[PATCH v13 4/4] Documentation: pstore/blk: create document for pstore_blk

[liaoweixiong]

The document, at Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst,
tells user how to use pstore_blk and the attentions about panic
read/write

Signed-off-by: liaoweixiong <liaoweixiong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
 Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst | 233 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 MAINTAINERS                                |   1 +
 fs/pstore/Kconfig                          |   4 +
 3 files changed, 238 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c22245d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+Pstore block oops/panic logger
+==============================
+
+Introduction
+------------
+
+Pstore block (pstore_blk) is an oops/panic logger that write its logs to a block
+device before the system crashes. Pstore_blk needs the block device driver
+to register a partition of the block device, like /dev/mmcblk0p7 for MMC
+driver, and read/write APIs for this partition when on panic.
+
+Pstore block concepts
+---------------------
+
+Pstore block begins at function ``blkz_register``, by which a block driver
+registers to pstore_blk. Note that the block driver should register to
+pstore_blk after block device has registered. The Block driver transfers a
+structure ``blkz_info`` which is defined in *linux/pstore_blk.h*.
+
+The following key members of ``struct blkz_info`` may be of interest to you.
+
+blkdev
+~~~~~~
+
+The block device to use. Most of the time, it is a partition of block device.
+It's ok to keep it as NULL if you are passing ``read`` and ``write`` in
+blkz_info as ``blkdev`` is used by blkz_default_general_read/write. If both of
+``blkdev``, ``read`` and ``write`` are NULL, no block device is effective and
+the data will only be saved in RAM.
+
+It accept the following variants:
+
+1. <hex_major><hex_minor> device number in hexadecimal represents itself; no
+   leading 0x, for example b302.
+#. /dev/<disk_name> represents the device number of disk
+#. /dev/<disk_name><decimal> represents the device number of partition - device
+   number of disk plus the partition number
+#. /dev/<disk_name>p<decimal> - same as the above; this form is used when disk
+   name of partitioned disk ends with a digit.
+#. PARTUUID=00112233-4455-6677-8899-AABBCCDDEEFF representing the unique id of
+   a partition if the partition table provides it. The UUID may be either an
+   EFI/GPT UUID, or refer to an MSDOS partition using the format SSSSSSSS-PP,
+   where SSSSSSSS is a zero-filled hex representation of the 32-bit
+   "NT disk signature", and PP is a zero-filled hex representation of the
+   1-based partition number.
+#. PARTUUID=<UUID>/PARTNROFF=<int> to select a partition in relation to a
+   partition with a known unique id.
+#. <major>:<minor> major and minor number of the device separated by a colon.
+
+See more in section **read/write**.
+
+total_size
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The total size in bytes of block device used for pstore_blk. It **MUST** be less
+than or equal to size of block device if ``blkdev`` valid. It **MUST** be a
+multiple of 4096. If ``total_size`` is zero with ``blkdev``, ``total_size`` will be
+set to equal to size of ``blkdev``.
+
+The block device area is divided into many chunks, and each event writes a chunk
+of information.
+
+dmesg_size
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The chunk size in bytes for dmesg(oops/panic). It **MUST** be a multiple of
+SECTOR_SIZE (Most of the time, the SECTOR_SIZE is 512). If you don't need dmesg,
+you can safely to set it to 0.
+
+NOTE that, the remaining space, except ``pmsg_size`` and others, belongs to
+dmesg. It means that there are multiple chunks for dmesg.
+
+Pstore_blk will log to dmesg chunks one by one, and always overwrite the oldest
+chunk if no free chunk.
+
+pmsg_size
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+The chunk size in bytes for pmsg. It **MUST** be a multiple of SECTOR_SIZE (Most
+of the time, the SECTOR_SIZE is 512). If you don't need pmsg, you can safely set
+it to 0.
+
+There is only one chunk for pmsg.
+
+Pmsg is a user space accessible pstore object. Writes to */dev/pmsg0* are
+appended to the chunk. On reboot the contents are available in
+/sys/fs/pstore/pmsg-pstore-blk-0.
+
+dump_oops
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+Dumping both oopses and panics can be done by setting 1 in the ``dump_oops``
+member while setting 0 in that variable dumps only the panics.
+
+read/write
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+They are general ``read/write`` APIs. It is safe and recommended to ignore it,
+but set ``blkdev``.
+
+These general APIs are used all the time expect panic. The ``read`` API is
+usually used to recover data from block device, and the ``write`` API is usually
+to flush new data and erase to block device.
+
+Pstore_blk will temporarily hold all new data before block device is ready. If
+you ignore both of ``read/write`` and ``blkdev``, the old data will be lost.
