diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst
index 94f41c2..c98cc44 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst
@@ -157,17 +157,19 @@ For example, to check drivers/net/wireless/ one may write::
 
     make coccicheck M=drivers/net/wireless/
 
-To apply Coccinelle on a file basis, instead of a directory basis, the
-following command may be used::
+To apply Coccinelle as the only checker on a file basis,
+instead of a directory basis, the following command may be used::
 
-    make C=1 CHECK="scripts/coccicheck"
+    make C=2 CF="--run:coccicheck"
 
-To check only newly edited code, use the value 2 for the C flag, i.e.::
+To check only newly edited code, use the value 1 for the C flag, i.e.::
 
-    make C=2 CHECK="scripts/coccicheck"
+    make C=1 CF="--run:coccicheck"
 
 In these modes, which works on a file basis, there is no information
 about semantic patches displayed, and no commit message proposed.
+For more information about options in this calling mode, see
+Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst .
 
 This runs every semantic patch in scripts/coccinelle by default. The
 COCCI variable may additionally be used to only apply a single
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
index e313925..cb4506d 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ whole; patches welcome!
 
    coccinelle
    sparse
+   runchecks
    kcov
    gcov
    kasan
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a43c05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+.. Copyright 2017 Knut Omang <knut.omang@oracle.com>
+
+Makefile support for running checkers
+=====================================
+
+Tools like sparse, coccinelle, and scripts/checkpatch.pl are able to detect a
+lot of syntactic and semantic issues with the code, and are also constantly
+evolving and detecting more. In an ideal world, all source files should
+adhere to whatever rules imposed by checkpatch.pl and sparse etc. with all
+bells and whistles enabled, in a way that these checkers can be run as a reflex
+by developers (and by bots) from the top level Makefile for every changing
+source file. In the real world however there's a number of challenges:
+
+* Sometimes there are valid reasons for accepting violations of a checker
+  rule, even if that rule is a sensible one in the general case.
+* Some subsystems have different restrictions and requirements.
+  (Ideally, the number of subsystems with differing restrictions and
+  requirements will diminish over time.)
+* Similarly, the kernel contains a lot of code that predates the tools, or at
+  least some of the newer rules, and we would like these tools to evolve without
+  requiring the need to fix all issues detected with it in the same commit.
+  We also want to accommodate new tools, so that each new tool does not
+  have to reinvent its own mechanism for running checks.
+* On the other hand, we want to make sure that files that are clean
+  (to some well defined extent, such as passing checkpatch or sparse
+  with checks only for certain important types of issues) keep being so.
+
+This is the purpose of ``scripts/runchecks``.
+
+The ``runchecks`` program looks for files named ``runchecks.cfg`` in the
+``scripts`` directory, then in the directory hierarchy of the source file,
+starting from where the source file is located, searching upwards. If at least
+one such file exists in the source tree, ``runchecks`` parses a set of
+rules from it, and uses them to determine how to invoke a set of individual
+checker tools for a particular file. The kernel Makefile system supports
+this feature as an integrated part of compiling the code, using the
+``C={1,2}`` option. With::
+
+	make C=1
+
+runchecks will be invoked if the file needs to be recompiled. With ::
+
+	make C=2
+
+runchecks will be invoked for all source files, even if they do not need
+recompiling. Based on the configuration, ``runchecks`` will invoke one or
+more checkers. The number and types of checkers to run are configurable and
+can also be selected on the command line::
+
+	make C=2 CF="--run:sparse,checkpatch"
+
+If only one checker is run, any parameter that is not recognized by
+``runchecks`` itself will be forwarded to the checker. If more than one checker
+is enabled, parameters can be forwarded to a specific checker by means of
+this syntax::
+
+	make C=2 CF="--to-checkpatch:--terse"
+
+A comma separated list of parameters can be supplied if necessary.
+
+Supported syntax of the runchecks.cfg configuration file
+--------------------------------------------------------
+
+The ``runchecks`` configuration file chain can be used to set policies and "rein in"
+checker errors piece by piece for a particular subsystem or driver. It can
+also be used to mitigate and extend checkers that do not support
+selective suppression of all it's checks.
+
+Two classes of configuration are available. The first class is configuration
+that defines what checkers are enabled, and some logic to allow better
+suppression or a more unified output of warning messages.
+This type of configuration should go into the first accessed
+configuration file, and has been preconfigured for the currently supported
+checkers in ``scripts/runchecks.cfg``. The second class is the features for
+configuring the output of the checkers by selectively suppressing checks on
+a per file or per check basis. These typically go in the source tree in
+the directory of the source file or above. Some of the syntax is generic
+and some is only supported by some checkers.
+
+For the first class of configuration the following syntax is supported::
+
+	# comments
+	checker checkpatch [command]
+	addflags <list of extra flags and parameters>
+	cflags
+	typedef NAME <regular expression>
+	run [checker list|all]
+
+The ``checker`` command switches ``runchecks``'s attention to a particular
+checker. The following commands until the next ``checker`` statement
+apply to that particular checker. The first occurrence of ``checker``
+also serves as a potentially defining operation, if the checker name
+has not been preconfigured. In that case, a second parameter can be used
+to provide the name of the command used to run the checker.
+A full checker integration into runchecks will typically require some
+additions to runchecks, and will then have been preconfigured,
+but simple checkers might just be configured on the fly.
+
+The ``addflags`` command incrementally adds more flags and parameters to
+the command line used to invoke the checker. This applies to all
+invocations of the checker from runchecks.
+
+The ``cflags`` command forwards all the flags and options passed to
+the compiler invocation to the checker. The default is to suppress these
+parameters when invoking the checker.
+
+The ``typedef`` command adds ``NAME`` and associates it with the given regular
+expression. This expression is used to match against standard error output from
+the checker. In the kernel tree, ``NAME`` can then be used in local
+``runcheck.cfg`` files as a new named check that runchecks understands and that
+can be used with checker supported names below to selectively suppress that
+particular set of warning or error messages. This is useful to handle output
+checks for which the underlying checker does not provide any suppression.  Check
+type namespaces are separate for the individual checkers. You can list the state
+of the built in and configured checker and check types with::
+
+	scripts/runchecks --list
+
+The checker implementations of the ``typedef`` command also allow runchecks to
+perform some unification of output by rewriting the output lines, and use of the
+new type names in the error output, to ease the process of updating the
+runchecks.cfg files.  It also adds some limited optional color support.  Having
+a unified representation of the error output also makes it much easier to do
+statistics or other operations on top of an aggregated output from several
+checkers.
+
+For the second class of configuration the following syntax is supported::
+
+	# comments
+	checker checker_name
+	except check_type [files ...]
+	pervasive check_type1 [check_type2 ...]
+	line_len <n>
+
+The ``except`` directive takes a check type such as for example
+``MACRO_ARG_REUSE``, and a set of files that should not be subject to this
+particular check type. The ``pervasive`` command disables the listed types
+of checks for all the files in the subtree.  The ``except`` and
+``pervasive`` directives can be used cumulatively to add more exceptions.
+The ``line_len`` directive defines the upper bound of characters per line
+tolerated in this directory. Currently only ``checkpatch`` supports this
+command.
+
+Options when running checker programs from make
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+A make variable ``CF`` allows passing additional parameters to
+``runchecks``. You can for instance use::
+
+	make C=2 CF="--run:checkpatch --fix-inplace"
+
+to run only the ``checkpatch`` checker, and to have checkpatch try to fix
+issues it finds - *make sure you have a clean git tree and carefully review
+the output afterwards!* Combine this with selectively enabling of types of
+errors via changes under ``checker checkpatch`` to the local
+``runchecks.cfg``, and you can focus on fixing up errors subsystem or
+driver by driver on a type by type basis.
+
+By default runchecks will skip all files if a ``runchecks.cfg`` file cannot
+be found in the directory of the file or in the tree above.  This is to
+allow builds with ``C=2`` to pass even for subsystems that have not yet done
+anything to rein in checker errors. At some point when all subsystems and
+drivers either have fixed all checker errors or added proper
+``runchecks.cfg`` files, this can be changed.
+Note that the runchecks.cfg file in the scripts/ directory is special, in that
+it can be present without triggering checker runs in the main kernel tree.
+
+To force runchecks to run a full run in directories/trees where runchecks
+does not find  a ``runchecks.cfg`` file as well, use::
+
+	make C=2 CF="-f"
+
+If you like to see all the warnings and errors produced by the checkers, ignoring
+any runchecks.cfg files except the one under ``scripts``, you can use::
+
+	make C=2 CF="-n"
+
+or for a specific module directory::
+
+	make C=2 M=drivers/infiniband/core CF="--color -n -w"
+
+with the -w option to ``runchecks`` to suppress errors from any of the
+checkers and just continue on, and the ``--color`` option to present errors
+with colors where supported.
+
+Ever tightening checker rules
+-----------------------------
+
+Commit the changes to the relevant ``runchecks.cfg`` together with the code
+changes that fixes a particular type of issue, this will allow automatic
+checker running by default. This way we can ensure that new errors of that
+particular type do not inadvertently sneak in again! This can be done at
+any subsystem or module maintainer's discretion and at the right time
+without having to do it all at the same time.
+
+Before submitting your changes, verify that a full "make C=2" passes
+with no errors.
+
+Extending and improving checker support in ``runchecks``
+--------------------------------------------------------
+
+The runchecks program has been written with extensibility in mind.
+If the checker starts its reporting lines with filename:lineno, there's a
+good chance that a new checker can simply be added by adding::
+
+	checker mychecker path_to_mychecker
+
+to ``scripts/runchecks.cfg`` and suitable ``typedef`` expressions to provide
+selective suppressions of output, however it is likely that some quirks are
+needed to make the new checker behave similarly to the others, and to support
+the full set of features, such as the ``--list`` option. This is done by
+implementing a new subclass of the Checker class in ``runchecks``. This is the
+way all the available default supported checkers are implemented, and those
+relatively lean implementations could serve as examples for support for future
+checkers.
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst
index 78aa00a..e3e8b27 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst
@@ -101,5 +101,31 @@ recompiled, or use "make C=2" to run sparse on the files whether they need to
 be recompiled or not.  The latter is a fast way to check the whole tree if you
 have already built it.
 
