diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/filesystems/porting.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/filesystems/porting.rst | 852 |
1 files changed, 852 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/porting.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/porting.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..66aa521e6376 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/porting.rst @@ -0,0 +1,852 @@ +==================== +Changes since 2.5.0: +==================== + +--- + +**recommended** + +New helpers: sb_bread(), sb_getblk(), sb_find_get_block(), set_bh(), +sb_set_blocksize() and sb_min_blocksize(). + +Use them. + +(sb_find_get_block() replaces 2.4's get_hash_table()) + +--- + +**recommended** + +New methods: ->alloc_inode() and ->destroy_inode(). + +Remove inode->u.foo_inode_i + +Declare:: + + struct foo_inode_info { + /* fs-private stuff */ + struct inode vfs_inode; + }; + static inline struct foo_inode_info *FOO_I(struct inode *inode) + { + return list_entry(inode, struct foo_inode_info, vfs_inode); + } + +Use FOO_I(inode) instead of &inode->u.foo_inode_i; + +Add foo_alloc_inode() and foo_destroy_inode() - the former should allocate +foo_inode_info and return the address of ->vfs_inode, the latter should free +FOO_I(inode) (see in-tree filesystems for examples). + +Make them ->alloc_inode and ->destroy_inode in your super_operations. + +Keep in mind that now you need explicit initialization of private data +typically between calling iget_locked() and unlocking the inode. + +At some point that will become mandatory. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +Change of file_system_type method (->read_super to ->get_sb) + +->read_super() is no more. Ditto for DECLARE_FSTYPE and DECLARE_FSTYPE_DEV. + +Turn your foo_read_super() into a function that would return 0 in case of +success and negative number in case of error (-EINVAL unless you have more +informative error value to report). Call it foo_fill_super(). Now declare:: + + int foo_get_sb(struct file_system_type *fs_type, + int flags, const char *dev_name, void *data, struct vfsmount *mnt) + { + return get_sb_bdev(fs_type, flags, dev_name, data, foo_fill_super, + mnt); + } + +(or similar with s/bdev/nodev/ or s/bdev/single/, depending on the kind of +filesystem). + +Replace DECLARE_FSTYPE... with explicit initializer and have ->get_sb set as +foo_get_sb. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +Locking change: ->s_vfs_rename_sem is taken only by cross-directory renames. +Most likely there is no need to change anything, but if you relied on +global exclusion between renames for some internal purpose - you need to +change your internal locking. Otherwise exclusion warranties remain the +same (i.e. parents and victim are locked, etc.). + +--- + +**informational** + +Now we have the exclusion between ->lookup() and directory removal (by +->rmdir() and ->rename()). If you used to need that exclusion and do +it by internal locking (most of filesystems couldn't care less) - you +can relax your locking. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->lookup(), ->truncate(), ->create(), ->unlink(), ->mknod(), ->mkdir(), +->rmdir(), ->link(), ->lseek(), ->symlink(), ->rename() +and ->readdir() are called without BKL now. Grab it on entry, drop upon return +- that will guarantee the same locking you used to have. If your method or its +parts do not need BKL - better yet, now you can shift lock_kernel() and +unlock_kernel() so that they would protect exactly what needs to be +protected. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +BKL is also moved from around sb operations. BKL should have been shifted into +individual fs sb_op functions. If you don't need it, remove it. + +--- + +**informational** + +check for ->link() target not being a directory is done by callers. Feel +free to drop it... + +--- + +**informational** + +->link() callers hold ->i_mutex on the object we are linking to. Some of your +problems might be over... + +--- + +**mandatory** + +new file_system_type method - kill_sb(superblock). If you are converting +an existing filesystem, set it according to ->fs_flags:: + + FS_REQUIRES_DEV - kill_block_super + FS_LITTER - kill_litter_super + neither - kill_anon_super + +FS_LITTER is gone - just remove it from fs_flags. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +FS_SINGLE is gone (actually, that had happened back when ->get_sb() +went in - and hadn't been documented ;-/). Just remove it from fs_flags +(and see ->get_sb() entry for other actions). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->setattr() is called without BKL now. Caller _always_ holds ->i_mutex, so +watch for ->i_mutex-grabbing code that might be used by your ->setattr(). +Callers of notify_change() need ->i_mutex now. + +--- + +**recommended** + +New super_block field ``struct export_operations *s_export_op`` for +explicit support for exporting, e.g. via NFS. The structure is fully +documented at its declaration in include/linux/fs.h, and in +Documentation/filesystems/nfs/Exporting. + +Briefly it allows for the definition of decode_fh and encode_fh operations +to encode and decode filehandles, and allows the filesystem to use +a standard helper function for decode_fh, and provide file-system specific +support for this helper, particularly get_parent. + +It is planned that this will be required for exporting once the code +settles down a bit. + +**mandatory** + +s_export_op is now required for exporting a filesystem. +isofs, ext2, ext3, resierfs, fat +can be used as examples of very different filesystems. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +iget4() and the read_inode2 callback have been superseded by iget5_locked() +which has the following prototype:: + + struct inode *iget5_locked(struct super_block *sb, unsigned long ino, + int (*test)(struct inode *, void *), + int (*set)(struct inode *, void *), + void *data); + +'test' is an additional function that can be used when the inode +number is not sufficient to identify the actual file object. 'set' +should be a non-blocking function that initializes those parts of a +newly created inode to allow the test function to succeed. 'data' is +passed as an opaque value to both test and set functions. + +When the inode has been created by iget5_locked(), it will be returned with the +I_NEW flag set and will still be locked. The filesystem then needs to finalize +the initialization. Once the inode is initialized it must be unlocked by +calling unlock_new_inode(). + +The filesystem is responsible for setting (and possibly testing) i_ino +when appropriate. There is also a simpler iget_locked function that +just takes the superblock and inode number as arguments and does the +test and set for you. + +e.g.:: + + inode = iget_locked(sb, ino); + if (inode->i_state & I_NEW) { + err = read_inode_from_disk(inode); + if (err < 0) { + iget_failed(inode); + return err; + } + unlock_new_inode(inode); + } + +Note that if the process of setting up a new inode fails, then iget_failed() +should be called on the inode to render it dead, and an appropriate error +should be passed back to the caller. + +--- + +**recommended** + +->getattr() finally getting used. See instances in nfs, minix, etc. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->revalidate() is gone. If your filesystem had it - provide ->getattr() +and let it call whatever you had as ->revlidate() + (for symlinks that +had ->revalidate()) add calls in ->follow_link()/->readlink(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->d_parent changes are not protected by BKL anymore. Read access is safe +if at least one of the following is true: + + * filesystem has no cross-directory rename() + * we know that parent had been locked (e.g. we are looking at + ->d_parent of ->lookup() argument). + * we are called from ->rename(). + * the child's ->d_lock is held + +Audit your code and add locking if needed. Notice that any place that is +not protected by the conditions above is risky even in the old tree - you +had been relying on BKL and that's prone to screwups. Old tree had quite +a few holes of that kind - unprotected access to ->d_parent leading to +anything from oops to silent memory corruption. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +FS_NOMOUNT is gone. If you use it - just set SB_NOUSER in flags +(see rootfs for one kind of solution and bdev/socket/pipe for another). + +--- + +**recommended** + +Use bdev_read_only(bdev) instead of is_read_only(kdev). The latter +is still alive, but only because of the mess in drivers/s390/block/dasd.c. +As soon as it gets fixed is_read_only() will die. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->permission() is called without BKL now. Grab it on entry, drop upon +return - that will guarantee the same locking you used to have. If +your method or its parts do not need BKL - better yet, now you can +shift lock_kernel() and unlock_kernel() so that they would protect +exactly what needs to be protected. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->statfs() is now called without BKL held. BKL should have been +shifted into individual fs sb_op functions where it's not clear that +it's safe to remove it. If you don't need it, remove it. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +is_read_only() is gone; use bdev_read_only() instead. