diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt | 778 |
1 files changed, 778 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..4db125b3a5c --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/netfs-api.txt @@ -0,0 +1,778 @@ + =============================== + FS-CACHE NETWORK FILESYSTEM API + =============================== + +There's an API by which a network filesystem can make use of the FS-Cache +facilities. This is based around a number of principles: + + (1) Caches can store a number of different object types. There are two main + object types: indices and files. The first is a special type used by + FS-Cache to make finding objects faster and to make retiring of groups of + objects easier. + + (2) Every index, file or other object is represented by a cookie. This cookie + may or may not have anything associated with it, but the netfs doesn't + need to care. + + (3) Barring the top-level index (one entry per cached netfs), the index + hierarchy for each netfs is structured according the whim of the netfs. + +This API is declared in <linux/fscache.h>. + +This document contains the following sections: + + (1) Network filesystem definition + (2) Index definition + (3) Object definition + (4) Network filesystem (un)registration + (5) Cache tag lookup + (6) Index registration + (7) Data file registration + (8) Miscellaneous object registration + (9) Setting the data file size + (10) Page alloc/read/write + (11) Page uncaching + (12) Index and data file update + (13) Miscellaneous cookie operations + (14) Cookie unregistration + (15) Index and data file invalidation + (16) FS-Cache specific page flags. + + +============================= +NETWORK FILESYSTEM DEFINITION +============================= + +FS-Cache needs a description of the network filesystem. This is specified +using a record of the following structure: + + struct fscache_netfs { + uint32_t version; + const char *name; + struct fscache_cookie *primary_index; + ... + }; + +This first two fields should be filled in before registration, and the third +will be filled in by the registration function; any other fields should just be +ignored and are for internal use only. + +The fields are: + + (1) The name of the netfs (used as the key in the toplevel index). + + (2) The version of the netfs (if the name matches but the version doesn't, the + entire in-cache hierarchy for this netfs will be scrapped and begun + afresh). + + (3) The cookie representing the primary index will be allocated according to + another parameter passed into the registration function. + +For example, kAFS (linux/fs/afs/) uses the following definitions to describe +itself: + + struct fscache_netfs afs_cache_netfs = { + .version = 0, + .name = "afs", + }; + + +================ +INDEX DEFINITION +================ + +Indices are used for two purposes: + + (1) To aid the finding of a file based on a series of keys (such as AFS's + "cell", "volume ID", "vnode ID"). + + (2) To make it easier to discard a subset of all the files cached based around + a particular key - for instance to mirror the removal of an AFS volume. + +However, since it's unlikely that any two netfs's are going to want to define +their index hierarchies in quite the same way, FS-Cache tries to impose as few +restraints as possible on how an index is structured and where it is placed in +the tree. The netfs can even mix indices and data files at the same level, but +it's not recommended. + +Each index entry consists of a key of indeterminate length plus some auxilliary +data, also of indeterminate length. + +There are some limits on indices: + + (1) Any index containing non-index objects should be restricted to a single + cache. Any such objects created within an index will be created in the + first cache only. The cache in which an index is created can be + controlled by cache tags (see below). + + (2) The entry data must be atomically journallable, so it is limited to about + 400 bytes at present. At least 400 bytes will be available. + + (3) The depth of the index tree should be judged with care as the search + function is recursive. Too many layers will run the kernel out of stack. + + +================= +OBJECT DEFINITION +================= + +To define an object, a structure of the following type should be filled out: + + struct fscache_cookie_def + { + uint8_t name[16]; + uint8_t type; + + struct fscache_cache_tag *(*select_cache)( + const void *parent_netfs_data, + const void *cookie_netfs_data); + + uint16_t (*get_key)(const void *cookie_netfs_data, + void *buffer, + uint16_t bufmax); + + void (*get_attr)(const void *cookie_netfs_data, + uint64_t *size); + + uint16_t (*get_aux)(const void *cookie_netfs_data, + void *buffer, + uint16_t bufmax); + + enum fscache_checkaux (*check_aux)(void *cookie_netfs_data, + const void *data, + uint16_t datalen); + + void (*get_context)(void *cookie_netfs_data, void *context); + + void (*put_context)(void *cookie_netfs_data, void *context); + + void (*mark_pages_cached)(void *cookie_netfs_data, + struct address_space *mapping, + struct pagevec *cached_pvec); + + void (*now_uncached)(void *cookie_netfs_data); + }; + +This has the following fields: + + (1) The type of the object [mandatory]. + + This is one of the following values: + + (*) FSCACHE_COOKIE_TYPE_INDEX + + This defines an index, which is a special FS-Cache type. + + (*) FSCACHE_COOKIE_TYPE_DATAFILE + + This defines an ordinary data file. + + (*) Any other value between 2 and 255 + + This defines an extraordinary object such as an XATTR. + + (2) The name of the object type (NUL terminated unless all 16 chars are used) + [optional]. + + (3) A function to select the cache in which