-The optional make variable CF can be used to pass arguments to sparse.  The
-build system passes -Wbitwise to sparse automatically.
+The "make C={1,2}" form of kernel make indirectly calls sparse via "runchecks",
+which dependent on configuration and command line options may dispatch calls to
+other checkers in addition to sparse. Details on how this works is covered
+in Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst .
+
+The optional make variable CF can be used to pass arguments to runchecks for dispatch
+to sparse. If sparse is the only tool enabled, any option not recognized by
+runchecks will be forwarded to sparse. If more than one tool is active, you must
+add the parameters you want sparse to get as a comma separated list prefixed by
+``--to-sparse:``. If you want sparse to be the only checker run, and you want
+some nice colored output, you can specify this as::
+
+	make C=2 CF="--run:sparse --color"
+
+This will cause sparse to be called for all files which are supported by a valid
+runchecks configuration (again see Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst for
+details). If you want to run sparse on all files and ignore any missing
+configuration files(s), just add ``-n`` to the list of options passed to
+runchecks. This will cause runchecks to call sparse with all errors enabled for
+all files even if no valid configuration is found in the tree for the source files.
+
+By default "runchecks" is set to enable all sparse errors, but you can
+configure what checks to be applied by sparse on a per file or per subsystem
+basis. With the above invocation, make will fail and stop on the first file
+encountered with sparse errors or warnings in it. If you want to continue
+anyway, you can use::
+
+	make C=2 CF="--run:sparse --color -w"
diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.txt b/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.txt
index ac2363e..260e688 100644
--- a/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.txt
@@ -103,10 +103,13 @@ CROSS_COMPILE is also used for ccache in some setups.
 
