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1da177e4 | 1 | |
5ea626aa | 2 | Overview of the Linux Virtual File System |
1da177e4 | 3 | |
5ea626aa | 4 | Original author: Richard Gooch <rgooch@atnf.csiro.au> |
1da177e4 | 5 | |
0746aec3 | 6 | Last updated on June 24, 2007. |
1da177e4 | 7 | |
5ea626aa PE |
8 | Copyright (C) 1999 Richard Gooch |
9 | Copyright (C) 2005 Pekka Enberg | |
1da177e4 | 10 | |
5ea626aa | 11 | This file is released under the GPLv2. |
1da177e4 | 12 | |
1da177e4 | 13 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
14 | Introduction |
15 | ============ | |
1da177e4 | 16 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
17 | The Virtual File System (also known as the Virtual Filesystem Switch) |
18 | is the software layer in the kernel that provides the filesystem | |
19 | interface to userspace programs. It also provides an abstraction | |
20 | within the kernel which allows different filesystem implementations to | |
21 | coexist. | |
1da177e4 | 22 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
23 | VFS system calls open(2), stat(2), read(2), write(2), chmod(2) and so |
24 | on are called from a process context. Filesystem locking is described | |
25 | in the document Documentation/filesystems/Locking. | |
1da177e4 | 26 | |
1da177e4 | 27 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
28 | Directory Entry Cache (dcache) |
29 | ------------------------------ | |
1da177e4 | 30 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
31 | The VFS implements the open(2), stat(2), chmod(2), and similar system |
32 | calls. The pathname argument that is passed to them is used by the VFS | |
33 | to search through the directory entry cache (also known as the dentry | |
34 | cache or dcache). This provides a very fast look-up mechanism to | |
35 | translate a pathname (filename) into a specific dentry. Dentries live | |
36 | in RAM and are never saved to disc: they exist only for performance. | |
37 | ||
38 | The dentry cache is meant to be a view into your entire filespace. As | |
39 | most computers cannot fit all dentries in the RAM at the same time, | |
40 | some bits of the cache are missing. In order to resolve your pathname | |
41 | into a dentry, the VFS may have to resort to creating dentries along | |
42 | the way, and then loading the inode. This is done by looking up the | |
43 | inode. | |
44 | ||
45 | ||
46 | The Inode Object | |
47 | ---------------- | |
48 | ||
49 | An individual dentry usually has a pointer to an inode. Inodes are | |
50 | filesystem objects such as regular files, directories, FIFOs and other | |
51 | beasts. They live either on the disc (for block device filesystems) | |
52 | or in the memory (for pseudo filesystems). Inodes that live on the | |
53 | disc are copied into the memory when required and changes to the inode | |
54 | are written back to disc. A single inode can be pointed to by multiple | |
55 | dentries (hard links, for example, do this). | |
56 | ||
57 | To look up an inode requires that the VFS calls the lookup() method of | |
58 | the parent directory inode. This method is installed by the specific | |
59 | filesystem implementation that the inode lives in. Once the VFS has | |
60 | the required dentry (and hence the inode), we can do all those boring | |
61 | things like open(2) the file, or stat(2) it to peek at the inode | |
62 | data. The stat(2) operation is fairly simple: once the VFS has the | |
63 | dentry, it peeks at the inode data and passes some of it back to | |
64 | userspace. | |
65 | ||
66 | ||
67 | The File Object | |
68 | --------------- | |
1da177e4 LT |
69 | |
70 | Opening a file requires another operation: allocation of a file | |
71 | structure (this is the kernel-side implementation of file | |
5ea626aa | 72 | descriptors). The freshly allocated file structure is initialized with |
1da177e4 LT |
73 | a pointer to the dentry and a set of file operation member functions. |
74 | These are taken from the inode data. The open() file method is then | |
75 | called so the specific filesystem implementation can do it's work. You | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
76 | can see that this is another switch performed by the VFS. The file |
77 | structure is placed into the file descriptor table for the process. | |
1da177e4 LT |
78 | |
79 | Reading, writing and closing files (and other assorted VFS operations) | |
80 | is done by using the userspace file descriptor to grab the appropriate | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
81 | file structure, and then calling the required file structure method to |
82 | do whatever is required. For as long as the file is open, it keeps the | |
83 | dentry in use, which in turn means that the VFS inode is still in use. | |
1da177e4 | 84 | |
5ea626aa PE |
85 | |
86 | Registering and Mounting a Filesystem | |
cc7d1f8f | 87 | ===================================== |
1da177e4 | 88 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
89 | To register and unregister a filesystem, use the following API |
90 | functions: | |
1da177e4 | 91 | |
cc7d1f8f | 92 | #include <linux/fs.h> |
1da177e4 | 93 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
94 | extern int register_filesystem(struct file_system_type *); |
95 | extern int unregister_filesystem(struct file_system_type *); | |
1da177e4 | 96 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
97 | The passed struct file_system_type describes your filesystem. When a |
98 | request is made to mount a device onto a directory in your filespace, | |
99 | the VFS will call the appropriate get_sb() method for the specific | |
100 | filesystem. The dentry for the mount point will then be updated to | |
101 | point to the root inode for the new filesystem. | |
1da177e4 | 102 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
103 | You can see all filesystems that are registered to the kernel in the |
104 | file /proc/filesystems. | |
1da177e4 LT |
105 | |
106 | ||
5ea626aa | 107 | struct file_system_type |
cc7d1f8f | 108 | ----------------------- |
1da177e4 | 109 | |
0746aec3 | 110 | This describes the filesystem. As of kernel 2.6.22, the following |
1da177e4 LT |
111 | members are defined: |
112 | ||
113 | struct file_system_type { | |
114 | const char *name; | |
115 | int fs_flags; | |
5d8b2ebf JC |
116 | int (*get_sb) (struct file_system_type *, int, |
117 | const char *, void *, struct vfsmount *); | |
5ea626aa PE |
118 | void (*kill_sb) (struct super_block *); |
119 | struct module *owner; | |
120 | struct file_system_type * next; | |
121 | struct list_head fs_supers; | |
0746aec3 BP |
122 | struct lock_class_key s_lock_key; |
123 | struct lock_class_key s_umount_key; | |
1da177e4 LT |
124 | }; |
125 | ||
126 | name: the name of the filesystem type, such as "ext2", "iso9660", | |
