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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+==========================
+FS-Cache Cache backend API
+==========================
+
+The FS-Cache system provides an API by which actual caches can be supplied to
+FS-Cache for it to then serve out to network filesystems and other interested
+parties.
+
+This API is declared in <linux/fscache-cache.h>.
+
+
+Initialising and Registering a Cache
+====================================
+
+To start off, a cache definition must be initialised and registered for each
+cache the backend wants to make available. For instance, CacheFS does this in
+the fill_super() operation on mounting.
+
+The cache definition (struct fscache_cache) should be initialised by calling::
+
+ void fscache_init_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+ struct fscache_cache_ops *ops,
+ const char *idfmt,
+ ...);
+
+Where:
+
+ * "cache" is a pointer to the cache definition;
+
+ * "ops" is a pointer to the table of operations that the backend supports on
+ this cache; and
+
+ * "idfmt" is a format and printf-style arguments for constructing a label
+ for the cache.
+
+
+The cache should then be registered with FS-Cache by passing a pointer to the
+previously initialised cache definition to::
+
+ int fscache_add_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+ struct fscache_object *fsdef,
+ const char *tagname);
+
+Two extra arguments should also be supplied:
+
+ * "fsdef" which should point to the object representation for the FS-Cache
+ master index in this cache. Netfs primary index entries will be created
+ here. FS-Cache keeps the caller's reference to the index object if
+ successful and will release it upon withdrawal of the cache.
+
+ * "tagname" which, if given, should be a text string naming this cache. If
+ this is NULL, the identifier will be used instead. For CacheFS, the
+ identifier is set to name the underlying block device and the tag can be
+ supplied by mount.
+
+This function may return -ENOMEM if it ran out of memory or -EEXIST if the tag
+is already in use. 0 will be returned on success.
+
+
+Unregistering a Cache
+=====================
+
+A cache can be withdrawn from the system by calling this function with a
+pointer to the cache definition::
+
+ void fscache_withdraw_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache);
+
+In CacheFS's case, this is called by put_super().
+
+
+Security
+========
+
+The cache methods are executed one of two contexts:
+
+ (1) that of the userspace process that issued the netfs operation that caused
+ the cache method to be invoked, or
+
+ (2) that of one of the processes in the FS-Cache thread pool.
+
+In either case, this may not be an appropriate context in which to access the
+cache.
+
+The calling process's fsuid, fsgid and SELinux security identities may need to
+be masqueraded for the duration of the cache driver's access to the cache.
+This is left to the cache to handle; FS-Cache makes no effort in this regard.
+
+
+Control and Statistics Presentation
+===================================
+
+The cache may present data to the outside world through FS-Cache's interfaces
+in sysfs and procfs - the former for control and the latter for statistics.
+
+A sysfs directory called /sys/fs/fscache/<cachetag>/ is created if CONFIG_SYSFS
+is enabled. This is accessible through the kobject struct fscache_cache::kobj
+and is for use by the cache as it sees fit.
+
+
+Relevant Data Structures
+========================
+
+ * Index/Data file FS-Cache representation cookie::
+
+ struct fscache_cookie {
+ struct fscache_object_def *def;
+ struct fscache_netfs *netfs;
+ void *netfs_data;
+ ...
+ };
+
+ The fields that might be of use to the backend describe the object
+ definition, the netfs definition and the netfs's data for this cookie.
+ The object definition contain functions supplied by the netfs for loading
+ and matching index entries; these are required to provide some of the
+ cache operations.
+
+
+ * In-cache object representation::
+
+ struct fscache_object {
+ int debug_id;
+ enum {
+ FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING,
+ ...
+ } state;
+ spinlock_t lock
+ struct fscache_cache *cache;
+ struct fscache_cookie *cookie;
+ ...
+ };
+
+ Structures of this type should be allocated by the cache backend and
+ passed to FS-Cache when requested by the appropriate cache operation. In
+ the case of CacheFS, they're embedded in CacheFS's internal object
+ structures.
+
+ The debug_id is a simple integer that can be used in debugging messages
+ that refer to a particular object. In such a case it should be printed
+ using "OBJ%x" to be consistent with FS-Cache.
+
+ Each object contains a pointer to the cookie that represents the object it
+ is backing. An object should retired when put_object() is called if it is
+ in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING. The fscache_object struct should be
+ initialised by calling fscache_object_init(object).