 CF
 --------------------------------------------------
-Additional options for sparse.
-CF is often used on the command-line like this:
+Additional options for runchecks, the generic checker runner.
+CF is often used on the command-line for instance like this:
 
-    make CF=-Wbitwise C=2
+    make C=2 CF="--run:sparse --color -w"
+
+to run the sparse tool only, and to use colored output and continue on warnings
+or errors.
 
 INSTALL_PATH
 --------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eb1f597..bba07b9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -159,14 +159,22 @@ ifeq ($(skip-makefile),)
 # so that IDEs/editors are able to understand relative filenames.
 MAKEFLAGS += --no-print-directory
 
-# Call a source code checker (by default, "sparse") as part of the
-# C compilation.
+# Do source code checking as part of the C compilation.
+#
 #
 # Use 'make C=1' to enable checking of only re-compiled files.
 # Use 'make C=2' to enable checking of *all* source files, regardless
 # of whether they are re-compiled or not.
 #
-# See the file "Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst" for more details,
+# Source code checking is done via the runchecks script, which
+# has knowledge of each individual cheker and how it wants to be called,
+# as well as options for rules as to which checks that are applicable
+# to different parts of the kernel, at source file granularity.
+#
+# Several types of checking is available, and custom checkers can also
+# be added.
+#
+# See the file "Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst" for more details,
 # including where to get the "sparse" utility.
 
 ifeq ("$(origin C)", "command line")
@@ -383,10 +391,9 @@ INSTALLKERNEL  := installkernel
 DEPMOD		= /sbin/depmod
 PERL		= perl
 PYTHON		= python
-CHECK		= sparse
 
-CHECKFLAGS     := -D__linux__ -Dlinux -D__STDC__ -Dunix -D__unix__ \
-		  -Wbitwise -Wno-return-void $(CF)
+CHECK		= $(srctree)/scripts/runchecks
+CHECKFLAGS      =
 NOSTDINC_FLAGS  =
 CFLAGS_MODULE   =
 AFLAGS_MODULE   =
@@ -429,7 +436,7 @@ GCC_PLUGINS_CFLAGS :=
 export ARCH SRCARCH CONFIG_SHELL HOSTCC HOSTCFLAGS CROSS_COMPILE AS LD CC
 export CPP AR NM STRIP OBJCOPY OBJDUMP HOSTLDFLAGS HOST_LOADLIBES
 export MAKE AWK GENKSYMS INSTALLKERNEL PERL PYTHON UTS_MACHINE
-export HOSTCXX HOSTCXXFLAGS LDFLAGS_MODULE CHECK CHECKFLAGS
+export HOSTCXX HOSTCXXFLAGS LDFLAGS_MODULE CHECK CHECK_CFLAGS CHECKFLAGS
 
 export KBUILD_CPPFLAGS NOSTDINC_FLAGS LINUXINCLUDE OBJCOPYFLAGS LDFLAGS
 export KBUILD_CFLAGS CFLAGS_KERNEL CFLAGS_MODULE CFLAGS_KASAN CFLAGS_UBSAN
@@ -778,7 +785,7 @@ endif
 
 # arch Makefile may override CC so keep this after arch Makefile is included
 NOSTDINC_FLAGS += -nostdinc -isystem $(call shell-cached,$(CC) -print-file-name=include)
-CHECKFLAGS     += $(NOSTDINC_FLAGS)
+CHECK_CFLAGS     += $(NOSTDINC_FLAGS)
 
 # warn about C99 declaration after statement
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-Wdeclaration-after-statement,)
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.build b/scripts/Makefile.build
index cb8997e..13325b3 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.build
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.build
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ __build: $(if $(KBUILD_BUILTIN),$(builtin-target) $(lib-target) $(extra-y)) \
 ifneq ($(KBUILD_CHECKSRC),0)
   ifeq ($(KBUILD_CHECKSRC),2)
     quiet_cmd_force_checksrc = CHECK   $<
-          cmd_force_checksrc = $(CHECK) $(CHECKFLAGS) $(c_flags) $< ;
+          cmd_force_checksrc = $(CHECK) $(CF) $< -- $(CHECKFLAGS) $(c_flags);
   else
       quiet_cmd_checksrc     = CHECK   $<
-            cmd_checksrc     = $(CHECK) $(CHECKFLAGS) $(c_flags) $< ;
+            cmd_checksrc     = $(CHECK) $(CF) $< -- $(CHECKFLAGS) $(c_flags);
   endif
 endif
 