127 | "msdos" and so on | |
128 | ||
129 | fs_flags: various flags (i.e. FS_REQUIRES_DEV, FS_NO_DCACHE, etc.) | |
130 | ||
5ea626aa | 131 | get_sb: the method to call when a new instance of this |
1da177e4 LT |
132 | filesystem should be mounted |
133 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
134 | kill_sb: the method to call when an instance of this filesystem |
135 | should be unmounted | |
136 | ||
137 | owner: for internal VFS use: you should initialize this to THIS_MODULE in | |
138 | most cases. | |
1da177e4 | 139 | |
5ea626aa PE |
140 | next: for internal VFS use: you should initialize this to NULL |
141 | ||
0746aec3 BP |
142 | s_lock_key, s_umount_key: lockdep-specific |
143 | ||
5ea626aa | 144 | The get_sb() method has the following arguments: |
1da177e4 | 145 | |
0746aec3 BP |
146 | struct file_system_type *fs_type: decribes the filesystem, partly initialized |
147 | by the specific filesystem code | |
5ea626aa PE |
148 | |
149 | int flags: mount flags | |
150 | ||
151 | const char *dev_name: the device name we are mounting. | |
1da177e4 LT |
152 | |
153 | void *data: arbitrary mount options, usually comes as an ASCII | |
154 | string | |
155 | ||
0746aec3 | 156 | struct vfsmount *mnt: a vfs-internal representation of a mount point |
1da177e4 | 157 | |
5ea626aa | 158 | The get_sb() method must determine if the block device specified |
0746aec3 BP |
159 | in the dev_name and fs_type contains a filesystem of the type the method |
160 | supports. If it succeeds in opening the named block device, it initializes a | |
161 | struct super_block descriptor for the filesystem contained by the block device. | |
162 | On failure it returns an error. | |
1da177e4 LT |
163 | |
164 | The most interesting member of the superblock structure that the | |
5ea626aa | 165 | get_sb() method fills in is the "s_op" field. This is a pointer to |
1da177e4 LT |
166 | a "struct super_operations" which describes the next level of the |
167 | filesystem implementation. | |
168 | ||
e3e1bfe4 JC |
169 | Usually, a filesystem uses one of the generic get_sb() implementations |
170 | and provides a fill_super() method instead. The generic methods are: | |
5ea626aa PE |
171 | |
172 | get_sb_bdev: mount a filesystem residing on a block device | |
1da177e4 | 173 | |
5ea626aa PE |
174 | get_sb_nodev: mount a filesystem that is not backed by a device |
175 | ||
176 | get_sb_single: mount a filesystem which shares the instance between | |
177 | all mounts | |
178 | ||
179 | A fill_super() method implementation has the following arguments: | |
180 | ||
181 | struct super_block *sb: the superblock structure. The method fill_super() | |
182 | must initialize this properly. | |
183 | ||
184 | void *data: arbitrary mount options, usually comes as an ASCII | |
185 | string | |
186 | ||
187 | int silent: whether or not to be silent on error | |
188 | ||
189 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
190 | The Superblock Object |
191 | ===================== | |
192 | ||
193 | A superblock object represents a mounted filesystem. | |
194 | ||
195 | ||
5ea626aa | 196 | struct super_operations |
cc7d1f8f | 197 | ----------------------- |
1da177e4 LT |
198 | |
199 | This describes how the VFS can manipulate the superblock of your | |
422b14c2 | 200 | filesystem. As of kernel 2.6.22, the following members are defined: |
1da177e4 LT |
201 | |
202 | struct super_operations { | |
5ea626aa PE |
203 | struct inode *(*alloc_inode)(struct super_block *sb); |
204 | void (*destroy_inode)(struct inode *); | |
205 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
206 | void (*dirty_inode) (struct inode *); |
207 | int (*write_inode) (struct inode *, int); | |
208 | void (*put_inode) (struct inode *); | |
209 | void (*drop_inode) (struct inode *); | |
210 | void (*delete_inode) (struct inode *); | |
211 | void (*put_super) (struct super_block *); | |
212 | void (*write_super) (struct super_block *); | |
213 | int (*sync_fs)(struct super_block *sb, int wait); | |
214 | void (*write_super_lockfs) (struct super_block *); | |
215 | void (*unlockfs) (struct super_block *); | |
726c3342 | 216 | int (*statfs) (struct dentry *, struct kstatfs *); |
5ea626aa PE |
217 | int (*remount_fs) (struct super_block *, int *, char *); |
218 | void (*clear_inode) (struct inode *); | |
219 | void (*umount_begin) (struct super_block *); | |
220 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
221 | int (*show_options)(struct seq_file *, struct vfsmount *); |
222 | ||
223 | ssize_t (*quota_read)(struct super_block *, int, char *, size_t, loff_t); | |
224 | ssize_t (*quota_write)(struct super_block *, int, const char *, size_t, loff_t); | |
1da177e4 LT |
225 | }; |
226 | ||
227 | All methods are called without any locks being held, unless otherwise | |
228 | noted. This means that most methods can block safely. All methods are | |
229 | only called from a process context (i.e. not from an interrupt handler | |
230 | or bottom half). | |
231 | ||
5ea626aa | 232 | alloc_inode: this method is called by inode_alloc() to allocate memory |
341546f5 N |
233 | for struct inode and initialize it. If this function is not |
234 | defined, a simple 'struct inode' is allocated. Normally | |
235 | alloc_inode will be used to allocate a larger structure which | |
236 | contains a 'struct inode' embedded within it. | |
5ea626aa PE |
237 | |
238 | destroy_inode: this method is called by destroy_inode() to release | |
341546f5 N |
239 | resources allocated for struct inode. It is only required if |
240 | ->alloc_inode was defined and simply undoes anything done by | |
241 | ->alloc_inode. | |
5ea626aa | 242 | |
5ea626aa | 243 | dirty_inode: this method is called by the VFS to mark an inode dirty. |
1da177e4 LT |
244 | |
245 | write_inode: this method is called when the VFS needs to write an | |
246 | inode to disc. The second parameter indicates whether the write | |
247 | should be synchronous or not, not all filesystems check this flag. | |
248 | ||
249 | put_inode: called when the VFS inode is removed from the inode | |
5ea626aa | 250 | cache. |
1da177e4 LT |
251 | |
252 | drop_inode: called when the last access to the inode is dropped, | |
253 | with the inode_lock spinlock held. | |
254 | ||
5ea626aa | 255 | This method should be either NULL (normal UNIX filesystem |
1da177e4 LT |
256 | semantics) or "generic_delete_inode" (for filesystems that do not |
257 | want to cache inodes - causing "delete_inode" to always be | |
258 | called regardless of the value of i_nlink) | |
259 | ||
5ea626aa | 260 | The "generic_delete_inode()" behavior is equivalent to the |
1da177e4 LT |
261 | old practice of using "force_delete" in the put_inode() case, |
262 | but does not have the races that the "force_delete()" approach | |
