Add the build-time pipeline that renders the "kernel" subtree of
CONFIG_BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_FILE into a flat cmdline string and stashes
it in .init.rodata as embedded_kernel_cmdline[]. A follow-up patch
adds the runtime helper that prepends this string to boot_command_line
during early architecture setup so parse_early_param() sees the values.
The build wires up:
tools/bootconfig -C kernel - userspace tool already shared with
lib/bootconfig.c, used here in -C mode
to render a bootconfig file to a cmdline
lib/embedded-cmdline.S - .incbin's the rendered text plus a NUL
(listed under the EXTRA BOOT CONFIG
MAINTAINERS entry)
lib/Makefile rule - runs tools/bootconfig at build time
Makefile prepare dep - ensures tools/bootconfig is built first,
same pattern as tools/objtool and
tools/bpf/resolve_btfids
Drop the test target from tools/bootconfig/Makefile's default 'all'
recipe so that hooking the binary into the kernel build does not run
test-bootconfig.sh on every prepare. The tests stay available as
'make -C tools/bootconfig test', matching the convention of
tools/objtool and tools/bpf/resolve_btfids whose 'all' targets only
build the binary.
Require BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_FILE to be non-empty before the new option
can be enabled, otherwise tools/bootconfig -C runs against an empty
file and prints a parse error on every kernel build.
The feature gates on CONFIG_ARCH_SUPPORTS_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTCONFIG, a
silent symbol arches select once they've wired the prepend call into
setup_arch(). No arch selects it in this patch, so the user-visible
CONFIG_BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_CMDLINE is not yet enableable; when an arch
later opts in, the runtime behavior is added by the follow-up patches.
tools/bootconfig is compiled with $(HOSTCC), not $(CC): Kbuild exports
CC as the target cross-compiler, but the prepare hook runs the tool on
the build host, so $(CC) would produce a binary that fails to exec
("Exec format error") under ARCH=... cross builds. This mirrors
tools/objtool and tools/bpf/resolve_btfids.
embedded-cmdline.S places the rendered string in .init.rodata with the
"a" (allocatable, read-only) flag and %progbits, not "aw": the data is
never written at runtime, so it must not land in a writable section.
A follow-up patch wires the build-time tools/bootconfig into the
top-level clean target.
Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao <[email protected]>
---
MAINTAINERS | 1 +
Makefile | 5 +++++
init/Kconfig | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
lib/Makefile | 16 ++++++++++++++++
lib/embedded-cmdline.S | 16 ++++++++++++++++
tools/bootconfig/Makefile | 8 ++++++--
6 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 4087b67bbc69..fb9314cbe344 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -9845,6 +9845,7 @@ F: fs/proc/bootconfig.c
F: include/linux/bootconfig.h
F: lib/bootconfig-data.S
F: lib/bootconfig.c
+F: lib/embedded-cmdline.S
F: tools/bootconfig/*
F: tools/bootconfig/scripts/*
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d59f703f9797..e95992959f44 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1543,6 +1543,11 @@ prepare: tools/bpf/resolve_btfids
endif
endif
+# tools/bootconfig renders the embedded bootconfig into a cmdline at build
time.
+ifdef CONFIG_BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_CMDLINE
+prepare: tools/bootconfig
+endif
+
# The tools build system is not a part of Kbuild and tends to introduce
# its own unique issues. If you need to integrate a new tool into Kbuild,
# please consider locating that tool outside the tools/ tree and using the
diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index ca35184532dc..5f491a5ac4b8 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -1569,6 +1569,39 @@ config BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_FILE
This bootconfig will be used if there is no initrd or no other
bootconfig in the initrd.
+config ARCH_SUPPORTS_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTCONFIG
+ bool
+ help
+ Selected by architectures whose setup_arch() prepends the
+ build-time-rendered embedded bootconfig cmdline to
+ boot_command_line before parse_early_param() runs.
+
+config BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_CMDLINE
+ bool "Render embedded bootconfig as kernel cmdline at build time"
+ depends on BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED
+ depends on BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_FILE != ""
+ depends on ARCH_SUPPORTS_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTCONFIG
+ default n
+ help
+ Render the "kernel" subtree of the embedded bootconfig file into a
+ flat cmdline string at kernel build time and prepend it to
+ boot_command_line during early architecture setup. This makes
+ early_param() handlers (e.g. mem=, earlycon=, loglevel=) see the
+ values supplied via the embedded bootconfig.