diff --git a/scripts/runchecks b/scripts/runchecks
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4dd2969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/runchecks
@@ -0,0 +1,734 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2017, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+#    Author: Knut Omang <knut.omang@oracle.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2
+# as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+# The program implements a generic and extensible code checker runner
+# that supports running various checker tools from the kernel Makefile
+# or standalone, with options for selectively suppressing individual
+# checks on a per file or per check basis.
+#
+# The program has some generic support for checkers, but to implement
+# support for a new checker to the full extent, it might be necessary to
+#   1) subclass the Checker class in this file with checker specific processing.
+#   2) add typedef definitions in runchecks.cfg in this directory
+#
+# This version of runchecks has full support for the following tools:
+#   sparse:      installed separately
+#   checkpatch:  checkpatch.pl
+#   checkdoc:    kernel-doc -none
+#
+# See file "Documentation/dev-tools/runchecks.rst" for more details
+#
+
+import sys, os, subprocess, fcntl, select, re
+from os.path import dirname, basename
+
+class CheckError(Exception):
+    def __init__(self, value):
+        self.value = value
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self.value
+
+def usage():
+    manual = os.path.join(srctree, "scripts/runchecks_help.txt")
+    f = open(manual, "r")
+    for line in f:
+        sys.stdout.write(line)
+    f.close()
+    print ""
+    print "Configured checkers:"
+    for (c, v) in checker_types.iteritems():
+        enabled = "[default disabled]"
+        for c_en in config.checkers:
+            if c_en.name == c:
+                enabled = ""
+                break
+        print "  %-20s %s" % (c, enabled)
+    exit(1)
+
+
+# A small configuration file parser:
+#
+class Config:
+    def __init__(self, srctree, workdir, filename):
+        self.path = []
+        self.relpath = {}
+        relpath = ""
+
+        # Look for a global config file in the scripts directory:
+        file = os.path.join(srctree, "scripts/%s" % filename)
+        if os.path.exists(file):
+            self.path.append(file)
+            self.relpath[file] = relpath
+
+        while not ignore_config:
+            self.file = os.path.join(workdir,filename)
+            if os.path.exists(self.file):
+                self.path.append(self.file)
+                self.relpath[self.file] = relpath
+            if len(workdir) <= len(srctree):
+                break
+            relpath = "%s/%s" % (basename(workdir), relpath)
+            workdir = dirname(workdir)
+
+        self.checkers = []
+        self.cur_chk = None
+        self.color = False
+        self.list_only = False
+
+        self.command = {
+            "checker"	: self.checker,
+            "addflags"	: self.addflags,
+            "run"	: self.runlist,
+            "except"	: self.exception,
+            "pervasive" : self.pervasive,
+            "cflags"	: self.cflags,
+            "typedef"	: self.typedef
+        }
+
+        if verbose:
+            print "  ** runchecks: config path: %s" % self.path
+        for f in self.path:
+            self.ParseConfig(f)
+
+    def checker(self, argv):
+        try:
+            self.cur_chk = checker_types[argv[0]]
+        except KeyError:
+            if len(argv) < 2:
+                d1 = "generic checker configurations!"
+                raise CheckError("%s:%d: use 'checker %s command' for %s" % \
+                                 (self.file, self.lineno, argv[0], d1))
+
+            AddChecker(Checker(argv[0], argv[1], srctree, workdir))
+            self.cur_chk = checker_types[argv[0]]
+
+    def addflags(self, argv):
+        self.cur_chk.addflags(argv)
+
+    def exception(self, argv):
+        type = argv[0]
+        if self.cur_chk:
+            relpath = self.relpath[self.file]
+            self.cur_chk.exception(type, relpath, argv[1:])
+        else:
+            raise CheckError("%s:%d: checker has not been set" % (self.file, self.lineno))
+
+    def pervasive(self, argv):
+        self.cur_chk.pervasive(argv)
+
+    def runlist(self, argv):
+        try:
+            for c in argv:
+                self.checkers.append(checker_types[c])
+        except KeyError, k:
+            if str(k) == "'all'":
+                self.checkers = checker_types.values()
+            else:
+                available = "\n  -- avaliable checkers are: %s" % ",".join(checker_types.keys())
+                raise CheckError("Checker %s not found - not configured?%s" % (str(k), available))
+
+    def cflags(self, argv):
+        self.cur_chk.cflags = True
+
+    def typedef(self, argv):
+        self.cur_chk.typedef(argv)
+
+    # Parse one configuration file in the configuration file list:
+    #
+    def ParseConfig(self, file):
+        f = open(file, 'r')
+        self.file = file
+        self.lineno = 0
+        for line in f:
+            self.lineno = self.lineno + 1
+            token = line.split()
+            if len(token) < 1:
+                continue
+            if token[0][0] == '#':
+                continue
+            try:
+                self.command[token[0]](token[1:])
+            except KeyError:
+                if not self.cur_chk:
+                    raise CheckError("%s:%s: checker has not been set" % (self.file, self.lineno))
+                self.cur_chk.ParseOptional(token[0], token[1:])
+            except AttributeError:
+                if not self.cur_chk:
+                    raise CheckError("%s:%s: checker has not been set" % (self.file, self.lineno))
+
+        f.close()
+        self.cur_chk = None
+
+    # Option forwarding to checkers
+    # and optional selection of which checkers to run:
+    def ProcessOpts(self, opts):
+        for opt in opts:
+            if opt == "--color":
+                self.color = True
+                continue
+            elif opt == "--list":
