README

Ksplice
=======

This set of tools serves the purpose of creating from a standard patch a
binary patch that can be applied to a running Linux kernel without a need of
rebooting.

It stops the kernel, performs neccessary checks and applies the binary patch.
The kernel is then resumed with a new code running.

WHAT DO I NEED?
---------------
* System.map and .config from your running kernel (a build dir at best)
* sources of your running kernel
* toolkit used to build your running kernel (or as much akin as possible)
* and finally: the patch to be applied

STEP BY STEP HOWTO
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1. create a configuration dir to prepare the build
   a) put there System.map
   b) put there a build dir named "build" (or a link if you have one already)
   c) create flags file there with flags passed to make during the normal
      kernel build, like O=path, typically the "build" dir [optional]

2. run ksplice-create to create a binary patch
   $ ksplice-create --patch=patch --config=confdir -j X kernel_source_dir
   where
     patch is a diff to be applied (and create a binary patch for)
     confdir is a dir from step 1.
     kernel_source_dir is a dir with kernel sources
     -j means how many jobs (X) to run in parallel [optional]
   Additionally --description may be supplied. It is shown by ksplice-view
   later.

3. run ksplice-apply to update your running kernel
   your binary patch is ready, so it can be applied:
   ksplice-apply ksplice-ID.tar.gz

4. check the applied patches by ksplice-view