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +destroy_buffers() is gone; use invalidate_bdev(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +fsync_dev() is gone; use fsync_bdev(). NOTE: lvm breakage is +deliberate; as soon as struct block_device * is propagated in a reasonable +way by that code fixing will become trivial; until then nothing can be +done. + +**mandatory** + +block truncatation on error exit from ->write_begin, and ->direct_IO +moved from generic methods (block_write_begin, cont_write_begin, +nobh_write_begin, blockdev_direct_IO*) to callers. Take a look at +ext2_write_failed and callers for an example. + +**mandatory** + +->truncate is gone. The whole truncate sequence needs to be +implemented in ->setattr, which is now mandatory for filesystems +implementing on-disk size changes. Start with a copy of the old inode_setattr +and vmtruncate, and the reorder the vmtruncate + foofs_vmtruncate sequence to +be in order of zeroing blocks using block_truncate_page or similar helpers, +size update and on finally on-disk truncation which should not fail. +setattr_prepare (which used to be inode_change_ok) now includes the size checks +for ATTR_SIZE and must be called in the beginning of ->setattr unconditionally. + +**mandatory** + +->clear_inode() and ->delete_inode() are gone; ->evict_inode() should +be used instead. It gets called whenever the inode is evicted, whether it has +remaining links or not. Caller does *not* evict the pagecache or inode-associated +metadata buffers; the method has to use truncate_inode_pages_final() to get rid +of those. Caller makes sure async writeback cannot be running for the inode while +(or after) ->evict_inode() is called. + +->drop_inode() returns int now; it's called on final iput() with +inode->i_lock held and it returns true if filesystems wants the inode to be +dropped. As before, generic_drop_inode() is still the default and it's been +updated appropriately. generic_delete_inode() is also alive and it consists +simply of return 1. Note that all actual eviction work is done by caller after +->drop_inode() returns. + +As before, clear_inode() must be called exactly once on each call of +->evict_inode() (as it used to be for each call of ->delete_inode()). Unlike +before, if you are using inode-associated metadata buffers (i.e. +mark_buffer_dirty_inode()), it's your responsibility to call +invalidate_inode_buffers() before clear_inode(). + +NOTE: checking i_nlink in the beginning of ->write_inode() and bailing out +if it's zero is not *and* *never* *had* *been* enough. Final unlink() and iput() +may happen while the inode is in the middle of ->write_inode(); e.g. if you blindly +free the on-disk inode, you may end up doing that while ->write_inode() is writing +to it. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +.d_delete() now only advises the dcache as to whether or not to cache +unreferenced dentries, and is now only called when the dentry refcount goes to +0. Even on 0 refcount transition, it must be able to tolerate being called 0, +1, or more times (eg. constant, idempotent). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +.d_compare() calling convention and locking rules are significantly +changed. Read updated documentation in Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst (and +look at examples of other filesystems) for guidance. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +.d_hash() calling convention and locking rules are significantly +changed. Read updated documentation in Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst (and +look at examples of other filesystems) for guidance. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +dcache_lock is gone, replaced by fine grained locks. See fs/dcache.c +for details of what locks to replace dcache_lock with in order to protect +particular things. Most of the time, a filesystem only needs ->d_lock, which +protects *all* the dcache state of a given dentry. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +Filesystems must RCU-free their inodes, if they can have been accessed +via rcu-walk path walk (basically, if the file can have had a path name in the +vfs namespace). + +Even though i_dentry and i_rcu share storage in a union, we will +initialize the former in inode_init_always(), so just leave it alone in +the callback. It used to be necessary to clean it there, but not anymore +(starting at 3.2). + +--- + +**recommended** + +vfs now tries to do path walking in "rcu-walk mode", which avoids +atomic operations and scalability hazards on dentries and inodes (see +Documentation/filesystems/path-lookup.txt). d_hash and d_compare changes +(above) are examples of the changes required to support this. For more complex +filesystem callbacks, the vfs drops out of rcu-walk mode before the fs call, so +no changes are required to the filesystem. However, this is costly and loses +the benefits of rcu-walk mode. We will begin to add filesystem callbacks that +are rcu-walk aware, shown below. Filesystems should take advantage of this +where possible. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +d_revalidate is a callback that is made on every path element (if +the filesystem provides it), which requires dropping out of rcu-walk mode. This +may now be called in rcu-walk mode (nd->flags & LOOKUP_RCU). -ECHILD should be +returned if the filesystem cannot handle rcu-walk. See +Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst for more details. + +permission is an inode permission check that is called on many or all +directory inodes on the way down a path walk (to check for exec permission). It +must now be rcu-walk aware (mask & MAY_NOT_BLOCK). See +Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst for more details. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +In ->fallocate() you must check the mode option passed in. If your +filesystem does not support hole punching (deallocating space in the middle of a +file) you must return -EOPNOTSUPP if FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE is set in mode. +Currently you can only have FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE with FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE set, +so the i_size should not change when hole punching, even when puching the end of +a file off. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->get_sb() is gone. Switch to use of ->mount(). Typically it's just +a matter of switching from calling ``get_sb_``... to ``mount_``... and changing +the function type. If you were doing it manually, just switch from setting +->mnt_root to some pointer to returning that pointer. On errors return +ERR_PTR(...). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->permission() and generic_permission()have lost flags +argument; instead of passing IPERM_FLAG_RCU we add MAY_NOT_BLOCK into mask. + +generic_permission() has also lost the check_acl argument; ACL checking +has been taken to VFS and filesystems need to provide a non-NULL ->i_op->get_acl +to read an ACL from disk. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +If you implement your own ->llseek() you must handle SEEK_HOLE and +SEEK_DATA. You can hanle this by returning -EINVAL, but it would be nicer to +support it in some way. The generic handler assumes that the entire file is +data and there is a virtual hole at the end of the file. So if the provided +offset is less than i_size and SEEK_DATA is specified, return the same offset. +If the above is true for the offset and you are given SEEK_HOLE, return the end +of the file. If the offset is i_size or greater return -ENXIO in either case. + +**mandatory** + +If you have your own ->fsync() you must make sure to call +filemap_write_and_wait_range() so that all dirty pages are synced out properly. +You must also keep in mind that ->fsync() is not called with i_mutex held +anymore, so if you require i_mutex locking you must make sure to take it and +release it yourself. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +d_alloc_root() is gone, along with a lot of bugs caused by code +misusing it. Replacement: d_make_root(inode). On success d_make_root(inode) +allocates and returns a new dentry instantiated with the passed in inode. +On failure NULL is returned and the passed in inode is dropped so the reference +to inode is consumed in all cases and failure handling need not do any cleanup +for the inode. If d_make_root(inode) is passed a NULL inode it returns NULL +and also requires no further error handling. Typical usage is:: + + inode = foofs_new_inode(....); + s->s_root = d_make_root(inode); + if (!s->s_root) + /* Nothing needed for the inode cleanup */ + return -ENOMEM; + ... + +--- + +**mandatory** + +The witch is dead! Well, 2/3 of it, anyway. ->d_revalidate() and +->lookup() do *not* take struct nameidata anymore; just the flags. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->create() doesn't take ``struct nameidata *``; unlike the previous +two, it gets "is it an O_EXCL or equivalent?" boolean argument. Note that +local filesystems can ignore tha argument - they are guaranteed that the +object doesn't exist. It's remote/distributed ones that might care... + +--- + +**mandatory** + +FS_REVAL_DOT is gone; if you used to have it, add ->d_weak_revalidate() +in your dentry operations instead. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +vfs_readdir() is gone; switch to iterate_dir() instead + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->readdir() is gone now; switch to ->iterate() + +**mandatory** + +vfs_follow_link has been removed. Filesystems must use nd_set_link +from ->follow_link for normal symlinks, or nd_jump_link for magic +/proc/<pid> style links. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +iget5_locked()/ilookup5()/ilookup5_nowait() test() callback used to be +called with both ->i_lock and inode_hash_lock held; the former is *not* +taken anymore, so verify that your callbacks do not rely on it (none +of the in-tree instances did). inode_hash_lock is still held, +of course, so they are still serialized wrt removal from inode hash, +as well as wrt set() callback of iget5_locked(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +d_materialise_unique() is gone; d_splice_alias() does everything you +need now. Remember that they have opposite orders of arguments ;-/ + +--- + +**mandatory** + +f_dentry is gone; use f_path.dentry, or, better yet, see if you can avoid +it entirely. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +never call ->read() and ->write() directly; use __vfs_{read,write} or +wrappers; instead of checking for ->write or ->read being NULL, look for +FMODE_CAN_{WRITE,READ} in file->f_mode. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +do _not_ use new_sync_{read,write} for ->read/->write; leave it NULL +instead. + +--- + +**mandatory** + ->aio_read/->aio_write are gone. Use ->read_iter/->write_iter. + +--- + +**recommended** + +for embedded ("fast") symlinks just set inode->i_link to wherever the +symlink body is and use simple_follow_link() as ->follow_link(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +calling conventions for ->follow_link() have changed. Instead of returning +cookie and using nd_set_link() to store the body to traverse, we return +the body to traverse and store the cookie using explicit void ** argument. +nameidata isn't passed at all - nd_jump_link() doesn't need it and +nd_[gs]et_link() is gone. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +calling conventions for ->put_link() have changed. It gets inode instead of +dentry, it does not get nameidata at all and it gets called only when cookie +is non-NULL. Note that link body isn't available anymore, so if you need it, +store it as cookie. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +any symlink that might use page_follow_link_light/page_put_link() must +have inode_nohighmem(inode) called before anything might start playing with +its pagecache. No highmem pages should end up in the pagecache of such +symlinks. That includes any preseeding that might be done during symlink +creation. __page_symlink() will honour the mapping gfp flags, so once +you've done inode_nohighmem() it's safe to use, but if you allocate and +insert the page manually, make sure to use the right gfp flags. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->follow_link() is replaced with ->get_link(); same API, except that + + * ->get_link() gets inode as a separate argument + * ->get_link() may be called in RCU mode - in that case NULL + dentry is passed + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->get_link() gets struct delayed_call ``*done`` now, and should do +set_delayed_call() where it used to set ``*cookie``. + +->put_link() is gone - just give the destructor to set_delayed_call() +in ->get_link(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->getxattr() and xattr_handler.get() get dentry and inode passed separately. +dentry might be yet to be attached to inode, so do _not_ use its ->d_inode +in the instances. Rationale: !@#!@# security_d_instantiate() needs to be +called before we attach dentry to inode. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +symlinks are no longer the only inodes that do *not* have i_bdev/i_cdev/ +i_pipe/i_link union zeroed out at inode eviction. As the result, you can't +assume that non-NULL value in ->i_nlink at ->destroy_inode() implies that +it's a symlink. Checking ->i_mode is really needed now. In-tree we had +to fix shmem_destroy_callback() that used to take that kind of shortcut; +watch out, since that shortcut is no longer valid. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->i_mutex is replaced with ->i_rwsem now. inode_lock() et.al. work as +they used to - they just take it exclusive. However, ->lookup() may be +called with parent locked shared. Its instances must not + + * use d_instantiate) and d_rehash() separately - use d_add() or + d_splice_alias() instead. + * use d_rehash() alone - call d_add(new_dentry, NULL) instead. + * in the unlikely case when (read-only) access to filesystem + data structures needs exclusion for some reason, arrange it + yourself. None of the in-tree filesystems needed that. + * rely on ->d_parent and ->d_name not changing after dentry has + been fed to d_add() or d_splice_alias(). Again, none of the + in-tree instances relied upon that. + +We are guaranteed that lookups of the same name in the same directory +will not happen in parallel ("same" in the sense of your ->d_compare()). +Lookups on different names in the same directory can and do happen in +parallel now. + +--- + +**recommended** + +->iterate_shared() is added; it's a parallel variant of ->iterate(). +Exclusion on struct file level is still provided (as well as that +between it and lseek on the same struct file), but if your directory +has been opened several times, you can get these called in parallel. +Exclusion between that method and all directory-modifying ones is +still provided, of course. + +Often enough ->iterate() can serve as ->iterate_shared() without any +changes - it is a read-only operation, after all. If you have any +per-inode or per-dentry in-core data structures modified by ->iterate(), +you might need something to serialize the access to them. If you +do dcache pre-seeding, you'll need to switch to d_alloc_parallel() for +that; look for in-tree examples. + +Old method is only used if the new one is absent; eventually it will +be removed. Switch while you still can; the old one won't stay. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->atomic_open() calls without O_CREAT may happen in parallel. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->setxattr() and xattr_handler.set() get dentry and inode passed separately. +dentry might be yet to be attached to inode, so do _not_ use its ->d_inode +in the instances. Rationale: !@#!@# security_d_instantiate() needs to be +called before we attach dentry to inode and !@#!@##!@$!$#!@#$!@$!@$ smack +->d_instantiate() uses not just ->getxattr() but ->setxattr() as well. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->d_compare() doesn't get parent as a separate argument anymore. If you +used it for finding the struct super_block involved, dentry->d_sb will +work just as well; if it's something more complicated, use dentry->d_parent. +Just be careful not to assume that fetching it more than once will yield +the same value - in RCU mode it could change under you. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->rename() has an added flags argument. Any flags not handled by the +filesystem should result in EINVAL being returned. + +--- + + +**recommended** + +->readlink is optional for symlinks. Don't set, unless filesystem needs +to fake something for readlink(2). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->getattr() is now passed a struct path rather than a vfsmount and +dentry separately, and it now has request_mask and query_flags arguments +to specify the fields and sync type requested by statx. Filesystems not +supporting any statx-specific features may ignore the new arguments. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->atomic_open() calling conventions have changed. Gone is ``int *opened``, +along with FILE_OPENED/FILE_CREATED. In place of those we have +FMODE_OPENED/FMODE_CREATED, set in file->f_mode. Additionally, return +value for 'called finish_no_open(), open it yourself' case has become +0, not 1. Since finish_no_open() itself is returning 0 now, that part +does not need any changes in ->atomic_open() instances. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +alloc_file() has become static now; two wrappers are to be used instead. +alloc_file_pseudo(inode, vfsmount, name, flags, ops) is for the cases +when dentry needs to be created; that's the majority of old alloc_file() +users. Calling conventions: on success a reference to new struct file +is returned and callers reference to inode is subsumed by that. On +failure, ERR_PTR() is returned and no caller's references are affected, +so the caller needs to drop the inode reference it held. +alloc_file_clone(file, flags, ops) does not affect any caller's references. +On success you get a new struct file sharing the mount/dentry with the +original, on failure - ERR_PTR(). + +--- + +**mandatory** + +->clone_file_range() and ->dedupe_file_range have been replaced with +->remap_file_range(). See Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst for more +information. + +--- + +**recommended** + +->lookup() instances doing an equivalent of:: + + if (IS_ERR(inode)) + return ERR_CAST(inode); + return d_splice_alias(inode, dentry); + +don't need to bother with the check - d_splice_alias() will do the +right thing when given ERR_PTR(...) as inode. Moreover, passing NULL +inode to d_splice_alias() will also do the right thing (equivalent of +d_add(dentry, NULL); return NULL;), so that kind of special cases +also doesn't need a separate treatment. + +--- + +**strongly recommended** + +take the RCU-delayed parts of ->destroy_inode() into a new method - +->free_inode(). If ->destroy_inode() becomes empty - all the better, +just get rid of it. Synchronous work (e.g. the stuff that can't +be done from an RCU callback, or any WARN_ON() where we want the +stack trace) *might* be movable to ->evict_inode(); however, +that goes only for the things that are not needed to balance something +done by ->alloc_inode(). IOW, if it's cleaning up the stuff that +might have accumulated over the life of in-core inode, ->evict_inode() +might be a fit. + +Rules for inode destruction: + + * if ->destroy_inode() is non-NULL, it gets called + * if ->free_inode() is non-NULL, it gets scheduled by call_rcu() + * combination of NULL ->destroy_inode and NULL ->free_inode is + treated as NULL/free_inode_nonrcu, to preserve the compatibility. + +Note that the callback (be it via ->free_inode() or explicit call_rcu() +in ->destroy_inode()) is *NOT* ordered wrt superblock destruction; +as the matter of fact, the superblock and all associated structures +might be already gone. The filesystem driver is guaranteed to be still +there, but that's it. Freeing memory in the callback is fine; doing +more than that is possible, but requires a lot of care and is best +avoided. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +DCACHE_RCUACCESS is gone; having an RCU delay on dentry freeing is the +default. DCACHE_NORCU opts out, and only d_alloc_pseudo() has any +business doing so. + +--- + +**mandatory** + +d_alloc_pseudo() is internal-only; uses outside of alloc_file_pseudo() are +very suspect (and won't work in modules). Such uses are very likely to +be misspelled d_alloc_anon(). |