Documentation/stable_kernel_rules.txt

   1 Everything you ever wanted to know about Linux -stable releases.
   2
   3 Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are not, into the
   4 "-stable" tree:
   5
   6  - It must be obviously correct and tested.
   7  - It cannot be bigger than 100 lines, with context.
   8  - It must fix only one thing.
   9  - It must fix a real bug that bothers people (not a, "This could be a
  10    problem..." type thing).
  11  - It must fix a problem that causes a build error (but not for things
  12    marked CONFIG_BROKEN), an oops, a hang, data corruption, a real
  13    security issue, or some "oh, that's not good" issue.  In short, something
  14    critical.
  15  - Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may also
  16    be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity issue.
  17    As these fixes are not as obvious and have a higher risk of a subtle
  18    regression they should only be submitted by a distribution kernel
  19    maintainer and include an addendum linking to a bugzilla entry if it
  20    exists and additional information on the user-visible impact.
  21  - New device IDs and quirks are also accepted.
  22  - No "theoretical race condition" issues, unless an explanation of how the
  23    race can be exploited is also provided.
  24  - It cannot contain any "trivial" fixes in it (spelling changes,
  25    whitespace cleanups, etc).
  26  - It must follow the Documentation/SubmittingPatches rules.
  27  - It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream).
  28
  29
  30 Procedure for submitting patches to the -stable tree:
  31
  32  - Send the patch, after verifying that it follows the above rules, to
  33    stable@vger.kernel.org.  You must note the upstream commit ID in the
  34    changelog of your submission, as well as the kernel version you wish
  35    it to be applied to.
  36  - To have the patch automatically included in the stable tree, add the tag
  37      Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
  38    in the sign-off area. Once the patch is merged it will be applied to
  39    the stable tree without anything else needing to be done by the author
  40    or subsystem maintainer.
  41  - If the patch requires other patches as prerequisites which can be
  42    cherry-picked than this can be specified in the following format in
  43    the sign-off area:
  44
  45      Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: a1f84a3: sched: Check for idle
  46      Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: 1b9508f: sched: Rate-limit newidle
  47      Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: fd21073: sched: Fix affinity logic
  48      Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x
  49     Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
  50
  51    The tag sequence has the meaning of:
  52      git cherry-pick a1f84a3
  53      git cherry-pick 1b9508f
  54      git cherry-pick fd21073
  55      git cherry-pick <this commit>
  56
  57  - The sender will receive an ACK when the patch has been accepted into the
  58    queue, or a NAK if the patch is rejected.  This response might take a few
  59    days, according to the developer's schedules.
  60  - If accepted, the patch will be added to the -stable queue, for review by
  61    other developers and by the relevant subsystem maintainer.
  62  - Security patches should not be sent to this alias, but instead to the
  63    documented security@kernel.org address.
  64
  65
  66 Review cycle:
  67
  68  - When the -stable maintainers decide for a review cycle, the patches will be
  69    sent to the review committee, and the maintainer of the affected area of
  70    the patch (unless the submitter is the maintainer of the area) and CC: to
  71    the linux-kernel mailing list.
  72  - The review committee has 48 hours in which to ACK or NAK the patch.
  73  - If the patch is rejected by a member of the committee, or linux-kernel
  74    members object to the patch, bringing up issues that the maintainers and
  75    members did not realize, the patch will be dropped from the queue.
  76  - At the end of the review cycle, the ACKed patches will be added to the
  77    latest -stable release, and a new -stable release will happen.
  78  - Security patches will be accepted into the -stable tree directly from the
  79    security kernel team, and not go through the normal review cycle.
  80    Contact the kernel security team for more details on this procedure.
  81
  82 Trees:
  83
  84  - The queues of patches, for both completed versions and in progress
  85    versions can be found at:
  86         http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git
  87  - The finalized and tagged releases of all stable kernels can be found
  88    in separate branches per version at:
  89         http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
  90
  91
  92 Review committee:
  93
  94  - This is made up of a number of kernel developers who have volunteered for
  95    this task, and a few that haven't.