[RFC][PATCH -mm take3 0/6][resend] proposal for dynamic configurable netconsole

Keiichi KII
2007-03-20T12:14:50Z

The netconsole is a very useful module for collecting kernel message under
certain circumstances(e.g. disk logging fails, serial port is unavailable).

But current netconsole is not flexible. For example, if you want to change ip
address for logging agent, in the case of built-in netconsole, you can't change
config except for changing boot parameter and rebooting your system, or in the
case of module netconsole, you need to remove it and reload with different
parameters.

So, I propose the following extended features for netconsole.

1) support for multiple logging agents.
2) add interface to access each parameter of netconsole
using sysfs.

[changes since take2]
-changing kernel base from 2.6.20-rc1-mm1 to 2.6.21-rc3.mm2.
-using symbolic link for network device.
-changing in part interface from sysfs to ioctl,
because Stephen Hemminger advised us that it is a misuse that
sysfs has the behavior with magic side effect such as adding/removing port.

This patch is for linux-2.6.21-rc3-mm2 and is divided to each function.
Your comments are very welcome.