machine_kexec_prepare(9)

💖 machine_kexec_prepare(9) 💖

okay so this is the Kernel API Manual page for machine_kexec_prepare(9), and bestie it is short but it matters. 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

machine_kexec_prepare — Prepare for a kexec reboot. ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int machine_kexec_prepare (struct kimage *kimage );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• kimage — the original page literally says -- undescribed --. That’s it, no cap. 💀 It’s the struct kimage * from the synopsis.

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So the core kexec code calls this when a kernel image is loaded. Its whole thing is a vibe check: if there’s no way of hotplugging CPUs, or if CPUs are stuck in the kernel, it forbids loading a kexec kernel. 🛑

That is extremely on purpose, because it avoids a panic once we hit machine_kexec. Iconic protective behavior honestly. 🔥

Not me being dramatic, but this guard is literally the difference between “we checked first” and “we panicked later.” 💀

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Kernel file ./arch/arm64/kernel/machine_kexec.c plus these besties: kexec_image_info(9), kexec_segment_flush(9), machine_kexec(9), machine_crash_shutdown(9). 🌈

mwah 💋 — this one comes from ./arch/arm64/kernel, dated October 2026, and it’s called machine_kexec_prepare(9). periodt. 👑