+
+
+ * FS-Cache operation record::
+
+ struct fscache_operation {
+ atomic_t usage;
+ struct fscache_object *object;
+ unsigned long flags;
+ #define FSCACHE_OP_EXCLUSIVE
+ void (*processor)(struct fscache_operation *op);
+ void (*release)(struct fscache_operation *op);
+ ...
+ };
+
+ FS-Cache has a pool of threads that it uses to give CPU time to the
+ various asynchronous operations that need to be done as part of driving
+ the cache. These are represented by the above structure. The processor
+ method is called to give the op CPU time, and the release method to get
+ rid of it when its usage count reaches 0.
+
+ An operation can be made exclusive upon an object by setting the
+ appropriate flag before enqueuing it with fscache_enqueue_operation(). If
+ an operation needs more processing time, it should be enqueued again.
+
+
+ * FS-Cache retrieval operation record::
+
+ struct fscache_retrieval {
+ struct fscache_operation op;
+ struct address_space *mapping;
+ struct list_head *to_do;
+ ...
+ };
+
+ A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record retrieval and
+ allocation requests made by the netfs. This struct is then passed to the
+ backend to do the operation. The backend may get extra refs to it by
+ calling fscache_get_retrieval() and refs may be discarded by calling
+ fscache_put_retrieval().
+
+ A retrieval operation can be used by the backend to do retrieval work. To
+ do this, the retrieval->op.processor method pointer should be set
+ appropriately by the backend and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() called to
+ submit it to the thread pool. CacheFiles, for example, uses this to queue
+ page examination when it detects PG_lock being cleared.
+
+ The to_do field is an empty list available for the cache backend to use as
+ it sees fit.
+
+
+ * FS-Cache storage operation record::
+
+ struct fscache_storage {
+ struct fscache_operation op;
+ pgoff_t store_limit;
+ ...
+ };
+
+ A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record outstanding
+ writes to be made. FS-Cache itself enqueues this operation and invokes
+ the write_page() method on the object at appropriate times to effect
+ storage.
+
+
+Cache Operations
+================
+
+The cache backend provides FS-Cache with a table of operations that can be
+performed on the denizens of the cache. These are held in a structure of type:
+
+ ::
+
+ struct fscache_cache_ops
+
+ * Name of cache provider [mandatory]::
+
+ const char *name
+
+ This isn't strictly an operation, but should be pointed at a string naming
+ the backend.
+
+
+ * Allocate a new object [mandatory]::
+
+ struct fscache_object *(*alloc_object)(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+ struct fscache_cookie *cookie)
+
+ This method is used to allocate a cache object representation to back a
+ cookie in a particular cache. fscache_object_init() should be called on
+ the object to initialise it prior to returning.
+
+ This function may also be used to parse the index key to be used for
+ multiple lookup calls to turn it into a more convenient form. FS-Cache
+ will call the lookup_complete() method to allow the cache to release the
+ form once lookup is complete or aborted.
+
+
+ * Look up and create object [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*lookup_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is used to look up an object, given that the object is already
+ allocated and attached to the cookie. This should instantiate that object
+ in the cache if it can.
+
+ The method should call fscache_object_lookup_negative() as soon as
+ possible if it determines the object doesn't exist in the cache. If the
+ object is found to exist and the netfs indicates that it is valid then
+ fscache_obtained_object() should be called once the object is in a
+ position to have data stored in it. Similarly, fscache_obtained_object()
+ should also be called once a non-present object has been created.
+
+ If a lookup error occurs, fscache_object_lookup_error() should be called
+ to abort the lookup of that object.
+
+
+ * Release lookup data [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*lookup_complete)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is called to ask the cache to release any resources it was
+ using to perform a lookup.
+
+
+ * Increment object refcount [mandatory]::
+
+ struct fscache_object *(*grab_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is called to increment the reference count on an object. It
+ may fail (for instance if the cache is being withdrawn) by returning NULL.
+ It should return the object pointer if successful.
+
+
+ * Lock/Unlock object [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*lock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+ void (*unlock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ These methods are used to exclusively lock an object. It must be possible
+ to schedule with the lock held, so a spinlock isn't sufficient.
+
+
+ * Pin/Unpin object [optional]::
+
+ int (*pin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+ void (*unpin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ These methods are used to pin an object into the cache. Once pinned an
+ object cannot be reclaimed to make space. Return -ENOSPC if there's not
+ enough space in the cache to permit this.
