Re: [PATCH] kernel, add panic_on_warn

["H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>]

On 10/30/2014 10:03 AM, Prarit Bhargava wrote:
> There have been several times where I have had to rebuild a kernel to
> cause a panic when hitting a WARN() in the code in order to get a crash
> dump from a system.  Sometimes this is easy to do, other times (such as
> in the case of a remote admin) it is not trivial to send new images to the
> user.
> 
> A much easier method would be a switch to change the WARN() over to a
> panic.  This makes debugging easier in that I can now test the actual
> image the WARN() was seen on and I do not have to engage in remote
> debugging.
> 
> This patch adds a panic_on_warn kernel parameter and
> /proc/sys/kernel/panic_on_warn calls panic() in the warn_slowpath_common()
> path.  The function will still print out the location of the warning.
> 
> An example of the panic_on_warn output:
> 
> The first line below is from the WARN_ON() to output the WARN_ON()'s location.
> After that the panic() output is displayed.
> 

There is another very valid use for this: many operators would rather a
machine shuts down than being potentially compromised either
functionally or security-wise.

	-hpa