Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Tue, 6 Nov 2001 19:25:55 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Tue, 6 Nov 2001 19:25:42 -0500 Received: from rj.sgi.com ([204.94.215.100]:56295 "EHLO rj.sgi.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Tue, 6 Nov 2001 19:25:24 -0500 Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 11:23:58 +1100 From: Nathan Scott To: Linus Torvalds , Andreas Gruenbacher Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, acl-devel@bestbits.at, linux-xfs@oss.sgi.com Subject: Re: [RFC][PATCH] extended attributes Message-ID: <20011107112358.D591676@wobbly.melbourne.sgi.com> In-Reply-To: <20011107111224.C591676@wobbly.melbourne.sgi.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: <20011107111224.C591676@wobbly.melbourne.sgi.com>; from nathans@sgi.com on Wed, Nov 07, 2001 at 11:12:24AM +1100 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Quick follow up - I had to botch _one_ of the CC'd lists I guess... "linux-xfs@oss.sgi.comc" -> "linux-xfs@oss.sgi.com". *sigh* cheers. On Wed, Nov 07, 2001 at 11:12:24AM +1100, Nathan Scott wrote: > hi folks, > > I've been discussing a filesystem extended attributes API with Andreas > Gruenbacher (maintainer of the ext2/ext3 extended attributes patch[1]) > which is suitable for other Linux filesystems as well, in an effort to > remove the differences between our current implementations and to help > out the people building services layered above this (especially Samba). > In doing so we have reviewed the earlier discussion[2,3] on this topic, > and have attempted to produce a new interface which I believe satisfies > many of the issues and ideas put forward there, while at the same time > ensuring that the interface is simple, and remains true to the design > of extended attributes being name:value pairs. > > A manual page describing the system call interface can be found here[4]. > We're very interested in feedback on this. In partiular, Linus - would > you consider the patch below, which reserves system call numbers for > this interface? That would be a big help to our collaborative effort. > > We have written most of the code for XFS, and Andreas is working away on > the ext2/ext3 version. Switching to a new syscall interface is going to > cause several compatibility issues for our existing users, of course, so > is not something we want to rush into before soliciting feedback and > (hopefully) getting some system call numbers reserved - otherwise we may > find ourselves needing to do a similar transition again later. > > As a test case for the interface, we will now be able to use the same > POSIX ACL userspace[1,5] between XFS and ext2 without any on-disk format > changes in XFS - this was an important interface design goal for us XFS > folk, where our format is fixed in stone as it is also used by IRIX. > > We have also begun discussions with some of the LSM developers, with the > goal of implementing POSIX capabilities and POSIX MAC (mandatory access > control) security extensions in Linux also, Here we again expect to be > able to provide a filesystem independent view of these attributes, while > still preserving the on-disk XFS format for these attributes using the > simple namespace abstraction mechanism this new interface provides. > > I've included some pointers[6,7,8,9,10] to other projects, developers, > discussions, etc. which I've come across who are in some way or another > interested in an extended attributes implementation in the base kernel > - just as examples of how various people are using (or planning to use) > the current ext2/ext3 and XFS interfaces on Linux. > > cheers. > > -- > Nathan > > > [1] Extended attributes for ext2/ext3 and POSIX ACLs > http://acl.bestbits.at/ > [2] fs-devel extended attributes discussion > http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-fsdevel&m=97222475218787&w=2 > [3] Andrew Gildfind's interface comparison whitepaper > http://acl.bestbits.at/pre/gildfind-acls.pdf > [4] New extattr(2) system call man pages > http://acl.bestbits.at/man/extattr.2.html > http://acl.bestbits.at/man/extattr.5.html > http://oss.sgi.com/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/linux-2.4-xfs/cmd/attr2/man/man2/extattr.2 > [5] Common POSIX ACL implementation for Linux > http://acl.bestbits.at/pipermail/acl-devel/2001-February/000495.html > http://www.samba.org/samba/whatsnew/samba-2.2.0.html > [6] Andrew Morgan's Filesystem Capability patches > http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/security/linux-privs/README > [7] LSM - Linux Security Module project > http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/forums_article-2854.html > http://mail.wirex.com/pipermail/linux-security-module/2001-October/002310.html > [8] DMAPI/XDSM specification - implemented in XFS via extended attributes > http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9657099/ > http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/dmapi.html > [9] SnapFS snapshot filesystem > http://lwn.net/2001/0308/a/snapfs.php3 > [10] Will Dyson's resurrection of BeFS for Linux 2.4 > http://cs.earlham.edu/~will/software/linux/kernel/BeFS.html > http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-fsdevel&m=100431033704112&w=2 > > > diff -Naur 2.4.14-pristine/arch/i386/kernel/entry.S 2.4.14-reserved/arch/i386/kernel/entry.S > --- 2.4.14-pristine/arch/i386/kernel/entry.S Sat Nov 3 12:18:49 2001 > +++ 2.4.14-reserved/arch/i386/kernel/entry.S Wed Nov 7 10:02:59 2001 > @@ -622,6 +622,9 @@ > .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_ni_syscall) /* Reserved for Security */ > .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_gettid) > .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_readahead) /* 225 */ > + .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_ni_syscall) /* reserved for extattr */ > + .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_ni_syscall) /* reserved for lextattr */ > + .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_ni_syscall) /* reserved for fextattr */ > > .rept NR_syscalls-(.-sys_call_table)/4 > .long SYMBOL_NAME(sys_ni_syscall) > diff -Naur 2.4.14-pristine/include/asm-i386/unistd.h 2.4.14-reserved/include/asm-i386/unistd.h > --- 2.4.14-pristine/include/asm-i386/unistd.h Thu Oct 18 03:03:03 2001 > +++ 2.4.14-reserved/include/asm-i386/unistd.h Wed Nov 7 10:02:59 2001 > @@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ > #define __NR_security 223 /* syscall for security modules */ > #define __NR_gettid 224 > #define __NR_readahead 225 > +#define __NR_extattr 226 /* syscall for extended attributes */ > +#define __NR_lextattr 227 /* syscall for extended attributes */ > +#define __NR_fextattr 228 /* syscall for extended attributes */ > > /* user-visible error numbers are in the range -1 - -124: see */ > > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-fsdevel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html -- Nathan - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/