+
+
+ * Check coherency state of an object [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*check_consistency)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is called to have the cache check the saved auxiliary data of
+ the object against the netfs's idea of the state. 0 should be returned
+ if they're consistent and -ESTALE otherwise. -ENOMEM and -ERESTARTSYS
+ may also be returned.
+
+ * Update object [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*update_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This is called to update the index entry for the specified object. The
+ new information should be in object->cookie->netfs_data. This can be
+ obtained by calling object->cookie->def->get_aux()/get_attr().
+
+
+ * Invalidate data object [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*invalidate_object)(struct fscache_operation *op)
+
+ This is called to invalidate a data object (as pointed to by op->object).
+ All the data stored for this object should be discarded and an
+ attr_changed operation should be performed. The caller will follow up
+ with an object update operation.
+
+ fscache_op_complete() must be called on op before returning.
+
+
+ * Discard object [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*drop_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is called to indicate that an object has been unbound from its
+ cookie, and that the cache should release the object's resources and
+ retire it if it's in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING.
+
+ This method should not attempt to release any references held by the
+ caller. The caller will invoke the put_object() method as appropriate.
+
+
+ * Release object reference [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*put_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+ This method is used to discard a reference to an object. The object may
+ be freed when all the references to it are released.
+
+
+ * Synchronise a cache [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*sync)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+ This is called to ask the backend to synchronise a cache with its backing
+ device.
+
+
+ * Dissociate a cache [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*dissociate_pages)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+ This is called to ask a cache to perform any page dissociations as part of
+ cache withdrawal.
+
+
+ * Notification that the attributes on a netfs file changed [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*attr_changed)(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This is called to indicate to the cache that certain attributes on a netfs
+ file have changed (for example the maximum size a file may reach). The
+ cache can read these from the netfs by calling the cookie's get_attr()
+ method.
+
+ The cache may use the file size information to reserve space on the cache.
+ It should also call fscache_set_store_limit() to indicate to FS-Cache the
+ highest byte it's willing to store for an object.
+
+ This method may return -ve if an error occurred or the cache object cannot
+ be expanded. In such a case, the object will be withdrawn from service.
+
+ This operation is run asynchronously from FS-Cache's thread pool, and
+ storage and retrieval operations from the netfs are excluded during the
+ execution of this operation.
+
+
+ * Reserve cache space for an object's data [optional]::
+
+ int (*reserve_space)(struct fscache_object *object, loff_t size);
+
+ This is called to request that cache space be reserved to hold the data
+ for an object and the metadata used to track it. Zero size should be
+ taken as request to cancel a reservation.
+
+ This should return 0 if successful, -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space
+ available, or -ENOMEM or -EIO on other errors.
+
+ The reservation may exceed the current size of the object, thus permitting
+ future expansion. If the amount of space consumed by an object would
+ exceed the reservation, it's permitted to refuse requests to allocate
+ pages, but not required. An object may be pruned down to its reservation
+ size if larger than that already.
+
+
+ * Request page be read from cache [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*read_or_alloc_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ struct page *page,
+ gfp_t gfp)
+
+ This is called to attempt to read a netfs page from the cache, or to
+ reserve a backing block if not. FS-Cache will have done as much checking
+ as it can before calling, but most of the work belongs to the backend.
+
+ If there's no page in the cache, then -ENODATA should be returned if the
+ backend managed to reserve a backing block; -ENOBUFS or -ENOMEM if it
+ didn't.
+
+ If there is suitable data in the cache, then a read operation should be
+ queued and 0 returned. When the read finishes, fscache_end_io() should be
+ called.
+
+ The fscache_mark_pages_cached() should be called for the page if any cache
+ metadata is retained. This will indicate to the netfs that the page needs
+ explicit uncaching. This operation takes a pagevec, thus allowing several
+ pages to be marked at once.
+
+ The retrieval record pointed to by op should be retained for each page
+ queued and released when I/O on the page has been formally ended.
+ fscache_get/put_retrieval() are available for this purpose.
+
+ The retrieval record may be used to get CPU time via the FS-Cache thread
+ pool. If this is desired, the op->op.processor should be set to point to
+ the appropriate processing routine, and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() should
+ be called at an appropriate point to request CPU time. For instance, the
+ retrieval routine could be enqueued upon the completion of a disk read.
