Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1760850AbYGCMst (ORCPT ); Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:48:49 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1757646AbYGCMs3 (ORCPT ); Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:48:29 -0400 Received: from mx1.redhat.com ([66.187.233.31]:45886 "EHLO mx1.redhat.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1757207AbYGCMs1 (ORCPT ); Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:48:27 -0400 Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 13:47:10 +0100 From: Alasdair G Kergon To: Takashi Sato Cc: Christoph Hellwig , linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton , linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, viro@ZenIV.linux.org.uk, dm-devel@redhat.com, xfs@oss.sgi.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, mtk.manpages@googlemail.com, axboe@kernel.dk Subject: Re: [dm-devel] Re: [PATCH 3/3] Add timeout feature Message-ID: <20080703124709.GI22522@agk.fab.redhat.com> Mail-Followup-To: Takashi Sato , Christoph Hellwig , linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton , linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, viro@ZenIV.linux.org.uk, dm-devel@redhat.com, xfs@oss.sgi.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, mtk.manpages@googlemail.com, axboe@kernel.dk References: <20080630212450t-sato@mail.jp.nec.com> <20080701081026.GB16691@infradead.org> <20080701105251.GC22522@agk.fab.redhat.com> <9942A69CB65D4A41B39F36AF8EEF6F22@nsl.ad.nec.co.jp> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <9942A69CB65D4A41B39F36AF8EEF6F22@nsl.ad.nec.co.jp> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.1i Organization: Red Hat UK Ltd. Registered in England and Wales, number 03798903. Registered Office: Amberley Place, 107-111 Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1TE. Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1659 Lines: 49 On Thu, Jul 03, 2008 at 09:11:05PM +0900, Takashi Sato wrote: > If the freezer accesses the frozen filesystem and causes a deadlock, > the above ideas can't solve it But you could also say that if the 'freezer' process accesses the frozen filesystem and deadlocks then that's just a bug and that userspace code should be fixed and there's no need to introduce the complexity of a timeout parameter. > >Similarly if a device-mapper device is involved, how should the following > >sequence behave - A, B or C? > > > >1. dmsetup suspend (freezes) > >2. FIFREEZE > >3. FITHAW > >4. dmsetup resume (thaws) > [...] > >C: > > 1 succeeds, freezes > > 2 fails, remains frozen > > 3 fails (because device-mapper owns the freeze/thaw), remains frozen > > 4 succeeds, thaws > > I think C is appropriate and the following change makes it possible. > How do you think? The point I'm trying to make here is: Under what real-world circumstances might multiple concurrent freezing attempts occur, and which of A, B or C (or other variations) would be the most appropriate way of handling such situations? A common example is people running xfs_freeze followed by an lvm command which also attempts to freeze the filesystem. I can see a case for B or C, but personally I prefer A: > > 1 succeeds, freezes > > 2 succeeds, remains frozen > > 3 succeeds, remains frozen > > 4 succeeds, thaws Alasdair -- agk@redhat.com -- 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/