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diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.rst deleted file mode 100644 index 9ce73544a8f0..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,188 +0,0 @@ -.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 - -===================================================== -Mandatory File Locking For The Linux Operating System -===================================================== - - Andy Walker <andy@lysaker.kvaerner.no> - - 15 April 1996 - - (Updated September 2007) - -0. Why you should avoid mandatory locking ------------------------------------------ - -The Linux implementation is prey to a number of difficult-to-fix race -conditions which in practice make it not dependable: - - - The write system call checks for a mandatory lock only once - at its start. It is therefore possible for a lock request to - be granted after this check but before the data is modified. - A process may then see file data change even while a mandatory - lock was held. - - Similarly, an exclusive lock may be granted on a file after - the kernel has decided to proceed with a read, but before the - read has actually completed, and the reading process may see - the file data in a state which should not have been visible - to it. - - Similar races make the claimed mutual exclusion between lock - and mmap similarly unreliable. - -1. What is mandatory locking? ------------------------------- - -Mandatory locking is kernel enforced file locking, as opposed to the more usual -cooperative file locking used to guarantee sequential access to files among -processes. File locks are applied using the flock() and fcntl() system calls -(and the lockf() library routine which is a wrapper around fcntl().) It is -normally a process' responsibility to check for locks on a file it wishes to -update, before applying its own lock, updating the file and unlocking it again. -The most commonly used example of this (and in the case of sendmail, the most -troublesome) is access to a user's mailbox. The mail user agent and the mail -transfer agent must guard against updating the mailbox at the same time, and -prevent reading the mailbox while it is being updated. - -In a perfect world all processes would use and honour a cooperative, or -"advisory" locking scheme. However, the world isn't perfect, and there's -a lot of poorly written code out there. - -In trying to address this problem, the designers of System V UNIX came up -with a "mandatory" locking scheme, whereby the operating system kernel would -block attempts by a process to write to a file that another process holds a -"read" -or- "shared" lock on, and block attempts to both read and write to a -file that a process holds a "write " -or- "exclusive" lock on. - -The System V mandatory locking scheme was intended to have as little impact as -possible on existing user code. The scheme is based on marking individual files -as candidates for mandatory locking, and using the existing fcntl()/lockf() -interface for applying locks just as if they were normal, advisory locks. - -.. Note:: - - 1. In saying "file" in the paragraphs above I am actually not telling - the whole truth. System V locking is based on fcntl(). The granularity of - fcntl() is such that it allows the locking of byte ranges in files, in - addition to entire files, so the mandatory locking rules also have byte - level granularity. - - 2. POSIX.1 does not specify any scheme for mandatory locking, despite - borrowing the fcntl() locking scheme from System V. The mandatory locking - scheme is defined by the System V Interface Definition (SVID) Version 3. - -2. Marking a file for mandatory locking ---------------------------------------- - -A file is marked as a candidate for mandatory locking by setting the group-id -bit in its file mode but removing the group-execute bit. This is an otherwise -meaningless combination, and was chosen by the System V implementors so as not -to break existing user programs. - -Note that the group-id bit is usually automatically cleared by the kernel when -a setgid file is written to. This is a security measure. The kernel has been -modified to recognize the special case of a mandatory lock candidate and to -refrain from clearing this bit. Similarly the kernel has been modified not -to run mandatory lock candidates with setgid privileges. - -3. Available implementations ----------------------------- - -I have considered the implementations of mandatory locking available with -SunOS 4.1.x, Solaris 2.x and HP-UX 9.x. - -Generally I have tried to make the most sense out of the behaviour exhibited -by these three reference systems. There are many anomalies. - -All the reference systems reject all calls to open() for a file on which -another process has outstanding mandatory locks. This is in direct -contravention of SVID 3, which states that only calls to open() with the -O_TRUNC flag set should be rejected. The Linux implementation follows the SVID -definition, which is the "Right Thing", since only calls with O_TRUNC can -modify the contents of the file. - -HP-UX even disallows open() with O_TRUNC for a file with advisory locks, not -just mandatory locks. That would appear to contravene POSIX.1. - -mmap() is another interesting case. All the operating systems mentioned -prevent mandatory locks from being applied to an mmap()'ed file, but HP-UX -also disallows advisory locks for such a file. SVID actually specifies the -paranoid HP-UX behaviour. - -In my opinion only MAP_SHARED mappings should be immune from locking, and then -only from mandatory locks - that is what is currently implemented. - -SunOS is so hopeless that it doesn't even honour the O_NONBLOCK flag for -mandatory locks, so reads and writes to locked files always block when they -should return EAGAIN. - -I'm afraid that this is such an esoteric area that the semantics described -below are just as valid as any others, so long as the main points seem to -agree. - -4. Semantics ------------- - -1. Mandatory locks can only be applied via the fcntl()/lockf() locking - interface - in other words the System V/POSIX interface. BSD style - locks using flock() never result in a mandatory lock. - -2. If a process has locked a region of a file with a mandatory read lock, then - other processes are permitted to read from that region. If any of these - processes attempts to write to the region it will block until the lock is - released, unless the process has opened the file with the O_NONBLOCK - flag in which case the system call will return immediately with the error - status EAGAIN. - -3. If a process has locked a region of a file with a mandatory write lock, all - attempts to read or write to that region block until the lock is released, - unless a process has opened the file with the O_NONBLOCK flag in which case - the system call will return immediately with the error status EAGAIN. - -4. Calls to open() with O_TRUNC, or to creat(), on a existing file that has - any mandatory locks owned by other processes will be rejected with the - error status EAGAIN. - -5. Attempts to apply a mandatory lock to a file that is memory mapped and - shared (via mmap() with MAP_SHARED) will be rejected with the error status - EAGAIN. - -6. Attempts to create a shared memory map of a file (via mmap() with MAP_SHARED) - that has any mandatory locks in effect will be rejected with the error status - EAGAIN. - -5. Which system calls are affected? ------------------------------------ - -Those which modify a file's contents, not just the inode. That gives read(), -write(), readv(), writev(), open(), creat(), mmap(), truncate() and -ftruncate(). truncate() and ftruncate() are considered to be "write" actions -for the purposes of mandatory locking. - -The affected region is usually defined as stretching from the current position -for the total number of bytes read or written. For the truncate calls it is -defined as the bytes of a file removed or added (we must also consider bytes -added, as a lock can specify just "the whole file", rather than a specific -range of bytes.) - -Note 3: I may have overlooked some system calls that need mandatory lock -checking in my eagerness to get this code out the door. Please let me know, or -better still fix the system calls yourself and submit a patch to me or Linus. - -6. Warning! ------------ - -Not even root can override a mandatory lock, so runaway processes can wreak -havoc if they lock crucial files. The way around it is to change the file -permissions (remove the setgid bit) before trying to read or write to it. -Of course, that might be a bit tricky if the system is hung :-( - -7. The "mand" mount option --------------------------- -Mandatory locking is disabled on all filesystems by default, and must be -administratively enabled by mounting with "-o mand". That mount option -is only allowed if the mounting task has the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability. - -Since kernel v4.5, it is possible to disable mandatory locking -altogether by setting CONFIG_MANDATORY_FILE_LOCKING to "n". A kernel -with this disabled will reject attempts to mount filesystems with the -"mand" mount option with the error status EPERM. |