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1 | Everything you ever wanted to know about Linux -stable releases |
2 | =============================================================== | |
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4 | Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are not, into the |
5 | "-stable" tree: | |
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6 | |
7 | - It must be obviously correct and tested. | |
84eb8d06 | 8 | - It cannot be bigger than 100 lines, with context. |
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9 | - It must fix only one thing. |
10 | - It must fix a real bug that bothers people (not a, "This could be a | |
e48e9909 | 11 | problem..." type thing). |
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12 | - It must fix a problem that causes a build error (but not for things |
13 | marked CONFIG_BROKEN), an oops, a hang, data corruption, a real | |
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14 | security issue, or some "oh, that's not good" issue. In short, something |
15 | critical. | |
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16 | - Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may also |
17 | be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity issue. | |
18 | As these fixes are not as obvious and have a higher risk of a subtle | |
19 | regression they should only be submitted by a distribution kernel | |
20 | maintainer and include an addendum linking to a bugzilla entry if it | |
21 | exists and additional information on the user-visible impact. | |
79cd80a1 | 22 | - New device IDs and quirks are also accepted. |
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23 | - No "theoretical race condition" issues, unless an explanation of how the |
24 | race can be exploited is also provided. | |
84eb8d06 | 25 | - It cannot contain any "trivial" fixes in it (spelling changes, |
e48e9909 | 26 | whitespace cleanups, etc). |
e48e9909 | 27 | - It must follow the Documentation/SubmittingPatches rules. |
959fb1c5 | 28 | - It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream). |
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29 | |
30 | ||
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31 | Procedure for submitting patches to the -stable tree |
32 | ---------------------------------------------------- | |
fc185d95 | 33 | |
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34 | - If the patch covers files in net/ or drivers/net please follow netdev stable |
35 | submission guidelines as described in | |
36 | Documentation/networking/netdev-FAQ.txt | |
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37 | - Security patches should not be handled (solely) by the -stable review |
38 | process but should follow the procedures in Documentation/SecurityBugs. | |
39 | ||
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40 | For all other submissions, choose one of the following procedures |
41 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | |
5de61e7a | 42 | |
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43 | .. _option_1: |
44 | ||
45 | Option 1 | |
46 | ******** | |
47 | ||
48 | To have the patch automatically included in the stable tree, add the tag | |
49 | ||
50 | .. code-block:: none | |
5de61e7a | 51 | |
5fa22429 | 52 | Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org |
5de61e7a | 53 | |
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54 | in the sign-off area. Once the patch is merged it will be applied to |
55 | the stable tree without anything else needing to be done by the author | |
56 | or subsystem maintainer. | |
57 | ||
58 | .. _option_2: | |
5de61e7a | 59 | |
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60 | Option 2 |
61 | ******** | |
5de61e7a | 62 | |
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63 | After the patch has been merged to Linus' tree, send an email to |
64 | stable@vger.kernel.org containing the subject of the patch, the commit ID, | |
65 | why you think it should be applied, and what kernel version you wish it to | |
66 | be applied to. | |
5de61e7a | 67 | |
5fe270a4 | 68 | .. _option_3: |
5de61e7a | 69 | |
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70 | Option 3 |
71 | ******** | |
bde1b294 | 72 | |
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73 | Send the patch, after verifying that it follows the above rules, to |
74 | stable@vger.kernel.org. You must note the upstream commit ID in the | |
75 | changelog of your submission, as well as the kernel version you wish | |
76 | it to be applied to. | |
77 | ||
78 | :ref:`option_1` is **strongly** preferred, is the easiest and most common. | |
79 | :ref:`option_2` and :ref:`option_3` are more useful if the patch isn't deemed | |
80 | worthy at the time it is applied to a public git tree (for instance, because | |
81 | it deserves more regression testing first). :ref:`option_3` is especially | |
82 | useful if the patch needs some special handling to apply to an older kernel | |
83 | (e.g., if API's have changed in the meantime). | |
84 | ||
85 | Note that for :ref:`option_3`, if the patch deviates from the original | |
86 | upstream patch (for example because it had to be backported) this must be very | |