+                self.list_only = True
+                continue
+            elif opt == "--help":
+                usage_only = True
+
+            fw = re.match("^--to-(\w+):(.*)$", opt)
+            if fw:
+                try:
+                    cname = fw.group(1)
+                    checker = checker_types[cname]
+                except:
+                    raise CheckError("Unknown checker '%s' specified in option '%s'" % (cname, opt))
+                newargs = fw.group(2).split(',')
+                checker.cmdvec += newargs
+                if verbose:
+                    print "Added extra args for %s: %s" % (cname, newargs)
+                continue
+
+            runopt = re.match("^--run:(.*)$", opt)
+            if runopt:
+                clist = runopt.group(1).split(",")
+                # Command line override: reset list of checkers
+                self.checkers = []
+                self.runlist(clist)
+                continue
+
+            if len(self.checkers) == 1:
+                # If only one checker enabled, just pass everything we don't know about through:
+                self.checkers[0].cmdvec.append(opt)
+            else:
+                raise CheckError("Unknown option '%s'" % opt)
+
+    # We always expect at least one config file that sets up the active checkers:
+    #
+    def HasPathConfig(self):
+        return len(self.path) > 1
+
+
+# The base class for checkers:
+# For specific support a particular checker, implement a subclass of this:
+#
+class Checker:
+    def __init__(self, name, cmd, srctree, workdir, ofilter = None, efilter = None):
+        self.name = name
+        self.srctree = srctree
+	self.workdir = workdir
+	self.efilter = efilter
+        if ofilter:
+            self.ofilter = ofilter
+        else:
+            self.ofilter = self.suppress
+        self.strout = ""
+        self.strerr = ""
+        self.cflags = False
+        if cmd[0:7] == "scripts":
+            cmd = os.path.join(self.srctree, cmd)
+        self.cmd = cmd
+        self.cmdvec = cmd.split()
+        self.pervasive_opts = [] # "global" ignore list
+        self.exceptions = []     # exception list for this file
+        self.file_except = []    # Aggregated list of check types to ignore for this file
+        self.re_except_def = {}  # check_type -> <regex to match it in stderr>
+        self.doc = {}		 # Used when parsing documentation: check type -> doc string
+        self.cont = []
+        self.last_ignore = False
+        self.unclassified = 0	 # With RegexFilter: Number of "red" lines not classified
+
+    def filter_env(self, dict):
+        return dict
+
+    def readline(self, is_stdout, fd):
+        tmp_str = ""
+        try:
+            s = os.read(fd, 1000)
+            while s != '':
+                tmp_str += s
+                s = os.read(fd, 1)
+        except OSError:
+            None
+
+        if is_stdout:
+            self.strout += tmp_str
+            tmp_str = self.strout
+        else:
+            self.strerr += tmp_str
+            tmp_str = self.strerr
+
+        inx = tmp_str.find('\n') + 1
+        if inx != 0:
+            t = tmp_str[:inx]
+            if is_stdout:
+                self.strout = tmp_str[inx:]
+            else:
+                self.strerr = tmp_str[inx:]
+        else:
+            return ''
+        return t
+
+    def SetNonblocking(self, fd):
+        fl = fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_GETFL)
+        try:
+            fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_SETFL, fl | os.O_NDELAY)
+        except AttributeError:
+            fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_SETFL, fl | fcntl.FNDELAY)
+
+    def Run(self, file, verbose):
+        cmdvec = self.cmdvec
+        if self.cflags:
+            cmdvec += c_argv
+        if not force:
+            self.file_except = set(self.exceptions + self.pervasive_opts)
+        self.Postprocess()
+        if not file:
+            raise CheckError("error: missing file parameter")
+        cmdvec.append(file)
+        if debug:
+            print "  ** running %s: %s" % (self.name, " ".join(cmdvec))
+        elif verbose:
+            print "  -- checker %s --" % self.name
+        try:
+            ret = self.RunCommand(cmdvec, self.ofilter, self.efilter)
+        except OSError, e:
+            if re.match(".*No such file or directory", str(e)):
+                if len(config.checkers) == 1:
+                    raise CheckError("Failed to run checker %s: %s: %s" % (self.name, self.cmd, str(e)))
+                if verbose:
+                    print "  ** %s does not exist - ignoring %s **" % (self.name, self.cmd)
+                return 0
+        ret = self.PostRun(ret)
+        return ret
+
+    def RunCommand(self, cmdvec, ofilter, efilter):
+	my_env = self.filter_env(os.environ)
+        child = subprocess.Popen(cmdvec, shell = False, \
+                     stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, cwd=".", env=my_env)
+        sout = child.stdout
+        serr = child.stderr
+        ofd = sout.fileno()
+        efd = serr.fileno()
+        oeof = False
+        eeof = False
+        check_errors = []
+        self.SetNonblocking(ofd)
+        self.SetNonblocking(efd)
+        while True:
+            ready = select.select([ofd,efd],[],[],0.1)
+            if ofd in ready[0]:
+                if child.poll() != None:
+                    oeof = True
+                oline = self.readline(True, ofd)
+                while oline != '':
+                    if ofilter:
+                        ofilter(oline, verbose)
+                    else:
+                        sys.stdout.write(oline)
+                    oline = self.readline(True, ofd)
+            if efd in ready[0]:
+                if child.poll() != None:
+                    eeof = True
+                eline = self.readline(False, efd)
+                while eline != '':
+                    if efilter:
+                        check_err = efilter(eline, verbose)
+                        if check_err != None:
+                                check_errors.append(check_err)
+                    else:
