[ANNOUNCE/CFP] LPC 2026 Live Update Microconference

[Pasha Tatashin]

Hi,

The Call for Proposals is now open for the Live Update Microconference 
[1], taking place at the Linux Plumbers Conference this October 5-7 in 
Prague [2].

As infrastructure scales, minimizing workload disruption during host 
updates has become a critical operational requirement. This 
microconference focuses on the evolving engineering challenges behind 
seamless software handovers, state preservation, and warm reboots that 
bypass traditional hardware reset cycles.

We are seeking technical presentations, and problem statements spanning 
the entire stack—including kexec optimizations, hypervisor integration, 
user-space checkpoint/restore, firmware coordination, and device state 
handovers.

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A few focus areas we hope to cover during this year's sessions include:
---
 * Orphaned Virtual Machine for zer-downtime upgrades.
 * Live Update Orchestrator (LUO) enhancements and architecture
 * Kexec HandOver (KHO) framework advancements
 * Kexec reboot latencies to minimize guest/workload downtime
 * Preserving guest states across live updates (guest_memfd, hugetlb)
 * In-flight DMA, IOMMU tracking, and preservation
 * VFIO device state preservation and live update migration mechanics
 * PCI/PCIe device handovers, reset avoidance, and state restoration
 * Live Update in Confidential Computing (TDX/SEV-SNP)
 * Building robust testing, fuzzing, and validation frameworks for 
   upgrade paths

---
Submission Details & Deadlines:
---
 * CFP Portal: https://lpc.events/event/20/abstracts/
 * Track Selection: "Live Update MC"
 * Deadline: July 24th, 2026

Session Format Reminder:
LPC sessions are highly interactive working groups, not static lecture 
slots. Proposals should be designed to introduce a concrete technical 
challenge quickly and leave substantial time open for real-time debate, 
consensus-building, and problem-solving with the room. Keep slides 
focused on architecture and open issues rather than heavy text blocks.

We hope to see you in Prague to help push the live update ecosystem 
forward.

(Note: LPC attendance caps fill up exceptionally fast. We strongly 
advise booking your passes early, as track organizers cannot always 
guarantee speaker registration overrides once the event sells out.)

[1] https://lpc.events/event/20/contributions/2321/
[2] https://lpc.events/

Best regards,
Pasha