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-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/backend-api.txt658
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/cachefiles.txt501
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/fscache.txt333
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt778
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt313
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/caching/operations.txt213
-rw-r--r--Documentation/slow-work.txt174
7 files changed, 2970 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/backend-api.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/backend-api.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..382d52cdaf2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/backend-api.txt
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1 ==========================
2 FS-CACHE CACHE BACKEND API
3 ==========================
4
5The FS-Cache system provides an API by which actual caches can be supplied to
6FS-Cache for it to then serve out to network filesystems and other interested
7parties.
8
9This API is declared in <linux/fscache-cache.h>.
10
11
12====================================
13INITIALISING AND REGISTERING A CACHE
14====================================
15
16To start off, a cache definition must be initialised and registered for each
17cache the backend wants to make available. For instance, CacheFS does this in
18the fill_super() operation on mounting.
19
20The cache definition (struct fscache_cache) should be initialised by calling:
21
22 void fscache_init_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
23 struct fscache_cache_ops *ops,
24 const char *idfmt,
25 ...);
26
27Where:
28
29 (*) "cache" is a pointer to the cache definition;
30
31 (*) "ops" is a pointer to the table of operations that the backend supports on
32 this cache; and
33
34 (*) "idfmt" is a format and printf-style arguments for constructing a label
35 for the cache.
36
37
38The cache should then be registered with FS-Cache by passing a pointer to the
39previously initialised cache definition to:
40
41 int fscache_add_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
42 struct fscache_object *fsdef,
43 const char *tagname);
44
45Two extra arguments should also be supplied:
46
47 (*) "fsdef" which should point to the object representation for the FS-Cache
48 master index in this cache. Netfs primary index entries will be created
49 here. FS-Cache keeps the caller's reference to the index object if
50 successful and will release it upon withdrawal of the cache.
51
52 (*) "tagname" which, if given, should be a text string naming this cache. If
53 this is NULL, the identifier will be used instead. For CacheFS, the
54 identifier is set to name the underlying block device and the tag can be
55 supplied by mount.
56
57This function may return -ENOMEM if it ran out of memory or -EEXIST if the tag
58is already in use. 0 will be returned on success.
59
60
61=====================
62UNREGISTERING A CACHE
63=====================
64
65A cache can be withdrawn from the system by calling this function with a
66pointer to the cache definition:
67
68 void fscache_withdraw_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache);
69
70In CacheFS's case, this is called by put_super().
71
72
73========
74SECURITY
75========
76
77The cache methods are executed one of two contexts:
78
79 (1) that of the userspace process that issued the netfs operation that caused
80 the cache method to be invoked, or
81
82 (2) that of one of the processes in the FS-Cache thread pool.
83
84In either case, this may not be an appropriate context in which to access the
85cache.
86
87The calling process's fsuid, fsgid and SELinux security identities may need to
88be masqueraded for the duration of the cache driver's access to the cache.
89This is left to the cache to handle; FS-Cache makes no effort in this regard.
90
91
92===================================
93CONTROL AND STATISTICS PRESENTATION
94===================================
95
96The cache may present data to the outside world through FS-Cache's interfaces
97in sysfs and procfs - the former for control and the latter for statistics.
98
99A sysfs directory called /sys/fs/fscache/<cachetag>/ is created if CONFIG_SYSFS
100is enabled. This is accessible through the kobject struct fscache_cache::kobj
101and is for use by the cache as it sees fit.
102
103
104========================
105RELEVANT DATA STRUCTURES
106========================
107
108 (*) Index/Data file FS-Cache representation cookie:
109
110 struct fscache_cookie {
111 struct fscache_object_def *def;
112 struct fscache_netfs *netfs;
113 void *netfs_data;
114 ...
115 };
116
117 The fields that might be of use to the backend describe the object
118 definition, the netfs definition and the netfs's data for this cookie.
119 The object definition contain functions supplied by the netfs for loading
120 and matching index entries; these are required to provide some of the
121 cache operations.
122
123
124 (*) In-cache object representation:
125
126 struct fscache_object {
127 int debug_id;
128 enum {
129 FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING,
130 ...
131 } state;
132 spinlock_t lock
133 struct fscache_cache *cache;
134 struct fscache_cookie *cookie;
135 ...
136 };
137
138 Structures of this type should be allocated by the cache backend and
139 passed to FS-Cache when requested by the appropriate cache operation. In
140 the case of CacheFS, they're embedded in CacheFS's internal object
141 structures.
142
143 The debug_id is a simple integer that can be used in debugging messages
144 that refer to a particular object. In such a case it should be printed
145 using "OBJ%x" to be consistent with FS-Cache.
146
147 Each object contains a pointer to the cookie that represents the object it
148 is backing. An object should retired when put_object() is called if it is
149 in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING. The fscache_object struct should be
150 initialised by calling fscache_object_init(object).
151
152
153 (*) FS-Cache operation record:
154
155 struct fscache_operation {
156 atomic_t usage;
157 struct fscache_object *object;
158 unsigned long flags;
159 #define FSCACHE_OP_EXCLUSIVE
160 void (*processor)(struct fscache_operation *op);
161 void (*release)(struct fscache_operation *op);
162 ...
163 };
164
165 FS-Cache has a pool of threads that it uses to give CPU time to the
166 various asynchronous operations that need to be done as part of driving
167 the cache. These are represented by the above structure. The processor
168 method is called to give the op CPU time, and the release method to get
169 rid of it when its usage count reaches 0.
170
171 An operation can be made exclusive upon an object by setting the
172 appropriate flag before enqueuing it with fscache_enqueue_operation(). If
173 an operation needs more processing time, it should be enqueued again.
174
175
176 (*) FS-Cache retrieval operation record:
177
178 struct fscache_retrieval {
179 struct fscache_operation op;
180 struct address_space *mapping;
181 struct list_head *to_do;
182 ...
183 };
184
185 A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record retrieval and
186 allocation requests made by the netfs. This struct is then passed to the
187 backend to do the operation. The backend may get extra refs to it by
188 calling fscache_get_retrieval() and refs may be discarded by calling
189 fscache_put_retrieval().
190
191 A retrieval operation can be used by the backend to do retrieval work. To
192 do this, the retrieval->op.processor method pointer should be set
193 appropriately by the backend and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() called to
194 submit it to the thread pool. CacheFiles, for example, uses this to queue
195 page examination when it detects PG_lock being cleared.
196
197 The to_do field is an empty list available for the cache backend to use as
198 it sees fit.
199
200
201 (*) FS-Cache storage operation record:
202
203 struct fscache_storage {
204 struct fscache_operation op;
205 pgoff_t store_limit;
206 ...
207 };
208
209 A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record outstanding
210 writes to be made. FS-Cache itself enqueues this operation and invokes
211 the write_page() method on the object at appropriate times to effect
212 storage.
213
214
215================
216CACHE OPERATIONS
217================
218
219The cache backend provides FS-Cache with a table of operations that can be
220performed on the denizens of the cache. These are held in a structure of type:
221
222 struct fscache_cache_ops
223
224 (*) Name of cache provider [mandatory]:
225
226 const char *name
227
228 This isn't strictly an operation, but should be pointed at a string naming
229 the backend.
230
231
232 (*) Allocate a new object [mandatory]:
233
234 struct fscache_object *(*alloc_object)(struct fscache_cache *cache,
235 struct fscache_cookie *cookie)
236
237 This method is used to allocate a cache object representation to back a
238 cookie in a particular cache. fscache_object_init() should be called on
239 the object to initialise it prior to returning.
240
241 This function may also be used to parse the index key to be used for
242 multiple lookup calls to turn it into a more convenient form. FS-Cache
243 will call the lookup_complete() method to allow the cache to release the
244 form once lookup is complete or aborted.
245
246
247 (*) Look up and create object [mandatory]:
248
249 void (*lookup_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
250
251 This method is used to look up an object, given that the object is already
252 allocated and attached to the cookie. This should instantiate that object
253 in the cache if it can.
254
255 The method should call fscache_object_lookup_negative() as soon as
256 possible if it determines the object doesn't exist in the cache. If the
257 object is found to exist and the netfs indicates that it is valid then
258 fscache_obtained_object() should be called once the object is in a
259 position to have data stored in it. Similarly, fscache_obtained_object()
260 should also be called once a non-present object has been created.
261
262 If a lookup error occurs, fscache_object_lookup_error() should be called
263 to abort the lookup of that object.
264
265
266 (*) Release lookup data [mandatory]:
267
268 void (*lookup_complete)(struct fscache_object *object)
269
270 This method is called to ask the cache to release any resources it was
271 using to perform a lookup.
272
273
274 (*) Increment object refcount [mandatory]:
275
276 struct fscache_object *(*grab_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
277
278 This method is called to increment the reference count on an object. It
279 may fail (for instance if the cache is being withdrawn) by returning NULL.
280 It should return the object pointer if successful.
281
282
283 (*) Lock/Unlock object [mandatory]:
284
285 void (*lock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
286 void (*unlock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
287
288 These methods are used to exclusively lock an object. It must be possible
289 to schedule with the lock held, so a spinlock isn't sufficient.
290
291
292 (*) Pin/Unpin object [optional]:
293
294 int (*pin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
295 void (*unpin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
296
297 These methods are used to pin an object into the cache. Once pinned an
298 object cannot be reclaimed to make space. Return -ENOSPC if there's not
299 enough space in the cache to permit this.
300
301
302 (*) Update object [mandatory]:
303
304 int (*update_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
305
306 This is called to update the index entry for the specified object. The
307 new information should be in object->cookie->netfs_data. This can be
308 obtained by calling object->cookie->def->get_aux()/get_attr().
309
310
311 (*) Discard object [mandatory]:
312
313 void (*drop_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
314
315 This method is called to indicate that an object has been unbound from its
316 cookie, and that the cache should release the object's resources and
317 retire it if it's in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING.
318
319 This method should not attempt to release any references held by the
320 caller. The caller will invoke the put_object() method as appropriate.
321
322
323 (*) Release object reference [mandatory]:
324
325 void (*put_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
326
327 This method is used to discard a reference to an object. The object may
328 be freed when all the references to it are released.
329
330
331 (*) Synchronise a cache [mandatory]:
332
333 void (*sync)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
334
335 This is called to ask the backend to synchronise a cache with its backing
336 device.
337
338
339 (*) Dissociate a cache [mandatory]:
340
341 void (*dissociate_pages)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
342
343 This is called to ask a cache to perform any page dissociations as part of
344 cache withdrawal.
345
346
347 (*) Notification that the attributes on a netfs file changed [mandatory]:
348
349 int (*attr_changed)(struct fscache_object *object);
350
351 This is called to indicate to the cache that certain attributes on a netfs
352 file have changed (for example the maximum size a file may reach). The
353 cache can read these from the netfs by calling the cookie's get_attr()
354 method.
355
356 The cache may use the file size information to reserve space on the cache.
357 It should also call fscache_set_store_limit() to indicate to FS-Cache the
358 highest byte it's willing to store for an object.
359
360 This method may return -ve if an error occurred or the cache object cannot
361 be expanded. In such a case, the object will be withdrawn from service.
362
363 This operation is run asynchronously from FS-Cache's thread pool, and
364 storage and retrieval operations from the netfs are excluded during the
365 execution of this operation.
366
367
368 (*) Reserve cache space for an object's data [optional]:
369
370 int (*reserve_space)(struct fscache_object *object, loff_t size);
371
372 This is called to request that cache space be reserved to hold the data
373 for an object and the metadata used to track it. Zero size should be
374 taken as request to cancel a reservation.
375
376 This should return 0 if successful, -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space
377 available, or -ENOMEM or -EIO on other errors.
378
379 The reservation may exceed the current size of the object, thus permitting
380 future expansion. If the amount of space consumed by an object would
381 exceed the reservation, it's permitted to refuse requests to allocate
382 pages, but not required. An object may be pruned down to its reservation
383 size if larger than that already.