263 | had. | |
264 | ||
265 | delete_inode: called when the VFS wants to delete an inode | |
266 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
267 | put_super: called when the VFS wishes to free the superblock |
268 | (i.e. unmount). This is called with the superblock lock held | |
269 | ||
270 | write_super: called when the VFS superblock needs to be written to | |
271 | disc. This method is optional | |
272 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
273 | sync_fs: called when VFS is writing out all dirty data associated with |
274 | a superblock. The second parameter indicates whether the method | |
275 | should wait until the write out has been completed. Optional. | |
276 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
277 | write_super_lockfs: called when VFS is locking a filesystem and |
278 | forcing it into a consistent state. This method is currently | |
279 | used by the Logical Volume Manager (LVM). | |
5ea626aa PE |
280 | |
281 | unlockfs: called when VFS is unlocking a filesystem and making it writable | |
282 | again. | |
283 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
284 | statfs: called when the VFS needs to get filesystem statistics. This |
285 | is called with the kernel lock held | |
286 | ||
287 | remount_fs: called when the filesystem is remounted. This is called | |
288 | with the kernel lock held | |
289 | ||
290 | clear_inode: called then the VFS clears the inode. Optional | |
291 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
292 | umount_begin: called when the VFS is unmounting a filesystem. |
293 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
294 | show_options: called by the VFS to show mount options for /proc/<pid>/mounts. |
295 | ||
296 | quota_read: called by the VFS to read from filesystem quota file. | |
297 | ||
298 | quota_write: called by the VFS to write to filesystem quota file. | |
299 | ||
12debc42 DH |
300 | Whoever sets up the inode is responsible for filling in the "i_op" field. This |
301 | is a pointer to a "struct inode_operations" which describes the methods that | |
302 | can be performed on individual inodes. | |
1da177e4 LT |
303 | |
304 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
305 | The Inode Object |
306 | ================ | |
307 | ||
308 | An inode object represents an object within the filesystem. | |
309 | ||
310 | ||
5ea626aa | 311 | struct inode_operations |
cc7d1f8f | 312 | ----------------------- |
1da177e4 LT |
313 | |
314 | This describes how the VFS can manipulate an inode in your | |
422b14c2 | 315 | filesystem. As of kernel 2.6.22, the following members are defined: |
1da177e4 LT |
316 | |
317 | struct inode_operations { | |
5ea626aa PE |
318 | int (*create) (struct inode *,struct dentry *,int, struct nameidata *); |
319 | struct dentry * (*lookup) (struct inode *,struct dentry *, struct nameidata *); | |
1da177e4 LT |
320 | int (*link) (struct dentry *,struct inode *,struct dentry *); |
321 | int (*unlink) (struct inode *,struct dentry *); | |
322 | int (*symlink) (struct inode *,struct dentry *,const char *); | |
323 | int (*mkdir) (struct inode *,struct dentry *,int); | |
324 | int (*rmdir) (struct inode *,struct dentry *); | |
325 | int (*mknod) (struct inode *,struct dentry *,int,dev_t); | |
326 | int (*rename) (struct inode *, struct dentry *, | |
327 | struct inode *, struct dentry *); | |
5ea626aa PE |
328 | int (*readlink) (struct dentry *, char __user *,int); |
329 | void * (*follow_link) (struct dentry *, struct nameidata *); | |
330 | void (*put_link) (struct dentry *, struct nameidata *, void *); | |
1da177e4 | 331 | void (*truncate) (struct inode *); |
5ea626aa PE |
332 | int (*permission) (struct inode *, int, struct nameidata *); |
333 | int (*setattr) (struct dentry *, struct iattr *); | |
334 | int (*getattr) (struct vfsmount *mnt, struct dentry *, struct kstat *); | |
335 | int (*setxattr) (struct dentry *, const char *,const void *,size_t,int); | |
336 | ssize_t (*getxattr) (struct dentry *, const char *, void *, size_t); | |
337 | ssize_t (*listxattr) (struct dentry *, char *, size_t); | |
338 | int (*removexattr) (struct dentry *, const char *); | |
422b14c2 | 339 | void (*truncate_range)(struct inode *, loff_t, loff_t); |
1da177e4 LT |
340 | }; |
341 | ||
342 | Again, all methods are called without any locks being held, unless | |
343 | otherwise noted. | |
344 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
345 | create: called by the open(2) and creat(2) system calls. Only |
346 | required if you want to support regular files. The dentry you | |
347 | get should not have an inode (i.e. it should be a negative | |
348 | dentry). Here you will probably call d_instantiate() with the | |
349 | dentry and the newly created inode | |
350 | ||
351 | lookup: called when the VFS needs to look up an inode in a parent | |
352 | directory. The name to look for is found in the dentry. This | |
353 | method must call d_add() to insert the found inode into the | |
354 | dentry. The "i_count" field in the inode structure should be | |
355 | incremented. If the named inode does not exist a NULL inode | |
356 | should be inserted into the dentry (this is called a negative | |
357 | dentry). Returning an error code from this routine must only | |
358 | be done on a real error, otherwise creating inodes with system | |
359 | calls like create(2), mknod(2), mkdir(2) and so on will fail. | |
360 | If you wish to overload the dentry methods then you should | |
361 | initialise the "d_dop" field in the dentry; this is a pointer | |
362 | to a struct "dentry_operations". | |
363 | This method is called with the directory inode semaphore held | |
364 | ||
365 | link: called by the link(2) system call. Only required if you want | |
366 | to support hard links. You will probably need to call | |
367 | d_instantiate() just as you would in the create() method | |
368 | ||
369 | unlink: called by the unlink(2) system call. Only required if you | |
370 | want to support deleting inodes | |
371 | ||
372 | symlink: called by the symlink(2) system call. Only required if you | |
373 | want to support symlinks. You will probably need to call | |
374 | d_instantiate() just as you would in the create() method | |
375 | ||
376 | mkdir: called by the mkdir(2) system call. Only required if you want | |
377 | to support creating subdirectories. You will probably need to | |
378 | call d_instantiate() just as you would in the create() method | |
379 | ||
380 | rmdir: called by the rmdir(2) system call. Only required if you want | |
381 | to support deleting subdirectories | |
382 | ||
383 | mknod: called by the mknod(2) system call to create a device (char, | |
384 | block) inode or a named pipe (FIFO) or socket. Only required | |