to store an index [optional]. + + This function is invoked when an index needs to be instantiated in a cache + during the instantiation of a non-index object. Only the immediate index + parent for the non-index object will be queried. Any indices above that + in the hierarchy may be stored in multiple caches. This function does not + need to be supplied for any non-index object or any index that will only + have index children. + + If this function is not supplied or if it returns NULL then the first + cache in the parent's list will be chosed, or failing that, the first + cache in the master list. + + (4) A function to retrieve an object's key from the netfs [mandatory]. + + This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the + cookie acquisition function and the maximum length of key data that it may + provide. It should write the required key data into the given buffer and + return the quantity it wrote. + + (5) A function to retrieve attribute data from the netfs [optional]. + + This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the + cookie acquisition function. It should return the size of the file if + this is a data file. The size may be used to govern how much cache must + be reserved for this file in the cache. + + If the function is absent, a file size of 0 is assumed. + + (6) A function to retrieve auxilliary data from the netfs [optional]. + + This function will be called with the netfs data that was passed to the + cookie acquisition function and the maximum length of auxilliary data that + it may provide. It should write the auxilliary data into the given buffer + and return the quantity it wrote. + + If this function is absent, the auxilliary data length will be set to 0. + + The length of the auxilliary data buffer may be dependent on the key + length. A netfs mustn't rely on being able to provide more than 400 bytes + for both. + + (7) A function to check the auxilliary data [optional]. + + This function will be called to check that a match found in the cache for + this object is valid. For instance with AFS it could check the auxilliary + data against the data version number returned by the server to determine + whether the index entry in a cache is still valid. + + If this function is absent, it will be assumed that matching objects in a + cache are always valid. + + If present, the function should return one of the following values: + + (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OKAY - the entry is okay as is + (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_NEEDS_UPDATE - the entry requires update + (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OBSOLETE - the entry should be deleted + + This function can also be used to extract data from the auxilliary data in + the cache and copy it into the netfs's structures. + + (8) A pair of functions to manage contexts for the completion callback + [optional]. + + The cache read/write functions are passed a context which is then passed + to the I/O completion callback function. To ensure this context remains + valid until after the I/O completion is called, two functions may be + provided: one to get an extra reference on the context, and one to drop a + reference to it. + + If the context is not used or is a type of object that won't go out of + scope, then these functions are not required. These functions are not + required for indices as indices may not contain data. These functions may + be called in interrupt context and so may not sleep. + + (9) A function to mark a page as retaining cache metadata [optional]. + + This is called by the cache to indicate that it is retaining in-memory + information for this page and that the netfs should uncache the page when + it has finished. This does not indicate whether there's data on the disk + or not. Note that several pages at once may be presented for marking. + + The PG_fscache bit is set on the pages before this function would be + called, so the function need not be provided if this is sufficient. + + This function is not required for indices as they're not permitted data. + +(10) A function to unmark all the pages retaining cache metadata [mandatory]. + + This is called by FS-Cache to indicate that a backing store is being + unbound from a cookie and that all the marks on the pages should be + cleared to prevent confusion. Note that the cache will have torn down all + its tracking information so that the pages don't need to be explicitly + uncached. + + This function is not required for indices as they're not permitted data. + + +=================================== +NETWORK FILESYSTEM (UN)REGISTRATION +=================================== + +The first step is to declare the network filesystem to the cache. This also +involves specifying the layout of the primary index (for AFS, this would be the +"cell" level). + +The registration function is: + + int fscache_register_netfs(struct fscache_netfs *netfs); + +It just takes a pointer to the netfs definition. It returns 0 or an error as +appropriate. + +For kAFS, registration is done as follows: + + ret = fscache_register_netfs(&afs_cache_netfs); + +The last step is, of course, unregistration: + + void fscache_unregister_netfs(struct fscache_netfs *netfs); + + +================ +CACHE TAG LOOKUP +================ + +FS-Cache permits the use of more than one cache. To permit particular index +subtrees to be bound to particular caches, the second step is to look up cache +representation tags. This step is optional; it can be left entirely up to +FS-Cache as to which cache should be used. The problem with doing that is that +FS-Cache will always pick the first cache that was registered. + +To get