384
385
386 (*) Request page be read from cache [mandatory]:
387
388 int (*read_or_alloc_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
389 struct page *page,
390 gfp_t gfp)
391
392 This is called to attempt to read a netfs page from the cache, or to
393 reserve a backing block if not. FS-Cache will have done as much checking
394 as it can before calling, but most of the work belongs to the backend.
395
396 If there's no page in the cache, then -ENODATA should be returned if the
397 backend managed to reserve a backing block; -ENOBUFS or -ENOMEM if it
398 didn't.
399
400 If there is suitable data in the cache, then a read operation should be
401 queued and 0 returned. When the read finishes, fscache_end_io() should be
402 called.
403
404 The fscache_mark_pages_cached() should be called for the page if any cache
405 metadata is retained. This will indicate to the netfs that the page needs
406 explicit uncaching. This operation takes a pagevec, thus allowing several
407 pages to be marked at once.
408
409 The retrieval record pointed to by op should be retained for each page
410 queued and released when I/O on the page has been formally ended.
411 fscache_get/put_retrieval() are available for this purpose.
412
413 The retrieval record may be used to get CPU time via the FS-Cache thread
414 pool. If this is desired, the op->op.processor should be set to point to
415 the appropriate processing routine, and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() should
416 be called at an appropriate point to request CPU time. For instance, the
417 retrieval routine could be enqueued upon the completion of a disk read.
418 The to_do field in the retrieval record is provided to aid in this.
419
420 If an I/O error occurs, fscache_io_error() should be called and -ENOBUFS
421 returned if possible or fscache_end_io() called with a suitable error
422 code..
423
424
425 (*) Request pages be read from cache [mandatory]:
426
427 int (*read_or_alloc_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
428 struct list_head *pages,
429 unsigned *nr_pages,
430 gfp_t gfp)
431
432 This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except it is handed a list
433 of pages instead of one page. Any pages on which a read operation is
434 started must be added to the page cache for the specified mapping and also
435 to the LRU. Such pages must also be removed from the pages list and
436 *nr_pages decremented per page.
437
438 If there was an error such as -ENOMEM, then that should be returned; else
439 if one or more pages couldn't be read or allocated, then -ENOBUFS should
440 be returned; else if one or more pages couldn't be read, then -ENODATA
441 should be returned. If all the pages are dispatched then 0 should be
442 returned.
443
444
445 (*) Request page be allocated in the cache [mandatory]:
446
447 int (*allocate_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
448 struct page *page,
449 gfp_t gfp)
450
451 This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except that it shouldn't
452 read from the cache, even if there's data there that could be retrieved.
453 It should, however, set up any internal metadata required such that
454 the write_page() method can write to the cache.
455
456 If there's no backing block available, then -ENOBUFS should be returned
457 (or -ENOMEM if there were other problems). If a block is successfully
458 allocated, then the netfs page should be marked and 0 returned.
459
460
461 (*) Request pages be allocated in the cache [mandatory]:
462
463 int (*allocate_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
464 struct list_head *pages,
465 unsigned *nr_pages,
466 gfp_t gfp)
467
468 This is an multiple page version of the allocate_page() method. pages and
469 nr_pages should be treated as for the read_or_alloc_pages() method.
470
471
472 (*) Request page be written to cache [mandatory]:
473
474 int (*write_page)(struct fscache_storage *op,
475 struct page *page);
476
477 This is called to write from a page on which there was a previously
478 successful read_or_alloc_page() call or similar. FS-Cache filters out
479 pages that don't have mappings.
480
481 This method is called asynchronously from the FS-Cache thread pool. It is
482 not required to actually store anything, provided -ENODATA is then
483 returned to the next read of this page.
484
485 If an error occurred, then a negative error code should be returned,
486 otherwise zero should be returned. FS-Cache will take appropriate action
487 in response to an error, such as withdrawing this object.
488
489 If this method returns success then FS-Cache will inform the netfs
490 appropriately.
491
492
493 (*) Discard retained per-page metadata [mandatory]:
494
495 void (*uncache_page)(struct fscache_object *object, struct page *page)
496
497 This is called when a netfs page is being evicted from the pagecache. The
498 cache backend should tear down any internal representation or tracking it
499 maintains for this page.
500
501
502==================
503FS-CACHE UTILITIES
504==================
505
506FS-Cache provides some utilities that a cache backend may make use of:
507
508 (*) Note occurrence of an I/O error in a cache:
509
510 void fscache_io_error(struct fscache_cache *cache)
511
512 This tells FS-Cache that an I/O error occurred in the cache. After this
513 has been called, only resource dissociation operations (object and page
514 release) will be passed from the netfs to the cache backend for the
515 specified cache.
516
517 This does not actually withdraw the cache. That must be done separately.
518
519
520 (*) Invoke the retrieval I/O completion function:
521
522 void fscache_end_io(struct fscache_retrieval *op, struct page *page,
523 int error);
524
525 This is called to note the end of an attempt to retrieve a page. The
526 error value should be 0 if successful and an error otherwise.
527
528
529 (*) Set highest store limit:
530
531 void fscache_set_store_limit(struct fscache_object *object,
532 loff_t i_size);
533
534 This sets the limit FS-Cache imposes on the highest byte it's willing to
535 try and store for a netfs. Any page over this limit is automatically
536 rejected by fscache_read_alloc_page() and co with -ENOBUFS.
537
538
539 (*) Mark pages as being cached:
540
541 void fscache_mark_pages_cached(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
542 struct pagevec *pagevec);
543
544 This marks a set of pages as being cached. After this has been called,
545 the netfs must call fscache_uncache_page() to unmark the pages.
546
547
548 (*) Perform coherency check on an object:
549
550 enum fscache_checkaux fscache_check_aux(struct fscache_object *object,
551 const void *data,
552 uint16_t datalen);
553
554 This asks the netfs to perform a coherency check on an object that has
555 just been looked up. The cookie attached to the object will determine the
556 netfs to use. data and datalen should specify where the auxiliary data
557 retrieved from the cache can be found.
558
559 One of three values will be returned:
560
561 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OKAY
562
563 The coherency data indicates the object is valid as is.
564
565 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_NEEDS_UPDATE
566
567 The coherency data needs updating, but otherwise the object is
568 valid.
569
570 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OBSOLETE
571
572 The coherency data indicates that the object is obsolete and should
573 be discarded.
574
575
576 (*) Initialise a freshly allocated object:
577
578 void fscache_object_init(struct fscache_object *object);
579
580 This initialises all the fields in an object representation.
581
582
583 (*) Indicate the destruction of an object:
584
585 void fscache_object_destroyed(struct fscache_cache *cache);
586
587 This must be called to inform FS-Cache that an object that belonged to a
588 cache has been destroyed and deallocated. This will allow continuation
589 of the cache withdrawal process when it is stopped pending destruction of
590 all the objects.
591
592
593 (*) Indicate negative lookup on an object:
594
595 void fscache_object_lookup_negative(struct fscache_object *object);
596
597 This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
598 found a negative result.
599
600 This changes the state of an object to permit reads pending on lookup
601 completion to go off and start fetching data from the netfs server as it's
602 known at this point that there can't be any data in the cache.
603
604 This may be called multiple times on an object. Only the first call is
605 significant - all subsequent calls are ignored.
606
607
608 (*) Indicate an object has been obtained:
609
610 void fscache_obtained_object(struct fscache_object *object);
611
612 This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
613 produced a positive result, or that an object was created. This should
614 only be called once for any particular object.
615
616 This changes the state of an object to indicate:
617
618 (1) if no call to fscache_object_lookup_negative() has been made on
619 this object, that there may be data available, and that reads can
620 now go and look for it; and
621
622 (2) that writes may now proceed against this object.
623
624
625 (*) Indicate that object lookup failed:
626
627 void fscache_object_lookup_error(struct fscache_object *object);
628
629 This marks an object as having encountered a fatal error (usually EIO)
630 and causes it to move into a state whereby it will be withdrawn as soon
631 as possible.
632
633
634 (*) Get and release references on a retrieval record:
635
636 void fscache_get_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
637 void fscache_put_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
638
639 These two functions are used to retain a retrieval record whilst doing
640 asynchronous data retrieval and block allocation.
641
642
643 (*) Enqueue a retrieval record for processing.
644
645 void fscache_enqueue_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
646
647 This enqueues a retrieval record for processing by the FS-Cache thread
648 pool. One of the threads in the pool will invoke the retrieval record's
649 op->op.processor callback function. This function may be called from
650 within the callback function.
651
652
653 (*) List of object state names:
654
655 const char *fscache_object_states[];
656
657 For debugging purposes, this may be used to turn the state that an object
658 is in into a text string for display purposes.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/cachefiles.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/cachefiles.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c78a49b7bba6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/cachefiles.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,501 @@
1 ===============================================
2 CacheFiles: CACHE ON ALREADY MOUNTED FILESYSTEM
3 ===============================================
4
5Contents:
6
7 (*) Overview.
8
9 (*) Requirements.
10
11 (*) Configuration.
12
13 (*) Starting the cache.
14
15 (*) Things to avoid.
16
17 (*) Cache culling.
18
19 (*) Cache structure.
20
21 (*) Security model and SELinux.
22
23 (*) A note on security.
24
25 (*) Statistical information.
26
27 (*) Debugging.
28
29
30========
31OVERVIEW
32========
33
34CacheFiles is a caching backend that's meant to use as a cache a directory on
35an already mounted filesystem of a local type (such as Ext3).
36
37CacheFiles uses a userspace daemon to do some of the cache management - such as
38reaping stale nodes and culling. This is called cachefilesd and lives in
39/sbin.
40
41The filesystem and data integrity of the cache are only as good as those of the
42filesystem providing the backing services. Note that CacheFiles does not
43attempt to journal anything since the journalling interfaces of the various
44filesystems are very specific in nature.
45
46CacheFiles creates a misc character device - "/dev/cachefiles" - that is used
47to communication with the daemon. Only one thing may have this open at once,
48and whilst it is open, a cache is at least partially in existence. The daemon
49opens this and sends commands down it to control the cache.
50
51CacheFiles is currently limited to a single cache.
52
53CacheFiles attempts to maintain at least a certain percentage of free space on
54the filesystem, shrinking the cache by culling the objects it contains to make
55space if necessary - see the "Cache Culling" section. This means it can be
56placed on the same medium as a live set of data, and will expand to make use of
57spare space and automatically contract when the set of data requires more
58space.
59
60
61============
62REQUIREMENTS
63============
64
65The use of CacheFiles and its daemon requires the following features to be
66available in the system and in the cache filesystem:
67
68 - dnotify.
69
70 - extended attributes (xattrs).
71
72 - openat() and friends.
73
74 - bmap() support on files in the filesystem (FIBMAP ioctl).
75
76 - The use of bmap() to detect a partial page at the end of the file.
77
78It is strongly recommended that the "dir_index" option is enabled on Ext3
79filesystems being used as a cache.
80
81
82=============
83CONFIGURATION
84=============
85
86The cache is configured by a script in /etc/cachefilesd.conf. These commands
87set up cache ready for use. The following script commands are available:
88
89 (*) brun <N>%
90 (*) bcull <N>%
91 (*) bstop <N>%
92 (*) frun <N>%
93 (*) fcull <N>%
94 (*) fstop <N>%
95
96 Configure the culling limits. Optional. See the section on culling
97 The defaults are 7% (run), 5% (cull) and 1% (stop) respectively.
98
99 The commands beginning with a 'b' are file space (block) limits, those
100 beginning with an 'f' are file count limits.