385 | if you want to support creating these types of inodes. You | |
386 | will probably need to call d_instantiate() just as you would | |
387 | in the create() method | |
388 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
389 | rename: called by the rename(2) system call to rename the object to |
390 | have the parent and name given by the second inode and dentry. | |
391 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
392 | readlink: called by the readlink(2) system call. Only required if |
393 | you want to support reading symbolic links | |
394 | ||
395 | follow_link: called by the VFS to follow a symbolic link to the | |
5ea626aa | 396 | inode it points to. Only required if you want to support |
cc7d1f8f | 397 | symbolic links. This method returns a void pointer cookie |
5ea626aa PE |
398 | that is passed to put_link(). |
399 | ||
400 | put_link: called by the VFS to release resources allocated by | |
cc7d1f8f | 401 | follow_link(). The cookie returned by follow_link() is passed |
670e9f34 | 402 | to this method as the last parameter. It is used by |
cc7d1f8f PE |
403 | filesystems such as NFS where page cache is not stable |
404 | (i.e. page that was installed when the symbolic link walk | |
405 | started might not be in the page cache at the end of the | |
406 | walk). | |
407 | ||
408 | truncate: called by the VFS to change the size of a file. The | |
409 | i_size field of the inode is set to the desired size by the | |
410 | VFS before this method is called. This method is called by | |
411 | the truncate(2) system call and related functionality. | |
5ea626aa PE |
412 | |
413 | permission: called by the VFS to check for access rights on a POSIX-like | |
414 | filesystem. | |
415 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
416 | setattr: called by the VFS to set attributes for a file. This method |
417 | is called by chmod(2) and related system calls. | |
5ea626aa | 418 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
419 | getattr: called by the VFS to get attributes of a file. This method |
420 | is called by stat(2) and related system calls. | |
5ea626aa PE |
421 | |
422 | setxattr: called by the VFS to set an extended attribute for a file. | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
423 | Extended attribute is a name:value pair associated with an |
424 | inode. This method is called by setxattr(2) system call. | |
425 | ||
426 | getxattr: called by the VFS to retrieve the value of an extended | |
427 | attribute name. This method is called by getxattr(2) function | |
428 | call. | |
429 | ||
430 | listxattr: called by the VFS to list all extended attributes for a | |
431 | given file. This method is called by listxattr(2) system call. | |
5ea626aa | 432 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
433 | removexattr: called by the VFS to remove an extended attribute from |
434 | a file. This method is called by removexattr(2) system call. | |
5ea626aa | 435 | |
422b14c2 BP |
436 | truncate_range: a method provided by the underlying filesystem to truncate a |
437 | range of blocks , i.e. punch a hole somewhere in a file. | |
438 | ||
5ea626aa | 439 | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
440 | The Address Space Object |
441 | ======================== | |
442 | ||
341546f5 N |
443 | The address space object is used to group and manage pages in the page |
444 | cache. It can be used to keep track of the pages in a file (or | |
445 | anything else) and also track the mapping of sections of the file into | |
446 | process address spaces. | |
447 | ||
448 | There are a number of distinct yet related services that an | |
449 | address-space can provide. These include communicating memory | |
450 | pressure, page lookup by address, and keeping track of pages tagged as | |
451 | Dirty or Writeback. | |
452 | ||
a9e102b6 | 453 | The first can be used independently to the others. The VM can try to |
341546f5 N |
454 | either write dirty pages in order to clean them, or release clean |
455 | pages in order to reuse them. To do this it can call the ->writepage | |
456 | method on dirty pages, and ->releasepage on clean pages with | |
457 | PagePrivate set. Clean pages without PagePrivate and with no external | |
458 | references will be released without notice being given to the | |
459 | address_space. | |
460 | ||
a9e102b6 | 461 | To achieve this functionality, pages need to be placed on an LRU with |
341546f5 N |
462 | lru_cache_add and mark_page_active needs to be called whenever the |
463 | page is used. | |
464 | ||
465 | Pages are normally kept in a radix tree index by ->index. This tree | |
466 | maintains information about the PG_Dirty and PG_Writeback status of | |
467 | each page, so that pages with either of these flags can be found | |
468 | quickly. | |
469 | ||
470 | The Dirty tag is primarily used by mpage_writepages - the default | |
471 | ->writepages method. It uses the tag to find dirty pages to call | |
472 | ->writepage on. If mpage_writepages is not used (i.e. the address | |
a9e102b6 | 473 | provides its own ->writepages) , the PAGECACHE_TAG_DIRTY tag is |
341546f5 N |
474 | almost unused. write_inode_now and sync_inode do use it (through |
475 | __sync_single_inode) to check if ->writepages has been successful in | |
476 | writing out the whole address_space. | |
477 | ||
478 | The Writeback tag is used by filemap*wait* and sync_page* functions, | |
a9e102b6 | 479 | via wait_on_page_writeback_range, to wait for all writeback to |
341546f5 | 480 | complete. While waiting ->sync_page (if defined) will be called on |
a9e102b6 | 481 | each page that is found to require writeback. |
341546f5 N |
482 | |
483 | An address_space handler may attach extra information to a page, | |
484 | typically using the 'private' field in the 'struct page'. If such | |
485 | information is attached, the PG_Private flag should be set. This will | |
a9e102b6 | 486 | cause various VM routines to make extra calls into the address_space |
341546f5 N |
487 | handler to deal with that data. |
488 | ||
489 | An address space acts as an intermediate between storage and | |
490 | application. Data is read into the address space a whole page at a | |
491 | time, and provided to the application either by copying of the page, | |
492 | or by memory-mapping the page. | |
493 | Data is written into the address space by the application, and then | |
494 | written-back to storage typically in whole pages, however the | |
a9e102b6 | 495 | address_space has finer control of write sizes. |
341546f5 N |
496 | |
497 | The read process essentially only requires 'readpage'. The write | |
498 | process is more complicated and uses prepare_write/commit_write or | |
499 | set_page_dirty to write data into the address_space, and writepage, | |