+ The to_do field in the retrieval record is provided to aid in this.
+
+ If an I/O error occurs, fscache_io_error() should be called and -ENOBUFS
+ returned if possible or fscache_end_io() called with a suitable error
+ code.
+
+ fscache_put_retrieval() should be called after a page or pages are dealt
+ with. This will complete the operation when all pages are dealt with.
+
+
+ * Request pages be read from cache [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*read_or_alloc_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ struct list_head *pages,
+ unsigned *nr_pages,
+ gfp_t gfp)
+
+ This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except it is handed a list
+ of pages instead of one page. Any pages on which a read operation is
+ started must be added to the page cache for the specified mapping and also
+ to the LRU. Such pages must also be removed from the pages list and
+ ``*nr_pages`` decremented per page.
+
+ If there was an error such as -ENOMEM, then that should be returned; else
+ if one or more pages couldn't be read or allocated, then -ENOBUFS should
+ be returned; else if one or more pages couldn't be read, then -ENODATA
+ should be returned. If all the pages are dispatched then 0 should be
+ returned.
+
+
+ * Request page be allocated in the cache [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*allocate_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ struct page *page,
+ gfp_t gfp)
+
+ This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except that it shouldn't
+ read from the cache, even if there's data there that could be retrieved.
+ It should, however, set up any internal metadata required such that
+ the write_page() method can write to the cache.
+
+ If there's no backing block available, then -ENOBUFS should be returned
+ (or -ENOMEM if there were other problems). If a block is successfully
+ allocated, then the netfs page should be marked and 0 returned.
+
+
+ * Request pages be allocated in the cache [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*allocate_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ struct list_head *pages,
+ unsigned *nr_pages,
+ gfp_t gfp)
+
+ This is an multiple page version of the allocate_page() method. pages and
+ nr_pages should be treated as for the read_or_alloc_pages() method.
+
+
+ * Request page be written to cache [mandatory]::
+
+ int (*write_page)(struct fscache_storage *op,
+ struct page *page);
+
+ This is called to write from a page on which there was a previously
+ successful read_or_alloc_page() call or similar. FS-Cache filters out
+ pages that don't have mappings.
+
+ This method is called asynchronously from the FS-Cache thread pool. It is
+ not required to actually store anything, provided -ENODATA is then
+ returned to the next read of this page.
+
+ If an error occurred, then a negative error code should be returned,
+ otherwise zero should be returned. FS-Cache will take appropriate action
+ in response to an error, such as withdrawing this object.
+
+ If this method returns success then FS-Cache will inform the netfs
+ appropriately.
+
+
+ * Discard retained per-page metadata [mandatory]::
+
+ void (*uncache_page)(struct fscache_object *object, struct page *page)
+
+ This is called when a netfs page is being evicted from the pagecache. The
+ cache backend should tear down any internal representation or tracking it
+ maintains for this page.
+
+
+FS-Cache Utilities
+==================
+
+FS-Cache provides some utilities that a cache backend may make use of:
+
+ * Note occurrence of an I/O error in a cache::
+
+ void fscache_io_error(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+ This tells FS-Cache that an I/O error occurred in the cache. After this
+ has been called, only resource dissociation operations (object and page
+ release) will be passed from the netfs to the cache backend for the
+ specified cache.
+
+ This does not actually withdraw the cache. That must be done separately.
+
+
+ * Invoke the retrieval I/O completion function::
+
+ void fscache_end_io(struct fscache_retrieval *op, struct page *page,
+ int error);
+
+ This is called to note the end of an attempt to retrieve a page. The
+ error value should be 0 if successful and an error otherwise.
+
+
+ * Record that one or more pages being retrieved or allocated have been dealt
+ with::
+
+ void fscache_retrieval_complete(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ int n_pages);
+
+ This is called to record the fact that one or more pages have been dealt
+ with and are no longer the concern of this operation. When the number of
+ pages remaining in the operation reaches 0, the operation will be
+ completed.
+
+
+ * Record operation completion::
+
+ void fscache_op_complete(struct fscache_operation *op);
+
+ This is called to record the completion of an operation. This deducts
+ this operation from the parent object's run state, potentially permitting
+ one or more pending operations to start running.