+                        sys.stderr.write(eline)
+                    eline = self.readline(False, efd)
+            if oeof and eeof:
+                break
+        serr.close()
+        sout.close()
+        retcode = child.wait()
+        if check_errors != []:
+            estr = "".join(check_errors)
+            if estr != "":
+                sys.stderr.write(estr)
+                if not retcode:
+                    retcode = 131
+            else:
+                if verbose:
+                    print "%s  ** %d suppressed errors/warnings from %s%s" % (BLUE, len(check_errors), self.name, ENDCOLOR)
+                retcode = 0
+        return retcode
+
+    def ParseOptional(self, cmd, argv):
+        raise CheckError("Undefined command '%s' for checker '%s'" % (cmd, self.name))
+
+    # Called as final step before running the checker:
+    def Postprocess(self):
+        # Do nothing - just for redefinition in subclasses
+        return
+
+    # Called as a post processing step after running the checker:
+    # Input parameter is return value from Run()
+    def PostRun(self, retval):
+        # Do nothing - just for redefinition in subclasses
+        return retval
+
+    # Default standard output filter:
+    def suppress(self, line, verbose):
+        if verbose:
+            sys.stdout.write(line)
+
+    # A matching filter for stderr:
+    def RegexFilter(self, line, verbose):
+        if self.cont:
+            m = re.match(self.cont[0], line)
+            self.cont = self.cont[1:]
+            if m:
+                if self.last_ignore:
+                    return ""
+                else:
+                    return line
+
+        for t, regex in self.re_except_def.iteritems():
+            r = "^(.*:\d+:)\s(\w+:)\s(%s.*)$" % regex[0]
+            m = re.match(r, line)
+            if m:
+                if len(regex) > 1:
+                    self.cont = regex[1:]
+                if t in self.file_except:
+                    self.last_ignore = True
+                    return ""
+                else:
+                    self.last_ignore = False
+                    return "%s%s %s:%s%s%s: %s %s\n" % (BROWN, m.group(1), self.name.upper(), BLUE, t, ENDCOLOR, m.group(2), m.group(3))
+        self.unclassified = self.unclassified + 1
+        return RED + line + ENDCOLOR
+
+    def ListTypes(self):
+        if len(self.re_except_def) > 0:
+            print BLUE + BOLD + "  Check types declared for %s in runchecks configuration%s" % (self.name, ENDCOLOR)
+        for t, regex in self.re_except_def.iteritems():
+            print "\t%-22s %s" % (t, "\\n".join(regex))
+        if len(self.re_except_def) > 0:
+            print ""
+        return 0
+
+    def addflags(self, argv):
+        self.cmdvec += argv
+
+    def exception(self, type, relpath, argv):
+        for f in argv:
+            if f == ("%s%s" % (relpath, bfile)):
+                self.exceptions.append(type)
+
+    def pervasive(self, argv):
+        self.pervasive_opts += argv
+
+    def typedef(self, argv):
+        exp = " ".join(argv[1:])
+        elist = exp.split("\\n")
+        self.re_except_def[argv[0]] = elist
+
+
+# Individual checker implementations:
+#
+
+# checkpatch
+class CheckpatchRunner(Checker):
+    def __init__(self, srctree, workdir):
+        Checker.__init__(self, "checkpatch", "scripts/checkpatch.pl", srctree, workdir)
+        self.cmdvec.append("--file")
+        self.line_len = 0
+        # checkpatch sends all it's warning and error output to stdout,
+        # redirect and do limited filtering:
+        self.ofilter = self.out_filter
+
+    def ParseOptional(self, cmd, argv):
+        if cmd == "line_len":
+            self.line_len = int(argv[0])
+        else:
+            Checker.ParseOptional(self, cmd, argv)
+
+    def Postprocess(self):
+        if config.color:
+            self.cmdvec.append("--color=always")
+        if self.line_len:
+            self.cmdvec.append("--max-line-length=%d" % self.line_len)
+        if self.file_except:
+            self.cmdvec.append("--ignore=%s" % ",".join(self.file_except))
+
+    # Extracting a condensed doc of types to filter on:
+    def man_filter(self, line, verbose):
+        t = line.split()
+        if len(t) > 1 and t[1] != "Message":
+            sys.stdout.write("\t%s\n" % t[1])
+
+    def out_filter(self, line, verbose):
+        # --terse produces this message even with no errors,
+        #  suppress unless run with -v:
+        if not verbose and re.match("^total: 0 errors, 0 warnings, 0 checks,", line):
+            return
+        sys.write.stderr(line)
+
+    def ListTypes(self):
+        print BLUE + BOLD + "  Supported check types for checkpatch" + ENDCOLOR
+        # Parse help output:
+        cmdvec = ["%s/scripts/checkpatch.pl" % self.srctree, "--list-types"]
+        self.RunCommand(cmdvec, self.man_filter, None)
+        print ""
+        return 0
+
+# sparse
+class SparseRunner(Checker):
+    def __init__(self, srctree, workdir):
+        Checker.__init__(self, "sparse", "sparse", srctree, workdir)
+        self.efilter = self.RegexFilter
+
+    def sparse_name(self, rs_type):
+        l_name = rs_type.lower()
+        s_name = ""
+        for c in l_name:
+            if c == '_':
+                s_name += '-'
+            else:
+                s_name += c
+        return s_name
+
+    def runchecks_name(self, sparse_type):
+        u_name = sparse_type.upper()
+        rc_name =""
+        for c in u_name:
+            if c == '-':
+                rc_name += '_'
+            else:
+                rc_name += c
+        return rc_name
+
+    def Postprocess(self):
+        if self.file_except:
+            for e in self.file_except:
+                self.cmdvec.append("-Wno-%s" % self.sparse_name(e))
+
+    # Extracting a condensed doc of types to filter on:
+    def man_filter(self, line, verbose):
+        if self.doc_next:
+            doc = line.strip()
+            self.doc[self.doc_next] = doc
+            self.doc_next = False
+            return
+        match = re.search("^\s+-W([\w-]+)\s*$", line)
+        if match:
+            name = match.group(1)
