Daniel Kiper 2c33c27fd6 x86/boot: Introduce kernel_info ... The relationships between the headers are analogous to the various data sections: setup_header = .data boot_params/setup_data = .bss What is missing from the above list? That's right: kernel_info = .rodata We have been (ab)using .data for things that could go into .rodata or .bss for a long time, for lack of alternatives and -- especially early on -- inertia. Also, the BIOS stub is responsible for creating boot_params, so it isn't available to a BIOS-based loader (setup_data is, though). setup_header is permanently limited to 144 bytes due to the reach of the 2-byte jump field, which doubles as a length field for the structure, combined with the size of the "hole" in struct boot_params that a protected-mode loader or the BIOS stub has to copy it into. It is currently 119 bytes long, which leaves us with 25 very precious bytes. This isn't something that can be fixed without revising the boot protocol entirely, breaking backwards compatibility. boot_params proper is limited to 4096 bytes, but can be arbitrarily extended by adding setup_data entries. It cannot be used to communicate properties of the kernel image, because it is .bss and has no image-provided content. kernel_info solves this by providing an extensible place for information about the kernel image. It is readonly, because the kernel cannot rely on a bootloader copying its contents anywhere, but that is OK; if it becomes necessary it can still contain data items that an enabled bootloader would be expected to copy into a setup_data chunk. Do not bump setup_header version in arch/x86/boot/header.S because it will be followed by additional changes coming into the Linux/x86 boot protocol. Suggested-by: H. Peter Anvin (Intel) <hpa@zytor.com> Signed-off-by: Daniel Kiper <daniel.kiper@oracle.com> Signed-off-by: Borislav Petkov <bp@suse.de> Reviewed-by: Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk <konrad.wilk@oracle.com> Reviewed-by: Ross Philipson <ross.philipson@oracle.com> Reviewed-by: H. Peter Anvin (Intel) <hpa@zytor.com> Cc: Andy Lutomirski <luto@amacapital.net> Cc: ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org Cc: Boris Ostrovsky <boris.ostrovsky@oracle.com> Cc: dave.hansen@linux.intel.com Cc: eric.snowberg@oracle.com Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com> Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net> Cc: Juergen Gross <jgross@suse.com> Cc: kanth.ghatraju@oracle.com Cc: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org Cc: linux-efi <linux-efi@vger.kernel.org> Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org> Cc: rdunlap@infradead.org Cc: ross.philipson@oracle.com Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de> Cc: x86-ml <x86@kernel.org> Cc: xen-devel@lists.xenproject.org Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20191112134640.16035-2-daniel.kiper@oracle.com		2019-11-12 16:10:34 +01:00
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build.c	x86/boot: Introduce kernel_info	2019-11-12 16:10:34 +01:00