Re: Including Google Compute Engine Virtual Ethernet Driver into Debian
On Thu, Jul 09, 2020 at 08:07:09PM -0700, David Awogbemila wrote:
> I'm reaching out on behalf of Google to request information on the
> procedure for pulling our cloud driver, the Google Compute Engine Ethernet
> driver (gve), into Debian 10 (Buster).
> This driver has been accepted into the upstream Linux kernel since version
> 5.2.([1]https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/drivers/net/ethernet/google?h=v5.4.46).
> We would like to know what steps to take next in order to get the driver
> included in Debian 10.
There are two things you'll need to do initially.
First, you'll need to get the driver enabled in the unstable and testing
branches of Debian, as it does not appear to be available there. These
branches currently contain Linux 5.7, so it should be a simple matter of
enabling the config options. A wishlist severity bug against the
"src:linux" package with the relevant Kconfig details is a good way to
start this process.
Second, since Debian 10 uses Linux 4.19, you will need to port the
driver to this kernel version. Depending on the structure and
complexity of the driver, the level of effort here could vary
considerably. You will want to coordinate with the Debian kernel team
to get the driver added to Debian's kernel sources.
If it's infeasible to port the driver to 4.19, it's still potentially
available via the buster-backports kernel, which is based on the version
in Debian testing and is updated at roughly the same frequency.
However, the backports kernel isn't supported by the security team and
isn't an official component of Debian 10, so this should be considered a
last resort.
Are there any additional userspace changes needed to work with this
driver?
noah
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