101
102 (*) dir <path>
103
104 Specify the directory containing the root of the cache. Mandatory.
105
106 (*) tag <name>
107
108 Specify a tag to FS-Cache to use in distinguishing multiple caches.
109 Optional. The default is "CacheFiles".
110
111 (*) debug <mask>
112
113 Specify a numeric bitmask to control debugging in the kernel module.
114 Optional. The default is zero (all off). The following values can be
115 OR'd into the mask to collect various information:
116
117 1 Turn on trace of function entry (_enter() macros)
118 2 Turn on trace of function exit (_leave() macros)
119 4 Turn on trace of internal debug points (_debug())
120
121 This mask can also be set through sysfs, eg:
122
123 echo 5 >/sys/modules/cachefiles/parameters/debug
124
125
126==================
127STARTING THE CACHE
128==================
129
130The cache is started by running the daemon. The daemon opens the cache device,
131configures the cache and tells it to begin caching. At that point the cache
132binds to fscache and the cache becomes live.
133
134The daemon is run as follows:
135
136 /sbin/cachefilesd [-d]* [-s] [-n] [-f <configfile>]
137
138The flags are:
139
140 (*) -d
141
142 Increase the debugging level. This can be specified multiple times and
143 is cumulative with itself.
144
145 (*) -s
146
147 Send messages to stderr instead of syslog.
148
149 (*) -n
150
151 Don't daemonise and go into background.
152
153 (*) -f <configfile>
154
155 Use an alternative configuration file rather than the default one.
156
157
158===============
159THINGS TO AVOID
160===============
161
162Do not mount other things within the cache as this will cause problems. The
163kernel module contains its own very cut-down path walking facility that ignores
164mountpoints, but the daemon can't avoid them.
165
166Do not create, rename or unlink files and directories in the cache whilst the
167cache is active, as this may cause the state to become uncertain.
168
169Renaming files in the cache might make objects appear to be other objects (the
170filename is part of the lookup key).
171
172Do not change or remove the extended attributes attached to cache files by the
173cache as this will cause the cache state management to get confused.
174
175Do not create files or directories in the cache, lest the cache get confused or
176serve incorrect data.
177
178Do not chmod files in the cache. The module creates things with minimal
179permissions to prevent random users being able to access them directly.
180
181
182=============
183CACHE CULLING
184=============
185
186The cache may need culling occasionally to make space. This involves
187discarding objects from the cache that have been used less recently than
188anything else. Culling is based on the access time of data objects. Empty
189directories are culled if not in use.
190
191Cache culling is done on the basis of the percentage of blocks and the
192percentage of files available in the underlying filesystem. There are six
193"limits":
194
195 (*) brun
196 (*) frun
197
198 If the amount of free space and the number of available files in the cache
199 rises above both these limits, then culling is turned off.
200
201 (*) bcull
202 (*) fcull
203
204 If the amount of available space or the number of available files in the
205 cache falls below either of these limits, then culling is started.
206
207 (*) bstop
208 (*) fstop
209
210 If the amount of available space or the number of available files in the
211 cache falls below either of these limits, then no further allocation of
212 disk space or files is permitted until culling has raised things above
213 these limits again.
214
215These must be configured thusly:
216
217 0 <= bstop < bcull < brun < 100
218 0 <= fstop < fcull < frun < 100
219
220Note that these are percentages of available space and available files, and do
221_not_ appear as 100 minus the percentage displayed by the "df" program.
222
223The userspace daemon scans the cache to build up a table of cullable objects.
224These are then culled in least recently used order. A new scan of the cache is
225started as soon as space is made in the table. Objects will be skipped if
226their atimes have changed or if the kernel module says it is still using them.
227
228
229===============
230CACHE STRUCTURE
231===============
232
233The CacheFiles module will create two directories in the directory it was
234given:
235
236 (*) cache/
237
238 (*) graveyard/
239
240The active cache objects all reside in the first directory. The CacheFiles
241kernel module moves any retired or culled objects that it can't simply unlink
242to the graveyard from which the daemon will actually delete them.
243
244The daemon uses dnotify to monitor the graveyard directory, and will delete
245anything that appears therein.
246
247
248The module represents index objects as directories with the filename "I..." or
249"J...". Note that the "cache/" directory is itself a special index.
250
251Data objects are represented as files if they have no children, or directories
252if they do. Their filenames all begin "D..." or "E...". If represented as a
253directory, data objects will have a file in the directory called "data" that
254actually holds the data.
255
256Special objects are similar to data objects, except their filenames begin
257"S..." or "T...".
258
259
260If an object has children, then it will be represented as a directory.
261Immediately in the representative directory are a collection of directories
262named for hash values of the child object keys with an '@' prepended. Into
263this directory, if possible, will be placed the representations of the child
264objects:
265
266 INDEX INDEX INDEX DATA FILES
267 ========= ========== ================================= ================
268 cache/@4a/I03nfs/@30/Ji000000000000000--fHg8hi8400
269 cache/@4a/I03nfs/@30/Ji000000000000000--fHg8hi8400/@75/Es0g000w...DB1ry
270 cache/@4a/I03nfs/@30/Ji000000000000000--fHg8hi8400/@75/Es0g000w...N22ry
271 cache/@4a/I03nfs/@30/Ji000000000000000--fHg8hi8400/@75/Es0g000w...FP1ry
272
273
274If the key is so long that it exceeds NAME_MAX with the decorations added on to
275it, then it will be cut into pieces, the first few of which will be used to
276make a nest of directories, and the last one of which will be the objects
277inside the last directory. The names of the intermediate directories will have
278'+' prepended:
279
280 J1223/@23/+xy...z/+kl...m/Epqr
281
282
283Note that keys are raw data, and not only may they exceed NAME_MAX in size,
284they may also contain things like '/' and NUL characters, and so they may not
285be suitable for turning directly into a filename.
286
287To handle this, CacheFiles will use a suitably printable filename directly and
288"base-64" encode ones that aren't directly suitable. The two versions of
289object filenames indicate the encoding:
290
291 OBJECT TYPE PRINTABLE ENCODED
292 =============== =============== ===============
293 Index "I..." "J..."
294 Data "D..." "E..."
295 Special "S..." "T..."
296
297Intermediate directories are always "@" or "+" as appropriate.
298
299
300Each object in the cache has an extended attribute label that holds the object
301type ID (required to distinguish special objects) and the auxiliary data from
302the netfs. The latter is used to detect stale objects in the cache and update
303or retire them.
304
305
306Note that CacheFiles will erase from the cache any file it doesn't recognise or
307any file of an incorrect type (such as a FIFO file or a device file).
308
309
310==========================
311SECURITY MODEL AND SELINUX
312==========================
313
314CacheFiles is implemented to deal properly with the LSM security features of
315the Linux kernel and the SELinux facility.
316
317One of the problems that CacheFiles faces is that it is generally acting on
318behalf of a process, and running in that process's context, and that includes a
319security context that is not appropriate for accessing the cache - either
320because the files in the cache are inaccessible to that process, or because if
321the process creates a file in the cache, that file may be inaccessible to other
322processes.
323
324The way CacheFiles works is to temporarily change the security context (fsuid,
325fsgid and actor security label) that the process acts as - without changing the
326security context of the process when it the target of an operation performed by
327some other process (so signalling and suchlike still work correctly).
328
329
330When the CacheFiles module is asked to bind to its cache, it:
331
332 (1) Finds the security label attached to the root cache directory and uses
333 that as the security label with which it will create files. By default,
334 this is:
335
336 cachefiles_var_t
337
338 (2) Finds the security label of the process which issued the bind request
339 (presumed to be the cachefilesd daemon), which by default will be:
340
341 cachefilesd_t
342
343 and asks LSM to supply a security ID as which it should act given the
344 daemon's label. By default, this will be:
345
346 cachefiles_kernel_t
347
348 SELinux transitions the daemon's security ID to the module's security ID
349 based on a rule of this form in the policy.
350
351 type_transition <daemon's-ID> kernel_t : process <module's-ID>;
352
353 For instance:
354
355 type_transition cachefilesd_t kernel_t : process cachefiles_kernel_t;
356
357
358The module's security ID gives it permission to create, move and remove files
359and directories in the cache, to find and access directories and files in the
360cache, to set and access extended attributes on cache objects, and to read and
361write files in the cache.
362
363The daemon's security ID gives it only a very restricted set of permissions: it
364may scan directories, stat files and erase files and directories. It may
365not read or write files in the cache, and so it is precluded from accessing the
366data cached therein; nor is it permitted to create new files in the cache.
367
368
369There are policy source files available in:
370
371 http://people.redhat.com/~dhowells/fscache/cachefilesd-0.8.tar.bz2
372
373and later versions. In that tarball, see the files:
374
375 cachefilesd.te
376 cachefilesd.fc
377 cachefilesd.if
378
379They are built and installed directly by the RPM.
380
381If a non-RPM based system is being used, then copy the above files to their own
382directory and run:
383
384 make -f /usr/share/selinux/devel/Makefile
385 semodule -i cachefilesd.pp
386
387You will need checkpolicy and selinux-policy-devel installed prior to the
388build.
389
390
391By default, the cache is located in /var/fscache, but if it is desirable that
392it should be elsewhere, than either the above policy files must be altered, or
393an auxiliary policy must be installed to label the alternate location of the
394cache.
395
396For instructions on how to add an auxiliary policy to enable the cache to be
397located elsewhere when SELinux is in enforcing mode, please see:
398
399 /usr/share/doc/cachefilesd-*/move-cache.txt
400
401When the cachefilesd rpm is installed; alternatively, the document can be found
402in the sources.
403
404
405==================
406A NOTE ON SECURITY
407==================
408
409CacheFiles makes use of the split security in the task_struct. It allocates
410its own task_security structure, and redirects current->act_as to point to it
411when it acts on behalf of another process, in that process's context.
412
413The reason it does this is that it calls vfs_mkdir() and suchlike rather than
414bypassing security and calling inode ops directly. Therefore the VFS and LSM
415may deny the CacheFiles access to the cache data because under some
416circumstances the caching code is running in the security context of whatever
417process issued the original syscall on the netfs.
418
419Furthermore, should CacheFiles create a file or directory, the security
420parameters with that object is created (UID, GID, security label) would be
421derived from that process that issued the system call, thus potentially
422preventing other processes from accessing the cache - including CacheFiles's
423cache management daemon (cachefilesd).
424
425What is required is to temporarily override the security of the process that
426issued the system call. We can't, however, just do an in-place change of the
427security data as that affects the process as an object, not just as a subject.
428This means it may lose signals or ptrace events for example, and affects what
429the process looks like in /proc.
430
431So CacheFiles makes use of a logical split in the security between the
432objective security (task->sec) and the subjective security (task->act_as). The
433objective security holds the intrinsic security properties of a process and is
434never overridden. This is what appears in /proc, and is what is used when a
435process is the target of an operation by some other process (SIGKILL for
436example).
437
438The subjective security holds the active security properties of a process, and
439may be overridden. This is not seen externally, and is used whan a process
440acts upon another object, for example SIGKILLing another process or opening a
441file.
442
443LSM hooks exist that allow SELinux (or Smack or whatever) to reject a request
444for CacheFiles to run in a context of a specific security label, or to create
445files and directories with another security label.
446
447
448=======================
449STATISTICAL INFORMATION
450=======================
451
452If FS-Cache is compiled with the following option enabled:
453
454 CONFIG_CACHEFILES_HISTOGRAM=y
455
456then it will gather certain statistics and display them through a proc file.
457
458 (*) /proc/fs/cachefiles/histogram
459
460 cat /proc/fs/cachefiles/histogram
461 JIFS SECS LOOKUPS MKDIRS CREATES
462 ===== ===== ========= ========= =========
463
464 This shows the breakdown of the number of times each amount of time
465 between 0 jiffies and HZ-1 jiffies a variety of tasks took to run. The
466 columns are as follows:
467
468 COLUMN TIME MEASUREMENT
469 ======= =======================================================
470 LOOKUPS Length of time to perform a lookup on the backing fs
471 MKDIRS Length of time to perform a mkdir on the backing fs
472 CREATES Length of time to perform a create on the backing fs
473
474 Each row shows the number of events that took a particular range of times.
475 Each step is 1 jiffy in size. The JIFS column indicates the particular
476 jiffy range covered, and the SECS field the equivalent number of seconds.
