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From: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
To: linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Jacob Lalonde <jalalonde@meta.com>,
	Josef Bacik <josef@toxicpanda.com>,  Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>,
	Alexander Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>,
	 Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
	 David Hildenbrand <david@kernel.org>,
	Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>,
	 "Liam R. Howlett" <liam@infradead.org>,
	Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@kernel.org>,
	 Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>,
	Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>,
	 Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.com>,
	Omar Sandoval <osandov@osandov.com>,
	 Jacob Lalonde <jalalonde@fb.com>, Shuah Khan <shuah@kernel.org>,
	 linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org,
	 linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org, linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org,
	 "Christian Brauner (Amutable)" <brauner@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH v2 13/22] coredump: add COREDUMP_RECORDS to the coredump socket protocol
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:09:30 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260820-work-coredump-sparse-v2-13-ba32dd718c51@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260820-work-coredump-sparse-v2-0-ba32dd718c51@kernel.org>

Currently a coredump sent over a socket is raw data. The kernel knows
things about the data it's sending that are useful for a coredump
server. For example, it knows where the unpopulated parts of a mapping
are. We can't communicate this to userspace currently though.

Add a COREDUMP_RECORDS feature bit and a struct coredump_record_header
so userspace can negotiate that feature. Instead of a byte stream it
gets a header plus data. Reassembling the records yields the same
coredump that would have been sent without them.

The record itself is also versioned and thus extensible with the same
protocol as the ack-req sync.

A record stream ends explicitly. A COREDUMP_RECORD_END record closes it,
carries no data and reports the size of the coredump. It is only sent
once the whole coredump has been written. If it's missing the coredump
should be treated as truncated.

This just adds the infrastructure.

Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>
---
 include/uapi/linux/coredump.h | 66 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 66 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/coredump.h b/include/uapi/linux/coredump.h
index 662e0468da6e..0bd5c8662ebe 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/coredump.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/coredump.h
@@ -11,12 +11,16 @@
  * @COREDUMP_USERSPACE: userspace writes coredump
  * @COREDUMP_REJECT: don't generate coredump
  * @COREDUMP_WAIT: wait for coredump server
+ * @COREDUMP_RECORDS: send the coredump as a sequence of records instead of
+ *                    as a plain byte stream, see struct coredump_record_header;
+ *                    requires COREDUMP_KERNEL
  */
 enum {
 	COREDUMP_KERNEL		= (1ULL << 0),
 	COREDUMP_USERSPACE	= (1ULL << 1),
 	COREDUMP_REJECT		= (1ULL << 2),
 	COREDUMP_WAIT		= (1ULL << 3),
+	COREDUMP_RECORDS	= (1ULL << 4),
 };
 
 /**
@@ -101,4 +105,66 @@ enum coredump_mark {
 	__COREDUMP_MARK_MAX		= (1U << 31),
 };
 
+/**
+ * enum coredump_record_type - Type of a coredump record
+ *
+ * @COREDUMP_RECORD_DATA: the header is followed by ->len bytes of data
+ * @COREDUMP_RECORD_END: the coredump ends here, the header is not followed
+ *                       by any data and no further record is sent
+ * @__COREDUMP_RECORD_TYPE_MAX: the maximum coredump record type value
+ */
+enum coredump_record_type {
+	COREDUMP_RECORD_DATA		= 0U,
+	COREDUMP_RECORD_END		= 1U,
+	__COREDUMP_RECORD_TYPE_MAX	= (1U << 31),
+};
+
+/**
+ * struct coredump_record_header - header of a coredump record
+ * @size: size of struct coredump_record_header
+ * @type: one of enum coredump_record_type
+ * @flags: modifiers for this record
+ * @offset: offset in the coredump this record starts at
+ * @len: number of coredump bytes this record accounts for
+ *
+ * If the coredump server raises COREDUMP_RECORDS in coredump_ack->mask
+ * the kernel doesn't send the coredump as a plain byte stream. It sends
+ * a sequence of records instead. A COREDUMP_RECORD_DATA record is
+ * followed by @len bytes of actual coredump data. Records arrive in
+ * order and leave no gaps. So @offset is the sum of the @len of all
+ * records before it.
+ *
+ * The last record is a COREDUMP_RECORD_END record. It is followed by
+ * nothing. Its @len is zero. Its @offset is the size of the coredump.
+ * The kernel only sends it once it has written the whole coredump. A
+ * server that hits end-of-file without having seen an end record must
+ * treat the coredump as incomplete.
+ *
+ * The @size member is set to the size of struct coredump_record_header
+ * the kernel knows and lets the header grow later. It comes first so it
+ * can be peeked. Userspace must consume @size bytes and discard
+ * anything beyond what it knows. It must refuse a @size smaller than
+ * COREDUMP_RECORD_HEADER_SIZE_VER0. @size covers the header alone.
+ * @offset and @len count coredump bytes.
+ *
+ * The @flags member carries modifiers that change how the record is to
+ * be interpreted. No flag is defined yet. Userspace must refuse a
+ * record carrying a flag or a type it doesn't know. Every new record
+ * type is raised in coredump_req->mask as a feature of its own. A
+ * server only ever sees the types it asked for.
+ *
+ * COREDUMP_RECORDS must be combined with COREDUMP_KERNEL.
+ */
+struct coredump_record_header {
+	__u32 size;
+	__u32 type;
+	__u64 flags;
+	__u64 offset;
+	__u64 len;
+};
+
+enum {
+	COREDUMP_RECORD_HEADER_SIZE_VER0 = 32U, /* size of first published struct */
+};
+
 #endif /* _UAPI_LINUX_COREDUMP_H */

-- 
2.53.0


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-08-19 23:11 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 23+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-08-19 23:09 [PATCH v2 00/22] coredump: allow to create sparse coredumps on the coredump socket Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 01/22] powerpc/spufs: don't dump more than the note supports Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 02/22] coredump: refuse negative skips Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 03/22] coredump: set the minimum send buffer size Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 04/22] selftests/coredump: discard the right amount after the coredump request Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 05/22] selftests/coredump: collapse the expected request check into the helper Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 06/22] selftests/coredump: add a separate helper header Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 07/22] coredump: pin the protocol struct sizes Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 08/22] coredump: move the negotiated mask into struct coredump_params Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 09/22] coredump: deduplicate the to_skip flush Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 10/22] coredump: make the dump helper return bool Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 11/22] coredump: always chunk writes Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 12/22] coredump: clean up coredump state handling Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` Christian Brauner [this message]
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 14/22] coredump: add COREDUMP_SPARSE to the coredump socket protocol Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 15/22] tools: sync coredump.h header Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 16/22] coredump: send the coredump in records if requested Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 17/22] coredump: describe the holes when COREDUMP_SPARSE is negotiated Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 18/22] selftests/coredump: test COREDUMP_RECORDS and COREDUMP_SPARSE Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 19/22] selftests/coredump: hand the record stream to a sink Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 20/22] selftests/coredump: put a hole in the middle of a sparse mapping Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 21/22] selftests/coredump: simulate a blob store Christian Brauner
2026-08-19 23:09 ` [PATCH v2 22/22] selftests/coredump: show how to inspect the task to decide how the coredump should be sent Christian Brauner

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