87 | clearly documented and justified in the patch description. | |
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88 | |
89 | The upstream commit ID must be specified with a separate line above the commit | |
90 | text, like this: | |
91 | ||
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92 | .. code-block:: none |
93 | ||
bde1b294 | 94 | commit <sha1> upstream. |
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95 | |
96 | Additionally, some patches submitted via Option 1 may have additional patch | |
97 | prerequisites which can be cherry-picked. This can be specified in the following | |
98 | format in the sign-off area: | |
8e9b9362 | 99 | |
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100 | .. code-block:: none |
101 | ||
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102 | Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: a1f84a3: sched: Check for idle |
103 | Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: 1b9508f: sched: Rate-limit newidle | |
104 | Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: fd21073: sched: Fix affinity logic | |
105 | Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x | |
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106 | Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu> |
107 | ||
108 | The tag sequence has the meaning of: | |
109 | ||
110 | .. code-block:: none | |
8e9b9362 | 111 | |
8e9b9362 SAS |
112 | git cherry-pick a1f84a3 |
113 | git cherry-pick 1b9508f | |
114 | git cherry-pick fd21073 | |
115 | git cherry-pick <this commit> | |
116 | ||
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117 | Also, some patches may have kernel version prerequisites. This can be |
118 | specified in the following format in the sign-off area: | |
119 | ||
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120 | .. code-block:: none |
121 | ||
f902493a | 122 | Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x- |
fdc81b79 | 123 | |
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124 | The tag has the meaning of: |
125 | ||
126 | .. code-block:: none | |
127 | ||
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128 | git cherry-pick <this commit> |
129 | ||
5fe270a4 | 130 | For each "-stable" tree starting with the specified version. |
fdc81b79 | 131 | |
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132 | Following the submission: |
133 | ||
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134 | - The sender will receive an ACK when the patch has been accepted into the |
135 | queue, or a NAK if the patch is rejected. This response might take a few | |
136 | days, according to the developer's schedules. | |
137 | - If accepted, the patch will be added to the -stable queue, for review by | |
46cdf871 | 138 | other developers and by the relevant subsystem maintainer. |
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139 | |
140 | ||
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141 | Review cycle |
142 | ------------ | |
fc185d95 | 143 | |
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144 | - When the -stable maintainers decide for a review cycle, the patches will be |
145 | sent to the review committee, and the maintainer of the affected area of | |
146 | the patch (unless the submitter is the maintainer of the area) and CC: to | |
147 | the linux-kernel mailing list. | |
148 | - The review committee has 48 hours in which to ACK or NAK the patch. | |
fc185d95 | 149 | - If the patch is rejected by a member of the committee, or linux-kernel |
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150 | members object to the patch, bringing up issues that the maintainers and |
151 | members did not realize, the patch will be dropped from the queue. | |
152 | - At the end of the review cycle, the ACKed patches will be added to the | |
153 | latest -stable release, and a new -stable release will happen. | |
154 | - Security patches will be accepted into the -stable tree directly from the | |
155 | security kernel team, and not go through the normal review cycle. | |
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156 | Contact the kernel security team for more details on this procedure. |
157 | ||
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158 | Trees |
159 | ----- | |
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160 | |
161 | - The queues of patches, for both completed versions and in progress | |
162 | versions can be found at: | |
5fe270a4 | 163 | |
2584f521 | 164 | http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git |
5fe270a4 | 165 | |
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166 | - The finalized and tagged releases of all stable kernels can be found |
167 | in separate branches per version at: | |
5fe270a4 | 168 | |
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169 | http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git |
170 | ||
fc185d95 | 171 | |
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172 | Review committee |
173 | ---------------- | |
fc185d95 | 174 | |
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175 | - This is made up of a number of kernel developers who have volunteered for |
176 | this task, and a few that haven't. |