Improve Stable-RT kernel upgrade automation

[jatinjb444]

Changes

AB#4032155
Improve Stable-RT kernel upgrade automation
and add project documentation.

Testing

• RT merge completed successfully
• Kernel build completed successfully
• Kernel installation completed successful
• Kernel reboot validation passed
• DKMS rebuild completed successfully

Process

• Replace rebase-based sync with git reset
• Prevent stale rebase state during merges
• Improve stability of RT merge workflow
• Add Stable-RT automation README
• Document workflow and configuration
• Add troubleshooting guidance

• This PR should be cherry-picked to the next/ ref.

Suggested Reviewers:

• @ni/rtos

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR aims to improve the Stable-RT kernel upgrade automation flow (notably the branch sync strategy) and adds detailed operator documentation for running the automation.

Changes:

• Replace rebase-based branch syncing with a hard reset to the remote branch to avoid stale rebase state.
• Simplify JsonConfig initialization and adjust the automation entrypoint accordingly.
• Add a comprehensive Stable-RT automation README covering workflow, configuration, and troubleshooting.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
scripts/dev/upstream_merge/README_kernel.md	Adds end-to-end documentation for the Stable-RT kernel upgrade automation workflow and configuration.
scripts/dev/upstream_merge/kernel_build_and_test.py	Updates sync logic from rebase/pull to fetch+reset; tweaks PR description composition and config initialization.
scripts/dev/upstream_merge/json_config.py	Changes JsonConfig constructor and configuration fields used by the automation scripts.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Suppressed comments (3)

scripts/dev/upstream_merge/json_config.py:12

• JsonConfig.init no longer accepts the work_item_id argument, but scripts/dev/upstream_merge/upstream_merge_and_test.py still calls JsonConfig(..., work_item_id=...). This will raise a TypeError at runtime; keep backward compatibility by making work_item_id an optional parameter.

    def __init__(self, automation_conf_path):

scripts/dev/upstream_merge/json_config.py:53

• JsonConfig no longer sets self.work_item_id, but upstream_merge_and_test.py later reads json_config_obj.work_item_id when generating PR descriptions. This will raise an AttributeError at runtime; store the resolved work_item_id on the config object (preferring the explicitly passed value, falling back to the JSON file).

        self.build_user = kernel_config.get("build_user") or self.build_host_user  
        self.pr_target_branch = config.get(
            "pr_target_branch", self.target_branch)
        self.ssh_target = kernel_config.get("ssh_target")

scripts/dev/upstream_merge/README_kernel.md:229

• The README's example automation_conf.json places kernel build settings (target_branch/kernel_src_dir/etc.) at the top level, but JsonConfig reads them from the nested "kernel_build" object. As written, the example config would leave kernel_build empty and the script will fail (e.g., os.path.abspath(None) for kernel_src_dir). Update the example to match the actual schema.

```json
{
    "target_branch": "nilrt/master/6.18",
    "kernel_src_dir": "/home/user/kernel-build/linux",
    "arch": "x86_64",

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Suppressed comments (2)

scripts/dev/upstream_merge/json_config.py:16

• JsonConfig.init no longer accepts/sets work_item_id, but upstream_merge_and_test.py still calls JsonConfig(..., work_item_id=...) and later reads json_config_obj.work_item_id. This will raise a TypeError/AttributeError at runtime; keep backward compatibility by making work_item_id optional and storing it on the config object (falling back to the JSON value when not provided).

    def __init__(self, automation_conf_path):
        with open(automation_conf_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as file:
            config = json.load(file)
        self.nilrt_branch = config.get("nilrt_branch")
        self.meta_nilrt_branch = config.get("meta_nilrt_branch")

scripts/dev/upstream_merge/README_kernel.md:70

• The initial ```text code block (Target Branch / Working Branch example) is missing a closing fence, so the subsequent sections are rendered as part of the code block in Markdown. Close the code block immediately after the example output.

rt-merge-6.18

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# CONFIGURATION FILE: `automation_conf.json`