On Tue, 9 Dec 2025 09:46:51 -0800 Breno Leitao wrote: > > I think I was alluding that another option (not saying that it's the > > best but IIUC your requirements it'd be the best fit)): > > > > 5) Add a keepalive configfs knob, if set to a non-zero value netconsole > > will send an empty (?) message at given interval > > > > Pros: > > - truly does not require a user binary to run periodically, netcons > > would set a timer in the kernel > > Cons: > > - does not provide the arbitrary "console bypass" message > > functionality > > This is a good idea if we change it slightly. What about a "ping" > configfs item that send sit when I touch it? > > Something as: > > # echo 1 > /sys/kernel/configs/<target>/ping > > And it would ping the host with a predefined "ping" message, and nothing > else. > > That would work, for my current problem, honestly. > > One drawback compared to a more flexible "send_msg" is that I don't have > complete flexibility on the message format. Thus, if I want to pass > extra information such as a Nonce, timestamp, host state, interface > name, health state, it will not be possible, which is fine for now, > given I am NOT planning to use it at this stage.
If you still want to tickle it from user space periodically, I guess send_msg is more flexible. I think the main advantage of keepalive would be to remove the need for periodic userspace work.