477
478
479=========
480DEBUGGING
481=========
482
483If CONFIG_CACHEFILES_DEBUG is enabled, the CacheFiles facility can have runtime
484debugging enabled by adjusting the value in:
485
486 /sys/module/cachefiles/parameters/debug
487
488This is a bitmask of debugging streams to enable:
489
490 BIT VALUE STREAM POINT
491 ======= ======= =============================== =======================
492 0 1 General Function entry trace
493 1 2 Function exit trace
494 2 4 General
495
496The appropriate set of values should be OR'd together and the result written to
497the control file. For example:
498
499 echo $((1|4|8)) >/sys/module/cachefiles/parameters/debug
500
501will turn on all function entry debugging.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/fscache.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/fscache.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9e94b9491d89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/fscache.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,333 @@
1 ==========================
2 General Filesystem Caching
3 ==========================
4
5========
6OVERVIEW
7========
8
9This facility is a general purpose cache for network filesystems, though it
10could be used for caching other things such as ISO9660 filesystems too.
11
12FS-Cache mediates between cache backends (such as CacheFS) and network
13filesystems:
14
15 +---------+
16 | | +--------------+
17 | NFS |--+ | |
18 | | | +-->| CacheFS |
19 +---------+ | +----------+ | | /dev/hda5 |
20 | | | | +--------------+
21 +---------+ +-->| | |
22 | | | |--+
23 | AFS |----->| FS-Cache |
24 | | | |--+
25 +---------+ +-->| | |
26 | | | | +--------------+
27 +---------+ | +----------+ | | |
28 | | | +-->| CacheFiles |
29 | ISOFS |--+ | /var/cache |
30 | | +--------------+
31 +---------+
32
33Or to look at it another way, FS-Cache is a module that provides a caching
34facility to a network filesystem such that the cache is transparent to the
35user:
36
37 +---------+
38 | |
39 | Server |
40 | |
41 +---------+
42 | NETWORK
43 ~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
44 |
45 | +----------+
46 V | |
47 +---------+ | |
48 | | | |
49 | NFS |----->| FS-Cache |
50 | | | |--+
51 +---------+ | | | +--------------+ +--------------+
52 | | | | | | | |
53 V +----------+ +-->| CacheFiles |-->| Ext3 |
54 +---------+ | /var/cache | | /dev/sda6 |
55 | | +--------------+ +--------------+
56 | VFS | ^ ^
57 | | | |
58 +---------+ +--------------+ |
59 | KERNEL SPACE | |
60 ~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~|~~~~
61 | USER SPACE | |
62 V | |
63 +---------+ +--------------+
64 | | | |
65 | Process | | cachefilesd |
66 | | | |
67 +---------+ +--------------+
68
69
70FS-Cache does not follow the idea of completely loading every netfs file
71opened in its entirety into a cache before permitting it to be accessed and
72then serving the pages out of that cache rather than the netfs inode because:
73
74 (1) It must be practical to operate without a cache.
75
76 (2) The size of any accessible file must not be limited to the size of the
77 cache.
78
79 (3) The combined size of all opened files (this includes mapped libraries)
80 must not be limited to the size of the cache.
81
82 (4) The user should not be forced to download an entire file just to do a
83 one-off access of a small portion of it (such as might be done with the
84 "file" program).
85
86It instead serves the cache out in PAGE_SIZE chunks as and when requested by
87the netfs('s) using it.
88
89
90FS-Cache provides the following facilities:
91
92 (1) More than one cache can be used at once. Caches can be selected
93 explicitly by use of tags.
94
95 (2) Caches can be added / removed at any time.
96
97 (3) The netfs is provided with an interface that allows either party to
98 withdraw caching facilities from a file (required for (2)).
99
100 (4) The interface to the netfs returns as few errors as possible, preferring
101 rather to let the netfs remain oblivious.
102
103 (5) Cookies are used to represent indices, files and other objects to the
104 netfs. The simplest cookie is just a NULL pointer - indicating nothing
105 cached there.
106
107 (6) The netfs is allowed to propose - dynamically - any index hierarchy it
108 desires, though it must be aware that the index search function is
109 recursive, stack space is limited, and indices can only be children of
110 indices.
111
112 (7) Data I/O is done direct to and from the netfs's pages. The netfs
113 indicates that page A is at index B of the data-file represented by cookie
114 C, and that it should be read or written. The cache backend may or may
115 not start I/O on that page, but if it does, a netfs callback will be
116 invoked to indicate completion. The I/O may be either synchronous or
117 asynchronous.
118
119 (8) Cookies can be "retired" upon release. At this point FS-Cache will mark
120 them as obsolete and the index hierarchy rooted at that point will get
121 recycled.
122
123 (9) The netfs provides a "match" function for index searches. In addition to
124 saying whether a match was made or not, this can also specify that an
125 entry should be updated or deleted.
126
127(10) As much as possible is done asynchronously.
128
129
130FS-Cache maintains a virtual indexing tree in which all indices, files, objects
131and pages are kept. Bits of this tree may actually reside in one or more
132caches.
133
134 FSDEF
135 |
136 +------------------------------------+
137 | |
138 NFS AFS
139 | |
140 +--------------------------+ +-----------+
141 | | | |
142 homedir mirror afs.org redhat.com
143 | | |
144 +------------+ +---------------+ +----------+
145 | | | | | |
146 00001 00002 00007 00125 vol00001 vol00002
147 | | | | |
148 +---+---+ +-----+ +---+ +------+------+ +-----+----+
149 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
150PG0 PG1 PG2 PG0 XATTR PG0 PG1 DIRENT DIRENT DIRENT R/W R/O Bak
151 | |
152 PG0 +-------+
153 | |
154 00001 00003
155 |
156 +---+---+
157 | | |
158 PG0 PG1 PG2
159
160In the example above, you can see two netfs's being backed: NFS and AFS. These
161have different index hierarchies:
162
163 (*) The NFS primary index contains per-server indices. Each server index is
164 indexed by NFS file handles to get data file objects. Each data file
165 objects can have an array of pages, but may also have further child
166 objects, such as extended attributes and directory entries. Extended
167 attribute objects themselves have page-array contents.
168
169 (*) The AFS primary index contains per-cell indices. Each cell index contains
170 per-logical-volume indices. Each of volume index contains up to three
171 indices for the read-write, read-only and backup mirrors of those volumes.
172 Each of these contains vnode data file objects, each of which contains an
173 array of pages.
174
175The very top index is the FS-Cache master index in which individual netfs's
176have entries.
177
178Any index object may reside in more than one cache, provided it only has index
179children. Any index with non-index object children will be assumed to only
180reside in one cache.
181
182
183The netfs API to FS-Cache can be found in:
184
185 Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt
186
187The cache backend API to FS-Cache can be found in:
188
189 Documentation/filesystems/caching/backend-api.txt
190
191A description of the internal representations and object state machine can be
192found in:
193
194 Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt
195
196
197=======================
198STATISTICAL INFORMATION
199=======================
200
201If FS-Cache is compiled with the following options enabled:
202
203 CONFIG_FSCACHE_STATS=y
204 CONFIG_FSCACHE_HISTOGRAM=y
205
206then it will gather certain statistics and display them through a number of
207proc files.
208
209 (*) /proc/fs/fscache/stats
210
211 This shows counts of a number of events that can happen in FS-Cache:
212
213 CLASS EVENT MEANING
214 ======= ======= =======================================================
215 Cookies idx=N Number of index cookies allocated
216 dat=N Number of data storage cookies allocated
217 spc=N Number of special cookies allocated
218 Objects alc=N Number of objects allocated
219 nal=N Number of object allocation failures
220 avl=N Number of objects that reached the available state
221 ded=N Number of objects that reached the dead state
222 ChkAux non=N Number of objects that didn't have a coherency check
223 ok=N Number of objects that passed a coherency check
224 upd=N Number of objects that needed a coherency data update
225 obs=N Number of objects that were declared obsolete
226 Pages mrk=N Number of pages marked as being cached
227 unc=N Number of uncache page requests seen
228 Acquire n=N Number of acquire cookie requests seen
229 nul=N Number of acq reqs given a NULL parent
230 noc=N Number of acq reqs rejected due to no cache available
231 ok=N Number of acq reqs succeeded
232 nbf=N Number of acq reqs rejected due to error
233 oom=N Number of acq reqs failed on ENOMEM
234 Lookups n=N Number of lookup calls made on cache backends
235 neg=N Number of negative lookups made
236 pos=N Number of positive lookups made
237 crt=N Number of objects created by lookup
238 Updates n=N Number of update cookie requests seen
239 nul=N Number of upd reqs given a NULL parent
240 run=N Number of upd reqs granted CPU time
241 Relinqs n=N Number of relinquish cookie requests seen
242 nul=N Number of rlq reqs given a NULL parent
243 wcr=N Number of rlq reqs waited on completion of creation
244 AttrChg n=N Number of attribute changed requests seen
245 ok=N Number of attr changed requests queued
246 nbf=N Number of attr changed rejected -ENOBUFS
247 oom=N Number of attr changed failed -ENOMEM
248 run=N Number of attr changed ops given CPU time
249 Allocs n=N Number of allocation requests seen
250 ok=N Number of successful alloc reqs
251 wt=N Number of alloc reqs that waited on lookup completion
252 nbf=N Number of alloc reqs rejected -ENOBUFS
253 ops=N Number of alloc reqs submitted
254 owt=N Number of alloc reqs waited for CPU time
255 Retrvls n=N Number of retrieval (read) requests seen
256 ok=N Number of successful retr reqs
257 wt=N Number of retr reqs that waited on lookup completion
258 nod=N Number of retr reqs returned -ENODATA
259 nbf=N Number of retr reqs rejected -ENOBUFS
260 int=N Number of retr reqs aborted -ERESTARTSYS
261 oom=N Number of retr reqs failed -ENOMEM
262 ops=N Number of retr reqs submitted
263 owt=N Number of retr reqs waited for CPU time
264 Stores n=N Number of storage (write) requests seen
265 ok=N Number of successful store reqs
266 agn=N Number of store reqs on a page already pending storage
267 nbf=N Number of store reqs rejected -ENOBUFS
268 oom=N Number of store reqs failed -ENOMEM
269 ops=N Number of store reqs submitted
270 run=N Number of store reqs granted CPU time
271 Ops pend=N Number of times async ops added to pending queues
272 run=N Number of times async ops given CPU time
273 enq=N Number of times async ops queued for processing
274 dfr=N Number of async ops queued for deferred release
275 rel=N Number of async ops released
276 gc=N Number of deferred-release async ops garbage collected
277
278
279 (*) /proc/fs/fscache/histogram
280
281 cat /proc/fs/fscache/histogram
282 JIFS SECS OBJ INST OP RUNS OBJ RUNS RETRV DLY RETRIEVLS
283 ===== ===== ========= ========= ========= ========= =========
284
285 This shows the breakdown of the number of times each amount of time
286 between 0 jiffies and HZ-1 jiffies a variety of tasks took to run. The
287 columns are as follows:
288
289 COLUMN TIME MEASUREMENT
290 ======= =======================================================
291 OBJ INST Length of time to instantiate an object
292 OP RUNS Length of time a call to process an operation took
293 OBJ RUNS Length of time a call to process an object event took
294 RETRV DLY Time between an requesting a read and lookup completing
295 RETRIEVLS Time between beginning and end of a retrieval
296
297 Each row shows the number of events that took a particular range of times.
298 Each step is 1 jiffy in size. The JIFS column indicates the particular
299 jiffy range covered, and the SECS field the equivalent number of seconds.
