Finalized Automation scripts for x86-64 RT kernel Upgrade

[jatinjb444]

Changes

This PR introduces automation to fetch and merge the latest stable‑RT kernel tags into the target NI Linux Real‑Time branch.
Key changes:

Automatically clone the NI Linux kernel repository in a clean workspace.
Fetch upstream stable‑RT tags from the RT kernel repository.
Identify and merge the latest applicable RT tag into the configured target branch.
Ensure a deterministic and clean git state before merging to support re‑runs and CI usage.
Send notification emails on successful merge or on merge failure with relevant details.

This automation is focused only on the fetch and merge workflow.
Kernel build and deployment steps will be added in follow‑up changes.

Update: April 14th , 2026
Get the Cross Compile toolchain from the nirvana path and set it
Build and install the kernel on the NI's target
Copied the modules to the target
Check the network configurations working fine after reboot

Update: May 5th , 2026
Automates out‑of‑tree driver rebuild after kernel installation.
Mounts kernel source on the target via SSHFS (no local copy).
Fixes build and source symlinks under /lib/modules/.
Prepares kernel headers and invokes dkms auto install.
Integrated into the existing kernel build and test flow

Update: May 7th , 2026
Implements US‑4 and US‑5 automation:
Regenerates nati_x86_64_defconfig when required
Adds gated kernel PR creation after successful RT merge, build, install, and driver rebuild
Failure paths send immediate notification; success sends a single final summary email

Kernel PR creation is guarded behind --skip-push-and-pr and is intended to be enabled only after review.

Testing

The changes were validated by:

Running the script in a fresh workspace to verify repository cloning and RT tag discovery.
Verifying that the latest stable‑RT tag is correctly detected and merged.

After the target reboot , was able to check the latest kernel version using - { uname -r }
Verified the network modules working fine after reboot.

Confirmed SSHFS mount, header preparation, and DKMS rebuild.
Validated rebuilt drivers using dkms status.

Process

Suggested Reviewers:
@rajendra-desai-ni
@Shreejit-03

[Shreejit-03]

Please run flake8 ( python3 -m flake8 ) on all the python files and fix all the issues we can. Some of them could be fixed by running black (python3 -m black ).

[Shreejit-03]

Is run_cmd any different from run_command in its usage and implementation? It would be better to use run_command .

[jatinjb444]

Yes—run_cmd differs intentionally. run_command relies on shlex.split, which breaks SSH commands that include shell operators (||, &&, pipes, quoted remote commands). The rebuild/install steps depend on shell semantics, so run_cmd executes via the shell to preserve existing behavior.