diff options
author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2009-01-09 18:18:49 -0500 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2009-01-09 18:18:49 -0500 |
commit | 31aeb6c815549948571eec988ad9728c27d7a68d (patch) | |
tree | e155438be253924ebb1b792182e406947369b3eb /Documentation | |
parent | c40f6f8bbc4cbd2902671aacd587400ddca62627 (diff) | |
parent | fc55584175589b70f4c30cb594f09f4bd6ad5d40 (diff) |
Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/pkl/squashfs-linus
* git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/pkl/squashfs-linus:
MAINTAINERS: squashfs entry
Squashfs: documentation
Squashfs: initrd support
Squashfs: Kconfig entry
Squashfs: Makefiles
Squashfs: header files
Squashfs: block operations
Squashfs: cache operations
Squashfs: uid/gid lookup operations
Squashfs: fragment block operations
Squashfs: export operations
Squashfs: super block operations
Squashfs: symlink operations
Squashfs: regular file operations
Squashfs: directory readdir operations
Squashfs: directory lookup operations
Squashfs: inode operations
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.txt | 225 |
1 files changed, 225 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..3e79e4a7a39 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.txt | |||
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1 | SQUASHFS 4.0 FILESYSTEM | ||
2 | ======================= | ||
3 | |||
4 | Squashfs is a compressed read-only filesystem for Linux. | ||
5 | It uses zlib compression to compress files, inodes and directories. | ||
6 | Inodes in the system are very small and all blocks are packed to minimise | ||
7 | data overhead. Block sizes greater than 4K are supported up to a maximum | ||
8 | of 1Mbytes (default block size 128K). | ||
9 | |||
10 | Squashfs is intended for general read-only filesystem use, for archival | ||
11 | use (i.e. in cases where a .tar.gz file may be used), and in constrained | ||
12 | block device/memory systems (e.g. embedded systems) where low overhead is | ||
13 | needed. | ||
14 | |||
15 | Mailing list: squashfs-devel@lists.sourceforge.net | ||
16 | Web site: www.squashfs.org | ||
17 | |||
18 | 1. FILESYSTEM FEATURES | ||
19 | ---------------------- | ||
20 | |||
21 | Squashfs filesystem features versus Cramfs: | ||
22 | |||
23 | Squashfs Cramfs | ||
24 | |||
25 | Max filesystem size: 2^64 16 MiB | ||
26 | Max file size: ~ 2 TiB 16 MiB | ||
27 | Max files: unlimited unlimited | ||
28 | Max directories: unlimited unlimited | ||
29 | Max entries per directory: unlimited unlimited | ||
30 | Max block size: 1 MiB 4 KiB | ||
31 | Metadata compression: yes no | ||
32 | Directory indexes: yes no | ||
33 | Sparse file support: yes no | ||
34 | Tail-end packing (fragments): yes no | ||
35 | Exportable (NFS etc.): yes no | ||
36 | Hard link support: yes no | ||
37 | "." and ".." in readdir: yes no | ||
38 | Real inode numbers: yes no | ||
39 | 32-bit uids/gids: yes no | ||
40 | File creation time: yes no | ||
41 | Xattr and ACL support: no no | ||
42 | |||
43 | Squashfs compresses data, inodes and directories. In addition, inode and | ||
44 | directory data are highly compacted, and packed on byte boundaries. Each | ||
45 | compressed inode is on average 8 bytes in length (the exact length varies on | ||
46 | file type, i.e. regular file, directory, symbolic link, and block/char device | ||
47 | inodes have different sizes). | ||
48 | |||
49 | 2. USING SQUASHFS | ||
50 | ----------------- | ||
51 | |||
52 | As squashfs is a read-only filesystem, the mksquashfs program must be used to | ||
53 | create populated squashfs filesystems. This and other squashfs utilities | ||
54 | can be obtained from http://www.squashfs.org. Usage instructions can be | ||
55 | obtained from this site also. | ||
56 | |||
57 | |||
58 | 3. SQUASHFS FILESYSTEM DESIGN | ||
59 | ----------------------------- | ||
60 | |||
61 | A squashfs filesystem consists of seven parts, packed together on a byte | ||
62 | alignment: | ||
63 | |||
64 | --------------- | ||
65 | | superblock | | ||
66 | |---------------| | ||
67 | | datablocks | | ||
68 | | & fragments | | ||
69 | |---------------| | ||
70 | | inode table | | ||
71 | |---------------| | ||
72 | | directory | | ||