300
301
302=========
303DEBUGGING
304=========
305
306If CONFIG_FSCACHE_DEBUG is enabled, the FS-Cache facility can have runtime
307debugging enabled by adjusting the value in:
308
309 /sys/module/fscache/parameters/debug
310
311This is a bitmask of debugging streams to enable:
312
313 BIT VALUE STREAM POINT
314 ======= ======= =============================== =======================
315 0 1 Cache management Function entry trace
316 1 2 Function exit trace
317 2 4 General
318 3 8 Cookie management Function entry trace
319 4 16 Function exit trace
320 5 32 General
321 6 64 Page handling Function entry trace
322 7 128 Function exit trace
323 8 256 General
324 9 512 Operation management Function entry trace
325 10 1024 Function exit trace
326 11 2048 General
327
328The appropriate set of values should be OR'd together and the result written to
329the control file. For example:
330
331 echo $((1|8|64)) >/sys/module/fscache/parameters/debug
332
333will turn on all function entry debugging.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4db125b3a5c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,778 @@
1 ===============================
2 FS-CACHE NETWORK FILESYSTEM API
3 ===============================
4
5There's an API by which a network filesystem can make use of the FS-Cache
6facilities. This is based around a number of principles:
7
8 (1) Caches can store a number of different object types. There are two main
9 object types: indices and files. The first is a special type used by
10 FS-Cache to make finding objects faster and to make retiring of groups of
11 objects easier.
12
13 (2) Every index, file or other object is represented by a cookie. This cookie
14 may or may not have anything associated with it, but the netfs doesn't
15 need to care.
16
17 (3) Barring the top-level index (one entry per cached netfs), the index
18 hierarchy for each netfs is structured according the whim of the netfs.
19
20This API is declared in <linux/fscache.h>.
21
22This document contains the following sections:
23
24 (1) Network filesystem definition
25 (2) Index definition
26 (3) Object definition
27 (4) Network filesystem (un)registration
28 (5) Cache tag lookup
29 (6) Index registration
30 (7) Data file registration
31 (8) Miscellaneous object registration
32 (9) Setting the data file size
33 (10) Page alloc/read/write
34 (11) Page uncaching
35 (12) Index and data file update
36 (13) Miscellaneous cookie operations
37 (14) Cookie unregistration
38 (15) Index and data file invalidation
39 (16) FS-Cache specific page flags.
40
41
42=============================
43NETWORK FILESYSTEM DEFINITION
44=============================
45
46FS-Cache needs a description of the network filesystem. This is specified
47using a record of the following structure:
48
49 struct fscache_netfs {
50 uint32_t version;
51 const char *name;
52 struct fscache_cookie *primary_index;
53 ...
54 };
55
56This first two fields should be filled in before registration, and the third
57will be filled in by the registration function; any other fields should just be
58ignored and are for internal use only.
59
60The fields are:
61
62 (1) The name of the netfs (used as the key in the toplevel index).
63
64 (2) The version of the netfs (if the name matches but the version doesn't, the
65 entire in-cache hierarchy for this netfs will be scrapped and begun
66 afresh).
67
68 (3) The cookie representing the primary index will be allocated according to
69 another parameter passed into the registration function.
70
71For example, kAFS (linux/fs/afs/) uses the following definitions to describe
72itself:
73
74 struct fscache_netfs afs_cache_netfs = {
75 .version = 0,
76 .name = "afs",
77 };
78
79
80================
81INDEX DEFINITION
82================
83
84Indices are used for two purposes:
85
86 (1) To aid the finding of a file based on a series of keys (such as AFS's
87 "cell", "volume ID", "vnode ID").
88
89 (2) To make it easier to discard a subset of all the files cached based around
90 a particular key - for instance to mirror the removal of an AFS volume.
91
92However, since it's unlikely that any two netfs's are going to want to define
93their index hierarchies in quite the same way, FS-Cache tries to impose as few
94restraints as possible on how an index is structured and where it is placed in
95the tree. The netfs can even mix indices and data files at the same level, but
96it's not recommended.
97
98Each index entry consists of a key of indeterminate length plus some auxilliary
99data, also of indeterminate length.
100
101There are some limits on indices:
102
103 (1) Any index containing non-index objects should be restricted to a single
104 cache. Any such objects created within an index will be created in the
105 first cache only. The cache in which an index is created can be
106 controlled by cache tags (see below).
107
108 (2) The entry data must be atomically journallable, so it is limited to about
109 400 bytes at present. At least 400 bytes will be available.
110
111 (3) The depth of the index tree should be judged with care as the search
112 function is recursive. Too many layers will run the kernel out of stack.
113
114
115=================
116OBJECT DEFINITION
117=================
118
119To define an object, a structure of the following type should be filled out:
120
121 struct fscache_cookie_def
122 {
123 uint8_t name[16];
124 uint8_t type;
125
126 struct fscache_cache_tag *(*select_cache)(
127 const void *parent_netfs_data,
128 const void *cookie_netfs_data);
129
130 uint16_t (*get_key)(const void *cookie_netfs_data,
131 void *buffer,
132 uint16_t bufmax);
133
134 void (*get_attr)(const void *cookie_netfs_data,
135 uint64_t *size);
136
137 uint16_t (*get_aux)(const void *cookie_netfs_data,
138 void *buffer,
139 uint16_t bufmax);
140
141 enum fscache_checkaux (*check_aux)(void *cookie_netfs_data,
142 const void *data,
143 uint16_t datalen);
144
145 void (*get_context)(void *cookie_netfs_data, void *context);
146
147 void (*put_context)(void *cookie_netfs_data, void *context);
148
149 void (*mark_pages_cached)(void *cookie_netfs_data,
150 struct address_space *mapping,
151 struct pagevec *cached_pvec);
152
153 void (*now_uncached)(void *cookie_netfs_data);
154 };
155
156This has the following fields:
157
158 (1) The type of the object [mandatory].
159
160 This is one of the following values:
161
162 (*) FSCACHE_COOKIE_TYPE_INDEX
163
164 This defines an index, which is a special FS-Cache type.
165
166 (*) FSCACHE_COOKIE_TYPE_DATAFILE
167
168 This defines an ordinary data file.
169
170 (*) Any other value between 2 and 255
171
172 This defines an extraordinary object such as an XATTR.
173
174 (2) The name of the object type (NUL terminated unless all 16 chars are used)
175 [optional].
176
177 (3) A function to select the cache in which to store an index [optional].
178
179 This function is invoked when an index needs to be instantiated in a cache
180 during the instantiation of a non-index object. Only the immediate index
181 parent for the non-index object will be queried. Any indices above that
182 in the hierarchy may be stored in multiple caches. This function does not
183 need to be supplied for any non-index object or any index that will only
184 have index children.
185
186 If this function is not supplied or if it returns NULL then the first
187 cache in the parent's list will be chosed, or failing that, the first
188 cache in the master list.
189
190 (4) A function to retrieve an object's key from the netfs [mandatory].
191
192 This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the
193 cookie acquisition function and the maximum length of key data that it may
194 provide. It should write the required key data into the given buffer and
195 return the quantity it wrote.
196
197 (5) A function to retrieve attribute data from the netfs [optional].
198
199 This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the
200 cookie acquisition function. It should return the size of the file if
201 this is a data file. The size may be used to govern how much cache must
202 be reserved for this file in the cache.
203
204 If the function is absent, a file size of 0 is assumed.
205
206 (6) A function to retrieve auxilliary data from the netfs [optional].
207
208 This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the
209 cookie acquisition function and the maximum length of auxilliary data that
210 it may provide. It should write the auxilliary data into the given buffer
211 and return the quantity it wrote.
212
213 If this function is absent, the auxilliary data length will be set to 0.
214
215 The length of the auxilliary data buffer may be dependent on the key
216 length. A netfs mustn't rely on being able to provide more than 400 bytes
217 for both.
218
219 (7) A function to check the auxilliary data [optional].
220
221 This function will be called to check that a match found in the cache for
222 this object is valid. For instance with AFS it could check the auxilliary
223 data against the data version number returned by the server to determine
224 whether the index entry in a cache is still valid.
225
226 If this function is absent, it will be assumed that matching objects in a
227 cache are always valid.
228
229 If present, the function should return one of the following values:
230
231 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OKAY - the entry is okay as is
232 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_NEEDS_UPDATE - the entry requires update
233 (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OBSOLETE - the entry should be deleted
234
235 This function can also be used to extract data from the auxilliary data in
236 the cache and copy it into the netfs's structures.
237
238 (8) A pair of functions to manage contexts for the completion callback
239 [optional].
240
241 The cache read/write functions are passed a context which is then passed
242 to the I/O completion callback function. To ensure this context remains
243 valid until after the I/O completion is called, two functions may be
244 provided: one to get an extra reference on the context, and one to drop a
245 reference to it.
246
247 If the context is not used or is a type of object that won't go out of
248 scope, then these functions are not required. These functions are not
249 required for indices as indices may not contain data. These functions may
250 be called in interrupt context and so may not sleep.
251
252 (9) A function to mark a page as retaining cache metadata [optional].
253
254 This is called by the cache to indicate that it is retaining in-memory
255 information for this page and that the netfs should uncache the page when
256 it has finished. This does not indicate whether there's data on the disk
257 or not. Note that several pages at once may be presented for marking.
258
259 The PG_fscache bit is set on the pages before this function would be
260 called, so the function need not be provided if this is sufficient.
261
262 This function is not required for indices as they're not permitted data.
263
264(10) A function to unmark all the pages retaining cache metadata [mandatory].
265
266 This is called by FS-Cache to indicate that a backing store is being
267 unbound from a cookie and that all the marks on the pages should be
268 cleared to prevent confusion. Note that the cache will have torn down all
269 its tracking information so that the pages don't need to be explicitly
270 uncached.
271
272 This function is not required for indices as they're not permitted data.
273
274
275===================================
276NETWORK FILESYSTEM (UN)REGISTRATION
277===================================
278
279The first step is to declare the network filesystem to the cache. This also
280involves specifying the layout of the primary index (for AFS, this would be the
281"cell" level).
282
283The registration function is:
284
285 int fscache_register_netfs(struct fscache_netfs *netfs);
286
287It just takes a pointer to the netfs definition. It returns 0 or an error as
288appropriate.
289
290For kAFS, registration is done as follows:
291
292 ret = fscache_register_netfs(&afs_cache_netfs);
293
294The last step is, of course, unregistration:
295
296 void fscache_unregister_netfs(struct fscache_netfs *netfs);
297
298
299================
300CACHE TAG LOOKUP
301================
302
303FS-Cache permits the use of more than one cache. To permit particular index
304subtrees to be bound to particular caches, the second step is to look up cache
305representation tags. This step is optional; it can be left entirely up to
306FS-Cache as to which cache should be used. The problem with doing that is that
307FS-Cache will always pick the first cache that was registered.
308
309To get the representation for a named tag:
310
311 struct fscache_cache_tag *fscache_lookup_cache_tag(const char *name);
312
313This takes a text string as the name and returns a representation of a tag. It
314will never return an error. It may return a dummy tag, however, if it runs out
315of memory; this will inhibit caching with this tag.
316
317Any representation so obtained must be released by passing it to this function:
318
319 void fscache_release_cache_tag(struct fscache_cache_tag *tag);
320
321The tag will be retrieved by FS-Cache when it calls the object definition
322operation select_cache().
323
324
325==================
326INDEX REGISTRATION
327==================
328
329The third step is to inform FS-Cache about part of an index hierarchy that can
330be used to locate files. This is done by requesting a cookie for each index in
331the path to the file:
332
333 struct fscache_cookie *
334 fscache_acquire_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *parent,
335 const struct fscache_object_def *def,
336 void *netfs_data);
337
338This function creates an index entry in the index represented by parent,
339filling in the index entry by calling the operations pointed to by def.
340
341Note that this function never returns an error - all errors are handled
342internally. It may, however, return NULL to indicate no cookie. It is quite
343acceptable to pass this token back to this function as the parent to another
344acquisition (or even to the relinquish cookie, read page and write page
345functions - see below).