+
+ The runtime bootconfig parser is unaffected, so tree-structured
+ consumers such as ftrace boot-time tracing keep working.
+
+ Note: when an initrd also carries a bootconfig, its "kernel"
+ subtree is still parsed at runtime, but the embedded "kernel"
+ keys remain in boot_command_line for parse_early_param() and
+ end up later than the initrd keys in saved_command_line, so
+ parse_args() last-wins favors the embedded values. If you need
+ initrd to override embedded kernel.* keys, leave this option
+ off.
+
+ If unsure, say N.
+
config CMDLINE_LOG_WRAP_IDEAL_LEN
int "Length to try to wrap the cmdline when logged at boot"
default 1021
diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 6e72d2c1cce7..9de0ac7732a2 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -273,6 +273,22 @@ filechk_defbconf = cat $(or $(real-prereqs), /dev/null)
$(obj)/default.bconf: $(CONFIG_BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_FILE) FORCE
$(call filechk,defbconf)
+obj-$(CONFIG_BOOT_CONFIG_EMBED_CMDLINE) += embedded-cmdline.o
+$(obj)/embedded-cmdline.o: $(obj)/embedded_cmdline.bin
+
+# Render the bootconfig "kernel" subtree to a flat cmdline string using
+# the userspace tools/bootconfig parser (-C mode). The runtime prepend
+# helper enforces COMMAND_LINE_SIZE at boot, so no build-time size
+# check is performed here (COMMAND_LINE_SIZE is an arch header
+# constant, not a Kconfig value).
+quiet_cmd_render_cmdline = BCONF2C $@
+ cmd_render_cmdline = \
+ $(objtree)/tools/bootconfig/bootconfig -C $< > $@
+
+targets += embedded_cmdline.bin
+$(obj)/embedded_cmdline.bin: $(obj)/default.bconf
$(objtree)/tools/bootconfig/bootconfig FORCE
+ $(call if_changed,render_cmdline)
+
obj-$(CONFIG_RBTREE_TEST) += rbtree_test.o
obj-$(CONFIG_INTERVAL_TREE_TEST) += interval_tree_test.o
diff --git a/lib/embedded-cmdline.S b/lib/embedded-cmdline.S
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..740d7ad2dc01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/embedded-cmdline.S
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+/*
+ * Embed the build-time-rendered bootconfig "kernel" subtree as a flat
+ * cmdline string. setup_arch() prepends this to boot_command_line on
+ * architectures that select ARCH_SUPPORTS_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTCONFIG.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Breno Leitao <[email protected]>
+ */
+ .section .init.rodata, "a", %progbits
+ .global embedded_kernel_cmdline
+embedded_kernel_cmdline:
+ .incbin "lib/embedded_cmdline.bin"
+ .byte 0
+ .global embedded_kernel_cmdline_end
+embedded_kernel_cmdline_end:
diff --git a/tools/bootconfig/Makefile b/tools/bootconfig/Makefile
index 90eb47c9d8de..aa75a7828685 100644
--- a/tools/bootconfig/Makefile
+++ b/tools/bootconfig/Makefile
@@ -15,10 +15,14 @@ override CFLAGS += -Wall -g -I$(CURDIR)/include
ALL_TARGETS := bootconfig
ALL_PROGRAMS := $(patsubst %,$(OUTPUT)%,$(ALL_TARGETS))
-all: $(ALL_PROGRAMS) test
+all: $(ALL_PROGRAMS)
+# bootconfig is a build host tool: Kbuild's prepare hook runs it on the
+# build machine to render the embedded cmdline, so always compile it with
+# $(HOSTCC). Using $(CC) would cross-compile it under ARCH=... builds and
+# fail to exec on the host ("Exec format error").
$(OUTPUT)bootconfig: main.c include/linux/bootconfig.h $(LIBSRC)
- $(CC) $(filter %.c,$^) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@
+ $(HOSTCC) $(filter %.c,$^) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@
test: $(ALL_PROGRAMS) test-bootconfig.sh
./test-bootconfig.sh $(OUTPUT)
--
2.53.0-Meta