+            if re.match("sparse-", name):
+                return
+            rs_type = self.runchecks_name(name)
+            self.doc_next = rs_type
+
+    def ListTypes(self):
+        # Parse manual output:
+        cmdvec = ["man", "sparse"]
+        self.doc_next = False
+        ret = self.RunCommand(cmdvec, self.man_filter, None)
+        if ret:
+            return ret
+        print BLUE + BOLD + "\n  Types derived from sparse from documentation in manpage" + ENDCOLOR
+        for t, doc in self.doc.iteritems():
+            print "\t%-22s %s" % (t, doc)
+            try:
+                regex = self.re_except_def[t]
+                print "\t%-22s %s" % ("", GREEN + "\\n".join(regex) + ENDCOLOR)
+            except:
+                print "\t%-22s %s" % ("", RED + "(regex match (typedef) missing)" + ENDCOLOR)
+        print BLUE + BOLD + "\n  Types for sparse only declared for runchecks or not documented in manpage" + ENDCOLOR
+        for t, regex in self.re_except_def.iteritems():
+            try:
+                self.doc[t]
+            except:
+                print "\t%-22s %s" % (t, GREEN + "\\n".join(regex) + ENDCOLOR)
+        print ""
+        return 0
+
+# checkdoc
+class CheckdocRunner(Checker):
+    def __init__(self, srctree, workdir):
+        Checker.__init__(self, "checkdoc", "scripts/kernel-doc", srctree, workdir)
+        self.cmdvec.append("-none")
+        self.efilter = self.RegexFilter
+
+# coccicheck (coccinelle) (WIP)
+class CoccicheckRunner(Checker):
+    def __init__(self, srctree, workdir):
+        Checker.__init__(self, "coccicheck", "scripts/coccicheck", srctree, workdir)
+        self.debug_file = None
+        self.efilter = self.CoccicheckFilter
+
+    def filter_env(self, dict):
+        newdict = os.environ
+        # If debug file is not set by the user, override it and present the output on stderr:
+        try:
+            df = newdict["DEBUG_FILE"]
+        except:
+            print "*** debug_file!"
+            self.debug_file = '/tmp/cocci_%s.log' % os.getpid()
+            newdict["DEBUG_FILE"] = self.debug_file
+        return newdict
+
+    def CoccicheckFilter(self, line, verbose):
+        self.unclassified = self.unclassified + 1
+        if re.match(".*spatch -D report", line):
+            if verbose:
+                sys.stdout.write(line)
+        else:
+            return RED + line + ENDCOLOR
+
+    def PostRun(self, retval):
+        if not self.debug_file:
+            return retval
+        f = open(self.debug_file)
+        for line in f:
+            line = self.CoccicheckFilter(line, verbose)
+            if line:
+                sys.stderr.write(line)
+        f.close()
+        if self.debug_file:
+            os.remove(self.debug_file)
+        if retval == 0:
+            reval = ret
+        return retval
+
+checker_types = {}
+
+def AddChecker(checker):
+    checker_types[checker.name] = checker
+
+#
+# Start main program:
+#
+program = os.path.realpath(sys.argv[0])
+progname = basename(program)
+scriptsdir = dirname(program)
+srctree = dirname(scriptsdir)
+force = False
+ignore_config = False
+verbose = False
+debug = False
+error = True
+error_on_red = False
+usage_only = False
+argv = []
+c_argv = []
+fw_opts = []
+workdir = os.getcwd()
+optarg = False
+argc = 0
+
+AddChecker(CheckpatchRunner(srctree, workdir))
+AddChecker(SparseRunner(srctree, workdir))
+AddChecker(CheckdocRunner(srctree, workdir))
+AddChecker(CoccicheckRunner(srctree, workdir))
+
+for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
+    argc = argc + 1
+
+    if arg == "--":
+        argc = argc + 1
+        c_argv = sys.argv[argc:]
+        break;
+    elif arg == "-f":
+        force = True
+    elif arg == "-n":
+        ignore_config = True
+        force = True
+    elif arg == "-w":
+        error = False
+    elif arg == "-t":
+        error_on_red = True
+        error = False
+    elif arg == "-d":
+        debug = True
+    elif arg == "-v":
+        verbose = True
+    elif arg == "-h":
+        usage_only = True
+    else:
+        opt = re.match("^-.*$", arg)
+        if opt:
+            # Delay processing of these until we know the configuration:
+            fw_opts.append(opt.group(0))
+        else:
+            argv.append(arg)
+
+if not verbose:
+    try:
+        verb = int(os.environ["V"])
+        if verb != 0:
+            verbose = True
+    except KeyError:
+        verbose = False
+
+if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(srctree, "MAINTAINERS")):
+    srctree = None
+
+try:
+    file = argv[0]
+    bfile = basename(file)
+    workdir = dirname(file)
+except:
+    bfile = None
+    file = None
+
+unclassified = 0
+
+if debug:
+    print "Kernel root:\t%s\nFile:\t\t%s\nWorkdir:\t%s" % \
+        (srctree, bfile, workdir)
+    print "C args:\t\t%s\nargv:\t\t%s\n" % (" ".join(c_argv), " ".join(argv))
+
+try:
+    config = Config(srctree, workdir, "runchecks.cfg")
+    config.ProcessOpts(fw_opts)
+
+    if usage_only:
+        usage()
+    if not config.HasPathConfig() and not config.list_only and not force:
+        if verbose:
+            print "  ** %s: No configuration found - skip checks for %s" % (progname, file)
+        exit(0)
+
+    if config.color:
+        GREEN = '\033[32m'
+        RED = '\033[91m'
+        BROWN = '\033[33m'
+        BLUE = '\033[34m'
+        BOLD = '\033[1m'
+        ENDCOLOR = '\033[0m'
+    else:
+        BOLD = ''
+        GREEN = ''
+        RED = ''
+        BROWN = ''
+        BLUE = ''
+        ENDCOLOR = ''
+
+    ret = 0
+    for checker in config.checkers:
+        if config.list_only:
+            ret = checker.ListTypes()
+        else:
+            ret = checker.Run(file, verbose)
+            unclassified += checker.unclassified
+        if ret and error:
+            break
+
+    if not error and not (error_on_red and unclassified > 0):
+        ret = 0
+except CheckError, e:
+    print "  ** %s: %s" % (progname, str(e))
+    ret = 22
+except KeyboardInterrupt:
+    if verbose:
+        print "  ** %s: Interrupted by user" % progname
+    ret = 4
+
+exit(ret)