346
347Note also that no indices are actually created in a cache until a non-index
348object needs to be created somewhere down the hierarchy. Furthermore, an index
349may be created in several different caches independently at different times.
350This is all handled transparently, and the netfs doesn't see any of it.
351
352For example, with AFS, a cell would be added to the primary index. This index
353entry would have a dependent inode containing a volume location index for the
354volume mappings within this cell:
355
356 cell->cache =
357 fscache_acquire_cookie(afs_cache_netfs.primary_index,
358 &afs_cell_cache_index_def,
359 cell);
360
361Then when a volume location was accessed, it would be entered into the cell's
362index and an inode would be allocated that acts as a volume type and hash chain
363combination:
364
365 vlocation->cache =
366 fscache_acquire_cookie(cell->cache,
367 &afs_vlocation_cache_index_def,
368 vlocation);
369
370And then a particular flavour of volume (R/O for example) could be added to
371that index, creating another index for vnodes (AFS inode equivalents):
372
373 volume->cache =
374 fscache_acquire_cookie(vlocation->cache,
375 &afs_volume_cache_index_def,
376 volume);
377
378
379======================
380DATA FILE REGISTRATION
381======================
382
383The fourth step is to request a data file be created in the cache. This is
384identical to index cookie acquisition. The only difference is that the type in
385the object definition should be something other than index type.
386
387 vnode->cache =
388 fscache_acquire_cookie(volume->cache,
389 &afs_vnode_cache_object_def,
390 vnode);
391
392
393=================================
394MISCELLANEOUS OBJECT REGISTRATION
395=================================
396
397An optional step is to request an object of miscellaneous type be created in
398the cache. This is almost identical to index cookie acquisition. The only
399difference is that the type in the object definition should be something other
400than index type. Whilst the parent object could be an index, it's more likely
401it would be some other type of object such as a data file.
402
403 xattr->cache =
404 fscache_acquire_cookie(vnode->cache,
405 &afs_xattr_cache_object_def,
406 xattr);
407
408Miscellaneous objects might be used to store extended attributes or directory
409entries for example.
410
411
412==========================
413SETTING THE DATA FILE SIZE
414==========================
415
416The fifth step is to set the physical attributes of the file, such as its size.
417This doesn't automatically reserve any space in the cache, but permits the
418cache to adjust its metadata for data tracking appropriately:
419
420 int fscache_attr_changed(struct fscache_cookie *cookie);
421
422The cache will return -ENOBUFS if there is no backing cache or if there is no
423space to allocate any extra metadata required in the cache. The attributes
424will be accessed with the get_attr() cookie definition operation.
425
426Note that attempts to read or write data pages in the cache over this size may
427be rebuffed with -ENOBUFS.
428
429This operation schedules an attribute adjustment to happen asynchronously at
430some point in the future, and as such, it may happen after the function returns
431to the caller. The attribute adjustment excludes read and write operations.
432
433
434=====================
435PAGE READ/ALLOC/WRITE
436=====================
437
438And the sixth step is to store and retrieve pages in the cache. There are
439three functions that are used to do this.
440
441Note:
442
443 (1) A page should not be re-read or re-allocated without uncaching it first.
444
445 (2) A read or allocated page must be uncached when the netfs page is released
446 from the pagecache.
447
448 (3) A page should only be written to the cache if previous read or allocated.
449
450This permits the cache to maintain its page tracking in proper order.
451
452
453PAGE READ
454---------
455
456Firstly, the netfs should ask FS-Cache to examine the caches and read the
457contents cached for a particular page of a particular file if present, or else
458allocate space to store the contents if not:
459
460 typedef
461 void (*fscache_rw_complete_t)(struct page *page,
462 void *context,
463 int error);
464
465 int fscache_read_or_alloc_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
466 struct page *page,
467 fscache_rw_complete_t end_io_func,
468 void *context,
469 gfp_t gfp);
470
471The cookie argument must specify a cookie for an object that isn't an index,
472the page specified will have the data loaded into it (and is also used to
473specify the page number), and the gfp argument is used to control how any
474memory allocations made are satisfied.
475
476If the cookie indicates the inode is not cached:
477
478 (1) The function will return -ENOBUFS.
479
480Else if there's a copy of the page resident in the cache:
481
482 (1) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on that page.
483
484 (2) The function will submit a request to read the data from the cache's
485 backing device directly into the page specified.
486
487 (3) The function will return 0.
488
489 (4) When the read is complete, end_io_func() will be invoked with:
490
491 (*) The netfs data supplied when the cookie was created.
492
493 (*) The page descriptor.
494
495 (*) The context argument passed to the above function. This will be
496 maintained with the get_context/put_context functions mentioned above.
497
498 (*) An argument that's 0 on success or negative for an error code.
499
500 If an error occurs, it should be assumed that the page contains no usable
501 data.
502
503 end_io_func() will be called in process context if the read is results in
504 an error, but it might be called in interrupt context if the read is
505 successful.
506
507Otherwise, if there's not a copy available in cache, but the cache may be able
508to store the page:
509
510 (1) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on that page.
511
512 (2) A block may be reserved in the cache and attached to the object at the
513 appropriate place.
514
515 (3) The function will return -ENODATA.
516
517This function may also return -ENOMEM or -EINTR, in which case it won't have
518read any data from the cache.
519
520
521PAGE ALLOCATE
522-------------
523
524Alternatively, if there's not expected to be any data in the cache for a page
525because the file has been extended, a block can simply be allocated instead:
526
527 int fscache_alloc_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
528 struct page *page,
529 gfp_t gfp);
530
531This is similar to the fscache_read_or_alloc_page() function, except that it
532never reads from the cache. It will return 0 if a block has been allocated,
533rather than -ENODATA as the other would. One or the other must be performed
534before writing to the cache.
535
536The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on the page if
537successful.
538
539
540PAGE WRITE
541----------
542
543Secondly, if the netfs changes the contents of the page (either due to an
544initial download or if a user performs a write), then the page should be
545written back to the cache:
546
547 int fscache_write_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
548 struct page *page,
549 gfp_t gfp);
550
551The cookie argument must specify a data file cookie, the page specified should
552contain the data to be written (and is also used to specify the page number),
553and the gfp argument is used to control how any memory allocations made are
554satisfied.
555
556The page must have first been read or allocated successfully and must not have
557been uncached before writing is performed.
558
559If the cookie indicates the inode is not cached then:
560
561 (1) The function will return -ENOBUFS.
562
563Else if space can be allocated in the cache to hold this page:
564
565 (1) PG_fscache_write will be set on the page.
566
567 (2) The function will submit a request to write the data to cache's backing
568 device directly from the page specified.
569
570 (3) The function will return 0.
571
572 (4) When the write is complete PG_fscache_write is cleared on the page and
573 anyone waiting for that bit will be woken up.
574
575Else if there's no space available in the cache, -ENOBUFS will be returned. It
576is also possible for the PG_fscache_write bit to be cleared when no write took
577place if unforeseen circumstances arose (such as a disk error).
578
579Writing takes place asynchronously.
580
581
582MULTIPLE PAGE READ
583------------------
584
585A facility is provided to read several pages at once, as requested by the
586readpages() address space operation:
587
588 int fscache_read_or_alloc_pages(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
589 struct address_space *mapping,
590 struct list_head *pages,
591 int *nr_pages,
592 fscache_rw_complete_t end_io_func,
593 void *context,
594 gfp_t gfp);
595
596This works in a similar way to fscache_read_or_alloc_page(), except:
597
598 (1) Any page it can retrieve data for is removed from pages and nr_pages and
599 dispatched for reading to the disk. Reads of adjacent pages on disk may
600 be merged for greater efficiency.
601
602 (2) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on several pages
603 at once if they're being read or allocated.
604
605 (3) If there was an general error, then that error will be returned.
606
607 Else if some pages couldn't be allocated or read, then -ENOBUFS will be
608 returned.
609
610 Else if some pages couldn't be read but were allocated, then -ENODATA will
611 be returned.
612
613 Otherwise, if all pages had reads dispatched, then 0 will be returned, the
614 list will be empty and *nr_pages will be 0.
615
616 (4) end_io_func will be called once for each page being read as the reads
617 complete. It will be called in process context if error != 0, but it may
618 be called in interrupt context if there is no error.
619
620Note that a return of -ENODATA, -ENOBUFS or any other error does not preclude
621some of the pages being read and some being allocated. Those pages will have
622been marked appropriately and will need uncaching.
623
624
625==============
626PAGE UNCACHING
627==============
628
629To uncache a page, this function should be called:
630
631 void fscache_uncache_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
632 struct page *page);
633
634This function permits the cache to release any in-memory representation it
635might be holding for this netfs page. This function must be called once for
636each page on which the read or write page functions above have been called to
637make sure the cache's in-memory tracking information gets torn down.
638
639Note that pages can't be explicitly deleted from the a data file. The whole
640data file must be retired (see the relinquish cookie function below).
641
642Furthermore, note that this does not cancel the asynchronous read or write
643operation started by the read/alloc and write functions, so the page
644invalidation and release functions must use:
645
646 bool fscache_check_page_write(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
647 struct page *page);
648
649to see if a page is being written to the cache, and:
650
651 void fscache_wait_on_page_write(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
652 struct page *page);
653
654to wait for it to finish if it is.
655
656
657==========================
658INDEX AND DATA FILE UPDATE
659==========================
660
661To request an update of the index data for an index or other object, the
662following function should be called:
663
664 void fscache_update_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie);
665
666This function will refer back to the netfs_data pointer stored in the cookie by
667the acquisition function to obtain the data to write into each revised index
668entry. The update method in the parent index definition will be called to
669transfer the data.
670
671Note that partial updates may happen automatically at other times, such as when
672data blocks are added to a data file object.
673
674
675===============================
676MISCELLANEOUS COOKIE OPERATIONS
677===============================
678
679There are a number of operations that can be used to control cookies:
680
681 (*) Cookie pinning:
682
683 int fscache_pin_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie);
684 void fscache_unpin_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie);
685
686 These operations permit data cookies to be pinned into the cache and to
687 have the pinning removed. They are not permitted on index cookies.
688
689 The pinning function will return 0 if successful, -ENOBUFS in the cookie
690 isn't backed by a cache, -EOPNOTSUPP if the cache doesn't support pinning,
691 -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space to honour the operation, -ENOMEM or
692 -EIO if there's any other problem.
693
694 (*) Data space reservation:
695
696 int fscache_reserve_space(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, loff_t size);
697
698 This permits a netfs to request cache space be reserved to store up to the
699 given amount of a file. It is permitted to ask for more than the current
700 size of the file to allow for future file expansion.
701
702 If size is given as zero then the reservation will be cancelled.
703
704 The function will return 0 if successful, -ENOBUFS in the cookie isn't
705 backed by a cache, -EOPNOTSUPP if the cache doesn't support reservations,
706 -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space to honour the operation, -ENOMEM or
707 -EIO if there's any other problem.
708
709 Note that this doesn't pin an object in a cache; it can still be culled to
710 make space if it's not in use.
711
712
713=====================
714COOKIE UNREGISTRATION
715=====================
716
717To get rid of a cookie, this function should be called.
718
719 void fscache_relinquish_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie,
720 int retire);
721
722If retire is non-zero, then the object will be marked for recycling, and all
723copies of it will be removed from all active caches in which it is present.
724Not only that but all child objects will also be retired.
725
726If retire is zero, then the object may be available again when next the
727acquisition function is called. Retirement here will overrule the pinning on a
728cookie.
729
730One very important note - relinquish must NOT be called for a cookie unless all
731the cookies for "child" indices, objects and pages have been relinquished
732first.
733
734
735================================
736INDEX AND DATA FILE INVALIDATION
737================================
738
739There is no direct way to invalidate an index subtree or a data file. To do
740this, the caller should relinquish and retire the cookie they have, and then
741acquire a new one.