+
+
+ * Set highest store limit::
+
+ void fscache_set_store_limit(struct fscache_object *object,
+ loff_t i_size);
+
+ This sets the limit FS-Cache imposes on the highest byte it's willing to
+ try and store for a netfs. Any page over this limit is automatically
+ rejected by fscache_read_alloc_page() and co with -ENOBUFS.
+
+
+ * Mark pages as being cached::
+
+ void fscache_mark_pages_cached(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+ struct pagevec *pagevec);
+
+ This marks a set of pages as being cached. After this has been called,
+ the netfs must call fscache_uncache_page() to unmark the pages.
+
+
+ * Perform coherency check on an object::
+
+ enum fscache_checkaux fscache_check_aux(struct fscache_object *object,
+ const void *data,
+ uint16_t datalen);
+
+ This asks the netfs to perform a coherency check on an object that has
+ just been looked up. The cookie attached to the object will determine the
+ netfs to use. data and datalen should specify where the auxiliary data
+ retrieved from the cache can be found.
+
+ One of three values will be returned:
+
+ FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OKAY
+ The coherency data indicates the object is valid as is.
+
+ FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_NEEDS_UPDATE
+ The coherency data needs updating, but otherwise the object is
+ valid.
+
+ FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OBSOLETE
+ The coherency data indicates that the object is obsolete and should
+ be discarded.
+
+
+ * Initialise a freshly allocated object::
+
+ void fscache_object_init(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This initialises all the fields in an object representation.
+
+
+ * Indicate the destruction of an object::
+
+ void fscache_object_destroyed(struct fscache_cache *cache);
+
+ This must be called to inform FS-Cache that an object that belonged to a
+ cache has been destroyed and deallocated. This will allow continuation
+ of the cache withdrawal process when it is stopped pending destruction of
+ all the objects.
+
+
+ * Indicate negative lookup on an object::
+
+ void fscache_object_lookup_negative(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
+ found a negative result.
+
+ This changes the state of an object to permit reads pending on lookup
+ completion to go off and start fetching data from the netfs server as it's
+ known at this point that there can't be any data in the cache.
+
+ This may be called multiple times on an object. Only the first call is
+ significant - all subsequent calls are ignored.
+
+
+ * Indicate an object has been obtained::
+
+ void fscache_obtained_object(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
+ produced a positive result, or that an object was created. This should
+ only be called once for any particular object.
+
+ This changes the state of an object to indicate:
+
+ (1) if no call to fscache_object_lookup_negative() has been made on
+ this object, that there may be data available, and that reads can
+ now go and look for it; and
+
+ (2) that writes may now proceed against this object.
+
+
+ * Indicate that object lookup failed::
+
+ void fscache_object_lookup_error(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This marks an object as having encountered a fatal error (usually EIO)
+ and causes it to move into a state whereby it will be withdrawn as soon
+ as possible.
+
+
+ * Indicate that a stale object was found and discarded::
+
+ void fscache_object_retrying_stale(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+ This is called to indicate that the lookup procedure found an object in
+ the cache that the netfs decided was stale. The object has been
+ discarded from the cache and the lookup will be performed again.
+
+
+ * Indicate that the caching backend killed an object::
+
+ void fscache_object_mark_killed(struct fscache_object *object,
+ enum fscache_why_object_killed why);
+
+ This is called to indicate that the cache backend preemptively killed an
+ object. The why parameter should be set to indicate the reason:
+
+ FSCACHE_OBJECT_IS_STALE
+ - the object was stale and needs discarding.
+
+ FSCACHE_OBJECT_NO_SPACE
+ - there was insufficient cache space
+
+ FSCACHE_OBJECT_WAS_RETIRED
+ - the object was retired when relinquished.
+
+ FSCACHE_OBJECT_WAS_CULLED
+ - the object was culled to make space.
+
+
+ * Get and release references on a retrieval record::
+
+ void fscache_get_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+ void fscache_put_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+
+ These two functions are used to retain a retrieval record while doing
+ asynchronous data retrieval and block allocation.
+
+
+ * Enqueue a retrieval record for processing::
+
+ void fscache_enqueue_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+
+ This enqueues a retrieval record for processing by the FS-Cache thread
+ pool. One of the threads in the pool will invoke the retrieval record's
+ op->op.processor callback function. This function may be called from
+ within the callback function.
+
+
+ * List of object state names::
+
+ const char *fscache_object_states[];
+
+ For debugging purposes, this may be used to turn the state that an object
+ is in into a text string for display purposes.