On Tue, Feb 9, 2016 at 9:21 AM, Christoph Hellwig <hch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Clarify the description a bit, and document the Linux data integrity > guarantees. > > Signed-off-by: Christoph Hellwig <hch@xxxxxx> Thank you for clarifying this. > diff --git a/man2/sync.2 b/man2/sync.2 > index 5e222cb..28a42c4 100644 > --- a/man2/sync.2 > +++ b/man2/sync.2 > @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ > .\" > .TH SYNC 2 2015-08-08 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual" > .SH NAME > -sync, syncfs \- commit buffer cache to disk > +sync, syncfs \- commit filesystem caches to disk > .SH SYNOPSIS > .B #include <unistd.h> > .sp > @@ -64,8 +64,8 @@ _GNU_SOURCE > .ad > .SH DESCRIPTION > .BR sync () > -causes all buffered modifications to file metadata and data to be > -written to the underlying filesystems. > +causes all pending modifications to file system metadata and cached file > +data to be written to the underlying filesystems. > > .BR syncfs () > is like > @@ -108,16 +108,21 @@ In glibc 2.2.1 and earlier, > it was "int sync(void)", and > .BR sync () > always returned 0. > -.SH BUGS > + > According to the standard specification (e.g., POSIX.1-2001), > .BR sync () > schedules the writes, but may return before the actual > -writing is done. > -However, since version 1.3.20 Linux does actually wait. > -(This still does not guarantee data integrity: modern disks have > -large caches.) > +writing is done. However Linux waits for I/O completions, > +and thus > +.BR sync () > +or > +.BR syncfs () > +provide the same guarantees as fsync called on every file in > +the system or filesystem respectively. > +.SH BUGS > +Before version 1.3.20 Linux did not wait for I/O to complete > +before returning. > .SH SEE ALSO > -.BR bdflush (2), > .BR fdatasync (2), > .BR fsync (2), > .BR sync (1) > -- > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-fsdevel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-fsdevel" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