742
743
744===========================
745FS-CACHE SPECIFIC PAGE FLAG
746===========================
747
748FS-Cache makes use of a page flag, PG_private_2, for its own purpose. This is
749given the alternative name PG_fscache.
750
751PG_fscache is used to indicate that the page is known by the cache, and that
752the cache must be informed if the page is going to go away. It's an indication
753to the netfs that the cache has an interest in this page, where an interest may
754be a pointer to it, resources allocated or reserved for it, or I/O in progress
755upon it.
756
757The netfs can use this information in methods such as releasepage() to
758determine whether it needs to uncache a page or update it.
759
760Furthermore, if this bit is set, releasepage() and invalidatepage() operations
761will be called on a page to get rid of it, even if PG_private is not set. This
762allows caching to attempted on a page before read_cache_pages() to be called
763after fscache_read_or_alloc_pages() as the former will try and release pages it
764was given under certain circumstances.
765
766This bit does not overlap with such as PG_private. This means that FS-Cache
767can be used with a filesystem that uses the block buffering code.
768
769There are a number of operations defined on this flag:
770
771 int PageFsCache(struct page *page);
772 void SetPageFsCache(struct page *page)
773 void ClearPageFsCache(struct page *page)
774 int TestSetPageFsCache(struct page *page)
775 int TestClearPageFsCache(struct page *page)
776
777These functions are bit test, bit set, bit clear, bit test and set and bit
778test and clear operations on PG_fscache.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e8b0a35d8fe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,313 @@
1 ====================================================
2 IN-KERNEL CACHE OBJECT REPRESENTATION AND MANAGEMENT
3 ====================================================
4
5By: David Howells <dhowells@redhat.com>
6
7Contents:
8
9 (*) Representation
10
11 (*) Object management state machine.
12
13 - Provision of cpu time.
14 - Locking simplification.
15
16 (*) The set of states.
17
18 (*) The set of events.
19
20
21==============
22REPRESENTATION
23==============
24
25FS-Cache maintains an in-kernel representation of each object that a netfs is
26currently interested in. Such objects are represented by the fscache_cookie
27struct and are referred to as cookies.
28
29FS-Cache also maintains a separate in-kernel representation of the objects that
30a cache backend is currently actively caching. Such objects are represented by
31the fscache_object struct. The cache backends allocate these upon request, and
32are expected to embed them in their own representations. These are referred to
33as objects.
34
35There is a 1:N relationship between cookies and objects. A cookie may be
36represented by multiple objects - an index may exist in more than one cache -
37or even by no objects (it may not be cached).
38
39Furthermore, both cookies and objects are hierarchical. The two hierarchies
40correspond, but the cookies tree is a superset of the union of the object trees
41of multiple caches:
42
43 NETFS INDEX TREE : CACHE 1 : CACHE 2
44 : :
45 : +-----------+ :
46 +----------->| IObject | :
47 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ :
48 | ICookie |-------+ : | :
49 +-----------+ | : | : +-----------+
50 | +------------------------------>| IObject |
51 | : | : +-----------+
52 | : V : |
53 | : +-----------+ : |
54 V +----------->| IObject | : |
55 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : |
56 | ICookie |-------+ : | : V
57 +-----------+ | : | : +-----------+
58 | +------------------------------>| IObject |
59 +-----+-----+ : | : +-----------+
60 | | : | : |
61 V | : V : |
62 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : |
63 | ICookie |------------------------->| IObject | : |
64 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : |
65 | V : | : V
66 | +-----------+ : | : +-----------+
67 | | ICookie |-------------------------------->| IObject |
68 | +-----------+ : | : +-----------+
69 V | : V : |
70 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : |
71 | DCookie |------------------------->| DObject | : |
72 +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : |
73 | : : |
74 +-------+-------+ : : |
75 | | : : |
76 V V : : V
77 +-----------+ +-----------+ : : +-----------+
78 | DCookie | | DCookie |------------------------>| DObject |
79 +-----------+ +-----------+ : : +-----------+
80 : :
81
82In the above illustration, ICookie and IObject represent indices and DCookie
83and DObject represent data storage objects. Indices may have representation in
84multiple caches, but currently, non-index objects may not. Objects of any type
85may also be entirely unrepresented.
86
87As far as the netfs API goes, the netfs is only actually permitted to see
88pointers to the cookies. The cookies themselves and any objects attached to
89those cookies are hidden from it.
90
91
92===============================
93OBJECT MANAGEMENT STATE MACHINE
94===============================
95
96Within FS-Cache, each active object is managed by its own individual state
97machine. The state for an object is kept in the fscache_object struct, in
98object->state. A cookie may point to a set of objects that are in different
99states.
100
101Each state has an action associated with it that is invoked when the machine
102wakes up in that state. There are four logical sets of states:
103
104 (1) Preparation: states that wait for the parent objects to become ready. The
105 representations are hierarchical, and it is expected that an object must
106 be created or accessed with respect to its parent object.
107
108 (2) Initialisation: states that perform lookups in the cache and validate
109 what's found and that create on disk any missing metadata.
110
111 (3) Normal running: states that allow netfs operations on objects to proceed
112 and that update the state of objects.
113
114 (4) Termination: states that detach objects from their netfs cookies, that
115 delete objects from disk, that handle disk and system errors and that free
116 up in-memory resources.
117
118
119In most cases, transitioning between states is in response to signalled events.
120When a state has finished processing, it will usually set the mask of events in
121which it is interested (object->event_mask) and relinquish the worker thread.
122Then when an event is raised (by calling fscache_raise_event()), if the event
123is not masked, the object will be queued for processing (by calling
124fscache_enqueue_object()).
125
126
127PROVISION OF CPU TIME
128---------------------
129
130The work to be done by the various states is given CPU time by the threads of
131the slow work facility (see Documentation/slow-work.txt). This is used in
132preference to the workqueue facility because:
133
134 (1) Threads may be completely occupied for very long periods of time by a
135 particular work item. These state actions may be doing sequences of
136 synchronous, journalled disk accesses (lookup, mkdir, create, setxattr,
137 getxattr, truncate, unlink, rmdir, rename).
138
139 (2) Threads may do little actual work, but may rather spend a lot of time
140 sleeping on I/O. This means that single-threaded and 1-per-CPU-threaded
141 workqueues don't necessarily have the right numbers of threads.
142
143
144LOCKING SIMPLIFICATION
145----------------------
146
147Because only one worker thread may be operating on any particular object's
148state machine at once, this simplifies the locking, particularly with respect
149to disconnecting the netfs's representation of a cache object (fscache_cookie)
150from the cache backend's representation (fscache_object) - which may be
151requested from either end.
152
153
154=================
155THE SET OF STATES
156=================
157
158The object state machine has a set of states that it can be in. There are
159preparation states in which the object sets itself up and waits for its parent
160object to transit to a state that allows access to its children:
161
162 (1) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT.
163
164 Initialise the object and wait for the parent object to become active. In
165 the cache, it is expected that it will not be possible to look an object
166 up from the parent object, until that parent object itself has been looked
167 up.
168
169There are initialisation states in which the object sets itself up and accesses
170disk for the object metadata:
171
172 (2) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_LOOKING_UP.
173
174 Look up the object on disk, using the parent as a starting point.
175 FS-Cache expects the cache backend to probe the cache to see whether this
176 object is represented there, and if it is, to see if it's valid (coherency
177 management).
178
179 The cache should call fscache_object_lookup_negative() to indicate lookup
180 failure for whatever reason, and should call fscache_obtained_object() to
181 indicate success.
182
183 At the completion of lookup, FS-Cache will let the netfs go ahead with
184 read operations, no matter whether the file is yet cached. If not yet
185 cached, read operations will be immediately rejected with ENODATA until
186 the first known page is uncached - as to that point there can be no data
187 to be read out of the cache for that file that isn't currently also held
188 in the pagecache.
189
190 (3) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_CREATING.
191
192 Create an object on disk, using the parent as a starting point. This
193 happens if the lookup failed to find the object, or if the object's
194 coherency data indicated what's on disk is out of date. In this state,
195 FS-Cache expects the cache to create
196
197 The cache should call fscache_obtained_object() if creation completes
198 successfully, fscache_object_lookup_negative() otherwise.
199
200 At the completion of creation, FS-Cache will start processing write
201 operations the netfs has queued for an object. If creation failed, the
202 write ops will be transparently discarded, and nothing recorded in the
203 cache.
204
205There are some normal running states in which the object spends its time
206servicing netfs requests:
207
208 (4) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_AVAILABLE.
209
210 A transient state in which pending operations are started, child objects
211 are permitted to advance from FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT state, and temporary
212 lookup data is freed.
213
214 (5) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_ACTIVE.
215
216 The normal running state. In this state, requests the netfs makes will be
217 passed on to the cache.
218
219 (6) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_UPDATING.
220
221 The state machine comes here to update the object in the cache from the
222 netfs's records. This involves updating the auxiliary data that is used
223 to maintain coherency.
224
225And there are terminal states in which an object cleans itself up, deallocates
226memory and potentially deletes stuff from disk:
227
228 (7) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_LC_DYING.
229
230 The object comes here if it is dying because of a lookup or creation
231 error. This would be due to a disk error or system error of some sort.
232 Temporary data is cleaned up, and the parent is released.
233
234 (8) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_DYING.
235
236 The object comes here if it is dying due to an error, because its parent
237 cookie has been relinquished by the netfs or because the cache is being
238 withdrawn.
239
240 Any child objects waiting on this one are given CPU time so that they too
241 can destroy themselves. This object waits for all its children to go away
242 before advancing to the next state.
243
244 (9) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_ABORT_INIT.
245
246 The object comes to this state if it was waiting on its parent in
247 FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT, but its parent died. The object will destroy itself
248 so that the parent may proceed from the FSCACHE_OBJECT_DYING state.
249
250(10) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_RELEASING.
251(11) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING.
252
253 The object comes to one of these two states when dying once it is rid of
254 all its children, if it is dying because the netfs relinquished its
255 cookie. In the first state, the cached data is expected to persist, and
256 in the second it will be deleted.
257
258(12) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_WITHDRAWING.
259
260 The object transits to this state if the cache decides it wants to
261 withdraw the object from service, perhaps to make space, but also due to
262 error or just because the whole cache is being withdrawn.
263
264(13) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_DEAD.
265
266 The object transits to this state when the in-memory object record is
267 ready to be deleted. The object processor shouldn't ever see an object in
268 this state.
269
270
271THE SET OF EVENTS
272-----------------
273
274There are a number of events that can be raised to an object state machine:
275
276 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_UPDATE
277
278 The netfs requested that an object be updated. The state machine will ask
279 the cache backend to update the object, and the cache backend will ask the
280 netfs for details of the change through its cookie definition ops.
281
282 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_CLEARED
283
284 This is signalled in two circumstances:
285
286 (a) when an object's last child object is dropped and
287
288 (b) when the last operation outstanding on an object is completed.
289
290 This is used to proceed from the dying state.
291
292 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_ERROR
293
294 This is signalled when an I/O error occurs during the processing of some
295 object.
296
297 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_RELEASE
298 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_RETIRE
299
300 These are signalled when the netfs relinquishes a cookie it was using.
301 The event selected depends on whether the netfs asks for the backing
302 object to be retired (deleted) or retained.
303
304 (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_WITHDRAW
305
306 This is signalled when the cache backend wants to withdraw an object.
307 This means that the object will have to be detached from the netfs's
308 cookie.
309
310Because the withdrawing releasing/retiring events are all handled by the object
311state machine, it doesn't matter if there's a collision with both ends trying
312to sever the connection at the same time. The state machine can just pick
313which one it wants to honour, and that effects the other.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/operations.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/operations.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b6b070c57cbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/operations.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
1 ================================
2 ASYNCHRONOUS OPERATIONS HANDLING
3 ================================
4
5By: David Howells <dhowells@redhat.com>
6
7Contents:
8
9 (*) Overview.
