Re: [PATCH v7 02/22] liveupdate: luo_core: integrate with KHO

From: Mike Rapoport

Date: Sun Nov 23 2025 - 06:27:53 EST


On Sat, Nov 22, 2025 at 05:23:29PM -0500, Pasha Tatashin wrote:
> Integrate the LUO with the KHO framework to enable passing LUO state
> across a kexec reboot.
>
> This patch implements the lifecycle integration with KHO:
>
> 1. Incoming State: During early boot (`early_initcall`), LUO checks if
> KHO is active. If so, it retrieves the "LUO" subtree, verifies the
> "luo-v1" compatibility string, and reads the `liveupdate-number` to
> track the update count.
>
> 2. Outgoing State: During late initialization (`late_initcall`), LUO
> allocates a new FDT for the next kernel, populates it with the basic
> header (compatible string and incremented update number), and
> registers it with KHO (`kho_add_subtree`).
>
> 3. Finalization: The `liveupdate_reboot()` notifier is updated to invoke
> `kho_finalize()`. This ensures that all memory segments marked for
> preservation are properly serialized before the kexec jump.
>
> LUO now depends on `CONFIG_KEXEC_HANDOVER`.
>
> Signed-off-by: Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h | 54 +++++++++++
> kernel/liveupdate/luo_core.c | 154 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
> kernel/liveupdate/luo_internal.h | 22 +++++
> 3 files changed, 229 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> create mode 100644 include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
> create mode 100644 kernel/liveupdate/luo_internal.h
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h b/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
> new file mode 100644
> index 000000000000..8523b3ff82d1
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/include/linux/kho/abi/luo.h
> @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
> +/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
> +
> +/*
> + * Copyright (c) 2025, Google LLC.
> + * Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin@xxxxxxxxxx>
> + */
> +
> +/**
> + * 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.
> + *
> + * This interface is a contract. Any modification to the FDT structure, node
> + * properties, compatible strings, or the layout of the `__packed` serialization
> + * structures defined here 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.

>From v6 thread:

> > I'd add a sentence that stresses that ABI changes are possible as long they
> > include changes to the FDT version.
> > This is indeed implied by the last paragraph, but I think it's worth
> > spelling it explicitly.
> >
> > Another thing that I think this should mention is that compatibility is
> > only guaranteed for the kernels that use the same ABI version.
>
> Sure, I will add both.

Looks like it fell between the cracks :/

> +static int __init liveupdate_early_init(void)
> +{
> + int err;
> +
> + err = luo_early_startup();
> + if (err) {
> + luo_global.enabled = false;
> + luo_restore_fail("The incoming tree failed to initialize properly [%pe], disabling live update\n",
> + ERR_PTR(err));

What's wrong with a plain panic()?

> + }
> +
> + return err;
> +}
> +early_initcall(liveupdate_early_init);
> +

...

> int liveupdate_reboot(void)
> {
> - return 0;
> + int err;
> +
> + if (!liveupdate_enabled())
> + return 0;
> +
> + err = kho_finalize();
> + if (err) {
> + pr_err("kho_finalize failed %d\n", err);

Nit: why not %pe?

> + /*
> + * kho_finalize() may return libfdt errors, to aboid passing to
> + * userspace unknown errors, change this to EAGAIN.
> + */
> + err = -EAGAIN;
> + }
> +
> + return err;
> }
>
> /**
> diff --git a/kernel/liveupdate/luo_internal.h b/kernel/liveupdate/luo_internal.h
> new file mode 100644
> index 000000000000..8612687b2000
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/kernel/liveupdate/luo_internal.h
> @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
> +/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
> +
> +/*
> + * Copyright (c) 2025, Google LLC.
> + * Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin@xxxxxxxxxx>
> + */
> +
> +#ifndef _LINUX_LUO_INTERNAL_H
> +#define _LINUX_LUO_INTERNAL_H
> +
> +#include <linux/liveupdate.h>
> +
> +/*
> + * Handles a deserialization failure: devices and memory is in unpredictable
> + * state.
> + *
> + * Continuing the boot process after a failure is dangerous because it could
> + * lead to leaks of private data.
> + */
> +#define luo_restore_fail(__fmt, ...) panic(__fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)

Let's add this when we have more than a single callsite.
Just use panic() in liveupdate_early_init() and add the comment there.

> +
> +#endif /* _LINUX_LUO_INTERNAL_H */
> --
> 2.52.0.rc2.455.g230fcf2819-goog
>

--
Sincerely yours,
Mike.