500 | sync_page, and writepages to writeback data to storage. | |
501 | ||
502 | Adding and removing pages to/from an address_space is protected by the | |
503 | inode's i_mutex. | |
504 | ||
505 | When data is written to a page, the PG_Dirty flag should be set. It | |
506 | typically remains set until writepage asks for it to be written. This | |
507 | should clear PG_Dirty and set PG_Writeback. It can be actually | |
508 | written at any point after PG_Dirty is clear. Once it is known to be | |
509 | safe, PG_Writeback is cleared. | |
510 | ||
511 | Writeback makes use of a writeback_control structure... | |
5ea626aa PE |
512 | |
513 | struct address_space_operations | |
cc7d1f8f | 514 | ------------------------------- |
5ea626aa PE |
515 | |
516 | This describes how the VFS can manipulate mapping of a file to page cache in | |
422b14c2 | 517 | your filesystem. As of kernel 2.6.22, the following members are defined: |
5ea626aa PE |
518 | |
519 | struct address_space_operations { | |
520 | int (*writepage)(struct page *page, struct writeback_control *wbc); | |
521 | int (*readpage)(struct file *, struct page *); | |
522 | int (*sync_page)(struct page *); | |
523 | int (*writepages)(struct address_space *, struct writeback_control *); | |
524 | int (*set_page_dirty)(struct page *page); | |
525 | int (*readpages)(struct file *filp, struct address_space *mapping, | |
526 | struct list_head *pages, unsigned nr_pages); | |
527 | int (*prepare_write)(struct file *, struct page *, unsigned, unsigned); | |
528 | int (*commit_write)(struct file *, struct page *, unsigned, unsigned); | |
afddba49 NP |
529 | int (*write_begin)(struct file *, struct address_space *mapping, |
530 | loff_t pos, unsigned len, unsigned flags, | |
531 | struct page **pagep, void **fsdata); | |
532 | int (*write_end)(struct file *, struct address_space *mapping, | |
533 | loff_t pos, unsigned len, unsigned copied, | |
534 | struct page *page, void *fsdata); | |
5ea626aa PE |
535 | sector_t (*bmap)(struct address_space *, sector_t); |
536 | int (*invalidatepage) (struct page *, unsigned long); | |
537 | int (*releasepage) (struct page *, int); | |
538 | ssize_t (*direct_IO)(int, struct kiocb *, const struct iovec *iov, | |
539 | loff_t offset, unsigned long nr_segs); | |
540 | struct page* (*get_xip_page)(struct address_space *, sector_t, | |
541 | int); | |
341546f5 N |
542 | /* migrate the contents of a page to the specified target */ |
543 | int (*migratepage) (struct page *, struct page *); | |
422b14c2 | 544 | int (*launder_page) (struct page *); |
5ea626aa PE |
545 | }; |
546 | ||
341546f5 | 547 | writepage: called by the VM to write a dirty page to backing store. |
a9e102b6 | 548 | This may happen for data integrity reasons (i.e. 'sync'), or |
341546f5 N |
549 | to free up memory (flush). The difference can be seen in |
550 | wbc->sync_mode. | |
551 | The PG_Dirty flag has been cleared and PageLocked is true. | |
552 | writepage should start writeout, should set PG_Writeback, | |
553 | and should make sure the page is unlocked, either synchronously | |
554 | or asynchronously when the write operation completes. | |
555 | ||
556 | If wbc->sync_mode is WB_SYNC_NONE, ->writepage doesn't have to | |
a9e102b6 N |
557 | try too hard if there are problems, and may choose to write out |
558 | other pages from the mapping if that is easier (e.g. due to | |
559 | internal dependencies). If it chooses not to start writeout, it | |
560 | should return AOP_WRITEPAGE_ACTIVATE so that the VM will not keep | |
341546f5 N |
561 | calling ->writepage on that page. |
562 | ||
563 | See the file "Locking" for more details. | |
5ea626aa PE |
564 | |
565 | readpage: called by the VM to read a page from backing store. | |
341546f5 N |
566 | The page will be Locked when readpage is called, and should be |
567 | unlocked and marked uptodate once the read completes. | |
568 | If ->readpage discovers that it needs to unlock the page for | |
569 | some reason, it can do so, and then return AOP_TRUNCATED_PAGE. | |
a9e102b6 | 570 | In this case, the page will be relocated, relocked and if |
341546f5 | 571 | that all succeeds, ->readpage will be called again. |
5ea626aa PE |
572 | |
573 | sync_page: called by the VM to notify the backing store to perform all | |
574 | queued I/O operations for a page. I/O operations for other pages | |
575 | associated with this address_space object may also be performed. | |
576 | ||
341546f5 N |
577 | This function is optional and is called only for pages with |
578 | PG_Writeback set while waiting for the writeback to complete. | |
579 | ||
5ea626aa | 580 | writepages: called by the VM to write out pages associated with the |
a9e102b6 N |
581 | address_space object. If wbc->sync_mode is WBC_SYNC_ALL, then |
582 | the writeback_control will specify a range of pages that must be | |
583 | written out. If it is WBC_SYNC_NONE, then a nr_to_write is given | |
341546f5 N |
584 | and that many pages should be written if possible. |
585 | If no ->writepages is given, then mpage_writepages is used | |
a9e102b6 | 586 | instead. This will choose pages from the address space that are |
341546f5 | 587 | tagged as DIRTY and will pass them to ->writepage. |
5ea626aa PE |
588 | |
589 | set_page_dirty: called by the VM to set a page dirty. | |
341546f5 N |
590 | This is particularly needed if an address space attaches |
591 | private data to a page, and that data needs to be updated when | |
592 | a page is dirtied. This is called, for example, when a memory | |
593 | mapped page gets modified. | |
594 | If defined, it should set the PageDirty flag, and the | |
595 | PAGECACHE_TAG_DIRTY tag in the radix tree. | |
5ea626aa PE |
596 | |
597 | readpages: called by the VM to read pages associated with the address_space | |
341546f5 N |
598 | object. This is essentially just a vector version of |
599 | readpage. Instead of just one page, several pages are | |
600 | requested. | |
a9e102b6 | 601 | readpages is only used for read-ahead, so read errors are |
341546f5 | 602 | ignored. If anything goes wrong, feel free to give up. |
1da177e4 | 603 | |
5ea626aa | 604 | prepare_write: called by the generic write path in VM to set up a write |
341546f5 | 605 | request for a page. This indicates to the address space that |
a9e102b6 | 606 | the given range of bytes is about to be written. The |
341546f5 N |
607 | address_space should check that the write will be able to |
608 | complete, by allocating space if necessary and doing any other | |
a9e102b6 | 609 | internal housekeeping. If the write will update parts of |
341546f5 N |
610 | any basic-blocks on storage, then those blocks should be |
611 | pre-read (if they haven't been read already) so that the | |
612 | updated blocks can be written out properly. | |
55144768 | 613 | The page will be locked. |
