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1 .. _submitchecklist:
2
3 Linux Kernel patch submission checklist
4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5
6 Here are some basic things that developers should do if they want to see their
7 kernel patch submissions accepted more quickly.
8
9 These are all above and beyond the documentation that is provided in
10 :ref:`Documentation/SubmittingPatches <submittingpatches>`
11 and elsewhere regarding submitting Linux kernel patches.
12
13
14 1) If you use a facility then #include the file that defines/declares
15    that facility.  Don't depend on other header files pulling in ones
16    that you use.
17
18 2) Builds cleanly:
19
20   a) with applicable or modified ``CONFIG`` options ``=y``, ``=m``, and
21      ``=n``.  No ``gcc`` warnings/errors, no linker warnings/errors.
22
23   b) Passes ``allnoconfig``, ``allmodconfig``
24
25   c) Builds successfully when using ``O=builddir``
26
27 3) Builds on multiple CPU architectures by using local cross-compile tools
28    or some other build farm.
29
30 4) ppc64 is a good architecture for cross-compilation checking because it
31    tends to use ``unsigned long`` for 64-bit quantities.
32
33 5) Check your patch for general style as detailed in
34    :ref:`Documentation/CodingStyle <codingstyle>`.
35    Check for trivial violations with the patch style checker prior to
36    submission (``scripts/checkpatch.pl``).
37    You should be able to justify all violations that remain in
38    your patch.
39
40 6) Any new or modified ``CONFIG`` options don't muck up the config menu.
41
42 7) All new ``Kconfig`` options have help text.
43
44 8) Has been carefully reviewed with respect to relevant ``Kconfig``
45    combinations.  This is very hard to get right with testing -- brainpower
46    pays off here.
47
48 9) Check cleanly with sparse.
49
50 10) Use ``make checkstack`` and ``make namespacecheck`` and fix any problems
51     that they find.
52
53     .. note::
54
55        ``checkstack`` does not point out problems explicitly,
56        but any one function that uses more than 512 bytes on the stack is a
57        candidate for change.
58
59 11) Include :ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` to document global  kernel APIs.
60     (Not required for static functions, but OK there also.) Use
61     ``make htmldocs`` or ``make pdfdocs`` to check the
62     :ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` and fix any issues.
63
64 12) Has been tested with ``CONFIG_PREEMPT``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT``,
65     ``CONFIG_DEBUG_SLAB``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES``,
66     ``CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP``,
67     ``CONFIG_PROVE_RCU`` and ``CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD`` all
68     simultaneously enabled.
69
70 13) Has been build- and runtime tested with and without ``CONFIG_SMP`` and
71     ``CONFIG_PREEMPT.``
72
73 14) If the patch affects IO/Disk, etc: has been tested with and without
74     ``CONFIG_LBDAF.``
75
76 15) All codepaths have been exercised with all lockdep features enabled.
77
78 16) All new ``/proc`` entries are documented under ``Documentation/``
79
80 17) All new kernel boot parameters are documented in
81     ``Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt``.
82
83 18) All new module parameters are documented with ``MODULE_PARM_DESC()``
84
85 19) All new userspace interfaces are documented in ``Documentation/ABI/``.
86     See ``Documentation/ABI/README`` for more information.
87     Patches that change userspace interfaces should be CCed to
88     linux-api@vger.kernel.org.
89
90 20) Check that it all passes ``make headers_check``.
91
92 21) Has been checked with injection of at least slab and page-allocation
93     failures.  See ``Documentation/fault-injection/``.
94
95     If the new code is substantial, addition of subsystem-specific fault
96     injection might be appropriate.
97
98 22) Newly-added code has been compiled with ``gcc -W`` (use
99     ``make EXTRA_CFLAGS=-W``).  This will generate lots of noise, but is good
100     for finding bugs like "warning: comparison between signed and unsigned".
101
102 23) Tested after it has been merged into the -mm patchset to make sure
103     that it still works with all of the other queued patches and various
104     changes in the VM, VFS, and other subsystems.
105
106 24) All memory barriers {e.g., ``barrier()``, ``rmb()``, ``wmb()``} need a
107     comment in the source code that explains the logic of what they are doing
108     and why.
109
110 25) If any ioctl's are added by the patch, then also update
111     ``Documentation/ioctl/ioctl-number.txt``.
112
113 26) If your modified source code depends on or uses any of the kernel
114     APIs or features that are related to the following ``Kconfig`` symbols,
115     then test multiple builds with the related ``Kconfig`` symbols disabled
116     and/or ``=m`` (if that option is available) [not all of these at the
117     same time, just various/random combinations of them]:
118
119     ``CONFIG_SMP``, ``CONFIG_SYSFS``, ``CONFIG_PROC_FS``, ``CONFIG_INPUT``, ``CONFIG_PCI``, ``CONFIG_BLOCK``, ``CONFIG_PM``, ``CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ``,
120     ``CONFIG_NET``, ``CONFIG_INET=n`` (but latter with ``CONFIG_NET=y``).
