[PATCH v6 04/12] PCI: liveupdate: Document driver binding responsibilities

[Pratyush Yadav]

On Fri, May 22 2026, David Matlack wrote:

> Document how driver binding works during a Live Update and what the PCI
> core expects of drivers and users. Note that this is only a description
> of the current division of responsibilities. These can change in the
> future if we decide.

Nit: Should you also note this in the documentation that this can change
in the future?

>
> Signed-off-by: David Matlack <dmatlack at google.com>
> ---
>  drivers/pci/liveupdate.c | 16 ++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 16 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/pci/liveupdate.c b/drivers/pci/liveupdate.c
> index 96c43b84532c..4f2ec6ffdd16 100644
> --- a/drivers/pci/liveupdate.c
> +++ b/drivers/pci/liveupdate.c
> @@ -70,6 +70,22 @@
>   * preserved. These may be relaxed in the future:
>   *
>   *  * The device cannot be a Virtual Function (VF).
> + *
> + * Driver Binding
> + * ==============
> + *
> + * In the outgoing kernel, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure that it
> + * does not release a device between pci_liveupdate_preserve() and
> + * pci_liveupdate_unpreserve().
> + *
> + * In the incoming kernel, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure that it
> + * does not release a preserved device between probe() and
> + * pci_liveupdate_finish().
> + *
> + * It is the user's responsibility to ensure that incoming preserved devices are
> + * bound to the correct driver. i.e. The PCI core does not protect against a
> + * device getting preserved by driver A in the outgoing kernel and then getting
> + * bound to driver B in the incoming kernel.
>   */
>  
>  #define pr_fmt(fmt) "PCI: liveupdate: " fmt

-- 
Regards,
Pratyush Yadav