341546f5 | 614 | |
955eff5a NP |
615 | Note: the page _must not_ be marked uptodate in this function |
616 | (or anywhere else) unless it actually is uptodate right now. As | |
617 | soon as a page is marked uptodate, it is possible for a concurrent | |
618 | read(2) to copy it to userspace. | |
619 | ||
341546f5 N |
620 | commit_write: If prepare_write succeeds, new data will be copied |
621 | into the page and then commit_write will be called. It will | |
622 | typically update the size of the file (if appropriate) and | |
623 | mark the inode as dirty, and do any other related housekeeping | |
624 | operations. It should avoid returning an error if possible - | |
625 | errors should have been handled by prepare_write. | |
5ea626aa | 626 | |
afddba49 NP |
627 | write_begin: This is intended as a replacement for prepare_write. The |
628 | key differences being that: | |
629 | - it returns a locked page (in *pagep) rather than being | |
630 | given a pre locked page; | |
631 | - it must be able to cope with short writes (where the | |
632 | length passed to write_begin is greater than the number | |
633 | of bytes copied into the page). | |
634 | ||
635 | Called by the generic buffered write code to ask the filesystem to | |
636 | prepare to write len bytes at the given offset in the file. The | |
637 | address_space should check that the write will be able to complete, | |
638 | by allocating space if necessary and doing any other internal | |
639 | housekeeping. If the write will update parts of any basic-blocks on | |
640 | storage, then those blocks should be pre-read (if they haven't been | |
641 | read already) so that the updated blocks can be written out properly. | |
642 | ||
643 | The filesystem must return the locked pagecache page for the specified | |
644 | offset, in *pagep, for the caller to write into. | |
645 | ||
646 | flags is a field for AOP_FLAG_xxx flags, described in | |
647 | include/linux/fs.h. | |
648 | ||
649 | A void * may be returned in fsdata, which then gets passed into | |
650 | write_end. | |
651 | ||
652 | Returns 0 on success; < 0 on failure (which is the error code), in | |
653 | which case write_end is not called. | |
654 | ||
655 | write_end: After a successful write_begin, and data copy, write_end must | |
656 | be called. len is the original len passed to write_begin, and copied | |
657 | is the amount that was able to be copied (copied == len is always true | |
658 | if write_begin was called with the AOP_FLAG_UNINTERRUPTIBLE flag). | |
659 | ||
660 | The filesystem must take care of unlocking the page and releasing it | |
661 | refcount, and updating i_size. | |
662 | ||
663 | Returns < 0 on failure, otherwise the number of bytes (<= 'copied') | |
664 | that were able to be copied into pagecache. | |
665 | ||
5ea626aa | 666 | bmap: called by the VFS to map a logical block offset within object to |
a9e102b6 | 667 | physical block number. This method is used by the FIBMAP |
341546f5 | 668 | ioctl and for working with swap-files. To be able to swap to |
a9e102b6 | 669 | a file, the file must have a stable mapping to a block |
341546f5 N |
670 | device. The swap system does not go through the filesystem |
671 | but instead uses bmap to find out where the blocks in the file | |
672 | are and uses those addresses directly. | |
673 | ||
674 | ||
675 | invalidatepage: If a page has PagePrivate set, then invalidatepage | |
676 | will be called when part or all of the page is to be removed | |
a9e102b6 | 677 | from the address space. This generally corresponds to either a |
341546f5 N |
678 | truncation or a complete invalidation of the address space |
679 | (in the latter case 'offset' will always be 0). | |
680 | Any private data associated with the page should be updated | |
681 | to reflect this truncation. If offset is 0, then | |
682 | the private data should be released, because the page | |
683 | must be able to be completely discarded. This may be done by | |
684 | calling the ->releasepage function, but in this case the | |
685 | release MUST succeed. | |
686 | ||
687 | releasepage: releasepage is called on PagePrivate pages to indicate | |
688 | that the page should be freed if possible. ->releasepage | |
689 | should remove any private data from the page and clear the | |
690 | PagePrivate flag. It may also remove the page from the | |
691 | address_space. If this fails for some reason, it may indicate | |
692 | failure with a 0 return value. | |
693 | This is used in two distinct though related cases. The first | |
694 | is when the VM finds a clean page with no active users and | |
695 | wants to make it a free page. If ->releasepage succeeds, the | |
696 | page will be removed from the address_space and become free. | |
697 | ||
bc5b1d55 | 698 | The second case is when a request has been made to invalidate |
341546f5 N |
699 | some or all pages in an address_space. This can happen |
700 | through the fadvice(POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED) system call or by the | |
701 | filesystem explicitly requesting it as nfs and 9fs do (when | |
702 | they believe the cache may be out of date with storage) by | |
703 | calling invalidate_inode_pages2(). | |
704 | If the filesystem makes such a call, and needs to be certain | |
a9e102b6 | 705 | that all pages are invalidated, then its releasepage will |
341546f5 N |
706 | need to ensure this. Possibly it can clear the PageUptodate |
707 | bit if it cannot free private data yet. | |
708 | ||
709 | direct_IO: called by the generic read/write routines to perform | |
710 | direct_IO - that is IO requests which bypass the page cache | |
a9e102b6 | 711 | and transfer data directly between the storage and the |
341546f5 | 712 | application's address space. |
5ea626aa PE |
713 | |
714 | get_xip_page: called by the VM to translate a block number to a page. | |
715 | The page is valid until the corresponding filesystem is unmounted. | |
716 | Filesystems that want to use execute-in-place (XIP) need to implement | |
717 | it. An example implementation can be found in fs/ext2/xip.c. | |
718 | ||
341546f5 N |
719 | migrate_page: This is used to compact the physical memory usage. |
720 | If the VM wants to relocate a page (maybe off a memory card | |
721 | that is signalling imminent failure) it will pass a new page | |
722 | and an old page to this function. migrate_page should | |
723 | transfer any private data across and update any references | |
724 | that it has to the page. | |
5ea626aa | 725 | |
422b14c2 BP |
726 | launder_page: Called before freeing a page - it writes back the dirty page. To |
727 | prevent redirtying the page, it is kept locked during the whole | |
728 | operation. | |
729 | ||
cc7d1f8f PE |
730 | The File Object |
731 | =============== | |
732 | ||