the representation for a named tag: + + struct fscache_cache_tag *fscache_lookup_cache_tag(const char *name); + +This takes a text string as the name and returns a representation of a tag. It +will never return an error. It may return a dummy tag, however, if it runs out +of memory; this will inhibit caching with this tag. + +Any representation so obtained must be released by passing it to this function: + + void fscache_release_cache_tag(struct fscache_cache_tag *tag); + +The tag will be retrieved by FS-Cache when it calls the object definition +operation select_cache(). + + +================== +INDEX REGISTRATION +================== + +The third step is to inform FS-Cache about part of an index hierarchy that can +be used to locate files. This is done by requesting a cookie for each index in +the path to the file: + + struct fscache_cookie * + fscache_acquire_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *parent, + const struct fscache_object_def *def, + void *netfs_data); + +This function creates an index entry in the index represented by parent, +filling in the index entry by calling the operations pointed to by def. + +Note that this function never returns an error - all errors are handled +internally. It may, however, return NULL to indicate no cookie. It is quite +acceptable to pass this token back to this function as the parent to another +acquisition (or even to the relinquish cookie, read page and write page +functions - see below). + +Note also that no indices are actually created in a cache until a non-index +object needs to be created somewhere down the hierarchy. Furthermore, an index +may be created in several different caches independently at different times. +This is all handled transparently, and the netfs doesn't see any of it. + +For example, with AFS, a cell would be added to the primary index. This index +entry would have a dependent inode containing a volume location index for the +volume mappings within this cell: + + cell->cache = + fscache_acquire_cookie(afs_cache_netfs.primary_index, + &afs_cell_cache_index_def, + cell); + +Then when a volume location was accessed, it would be entered into the cell's +index and an inode would be allocated that acts as a volume type and hash chain +combination: + + vlocation->cache = + fscache_acquire_cookie(cell->cache, + &afs_vlocation_cache_index_def, + vlocation); + +And then a particular flavour of volume (R/O for example) could be added to +that index, creating another index for vnodes (AFS inode equivalents): + + volume->cache = + fscache_acquire_cookie(vlocation->cache, + &afs_volume_cache_index_def, + volume); + + +====================== +DATA FILE REGISTRATION +====================== + +The fourth step is to request a data file be created in the cache. This is +identical to index cookie acquisition. The only difference is that the type in +the object definition should be something other than index type. + + vnode->cache = + fscache_acquire_cookie(volume->cache, + &afs_vnode_cache_object_def, + vnode); + + +================================= +MISCELLANEOUS OBJECT REGISTRATION +================================= + +An optional step is to request an object of miscellaneous type be created in +the cache. This is almost identical to index cookie acquisition. The only +difference is that the type in the object definition should be something other +than index type. Whilst the parent object could be an index, it's more likely +it would be some other type of object such as a data file. + + xattr->cache = + fscache_acquire_cookie(vnode->cache, + &afs_xattr_cache_object_def, + xattr); + +Miscellaneous objects might be used to store extended attributes or directory +entries for example. + + +========================== +SETTING THE DATA FILE SIZE +========================== + +The fifth step is to set the physical attributes of the file, such as its size. +This doesn't automatically reserve any space in the cache, but permits the +cache to adjust its metadata for data tracking appropriately: + + int fscache_attr_changed(struct fscache_cookie *cookie); + +The cache will return -ENOBUFS if there is no backing cache or if there is no +space to allocate any extra metadata required in the cache. The attributes +will be accessed with the get_attr() cookie definition operation. + +Note that attempts to read or write data pages in the cache over this size may +be rebuffed with -ENOBUFS. + +This operation schedules an attribute adjustment to happen asynchronously at +some point in the future, and as such, it may happen after the function returns +to the caller. The attribute adjustment excludes read and write operations. + + +===================== +PAGE READ/ALLOC/WRITE +===================== + +And the sixth step is to store and retrieve pages in the cache. There are +three functions that are used to do this. + +Note: + + (1) A page should not be re-read or re-allocated without uncaching it first. + + (2) A read or allocated page must be uncached when the netfs page is released + from the pagecache. + + (3) A page should only be written to the cache if previous read or allocated. + +This permits the cache to maintain its page tracking in proper order. + + +PAGE READ +--------- + +Firstly, the netfs should ask FS-Cache to examine the caches and read the +contents cached for a particular page of a particular file if present, or else +allocate space to store the contents if not: + + typedef + void (*fscache_rw_complete_t)(struct page *page, + void *context, + int error); + + int fscache_read_or_alloc_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page, + fscache_rw_complete_t end_io_func, + void *context, + gfp_t gfp); + +The cookie