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From: Jay Wang <wanjay@amazon.com>
To: <bpf@vger.kernel.org>, Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>,
	"Daniel Borkmann" <daniel@iogearbox.net>,
	Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org>,
	"Eduard Zingerman" <eddyz87@gmail.com>,
	Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
Cc: Ihor Solodrai <ihor.solodrai@linux.dev>,
	Alan Maguire <almagui@kernel.org>,
	Martin KaFai Lau <martin.lau@linux.dev>,
	Yonghong Song <yonghong.song@linux.dev>,
	Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>,
	Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
	Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>,
	"Mathieu Desnoyers" <mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>,
	<linux-trace-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
	Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>,
	Nicolas Schier <nsc@kernel.org>, <linux-kbuild@vger.kernel.org>,
	"Arnd Bergmann" <arnd@arndb.de>, <linux-arch@vger.kernel.org>,
	<x86@kernel.org>, <linux-doc@vger.kernel.org>,
	<linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
	"Hazem Mohamed Abuelfotoh" <abuehaze@amazon.com>,
	Bjoern Doebel <doebel@amazon.de>,
	"Martin Pohlack" <mpohlack@amazon.de>,
	<jay.wang.upstream@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH bpf-next 13/13] Documentation/bpf: describe CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF_LAZY
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2026 13:09:59 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20261031130959.23472-14-wanjay@amazon.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261031130959.23472-1-wanjay@amazon.com>

Describe what the option does, where it is available, when the
vmlinux BTF gets parsed, and what changes for users: registrations and
module BTF that wait for the first use, the BTF id, the missing
__start_BTF/__stop_BTF symbols, and what still parses it at boot.

Signed-off-by: Jay Wang <wanjay@amazon.com>
---
 Documentation/bpf/btf.rst | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/btf.rst b/Documentation/bpf/btf.rst
index 29de1222c3e7..1ebce5cf5783 100644
--- a/Documentation/bpf/btf.rst
+++ b/Documentation/bpf/btf.rst
@@ -1276,6 +1276,36 @@ format.::
             .long   58
             .long   8206                    # Line 8 Col 14
 
+6.1 Compressed vmlinux BTF
+--------------------------
+
+With ``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF_LAZY``, the kernel image carries the vmlinux BTF
+zstd-compressed, at about a quarter of its size, and the kernel decompresses
+and parses it when something first needs it: a BPF program or map that uses
+kernel types, ``BPF_BTF_GET_NEXT_ID``, tracing options that print arguments or
+return values by their BTF types.
+``/sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux`` has its full size from the start; reading or
+mapping it decompresses the BTF but does not parse it. Systems that never use
+BTF keep only the compressed copy in memory. The vmlinux file keeps the
+uncompressed ``.BTF`` section, not loaded, for tools and module builds.
+The option is available on x86 and arm64.
+
+Kernel function, destructor kfunc and struct_ops registrations made before the
+first use, and the BTF of modules loaded before it, are kept and applied by the
+task that parses the vmlinux BTF, before anyone else can see it. Errors of
+those registrations then only show in the kernel log, and a module whose BTF
+fails validation at that point stays loaded without BTF and without its files
+in ``/sys/kernel/btf``. A first use that runs out of memory fails with
+``-ENOMEM`` and leaves all of this as it was, for the next one to start over.
+The vmlinux BTF gets the next free BTF id, not necessarily 1, and the image has
+no ``__start_BTF``/``__stop_BTF`` symbols. The inline BTF
+(``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF_INLINE``) is not compressed.
+
+Users of kernel types during boot still parse it during boot, for example BPF
+LSM programs, the iterators of ``CONFIG_BPF_PRELOAD`` (loaded at boot, or at the
+first bpffs mount if ``bpf_preload`` is a module), or a module with a
+``.BTF.base`` section.
+
 7. Testing
 ==========
 
-- 
2.47.3


      parent reply	other threads:[~2026-10-31 13:13 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-10-31 13:09 [PATCH bpf-next 00/13] bpf: keep the vmlinux BTF compressed until first use (CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF_LAZY) to save ~6 MB memory Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 01/13] bpf: match program context types by name without vmlinux BTF Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:43   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 02/13] bpf: fetch the vmlinux BTF where kernel types enter a program Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:55   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 03/13] bpf: check CAP_SYS_ADMIN before looking up bpffs delegation names Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:43   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 17:03   ` Alexei Starovoitov
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 04/13] bpf: move bpf_get_btf_vmlinux() to btf.c Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:43   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 05/13] bpf: let btf_parse_module() adopt the caller's copy of the module BTF Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 06/13] bpf: look up the struct_ops common value type in the given BTF Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 07/13] bpf: parse the vmlinux BTF before taking cand_cache_mutex Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:43   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 08/13] tracing: parse the vmlinux BTF when BTF-typed output is enabled Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:43   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 09/13] bpf: keep the vmlinux BTF zstd-compressed in the kernel image Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:55   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 10/13] bpf: defer kfunc and struct_ops registrations until first BTF use Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:55   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 17:07   ` Alexei Starovoitov
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 11/13] bpf: keep module BTF until the vmlinux BTF is parsed Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:55   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-31 17:10     ` Alexei Starovoitov
2026-10-31 13:09 ` [PATCH bpf-next 12/13] selftests/bpf: keep ksyms and linked_vars working without __start_BTF Jay Wang
2026-10-31 13:09 ` Jay Wang [this message]

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