733 | A file object represents a file opened by a process. | |
734 | ||
735 | ||
5ea626aa | 736 | struct file_operations |
cc7d1f8f | 737 | ---------------------- |
1da177e4 LT |
738 | |
739 | This describes how the VFS can manipulate an open file. As of kernel | |
422b14c2 | 740 | 2.6.22, the following members are defined: |
1da177e4 LT |
741 | |
742 | struct file_operations { | |
422b14c2 | 743 | struct module *owner; |
1da177e4 | 744 | loff_t (*llseek) (struct file *, loff_t, int); |
5ea626aa | 745 | ssize_t (*read) (struct file *, char __user *, size_t, loff_t *); |
5ea626aa | 746 | ssize_t (*write) (struct file *, const char __user *, size_t, loff_t *); |
027445c3 BP |
747 | ssize_t (*aio_read) (struct kiocb *, const struct iovec *, unsigned long, loff_t); |
748 | ssize_t (*aio_write) (struct kiocb *, const struct iovec *, unsigned long, loff_t); | |
1da177e4 LT |
749 | int (*readdir) (struct file *, void *, filldir_t); |
750 | unsigned int (*poll) (struct file *, struct poll_table_struct *); | |
751 | int (*ioctl) (struct inode *, struct file *, unsigned int, unsigned long); | |
5ea626aa PE |
752 | long (*unlocked_ioctl) (struct file *, unsigned int, unsigned long); |
753 | long (*compat_ioctl) (struct file *, unsigned int, unsigned long); | |
1da177e4 LT |
754 | int (*mmap) (struct file *, struct vm_area_struct *); |
755 | int (*open) (struct inode *, struct file *); | |
5ea626aa | 756 | int (*flush) (struct file *); |
1da177e4 | 757 | int (*release) (struct inode *, struct file *); |
5ea626aa PE |
758 | int (*fsync) (struct file *, struct dentry *, int datasync); |
759 | int (*aio_fsync) (struct kiocb *, int datasync); | |
760 | int (*fasync) (int, struct file *, int); | |
1da177e4 | 761 | int (*lock) (struct file *, int, struct file_lock *); |
5ea626aa PE |
762 | ssize_t (*readv) (struct file *, const struct iovec *, unsigned long, loff_t *); |
763 | ssize_t (*writev) (struct file *, const struct iovec *, unsigned long, loff_t *); | |
764 | ssize_t (*sendfile) (struct file *, loff_t *, size_t, read_actor_t, void *); | |
765 | ssize_t (*sendpage) (struct file *, struct page *, int, size_t, loff_t *, int); | |
766 | unsigned long (*get_unmapped_area)(struct file *, unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long); | |
767 | int (*check_flags)(int); | |
768 | int (*dir_notify)(struct file *filp, unsigned long arg); | |
769 | int (*flock) (struct file *, int, struct file_lock *); | |
422b14c2 BP |
770 | ssize_t (*splice_write)(struct pipe_inode_info *, struct file *, size_t, unsigned int); |
771 | ssize_t (*splice_read)(struct file *, struct pipe_inode_info *, size_t, unsigned int); | |
1da177e4 LT |
772 | }; |
773 | ||
774 | Again, all methods are called without any locks being held, unless | |
775 | otherwise noted. | |
776 | ||
777 | llseek: called when the VFS needs to move the file position index | |
778 | ||
779 | read: called by read(2) and related system calls | |
780 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
781 | aio_read: called by io_submit(2) and other asynchronous I/O operations |
782 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
783 | write: called by write(2) and related system calls |
784 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
785 | aio_write: called by io_submit(2) and other asynchronous I/O operations |
786 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
787 | readdir: called when the VFS needs to read the directory contents |
788 | ||
789 | poll: called by the VFS when a process wants to check if there is | |
790 | activity on this file and (optionally) go to sleep until there | |
791 | is activity. Called by the select(2) and poll(2) system calls | |
792 | ||
793 | ioctl: called by the ioctl(2) system call | |
794 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
795 | unlocked_ioctl: called by the ioctl(2) system call. Filesystems that do not |
796 | require the BKL should use this method instead of the ioctl() above. | |
797 | ||
798 | compat_ioctl: called by the ioctl(2) system call when 32 bit system calls | |
799 | are used on 64 bit kernels. | |
800 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
801 | mmap: called by the mmap(2) system call |
802 | ||
803 | open: called by the VFS when an inode should be opened. When the VFS | |
5ea626aa PE |
804 | opens a file, it creates a new "struct file". It then calls the |
805 | open method for the newly allocated file structure. You might | |
806 | think that the open method really belongs in | |
807 | "struct inode_operations", and you may be right. I think it's | |
808 | done the way it is because it makes filesystems simpler to | |
809 | implement. The open() method is a good place to initialize the | |
810 | "private_data" member in the file structure if you want to point | |
811 | to a device structure | |
812 | ||
813 | flush: called by the close(2) system call to flush a file | |
1da177e4 LT |
814 | |
815 | release: called when the last reference to an open file is closed | |
816 | ||
817 | fsync: called by the fsync(2) system call | |
818 | ||
819 | fasync: called by the fcntl(2) system call when asynchronous | |
820 | (non-blocking) mode is enabled for a file | |
821 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
822 | lock: called by the fcntl(2) system call for F_GETLK, F_SETLK, and F_SETLKW |
823 | commands | |
824 | ||
825 | readv: called by the readv(2) system call | |
826 | ||
827 | writev: called by the writev(2) system call | |
828 | ||
829 | sendfile: called by the sendfile(2) system call | |
830 | ||
831 | get_unmapped_area: called by the mmap(2) system call | |
832 | ||
833 | check_flags: called by the fcntl(2) system call for F_SETFL command | |
834 | ||
835 | dir_notify: called by the fcntl(2) system call for F_NOTIFY command | |
836 | ||
837 | flock: called by the flock(2) system call | |
838 | ||
d1195c51 PE |
839 | splice_write: called by the VFS to splice data from a pipe to a file. This |
840 | method is used by the splice(2) system call | |
841 | ||
842 | splice_read: called by the VFS to splice data from file to a pipe. This | |
843 | method is used by the splice(2) system call | |
844 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
845 | Note that the file operations are implemented by the specific |
846 | filesystem in which the inode resides. When opening a device node | |
847 | (character or block special) most filesystems will call special | |
848 | support routines in the VFS which will locate the required device | |
849 | driver information. These support routines replace the filesystem file | |
850 | operations with those for the device driver, and then proceed to call | |
851 | the new open() method for the file. This is how opening a device file | |
852 | in the filesystem eventually ends up calling the device driver open() | |