73 | | table | | ||
74 | |---------------| | ||
75 | | fragment | | ||
76 | | table | | ||
77 | |---------------| | ||
78 | | export | | ||
79 | | table | | ||
80 | |---------------| | ||
81 | | uid/gid | | ||
82 | | lookup table | | ||
83 | --------------- | ||
84 | |||
85 | Compressed data blocks are written to the filesystem as files are read from | ||
86 | the source directory, and checked for duplicates. Once all file data has been | ||
87 | written the completed inode, directory, fragment, export and uid/gid lookup | ||
88 | tables are written. | ||
89 | |||
90 | 3.1 Inodes | ||
91 | ---------- | ||
92 | |||
93 | Metadata (inodes and directories) are compressed in 8Kbyte blocks. Each | ||
94 | compressed block is prefixed by a two byte length, the top bit is set if the | ||
95 | block is uncompressed. A block will be uncompressed if the -noI option is set, | ||
96 | or if the compressed block was larger than the uncompressed block. | ||
97 | |||
98 | Inodes are packed into the metadata blocks, and are not aligned to block | ||
99 | boundaries, therefore inodes overlap compressed blocks. Inodes are identified | ||
100 | by a 48-bit number which encodes the location of the compressed metadata block | ||
101 | containing the inode, and the byte offset into that block where the inode is | ||
102 | placed (<block, offset>). | ||
103 | |||
104 | To maximise compression there are different inodes for each file type | ||
105 | (regular file, directory, device, etc.), the inode contents and length | ||
106 | varying with the type. | ||
107 | |||
108 | To further maximise compression, two types of regular file inode and | ||
109 | directory inode are defined: inodes optimised for frequently occurring | ||
110 | regular files and directories, and extended types where extra | ||
111 | information has to be stored. | ||
112 | |||
113 | 3.2 Directories | ||
114 | --------------- | ||
115 | |||
116 | Like inodes, directories are packed into compressed metadata blocks, stored | ||
117 | in a directory table. Directories are accessed using the start address of | ||
118 | the metablock containing the directory and the offset into the | ||
119 | decompressed block (<block, offset>). | ||
120 | |||
121 | Directories are organised in a slightly complex way, and are not simply | ||
122 | a list of file names. The organisation takes advantage of the | ||
123 | fact that (in most cases) the inodes of the files will be in the same | ||
124 | compressed metadata block, and therefore, can share the start block. | ||
125 | Directories are therefore organised in a two level list, a directory | ||
126 | header containing the shared start block value, and a sequence of directory | ||
127 | entries, each of which share the shared start block. A new directory header | ||
128 | is written once/if the inode start block changes. The directory | ||
129 | header/directory entry list is repeated as many times as necessary. | ||
130 | |||
131 | Directories are sorted, and can contain a directory index to speed up | ||
132 | file lookup. Directory indexes store one entry per metablock, each entry | ||
133 | storing the index/filename mapping to the first directory header | ||
134 | in each metadata block. Directories are sorted in alphabetical order, | ||
135 | and at lookup the index is scanned linearly looking for the first filename | ||
136 | alphabetically larger than the filename being looked up. At this point the | ||
137 | location of the metadata block the filename is in has been found. | ||
138 | The general idea of the index is ensure only one metadata block needs to be | ||
139 | decompressed to do a lookup irrespective of the length of the directory. | ||
140 | This scheme has the advantage that it doesn't require extra memory overhead | ||
141 | and doesn't require much extra storage on disk. | ||
142 | |||
143 | 3.3 File data | ||
144 | ------------- | ||
145 | |||
146 | Regular files consist of a sequence of contiguous compressed blocks, and/or a | ||
147 | compressed fragment block (tail-end packed block). The compressed size | ||
148 | of each datablock is stored in a block list contained within the | ||
149 | file inode. | ||
150 | |||