argument must specify a cookie for an object that isn't an index, +the page specified will have the data loaded into it (and is also used to +specify the page number), and the gfp argument is used to control how any +memory allocations made are satisfied. + +If the cookie indicates the inode is not cached: + + (1) The function will return -ENOBUFS. + +Else if there's a copy of the page resident in the cache: + + (1) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on that page. + + (2) The function will submit a request to read the data from the cache's + backing device directly into the page specified. + + (3) The function will return 0. + + (4) When the read is complete, end_io_func() will be invoked with: + + (*) The netfs data supplied when the cookie was created. + + (*) The page descriptor. + + (*) The context argument passed to the above function. This will be + maintained with the get_context/put_context functions mentioned above. + + (*) An argument that's 0 on success or negative for an error code. + + If an error occurs, it should be assumed that the page contains no usable + data. + + end_io_func() will be called in process context if the read is results in + an error, but it might be called in interrupt context if the read is + successful. + +Otherwise, if there's not a copy available in cache, but the cache may be able +to store the page: + + (1) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on that page. + + (2) A block may be reserved in the cache and attached to the object at the + appropriate place. + + (3) The function will return -ENODATA. + +This function may also return -ENOMEM or -EINTR, in which case it won't have +read any data from the cache. + + +PAGE ALLOCATE +------------- + +Alternatively, if there's not expected to be any data in the cache for a page +because the file has been extended, a block can simply be allocated instead: + + int fscache_alloc_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page, + gfp_t gfp); + +This is similar to the fscache_read_or_alloc_page() function, except that it +never reads from the cache. It will return 0 if a block has been allocated, +rather than -ENODATA as the other would. One or the other must be performed +before writing to the cache. + +The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on the page if +successful. + + +PAGE WRITE +---------- + +Secondly, if the netfs changes the contents of the page (either due to an +initial download or if a user performs a write), then the page should be +written back to the cache: + + int fscache_write_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page, + gfp_t gfp); + +The cookie argument must specify a data file cookie, the page specified should +contain the data to be written (and is also used to specify the page number), +and the gfp argument is used to control how any memory allocations made are +satisfied. + +The page must have first been read or allocated successfully and must not have +been uncached before writing is performed. + +If the cookie indicates the inode is not cached then: + + (1) The function will return -ENOBUFS. + +Else if space can be allocated in the cache to hold this page: + + (1) PG_fscache_write will be set on the page. + + (2) The function will submit a request to write the data to cache's backing + device directly from the page specified. + + (3) The function will return 0. + + (4) When the write is complete PG_fscache_write is cleared on the page and + anyone waiting for that bit will be woken up. + +Else if there's no space available in the cache, -ENOBUFS will be returned. It +is also possible for the PG_fscache_write bit to be cleared when no write took +place if unforeseen circumstances arose (such as a disk error). + +Writing takes place asynchronously. + + +MULTIPLE PAGE READ +------------------ + +A facility is provided to read several pages at once, as requested by the +readpages() address space operation: + + int fscache_read_or_alloc_pages(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct address_space *mapping, + struct list_head *pages, + int *nr_pages, + fscache_rw_complete_t end_io_func, + void *context, + gfp_t gfp); + +This works in a similar way to fscache_read_or_alloc_page(), except: + + (1) Any page it can retrieve data for is removed from pages and nr_pages and + dispatched for reading to the disk. Reads of adjacent pages on disk may + be merged for greater efficiency. + + (2) The mark_pages_cached() cookie operation will be called on several pages + at once if they're being read or allocated. + + (3) If there was an general error, then that error will be returned. + + Else if some pages couldn't be allocated or read, then -ENOBUFS will be + returned. + + Else if some pages couldn't be read but were allocated, then -ENODATA will + be returned. + + Otherwise, if all pages had reads dispatched, then 0 will be returned, the + list will be empty and *nr_pages will be 0. + + (4) end_io_func will be called once for each page being read as the reads + complete. It will be called in process context if error != 0, but it may + be called in interrupt context if there is no error. + +Note that a return of -ENODATA, -ENOBUFS or any other error does not preclude +some of the pages being read and some being allocated. Those pages will have +been marked appropriately and will need uncaching. + + +============== +PAGE UNCACHING +============== + +To uncache a page, this function should be called: + + void fscache_uncache_page(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page); + +This function permits the cache to release any in-memory representation it +might be holding for this netfs page. This function must