5ea626aa | 853 | method. |
1da177e4 LT |
854 | |
855 | ||
5ea626aa PE |
856 | Directory Entry Cache (dcache) |
857 | ============================== | |
858 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
859 | |
860 | struct dentry_operations | |
5ea626aa | 861 | ------------------------ |
1da177e4 LT |
862 | |
863 | This describes how a filesystem can overload the standard dentry | |
864 | operations. Dentries and the dcache are the domain of the VFS and the | |
865 | individual filesystem implementations. Device drivers have no business | |
866 | here. These methods may be set to NULL, as they are either optional or | |
c23fbb6b | 867 | the VFS uses a default. As of kernel 2.6.22, the following members are |
1da177e4 LT |
868 | defined: |
869 | ||
870 | struct dentry_operations { | |
5ea626aa | 871 | int (*d_revalidate)(struct dentry *, struct nameidata *); |
1da177e4 LT |
872 | int (*d_hash) (struct dentry *, struct qstr *); |
873 | int (*d_compare) (struct dentry *, struct qstr *, struct qstr *); | |
5ea626aa | 874 | int (*d_delete)(struct dentry *); |
1da177e4 LT |
875 | void (*d_release)(struct dentry *); |
876 | void (*d_iput)(struct dentry *, struct inode *); | |
c23fbb6b | 877 | char *(*d_dname)(struct dentry *, char *, int); |
1da177e4 LT |
878 | }; |
879 | ||
880 | d_revalidate: called when the VFS needs to revalidate a dentry. This | |
881 | is called whenever a name look-up finds a dentry in the | |
882 | dcache. Most filesystems leave this as NULL, because all their | |
883 | dentries in the dcache are valid | |
884 | ||
885 | d_hash: called when the VFS adds a dentry to the hash table | |
886 | ||
887 | d_compare: called when a dentry should be compared with another | |
888 | ||
889 | d_delete: called when the last reference to a dentry is | |
890 | deleted. This means no-one is using the dentry, however it is | |
891 | still valid and in the dcache | |
892 | ||
893 | d_release: called when a dentry is really deallocated | |
894 | ||
895 | d_iput: called when a dentry loses its inode (just prior to its | |
896 | being deallocated). The default when this is NULL is that the | |
897 | VFS calls iput(). If you define this method, you must call | |
898 | iput() yourself | |
899 | ||
c23fbb6b ED |
900 | d_dname: called when the pathname of a dentry should be generated. |
901 | Usefull for some pseudo filesystems (sockfs, pipefs, ...) to delay | |
902 | pathname generation. (Instead of doing it when dentry is created, | |
903 | its done only when the path is needed.). Real filesystems probably | |
904 | dont want to use it, because their dentries are present in global | |
905 | dcache hash, so their hash should be an invariant. As no lock is | |
906 | held, d_dname() should not try to modify the dentry itself, unless | |
907 | appropriate SMP safety is used. CAUTION : d_path() logic is quite | |
908 | tricky. The correct way to return for example "Hello" is to put it | |
909 | at the end of the buffer, and returns a pointer to the first char. | |
910 | dynamic_dname() helper function is provided to take care of this. | |
911 | ||
912 | Example : | |
913 | ||
914 | static char *pipefs_dname(struct dentry *dent, char *buffer, int buflen) | |
915 | { | |
916 | return dynamic_dname(dentry, buffer, buflen, "pipe:[%lu]", | |
917 | dentry->d_inode->i_ino); | |
918 | } | |
919 | ||
1da177e4 LT |
920 | Each dentry has a pointer to its parent dentry, as well as a hash list |
921 | of child dentries. Child dentries are basically like files in a | |
922 | directory. | |
923 | ||
5ea626aa | 924 | |
cc7d1f8f | 925 | Directory Entry Cache API |
1da177e4 LT |
926 | -------------------------- |
927 | ||
928 | There are a number of functions defined which permit a filesystem to | |
929 | manipulate dentries: | |
930 | ||
931 | dget: open a new handle for an existing dentry (this just increments | |
932 | the usage count) | |
933 | ||
934 | dput: close a handle for a dentry (decrements the usage count). If | |
935 | the usage count drops to 0, the "d_delete" method is called | |
936 | and the dentry is placed on the unused list if the dentry is | |
937 | still in its parents hash list. Putting the dentry on the | |
938 | unused list just means that if the system needs some RAM, it | |
939 | goes through the unused list of dentries and deallocates them. | |
940 | If the dentry has already been unhashed and the usage count | |
941 | drops to 0, in this case the dentry is deallocated after the | |
942 | "d_delete" method is called | |
943 | ||
944 | d_drop: this unhashes a dentry from its parents hash list. A | |
5ea626aa | 945 | subsequent call to dput() will deallocate the dentry if its |
1da177e4 LT |
946 | usage count drops to 0 |
947 | ||
948 | d_delete: delete a dentry. If there are no other open references to | |
949 | the dentry then the dentry is turned into a negative dentry | |
950 | (the d_iput() method is called). If there are other | |
951 | references, then d_drop() is called instead | |
952 | ||
953 | d_add: add a dentry to its parents hash list and then calls | |
954 | d_instantiate() | |
955 | ||
956 | d_instantiate: add a dentry to the alias hash list for the inode and | |
957 | updates the "d_inode" member. The "i_count" member in the | |
958 | inode structure should be set/incremented. If the inode | |
959 | pointer is NULL, the dentry is called a "negative | |
960 | dentry". This function is commonly called when an inode is | |
961 | created for an existing negative dentry | |
962 | ||
963 | d_lookup: look up a dentry given its parent and path name component | |
964 | It looks up the child of that given name from the dcache | |
965 | hash table. If it is found, the reference count is incremented | |
966 | and the dentry is returned. The caller must use d_put() | |
967 | to free the dentry when it finishes using it. | |
968 | ||
cbf8f0f3 PE |
969 | For further information on dentry locking, please refer to the document |
970 | Documentation/filesystems/dentry-locking.txt. | |
cc7d1f8f PE |
971 | |
972 | ||
973 | Resources | |
974 | ========= | |
975 | ||
976 | (Note some of these resources are not up-to-date with the latest kernel | |
977 | version.) | |
978 | ||
979 | Creating Linux virtual filesystems. 2002 | |
980 | <http://lwn.net/Articles/13325/> | |
981 | ||
982 | The Linux Virtual File-system Layer by Neil Brown. 1999 | |
983 | <http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~neilb/oss/linux-commentary/vfs.html> | |
984 | ||
985 | A tour of the Linux VFS by Michael K. Johnson. 1996 | |
986 | <http://www.tldp.org/LDP/khg/HyperNews/get/fs/vfstour.html> | |
987 | ||
988 | A small trail through the Linux kernel by Andries Brouwer. 2001 | |
989 | <http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/vfs/trail.html> |