151 | To speed up access to datablocks when reading 'large' files (256 Mbytes or | ||
152 | larger), the code implements an index cache that caches the mapping from | ||
153 | block index to datablock location on disk. | ||
154 | |||
155 | The index cache allows Squashfs to handle large files (up to 1.75 TiB) while | ||
156 | retaining a simple and space-efficient block list on disk. The cache | ||
157 | is split into slots, caching up to eight 224 GiB files (128 KiB blocks). | ||
158 | Larger files use multiple slots, with 1.75 TiB files using all 8 slots. | ||
159 | The index cache is designed to be memory efficient, and by default uses | ||
160 | 16 KiB. | ||
161 | |||
162 | 3.4 Fragment lookup table | ||
163 | ------------------------- | ||
164 | |||
165 | Regular files can contain a fragment index which is mapped to a fragment | ||
166 | location on disk and compressed size using a fragment lookup table. This | ||
167 | fragment lookup table is itself stored compressed into metadata blocks. | ||
168 | A second index table is used to locate these. This second index table for | ||
169 | speed of access (and because it is small) is read at mount time and cached | ||
170 | in memory. | ||
171 | |||
172 | 3.5 Uid/gid lookup table | ||
173 | ------------------------ | ||
174 | |||
175 | For space efficiency regular files store uid and gid indexes, which are | ||
176 | converted to 32-bit uids/gids using an id look up table. This table is | ||
177 | stored compressed into metadata blocks. A second index table is used to | ||
178 | locate these. This second index table for speed of access (and because it | ||
179 | is small) is read at mount time and cached in memory. | ||
180 | |||
181 | 3.6 Export table | ||
182 | ---------------- | ||
183 | |||
184 | To enable Squashfs filesystems to be exportable (via NFS etc.) filesystems | ||
185 | can optionally (disabled with the -no-exports Mksquashfs option) contain | ||
186 | an inode number to inode disk location lookup table. This is required to | ||
187 | enable Squashfs to map inode numbers passed in filehandles to the inode | ||
188 | location on disk, which is necessary when the export code reinstantiates | ||
189 | expired/flushed inodes. | ||
190 | |||
191 | This table is stored compressed into metadata blocks. A second index table is | ||
192 | used to locate these. This second index table for speed of access (and because | ||
193 | it is small) is read at mount time and cached in memory. | ||
194 | |||
195 | |||
196 | 4. TODOS AND OUTSTANDING ISSUES | ||
197 | ------------------------------- | ||
198 | |||
199 | 4.1 Todo list | ||
200 | ------------- | ||
201 | |||
202 | Implement Xattr and ACL support. The Squashfs 4.0 filesystem layout has hooks | ||
203 | for these but the code has not been written. Once the code has been written | ||
204 | the existing layout should not require modification. | ||
205 | |||
206 | 4.2 Squashfs internal cache | ||
207 | --------------------------- | ||
208 | |||
209 | Blocks in Squashfs are compressed. To avoid repeatedly decompressing | ||
210 | recently accessed data Squashfs uses two small metadata and fragment caches. | ||
211 | |||
212 | The cache is not used for file datablocks, these are decompressed and cached in | ||
213 | the page-cache in the normal way. The cache is used to temporarily cache | ||
214 | fragment and metadata blocks which have been read as a result of a metadata | ||
215 | (i.e. inode or directory) or fragment access. Because metadata and fragments | ||
216 | are packed together into blocks (to gain greater compression) the read of a | ||
217 | particular piece of metadata or fragment will retrieve other metadata/fragments | ||
218 | which have been packed with it, these because of locality-of-reference may be | ||
219 | read in the near future. Temporarily caching them ensures they are available | ||
220 | for near future access without requiring an additional read and decompress. | ||
221 | |||
222 | In the future this internal cache may be replaced with an implementation which | ||
223 | uses the kernel page cache. Because the page cache operates on page sized | ||
224 | units this may introduce additional complexity in terms of locking and | ||
225 | associated race conditions. | ||