James Sutherland wrote:
> On Wed, 7 Jun 2000, Keith Owens wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 7 Jun 2000 10:01:36 +0100 (BST),
> > James Sutherland <jas88@cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> > >Then add a
> > >way to upgrade from one module version to another seamlessly
> >
> > It already exists, it is called module symbol versions. If the kernel
> > and modules were compiled with symbol versions and the versions match
> > then insmod will load the module, no questions asked. This applies
> > even if the module and the kernel are for different releases.
>
> DOH! s/module/kernel/
>
> My aim was that if, say, kernel 2.6.17 and 2.6.18 differ only in the
> modules, I could upgrade from 2.6.17 to 2.6.18 just by rmmoding the old
> modules, and insmodding the new ones - no downtime.
>
> A useful feature, perhaps, if it can be done...
One of the problem is that to upgrade say the serial driver, you'll
have to "down" everything using the serial ports, and then "up" them
again. And how do you go about rmmodding the driver for the harddisk?
Tricky!
In short, it is usually easier to just kick the whole system down, and
let it boot from scratch.
Passing the internal state from one version of the module/kernel to
the next is very, very tricky business.
Roger.
-- ** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** http://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2137555 ** *-- BitWizard writes Linux device drivers for any device you may have! --* * Common sense is the collection of * ****** prejudices acquired by age eighteen. -- Albert Einstein ********- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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