diff --git a/scripts/runchecks.cfg b/scripts/runchecks.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0b12cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/runchecks.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+checker checkpatch
+addflags  --quiet --show-types --strict --emacs
+line_len 110
+
+checker sparse
+addflags -D__linux__ -Dlinux -D__STDC__ -Dunix -D__unix__ -Wsparse-all
+cflags
+
+#	Name		Regular expression for matching in checker output
+typedef DECL		symbol '.*' was not declared. Should it be static\?
+typedef SHADOW		symbol '\w+' shadows an earlier one\n.*originally declared here
+typedef TYPESIGN	incorrect type in argument \d+ \(different signedness\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef RETURN_VOID	returning void-valued expression
+typedef SIZEOF_BOOL	expression using sizeof bool
+typedef CONTEXT		context imbalance in '.*'
+typedef MEMCPY_MAX_COUNT \w+ with byte count of
+typedef CAST_TO_AS	cast adds address space to expression
+typedef ADDRESS_SPACE	incorrect type in .* \(different address spaces\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef PTR_INHERIT	incorrect type in .* \(different base types\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef PTR_SUBTRACTION_BLOWS potentially expensive pointer subtraction
+typedef VLA		Variable length array is used
+typedef OVERFLOW	constant [x\dA-F]+ is so big it is \w+
+typedef TAUTOLOGICAL_COMPARE self-comparison always evaluates to (true|false)
+typedef NON_POINTER_NULL Using plain integer as NULL pointer
+typedef BOOL_CAST_RESTRICTED restricted \w+ degrades to integer
+typedef TYPESIGN	incorrect type in .* \(different signedness\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef FUNCTION_REDECL symbol '.*' redeclared with different type \(originally declared at
+typedef COND_ADDRESS_ARRAY the address of an array will always evaluate as true
+typedef BITWISE 	cast (to|from) restricted
+
+# Type names invented here - not maskable from sparse?
+typedef NO_DEREF	dereference of noderef expression
+typedef ARG_TYPE_MOD	incorrect type in .* \(different modifiers\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef ARG_TYPE_COMP	incorrect type in .* \(incompatible .*\(.*\)\)\n.*expected\n.*got
+typedef ARG_AS_COMP	incompatible types in comparison expression \(different address spaces\)
+typedef CMP_TYPE	incompatible types in comparison expression \(different base types\)
+typedef SPARSE_OFF	"Sparse checking disabled for this file"
+typedef CAST_TRUNC	cast truncates bits from constant value
+typedef CAST_FROM_AS	cast removes address space of expression
+typedef EXT_LINK_DEF	function '\w+' with external linkage has definition
+typedef FUNC_ARITH	arithmetics on pointers to functions
+typedef CALL_NO_TYPE	call with no type!
+typedef FUNC_SUB	subtraction of functions\? Share your drugs
+typedef STRING_CONCAT	trying to concatenate \d+-character string \(\d+ bytes max\)
+typedef INARG_DIRECTIVE directive in argument list
+typedef NONSCALAR_CAST  cast (to|from) non-scalar
+
+checker checkdoc
+typedef PARAM_DESC	No description found for parameter
+typedef X_PARAM    	Excess function parameter
+typedef X_STRUCT	Excess struct member
+typedef FUN_PROTO    	cannot understand function prototype
+typedef DOC_FORMAT   	Incorrect use of kernel-doc format
+typedef BAD_LINE	bad line
+typedef AMBIGUOUS	Cannot understand.*\n on line
+typedef BOGUS_STRUCT	Cannot parse struct or union
+typedef DUPL_SEC	duplicate section name
+
+checker coccicheck
+cflags
+
+run sparse checkpatch checkdoc
+#run all
diff --git a/scripts/runchecks_help.txt b/scripts/runchecks_help.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0a4a34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/runchecks_help.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+Usage: runchecks  [<options>] c_file [-- <c_parameters>]
+  - run code checkers in a conformant way.
+
+Options:
+  -h|--help	List this text
+  --list	List the different configured checkers and the list of interpreted check
+		types for each of them.
+  --		Separator between parameters to runchecks and compiler parameters to be
+		passed directly to the checkers.
+  --run:[checker1[,checker2..]|all]
+		Override the default set of checkers to be run for each source file. By
+		default the checkers to run will be the intersection of the checkers
+		configured by ``run`` commands in the configuration file and the
+		checkers that is actually available on the machine. Use 'all'
+		to run all the configured checkers.
+  --color	Use coloring in the error and warning output. In this mode
+		output from checkers that are supported by typedefs but not
+		captured by any such will be highlighted in red to make it
+		easy to detect that a typedef rule is missing. See -t below.
+  -f		Force mode: force runchecks to run a full run in directories/trees
+		where runchecks does not find a	runchecks.cfg file. The default
+		behaviour is to skip running checkers in directories/trees
+		where no matching runchecks.cfg file is found either in the
+		source file directory or above.
+  -n		Ignore all runchecks.cfg files except the one in scripts,
+		which are used for basic runchecks configuration. This allows
+		an easy way to run a "bare" version of checking where all
+		issues are reported, even those intended to be suppressed.
+		Implicitly enables force mode.
+  -w		Behave as if 0 on exit from all checkers. Normally
+		runchecks will fail on the first checker to produce errors or
+		warnings, in fact anything that produces not suppressed
+		output on stderr. This is to make it easy to work interactively,
+		avoiding overlooking anything, but sometimes it is useful to
+		be able to produce a full report of status.
+  -t		Typedef setup mode: For checkers where runchecks enable typedefs:
+		Behaves as -w except for stderr output that is not captured
+		by any typedefs. This is a convenience mode while
+		fixing/improving typedef setup. Use with --color to get red
+		output for the statements to capture with new typedefs.
+  -v		Verbose output. Also enabled if called from make with V=1,
+		but it is useful to be able to only enable verbose mode for runchecks.
+  -d		Debugging output - more verbose.
