1.. _submitchecklist:
2
3Linux Kernel patch submission checklist
4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5
6Here are some basic things that developers should do if they want to see their
7kernel patch submissions accepted more quickly.
8
9These are all above and beyond the documentation that is provided in
10:ref:`Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst <submittingpatches>`
11and elsewhere regarding submitting Linux kernel patches.
12
13
141) 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
182) 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  d) Any Documentation/ changes build successfully without new warnings/errors.
28     Use ``make htmldocs`` or ``make pdfdocs`` to check the build and
29     fix any issues.
30
313) Builds on multiple CPU architectures by using local cross-compile tools
32   or some other build farm.
33
344) ppc64 is a good architecture for cross-compilation checking because it
35   tends to use ``unsigned long`` for 64-bit quantities.
36
375) Check your patch for general style as detailed in
38   :ref:`Documentation/process/coding-style.rst <codingstyle>`.
39   Check for trivial violations with the patch style checker prior to
40   submission (``scripts/checkpatch.pl``).
41   You should be able to justify all violations that remain in
42   your patch.
43
446) Any new or modified ``CONFIG`` options do not muck up the config menu and
45   default to off unless they meet the exception criteria documented in
46   ``Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.rst`` Menu attributes: default value.
47
487) All new ``Kconfig`` options have help text.
49
508) Has been carefully reviewed with respect to relevant ``Kconfig``
51   combinations.  This is very hard to get right with testing -- brainpower
52   pays off here.
53
549) Check cleanly with sparse.
55
5610) Use ``make checkstack`` and ``make namespacecheck`` and fix any problems
57    that they find.
58
59    .. note::
60
61       ``checkstack`` does not point out problems explicitly,
62       but any one function that uses more than 512 bytes on the stack is a
63       candidate for change.
64
6511) Include :ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` to document global  kernel APIs.
66    (Not required for static functions, but OK there also.) Use
67    ``make htmldocs`` or ``make pdfdocs`` to check the
68    :ref:`kernel-doc <kernel_doc>` and fix any issues.
69
7012) Has been tested with ``CONFIG_PREEMPT``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT``,
71    ``CONFIG_DEBUG_SLAB``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES``,
72    ``CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK``, ``CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP``,
73    ``CONFIG_PROVE_RCU`` and ``CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD`` all
74    simultaneously enabled.
75
7613) Has been build- and runtime tested with and without ``CONFIG_SMP`` and
77    ``CONFIG_PREEMPT.``
78
7916) All codepaths have been exercised with all lockdep features enabled.
80
8117) All new ``/proc`` entries are documented under ``Documentation/``
82
8318) All new kernel boot parameters are documented in
84    ``Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst``.
85
8619) All new module parameters are documented with ``MODULE_PARM_DESC()``
87
8820) All new userspace interfaces are documented in ``Documentation/ABI/``.
89    See ``Documentation/ABI/README`` for more information.
90    Patches that change userspace interfaces should be CCed to
91    linux-api@vger.kernel.org.
92
9321) Check that it all passes ``make headers_check``.
94
9522) Has been checked with injection of at least slab and page-allocation
96    failures.  See ``Documentation/fault-injection/``.
97
98    If the new code is substantial, addition of subsystem-specific fault
99    injection might be appropriate.
100
10123) Newly-added code has been compiled with ``gcc -W`` (use
102    ``make EXTRA_CFLAGS=-W``).  This will generate lots of noise, but is good
103    for finding bugs like "warning: comparison between signed and unsigned".
104
10524) Tested after it has been merged into the -mm patchset to make sure
106    that it still works with all of the other queued patches and various
107    changes in the VM, VFS, and other subsystems.
108
10925) All memory barriers {e.g., ``barrier()``, ``rmb()``, ``wmb()``} need a
110    comment in the source code that explains the logic of what they are doing
111    and why.
112
11326) If any ioctl's are added by the patch, then also update
114    ``Documentation/userspace-api/ioctl/ioctl-number.rst``.
115
11627) If your modified source code depends on or uses any of the kernel
117    APIs or features that are related to the following ``Kconfig`` symbols,
118    then test multiple builds with the related ``Kconfig`` symbols disabled
119    and/or ``=m`` (if that option is available) [not all of these at the
120    same time, just various/random combinations of them]:
121
122    ``CONFIG_SMP``, ``CONFIG_SYSFS``, ``CONFIG_PROC_FS``, ``CONFIG_INPUT``, ``CONFIG_PCI``, ``CONFIG_BLOCK``, ``CONFIG_PM``, ``CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ``,
123    ``CONFIG_NET``, ``CONFIG_INET=n`` (but latter with ``CONFIG_NET=y``).
124