121
1	.. _submitchecklist:
2
3	Linux Kernel patch submission checklist
4	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5
6	Here are some basic things that developers should do if they want to see their
7	kernel patch submissions accepted more quickly.
8
9	These are all above and beyond the documentation that is provided in
10	:ref:`Documentation/SubmittingPatches <submittingpatches>`
11	and elsewhere regarding submitting Linux kernel patches.
12
13
14	1) If you use a facility then #include the file that defines/declares
15	that facility. Don't depend on other header files pulling in ones
16	that you use.
17
18	2) Builds cleanly:
19
20	a) with applicable or modified ``CONFIG`` options ``=y``, ``=m``, and
21	``=n``. No ``gcc`` warnings/errors, no linker warnings/errors.
22
23	b) Passes ``allnoconfig``, ``allmodconfig``
24
25	c) Builds successfully when using ``O=builddir``
26
27	3) Builds on multiple CPU architectures by using local cross-compile tools
28	or some other build farm.
29
30	4) ppc64 is a good architecture for cross-compilation checking because it
31	tends to use ``unsigned long`` for 64-bit quantities.
32
33	5) Check your patch for general style as detailed in
34	:ref:`Documentation/CodingStyle <codingstyle>`.
35	Check for trivial violations with the patch style checker prior to
36	submission (``scripts/checkpatch.pl``).
37	You should be able to justify all violations that remain in
38	your patch.
39
40	6) Any new or modified ``CONFIG`` options don't muck up the config menu.
41
42	7) All new ``Kconfig`` options have help text.
43
44	8) Has been carefully reviewed with respect to relevant ``Kconfig``
45	combinations. This is very hard to get right with testing -- brainpower
46	pays off here.
47
48	9) Check cleanly with sparse.
49
50	10) Use ``make checkstack`` and ``make namespacecheck`` and fix any problems
51	that they find.
52
53	.. note::
54
55	``checkstack`` does not point out problems explicitly,
56	but any one function that uses more than 512 bytes on the stack is a
57	candidate for change.
58
59	11) Include :ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` to document global kernel APIs.
60	(Not required for static functions, but OK there also.) Use
61	``make htmldocs`` or ``make pdfdocs`` to check the
62	:ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` and fix any issues.
63
64	12) Has been tested with ``CONFIG_PREEMPT``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT``,
65	``CONFIG_DEBUG_SLAB``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES``,
66	``CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP``,
67	``CONFIG_PROVE_RCU`` and ``CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD`` all
68	simultaneously enabled.
69
70	13) Has been build- and runtime tested with and without ``CONFIG_SMP`` and
71	``CONFIG_PREEMPT.``
72
73	14) If the patch affects IO/Disk, etc: has been tested with and without
74	``CONFIG_LBDAF.``
75
76	15) All codepaths have been exercised with all lockdep features enabled.
77
78	16) All new ``/proc`` entries are documented under ``Documentation/``
79
80	17) All new kernel boot parameters are documented in
81	``Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt``.
82
83	18) All new module parameters are documented with ``MODULE_PARM_DESC()``
84
85	19) All new userspace interfaces are documented in ``Documentation/ABI/``.
86	See ``Documentation/ABI/README`` for more information.
87	Patches that change userspace interfaces should be CCed to
88	linux-api@vger.kernel.org.
89
90	20) Check that it all passes ``make headers_check``.
91
92	21) Has been checked with injection of at least slab and page-allocation
93	failures. See ``Documentation/fault-injection/``.
94
95	If the new code is substantial, addition of subsystem-specific fault
96	injection might be appropriate.
97
98	22) Newly-added code has been compiled with ``gcc -W`` (use
99	``make EXTRA_CFLAGS=-W``). This will generate lots of noise, but is good
100	for finding bugs like "warning: comparison between signed and unsigned".
101
102	23) Tested after it has been merged into the -mm patchset to make sure
103	that it still works with all of the other queued patches and various
104	changes in the VM, VFS, and other subsystems.
105
106	24) All memory barriers {e.g., ``barrier()``, ``rmb()``, ``wmb()``} need a
107	comment in the source code that explains the logic of what they are doing
108	and why.
109
110	25) If any ioctl's are added by the patch, then also update
111	``Documentation/ioctl/ioctl-number.txt``.
112
113	26) If your modified source code depends on or uses any of the kernel
114	APIs or features that are related to the following ``Kconfig`` symbols,
115	then test multiple builds with the related ``Kconfig`` symbols disabled
116	and/or ``=m`` (if that option is available) [not all of these at the
117	same time, just various/random combinations of them]:
118
119	``CONFIG_SMP``, ``CONFIG_SYSFS``, ``CONFIG_PROC_FS``, ``CONFIG_INPUT``, ``CONFIG_PCI``, ``CONFIG_BLOCK``, ``CONFIG_PM``, ``CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ``,
120	``CONFIG_NET``, ``CONFIG_INET=n`` (but latter with ``CONFIG_NET=y``).
121