_kdump - invoke selected callbacks before kdump
> > > + * @msg: Panic message, or NULL for direct crash-kexec entry
> > > + *
> > > + * Dispatch at most once per boot, including recursive entry. Callbacks run
> > > + * with interrupts disabled, possibly in NMI context, before other CPUs have
> > > + * necessarily stopped. The kexec lock may be held. They must not sleep,
> > > + * allocate, wait for other CPUs, or call into kexec management operations.
> > > + * The message is read-only and may only be used during the callback.
> > > + */
> > > +void panic_notify_pre_kdump(char *msg)
> > > +{
> > > +	static atomic_t started = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
> > > +	unsigned long flags;
> > > +
> > > +	local_irq_save(flags);
> > > +	if (!atomic_xchg(&started, 1))
> 
> It is far from clear why this is needed. It would deserve a comment in
> the code and explanation in the commit message.
> 
> Well, I am not even sure whether this synchronization is enough.
> If __crash_exec() and vpanic() are running in parallel on two CPUS
> then one path will skip the notifiers but it will not wait until
> they are finished.
> 
> But I think that the problem is the explicitly called __crash_exec()
> is not synchronized against vpanic() in the first place. IMHO,
> it is an existing problem which probably should get fixed.

It seems that __crash_exec() should be called only when panic_cpu
is set. This is why crash_exec() does:

__bpf_kfunc void crash_kexec(struct pt_regs *regs)
{
	if (panic_try_start()) {
		/* This is the 1st CPU which comes here, so go ahead. */
		__crash_kexec(regs);

The only exception seems to be (found by gemini) in Hyper-V code:

static void __noreturn hv_crash_handle(void)
{
	hv_crash_restore_tss();
	hv_crash_clear_kernpt();

	/* we are now fully in devirtualized normal kernel mode */
	__crash_kexec(NULL);

	hv_panic_timeout_reboot();
}

I belive that it is a bug and it should do:

	/* Only one CPU is allowed to process with kdump and panic. */
	if (!panic_try_start())
		return;

But it is possible that it is serialized another way. Anyway, even
Hyper-V must make sure that __crash_kexec() is called only on
one CPU.

Result: We should not need any extra synchronization for
	the panic_notify_pre_kdump().

	We might just need to prevent calling them twice if we
	decide to call this function in __crash_exec() as well.
	A simple bool variable should be enough. But I am still
	not sure if it is a good design.

Continue thinking...

Best Regards,
Petr