+
+NOTE that the general APIs must check whether the block device is ready if
+self-defined.
+
+panic_read/panic_write
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+They are ``read/write`` APIs for panic. They are like the general
+``read/write`` but will be used only when on panic.
+
+The attentions for panic read/write see section
+**Attentions in panic read/write APIs**.
+
+Register to pstore block
+------------------------
+
+Block device driver call ``blkz_register`` to register to Pstore_blk.
+For example:
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+ #include <linux/pstore_blk.h>
+ [...]
+
+ static ssize_t XXXX_panic_read(char *buf, size bytes, loff_t pos)
+ {
+    [...]
+ }
+
+ static ssize_t XXXX_panic_write(const char *buf, size_t bytes, loff_t pos)
+ {
+        [...]
+ }
+
+ struct blkz_info XXXX_info = {
+        .onwer = THIS_MODULE,
+        .name = <...>,
+        .dmesg_size = <...>,
+        .pmsg_size = <...>,
+        .dump_oops = true,
+        .panic_read = XXXX_panic_read,
+        .panic_write = XXXX_panic_write,
+ };
+
+ static int __init XXXX_init(void)
+ {
+        [... get block device information ...]
+        XXXX_info.blkdev = <...>;
+        XXXX_info.total_size = <...>;
+
+        [...]
+        return blkz_register(&XXXX_info);
+ }
+
+There are multiple ways by which you can get block device information.
+
+A. Use the module parameters and kernel cmdline.
+B. Use Device Tree bindings.
+C. Use Kconfig.
+D. Use Driver Feature.
+   For example, traverse all MTD devices by ``register_mtd_user``, and get the
+   matching name MTD partition.
+
+NOTE that all of the above are done by the block driver rather then pstore_blk.
+You can get sample on blkoops.
+
+The attentions for panic read/write see section
+**Attentions in panic read/write APIs**.
+
+Compression and header
+----------------------
+
+Block device is large enough, it is not necessary to compress dmesg data.
+Actually, we recommend not compressing because pstore_blk will insert some
+information into the first line of dmesg data if no compression.
+For example::
+
+        Panic: Total 16 times
+
+It means that it's the 16th times panic log since the first booting.
+Sometimes, the oops|panic counter since burning is very important for embedded
+device to judge whether the system is stable.
+
+The following line is inserted by pstore filesystem.
+For example::
+
+        Oops#2 Part1
+
+It means that it's the 2nd times oops log on last booting.
+
+Reading the data
+----------------
+
+The dump data can be read from the pstore filesystem. The format for these
+files is ``dmesg-pstore-blk-[N]`` for dmesg(oops|panic) and
+``pmsg-pstore-blk-0`` for pmsg, where N is the record number. To delete a stored
+record from block device, simply unlink the respective pstore file. The
+timestamp of the dump file records the trigger time.
+
+Attentions in panic read/write APIs
+-----------------------------------
+
+If on panic, the kernel is not going to be running for much longer. The tasks
+will not be scheduled and the most kernel resources will be out of service. It
+looks like a single-threaded program running on a single-core computer.
+
+The following points need special attention for panic read/write APIs:
+
+1. Can **NOT** allocate any memory.
+   If you need memory, just allocate while the block driver is initializing
+   rather than waiting until the panic.
+#. Must be polled, **NOT** interrupt driven.
+   No task schedule any more. The block driver should delay to ensure the write
+   succeeds, but NOT sleep.
+#. Can **NOT** take any lock.
+   There is no other task, nor any share resource; you are safe to break all
+   locks.
+#. Just use CPU to transfer.
+   Do not use DMA to transfer unless you are sure that DMA will not keep lock.
+#. Operate register directly.
+   Try not to use Linux kernel resources. Do I/O map while initializing rather
+   than waiting until the panic.
+#. Reset your block device and controller if necessary.
+   If you are not sure the state of you block device and controller when panic,
+   you are safe to stop and reset them.
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 4e9242a..9ddca0e 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -12317,6 +12317,7 @@ F:	include/linux/pstore*
 F:	drivers/firmware/efi/efi-pstore.c
 F:	drivers/acpi/apei/erst.c
 F:	Documentation/admin-guide/ramoops.rst
+F:	Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst
 F:	Documentation/devicetree/bindings/reserved-memory/ramoops.txt
 K:	\b(pstore|ramoops|blkoops)
 
diff --git a/fs/pstore/Kconfig b/fs/pstore/Kconfig
index 2788ae8..d7659fd 100644
--- a/fs/pstore/Kconfig
+++ b/fs/pstore/Kconfig
@@ -161,6 +161,10 @@ config PSTORE_BLK
 	  This enables panic and oops message to be logged to a block dev
 	  where it can be read back at some later point.
 
+	  For more information, see Documentation/admin-guide/pstore-block.rst.
+
+	  If unsure, say N.
+
 config PSTORE_BLKOOPS
 	tristate "pstore block with oops logger"
 	depends on PSTORE_BLK
-- 
1.9.1