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USENIX 2005 Annual Technical Conference, General Track — Abstract
Pp. 279–291 of the Proceedings
Providing Dynamic Update in an Operating System
Andrew Baumann and Gernot Heiser, University of New South Wales and National ICT Australia; Jonathan Appavoo, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, and Robert W. Wisniewski, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center; Jeremy Kerr, IBM Linux Technology Center
Abstract
Dynamic update is a mechanism that allows software updates and patches to be applied to a running system without loss of service or down-time. Operating systems would benefit from dynamic update, but place unique demands on any implementation of such features. These demands stem from the event-driven nature of operating systems, from their restricted run-time execution environment, and from their role in simultaneously servicing multiple clients.
We have implemented a dynamic update mechanism in the K42 research operating system, and tested it using previous modifications of the system by kernel developers. Our system supports updates changing both kernel code and data structures. In this paper we identify requirements needed to provide a dynamically updatable operating system, describe our implementation, and present our experiences in designing and using the dynamic update mechanism. We also discuss its applicability to other operating systems.
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