10
11 (*) Operation record initialisation.
12
13 (*) Parameters.
14
15 (*) Procedure.
16
17 (*) Asynchronous callback.
18
19
20========
21OVERVIEW
22========
23
24FS-Cache has an asynchronous operations handling facility that it uses for its
25data storage and retrieval routines. Its operations are represented by
26fscache_operation structs, though these are usually embedded into some other
27structure.
28
29This facility is available to and expected to be be used by the cache backends,
30and FS-Cache will create operations and pass them off to the appropriate cache
31backend for completion.
32
33To make use of this facility, <linux/fscache-cache.h> should be #included.
34
35
36===============================
37OPERATION RECORD INITIALISATION
38===============================
39
40An operation is recorded in an fscache_operation struct:
41
42 struct fscache_operation {
43 union {
44 struct work_struct fast_work;
45 struct slow_work slow_work;
46 };
47 unsigned long flags;
48 fscache_operation_processor_t processor;
49 ...
50 };
51
52Someone wanting to issue an operation should allocate something with this
53struct embedded in it. They should initialise it by calling:
54
55 void fscache_operation_init(struct fscache_operation *op,
56 fscache_operation_release_t release);
57
58with the operation to be initialised and the release function to use.
59
60The op->flags parameter should be set to indicate the CPU time provision and
61the exclusivity (see the Parameters section).
62
63The op->fast_work, op->slow_work and op->processor flags should be set as
64appropriate for the CPU time provision (see the Parameters section).
65
66FSCACHE_OP_WAITING may be set in op->flags prior to each submission of the
67operation and waited for afterwards.
68
69
70==========
71PARAMETERS
72==========
73
74There are a number of parameters that can be set in the operation record's flag
75parameter. There are three options for the provision of CPU time in these
76operations:
77
78 (1) The operation may be done synchronously (FSCACHE_OP_MYTHREAD). A thread
79 may decide it wants to handle an operation itself without deferring it to
80 another thread.
81
82 This is, for example, used in read operations for calling readpages() on
83 the backing filesystem in CacheFiles. Although readpages() does an
84 asynchronous data fetch, the determination of whether pages exist is done
85 synchronously - and the netfs does not proceed until this has been
86 determined.
87
88 If this option is to be used, FSCACHE_OP_WAITING must be set in op->flags
89 before submitting the operation, and the operating thread must wait for it
90 to be cleared before proceeding:
91
92 wait_on_bit(&op->flags, FSCACHE_OP_WAITING,
93 fscache_wait_bit, TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE);
94
95
96 (2) The operation may be fast asynchronous (FSCACHE_OP_FAST), in which case it
97 will be given to keventd to process. Such an operation is not permitted
98 to sleep on I/O.
99
100 This is, for example, used by CacheFiles to copy data from a backing fs
101 page to a netfs page after the backing fs has read the page in.
102
103 If this option is used, op->fast_work and op->processor must be
104 initialised before submitting the operation:
105
106 INIT_WORK(&op->fast_work, do_some_work);
107
108
109 (3) The operation may be slow asynchronous (FSCACHE_OP_SLOW), in which case it
110 will be given to the slow work facility to process. Such an operation is
111 permitted to sleep on I/O.
112
113 This is, for example, used by FS-Cache to handle background writes of
114 pages that have just been fetched from a remote server.
115
116 If this option is used, op->slow_work and op->processor must be
117 initialised before submitting the operation:
118
119 fscache_operation_init_slow(op, processor)
120
121
122Furthermore, operations may be one of two types:
123
124 (1) Exclusive (FSCACHE_OP_EXCLUSIVE). Operations of this type may not run in
125 conjunction with any other operation on the object being operated upon.
126
127 An example of this is the attribute change operation, in which the file
128 being written to may need truncation.
129
130 (2) Shareable. Operations of this type may be running simultaneously. It's
131 up to the operation implementation to prevent interference between other
132 operations running at the same time.
133
134
135=========
136PROCEDURE
137=========
138
139Operations are used through the following procedure:
140
141 (1) The submitting thread must allocate the operation and initialise it
142 itself. Normally this would be part of a more specific structure with the
143 generic op embedded within.
144
145 (2) The submitting thread must then submit the operation for processing using
146 one of the following two functions:
147
148 int fscache_submit_op(struct fscache_object *object,
149 struct fscache_operation *op);
150
151 int fscache_submit_exclusive_op(struct fscache_object *object,
152 struct fscache_operation *op);
153
154 The first function should be used to submit non-exclusive ops and the
155 second to submit exclusive ones. The caller must still set the
156 FSCACHE_OP_EXCLUSIVE flag.
157
158 If successful, both functions will assign the operation to the specified
159 object and return 0. -ENOBUFS will be returned if the object specified is
160 permanently unavailable.
161
162 The operation manager will defer operations on an object that is still
163 undergoing lookup or creation. The operation will also be deferred if an
164 operation of conflicting exclusivity is in progress on the object.
165
166 If the operation is asynchronous, the manager will retain a reference to
167 it, so the caller should put their reference to it by passing it to:
168
169 void fscache_put_operation(struct fscache_operation *op);
170
171 (3) If the submitting thread wants to do the work itself, and has marked the
172 operation with FSCACHE_OP_MYTHREAD, then it should monitor
173 FSCACHE_OP_WAITING as described above and check the state of the object if
174 necessary (the object might have died whilst the thread was waiting).
175
176 When it has finished doing its processing, it should call
177 fscache_put_operation() on it.
178
179 (4) The operation holds an effective lock upon the object, preventing other
180 exclusive ops conflicting until it is released. The operation can be
181 enqueued for further immediate asynchronous processing by adjusting the
182 CPU time provisioning option if necessary, eg:
183
184 op->flags &= ~FSCACHE_OP_TYPE;
185 op->flags |= ~FSCACHE_OP_FAST;
186
187 and calling:
188
189 void fscache_enqueue_operation(struct fscache_operation *op)
190
191 This can be used to allow other things to have use of the worker thread
192 pools.
193
194
195=====================
196ASYNCHRONOUS CALLBACK
197=====================
198
199When used in asynchronous mode, the worker thread pool will invoke the
200processor method with a pointer to the operation. This should then get at the
201container struct by using container_of():
202
203 static void fscache_write_op(struct fscache_operation *_op)
204 {
205 struct fscache_storage *op =
206 container_of(_op, struct fscache_storage, op);
207 ...
208 }
209
210The caller holds a reference on the operation, and will invoke
211fscache_put_operation() when the processor function returns. The processor
212function is at liberty to call fscache_enqueue_operation() or to take extra
213references.
diff --git a/Documentation/slow-work.txt b/Documentation/slow-work.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ebc50f808ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/slow-work.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
1 ====================================
2 SLOW WORK ITEM EXECUTION THREAD POOL
3 ====================================
4
5By: David Howells <dhowells@redhat.com>
6
7The slow work item execution thread pool is a pool of threads for performing
8things that take a relatively long time, such as making mkdir calls.
9Typically, when processing something, these items will spend a lot of time
10blocking a thread on I/O, thus making that thread unavailable for doing other
11work.
12
13The standard workqueue model is unsuitable for this class of work item as that
14limits the owner to a single thread or a single thread per CPU. For some
15tasks, however, more threads - or fewer - are required.
16
17There is just one pool per system. It contains no threads unless something
18wants to use it - and that something must register its interest first. When
19the pool is active, the number of threads it contains is dynamic, varying
20between a maximum and minimum setting, depending on the load.
21
22
23====================
24CLASSES OF WORK ITEM
25====================
26
27This pool support two classes of work items:
28
29 (*) Slow work items.
30
31 (*) Very slow work items.
32
33The former are expected to finish much quicker than the latter.
34
35An operation of the very slow class may do a batch combination of several
36lookups, mkdirs, and a create for instance.
37
38An operation of the ordinarily slow class may, for example, write stuff or
39expand files, provided the time taken to do so isn't too long.
40
41Operations of both types may sleep during execution, thus tying up the thread
42loaned to it.
43
44
45THREAD-TO-CLASS ALLOCATION
46--------------------------
47
48Not all the threads in the pool are available to work on very slow work items.
49The number will be between one and one fewer than the number of active threads.
50This is configurable (see the "Pool Configuration" section).
51
52All the threads are available to work on ordinarily slow work items, but a
53percentage of the threads will prefer to work on very slow work items.
54
55The configuration ensures that at least one thread will be available to work on
56very slow work items, and at least one thread will be available that won't work
57on very slow work items at all.
58
59
60=====================
61USING SLOW WORK ITEMS
62=====================
63
64Firstly, a module or subsystem wanting to make use of slow work items must
65register its interest:
66
67 int ret = slow_work_register_user();
68
69This will return 0 if successful, or a -ve error upon failure.
70
71
72Slow work items may then be set up by:
73
74 (1) Declaring a slow_work struct type variable:
75
76 #include <linux/slow-work.h>
77
78 struct slow_work myitem;
79
80 (2) Declaring the operations to be used for this item:
81
82 struct slow_work_ops myitem_ops = {
83 .get_ref = myitem_get_ref,
84 .put_ref = myitem_put_ref,
85 .execute = myitem_execute,
86 };
87
88 [*] For a description of the ops, see section "Item Operations".
89
90 (3) Initialising the item:
91
92 slow_work_init(&myitem, &myitem_ops);
93
94 or:
95
96 vslow_work_init(&myitem, &myitem_ops);
97
98 depending on its class.
99
100A suitably set up work item can then be enqueued for processing:
101
102 int ret = slow_work_enqueue(&myitem);
103
104This will return a -ve error if the thread pool is unable to gain a reference
105on the item, 0 otherwise.
106
107
108The items are reference counted, so there ought to be no need for a flush
109operation. When all a module's slow work items have been processed, and the
110module has no further interest in the facility, it should unregister its
111interest:
112
113 slow_work_unregister_user();
114
115
116===============
117ITEM OPERATIONS
118===============
119
120Each work item requires a table of operations of type struct slow_work_ops.
121All members are required:
122
123 (*) Get a reference on an item:
124
125 int (*get_ref)(struct slow_work *work);
126
127 This allows the thread pool to attempt to pin an item by getting a
128 reference on it. This function should return 0 if the reference was
129 granted, or a -ve error otherwise. If an error is returned,
130 slow_work_enqueue() will fail.
131
132 The reference is held whilst the item is queued and whilst it is being
133 executed. The item may then be requeued with the same reference held, or
134 the reference will be released.
135
136 (*) Release a reference on an item:
137
138 void (*put_ref)(struct slow_work *work);
139
140 This allows the thread pool to unpin an item by releasing the reference on
141 it. The thread pool will not touch the item again once this has been
142 called.
143
144 (*) Execute an item:
145
146 void (*execute)(struct slow_work *work);
147
148 This should perform the work required of the item. It may sleep, it may
149 perform disk I/O and it may wait for locks.
150
151
152==================
153POOL CONFIGURATION
154==================
155
156The slow-work thread pool has a number of configurables:
157
158 (*) /proc/sys/kernel/slow-work/min-threads
159
160 The minimum number of threads that should be in the pool whilst it is in
161 use. This may be anywhere between 2 and max-threads.
162
163 (*) /proc/sys/kernel/slow-work/max-threads
164
165 The maximum number of threads that should in the pool. This may be
166 anywhere between min-threads and 255 or NR_CPUS * 2, whichever is greater.
167
168 (*) /proc/sys/kernel/slow-work/vslow-percentage
169
170 The percentage of active threads in the pool that may be used to execute
171 very slow work items. This may be between 1 and 99. The resultant number
172 is bounded to between 1 and one fewer than the number of active threads.
173 This ensures there is always at least one thread that can process very
174 slow work items, and always at least one thread that won't.