be called once for +each page on which the read or write page functions above have been called to +make sure the cache's in-memory tracking information gets torn down. + +Note that pages can't be explicitly deleted from the a data file. The whole +data file must be retired (see the relinquish cookie function below). + +Furthermore, note that this does not cancel the asynchronous read or write +operation started by the read/alloc and write functions, so the page +invalidation and release functions must use: + + bool fscache_check_page_write(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page); + +to see if a page is being written to the cache, and: + + void fscache_wait_on_page_write(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + struct page *page); + +to wait for it to finish if it is. + + +========================== +INDEX AND DATA FILE UPDATE +========================== + +To request an update of the index data for an index or other object, the +following function should be called: + + void fscache_update_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie); + +This function will refer back to the netfs_data pointer stored in the cookie by +the acquisition function to obtain the data to write into each revised index +entry. The update method in the parent index definition will be called to +transfer the data. + +Note that partial updates may happen automatically at other times, such as when +data blocks are added to a data file object. + + +=============================== +MISCELLANEOUS COOKIE OPERATIONS +=============================== + +There are a number of operations that can be used to control cookies: + + (*) Cookie pinning: + + int fscache_pin_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie); + void fscache_unpin_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie); + + These operations permit data cookies to be pinned into the cache and to + have the pinning removed. They are not permitted on index cookies. + + The pinning function will return 0 if successful, -ENOBUFS in the cookie + isn't backed by a cache, -EOPNOTSUPP if the cache doesn't support pinning, + -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space to honour the operation, -ENOMEM or + -EIO if there's any other problem. + + (*) Data space reservation: + + int fscache_reserve_space(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, loff_t size); + + This permits a netfs to request cache space be reserved to store up to the + given amount of a file. It is permitted to ask for more than the current + size of the file to allow for future file expansion. + + If size is given as zero then the reservation will be cancelled. + + The function will return 0 if successful, -ENOBUFS in the cookie isn't + backed by a cache, -EOPNOTSUPP if the cache doesn't support reservations, + -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space to honour the operation, -ENOMEM or + -EIO if there's any other problem. + + Note that this doesn't pin an object in a cache; it can still be culled to + make space if it's not in use. + + +===================== +COOKIE UNREGISTRATION +===================== + +To get rid of a cookie, this function should be called. + + void fscache_relinquish_cookie(struct fscache_cookie *cookie, + int retire); + +If retire is non-zero, then the object will be marked for recycling, and all +copies of it will be removed from all active caches in which it is present. +Not only that but all child objects will also be retired. + +If retire is zero, then the object may be available again when next the +acquisition function is called. Retirement here will overrule the pinning on a +cookie. + +One very important note - relinquish must NOT be called for a cookie unless all +the cookies for "child" indices, objects and pages have been relinquished +first. + + +================================ +INDEX AND DATA FILE INVALIDATION +================================ + +There is no direct way to invalidate an index subtree or a data file. To do +this, the caller should relinquish and retire the cookie they have, and then +acquire a new one. + + +=========================== +FS-CACHE SPECIFIC PAGE FLAG +=========================== + +FS-Cache makes use of a page flag, PG_private_2, for its own purpose. This is +given the alternative name PG_fscache. + +PG_fscache is used to indicate that the page is known by the cache, and that +the cache must be informed if the page is going to go away. It's an indication +to the netfs that the cache has an interest in this page, where an interest may +be a pointer to it, resources allocated or reserved for it, or I/O in progress +upon it. + +The netfs can use this information in methods such as releasepage() to +determine whether it needs to uncache a page or update it. + +Furthermore, if this bit is set, releasepage() and invalidatepage() operations +will be called on a page to get rid of it, even if PG_private is not set. This +allows caching to attempted on a page before read_cache_pages() to be called +after fscache_read_or_alloc_pages() as the former will try and release pages it +was given under certain circumstances. + +This bit does not overlap with such as PG_private. This means that FS-Cache +can be used with a filesystem that uses the block buffering code. + +There are a number of operations defined on this flag: + + int PageFsCache(struct page *page); + void SetPageFsCache(struct page *page) + void ClearPageFsCache(struct page *page) + int TestSetPageFsCache(struct page *page) + int TestClearPageFsCache(struct page *page) + +These functions are bit test, bit set, bit clear, bit test and set and bit +test and clear operations on PG_fscache. |