Hi, I sent the latest patch-set of the freeze feature (ver 1.9) as the following mail. The points are: - When multiple freeze requests arrive simultaneously, only the last unfreeze process should unfreeze the frozen filesystem actually. So I added the reference counter to the freeze feature. - I left the timeout feature in my patch-set because we need it for the case someone dirties so much data that the freeze process is swapped out. Any comments? >When multiple freeze requests arrive simultaneously, only the last >unfreeze process should unfreeze the frozen filesystem actually >(as Dave Chinner, Eric Sandeen and Alasdair G Kergon commented). >So I've added the reference counter to the freeze feature. >It counts up in freeze_bdev() and counts down in thaw_bdev(). >When it becomes "0", thaw_bdev() will unfreeze actually. > >The following regular cases have worked correctly. > >A) >1. dmsetup suspend >2. FIFREEZE >3. FITHAW >4. dmsetup resume >B) >1. FIFREEZE >2. dmsetup suspend >3. dmsetup resume >4. FITHAW > >But in the following case, the last FITHAW has been frozen >for writing the super block because device-mapper layer is still frozen. >It's a irregular case (app's bug) and the next "dmsetup resume" >can solve it. So I don't think it is a problem. >C) >1. dmsetup suspend >2. FIFREEZE >3. FITHAW >4. FITHAW<- The thaw process was frozen. > >In my previous mail, I have mentioned considering removing the timeout >feature. But I leave it in my patch-set because we need it for the case >someone dirties so much data that the freeze process is swapped out >(as some people said). > >Currently, ext3 in mainline Linux doesn't have the freeze feature which >suspends write requests. So, we cannot take a backup which keeps >the filesystem's consistency with the storage device's features >(snapshot and replication) while it is mounted. >In many case, a commercial filesystem (e.g. VxFS) has >the freeze feature and it would be used to get the consistent backup. >If Linux's standard filesytem ext3 has the freeze feature, we can do it >without a commercial filesystem. > >So I have implemented the ioctls of the freeze feature. >I think we can take the consistent backup with the following steps. >1. Freeze the filesystem with the freeze ioctl. >2. Separate the replication volume or create the snapshot > with the storage device's feature. >3. Unfreeze the filesystem with the unfreeze ioctl. >4. Take the backup from the separated replication volume > or the snapshot. > >[PATCH 1/3] Implement generic freeze feature > I have modified to set the suitable error number (EOPNOTSUPP) > in case the filesystem doesn't support the freeze feature. > > The ioctls for the generic freeze feature are below. > o Freeze the filesystem > int ioctl(int fd, int FIFREEZE, arg) > fd: The file descriptor of the mountpoint > FIFREEZE: request code for the freeze > arg: Ignored > Return value: 0 if the operation succeeds. Otherwise, -1 > > o Unfreeze the filesystem > int ioctl(int fd, int FITHAW, arg) > fd: The file descriptor of the mountpoint > FITHAW: request code for unfreeze > arg: Ignored > Return value: 0 if the operation succeeds. Otherwise, -1 > >[PATCH 2/3] Remove XFS specific ioctl interfaces for freeze feature > It removes XFS specific ioctl interfaces and request codes > for freeze feature. > This patch has been supplied by David Chinner. > >[PATCH 3/3] Add timeout feature > The timeout feature is added to freeze ioctl. And new ioctl > to reset the timeout period is added. > o Freeze the filesystem > int ioctl(int fd, int FIFREEZE, long *timeout_sec) > fd: The file descriptor of the mountpoint > FIFREEZE: request code for the freeze > timeout_sec: the timeout period in seconds > If it's 0 or 1, the timeout isn't set. > This special case of "1" is implemented to keep > the compatibility with XFS applications. > Return value: 0 if the operation succeeds. Otherwise, -1 > > o Reset the timeout period > This is useful for the application to set the timeout_sec more accurately. > For example, the freezer resets the timeout_sec to 10 seconds every 5 > seconds. In this approach, even if the freezer causes a deadlock > by accessing the frozen filesystem, it will be solved by the timeout > in 10 seconds and the freezer can recognize that at the next reset > of timeout_sec. > int ioctl(int fd, int FIFREEZE_RESET_TIMEOUT, long *timeout_sec) > fd:file descriptor of mountpoint > FIFREEZE_RESET_TIMEOUT: request code for reset of timeout period > timeout_sec: new timeout period in seconds > Return value: 0 if the operation succeeds. Otherwise, -1 > Error number: If the filesystem has already been unfrozen, > errno is set to EINVAL. > >Any comments are very welcome. > >Cheers, Takashi -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-ext4" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
