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authorMauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>2016-09-21 15:51:11 +0300
committerMauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>2016-10-24 13:12:35 +0300
commit9d85025b0418163fae079c9ba8f8445212de8568 (patch)
tree4629e2dedf4a9ed45a6855c129101f9b52138372 /Documentation/admin-guide/sysfs-rules.rst
parent186128f75392f8478ad1b32a675627d738881ca4 (diff)
downloadlinux-9d85025b0418163fae079c9ba8f8445212de8568.tar.xz
docs-rst: create an user's manual book
Place README, REPORTING-BUGS, SecurityBugs and kernel-parameters on an user's manual book. As we'll be numbering the user's manual, remove the manual numbering from SecurityBugs. Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>
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+Rules on how to access information in the Linux kernel sysfs
+============================================================
+
+The kernel-exported sysfs exports internal kernel implementation details
+and depends on internal kernel structures and layout. It is agreed upon
+by the kernel developers that the Linux kernel does not provide a stable
+internal API. Therefore, there are aspects of the sysfs interface that
+may not be stable across kernel releases.
+
+To minimize the risk of breaking users of sysfs, which are in most cases
+low-level userspace applications, with a new kernel release, the users
+of sysfs must follow some rules to use an as-abstract-as-possible way to
+access this filesystem. The current udev and HAL programs already
+implement this and users are encouraged to plug, if possible, into the
+abstractions these programs provide instead of accessing sysfs directly.
+
+But if you really do want or need to access sysfs directly, please follow
+the following rules and then your programs should work with future
+versions of the sysfs interface.
+
+- Do not use libsysfs
+ It makes assumptions about sysfs which are not true. Its API does not
+ offer any abstraction, it exposes all the kernel driver-core
+ implementation details in its own API. Therefore it is not better than
+ reading directories and opening the files yourself.
+ Also, it is not actively maintained, in the sense of reflecting the
+ current kernel development. The goal of providing a stable interface
+ to sysfs has failed; it causes more problems than it solves. It
+ violates many of the rules in this document.
+
+- sysfs is always at ``/sys``
+ Parsing ``/proc/mounts`` is a waste of time. Other mount points are a
+ system configuration bug you should not try to solve. For test cases,
+ possibly support a ``SYSFS_PATH`` environment variable to overwrite the
+ application's behavior, but never try to search for sysfs. Never try
+ to mount it, if you are not an early boot script.
+
+- devices are only "devices"
+ There is no such thing like class-, bus-, physical devices,
+ interfaces, and such that you can rely on in userspace. Everything is
+ just simply a "device". Class-, bus-, physical, ... types are just
+ kernel implementation details which should not be expected by
+ applications that look for devices in sysfs.
+
+ The properties of a device are:
+
+ - devpath (``/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb2/2-2/2-2:1.0``)
+
+ - identical to the DEVPATH value in the event sent from the kernel
+ at device creation and removal
+ - the unique key to the device at that point in time
+ - the kernel's path to the device directory without the leading
+ ``/sys``, and always starting with a slash
+ - all elements of a devpath must be real directories. Symlinks
+ pointing to /sys/devices must always be resolved to their real
+ target and the target path must be used to access the device.
+ That way the devpath to the device matches the devpath of the
+ kernel used at event time.
+ - using or exposing symlink values as elements in a devpath string
+ is a bug in the application
+
+ - kernel name (``sda``, ``tty``, ``0000:00:1f.2``, ...)
+
+ - a directory name, identical to the last element of the devpath
+ - applications need to handle spaces and characters like ``!`` in
+ the name
+
+ - subsystem (``block``, ``tty``, ``pci``, ...)
+
+ - simple string, never a path or a link
+ - retrieved by reading the "subsystem"-link and using only the
+ last element of the target path
+
+ - driver (``tg3``, ``ata_piix``, ``uhci_hcd``)
+
+ - a simple string, which may contain spaces, never a path or a
+ link
+ - it is retrieved by reading the "driver"-link and using only the
+ last element of the target path
+ - devices which do not have "driver"-link just do not have a
+ driver; copying the driver value in a child device context is a
+ bug in the application
+
+ - attributes
+
+ - the files in the device directory or files below subdirectories
+ of the same device directory
+ - accessing attributes reached by a symlink pointing to another device,
+ like the "device"-link, is a bug in the application
+
+ Everything else is just a kernel driver-core implementation detail
+ that should not be assumed to be stable across kernel releases.
+
+- Properties of parent devices never belong into a child device.
+ Always look at the parent devices themselves for determining device
+ context properties. If the device ``eth0`` or ``sda`` does not have a
+ "driver"-link, then this device does not have a driver. Its value is empty.
+ Never copy any property of the parent-device into a child-device. Parent
+ device properties may change dynamically without any notice to the
+ child device.
+
+- Hierarchy in a single device tree
+ There is only one valid place in sysfs where hierarchy can be examined
+ and this is below: ``/sys/devices.``
+ It is planned that all device directories will end up in the tree
+ below this directory.
+
+- Classification by subsystem
+ There are currently three places for classification of devices:
+ ``/sys/block,`` ``/sys/class`` and ``/sys/bus.`` It is planned that these will
+ not contain any device directories themselves, but only flat lists of
+ symlinks pointing to the unified ``/sys/devices`` tree.
+ All three places have completely different rules on how to access
+ device information. It is planned to merge all three
+ classification directories into one place at ``/sys/subsystem``,
+ following the layout of the bus directories. All buses and
+ classes, including the converted block subsystem, will show up
+ there.
+ The devices belonging to a subsystem will create a symlink in the
+ "devices" directory at ``/sys/subsystem/<name>/devices``,
+
+ If ``/sys/subsystem`` exists, ``/sys/bus``, ``/sys/class`` and ``/sys/block``
+ can be ignored. If it does not exist, you always have to scan all three
+ places, as the kernel is free to move a subsystem from one place to
+ the other, as long as the devices are still reachable by the same
+ subsystem name.
+
+ Assuming ``/sys/class/<subsystem>`` and ``/sys/bus/<subsystem>``, or
+ ``/sys/block`` and ``/sys/class/block`` are not interchangeable is a bug in
+ the application.
+
+- Block
+ The converted block subsystem at ``/sys/class/block`` or
+ ``/sys/subsystem/block`` will contain the links for disks and partitions
+ at the same level, never in a hierarchy. Assuming the block subsystem to
+ contain only disks and not partition devices in the same flat list is
+ a bug in the application.
+
+- "device"-link and <subsystem>:<kernel name>-links
+ Never depend on the "device"-link. The "device"-link is a workaround
+ for the old layout, where class devices are not created in
+ ``/sys/devices/`` like the bus devices. If the link-resolving of a
+ device directory does not end in ``/sys/devices/``, you can use the
+ "device"-link to find the parent devices in ``/sys/devices/``, That is the
+ single valid use of the "device"-link; it must never appear in any
+ path as an element. Assuming the existence of the "device"-link for
+ a device in ``/sys/devices/`` is a bug in the application.
+ Accessing ``/sys/class/net/eth0/device`` is a bug in the application.
+
+ Never depend on the class-specific links back to the ``/sys/class``
+ directory. These links are also a workaround for the design mistake
+ that class devices are not created in ``/sys/devices.`` If a device
+ directory does not contain directories for child devices, these links
+ may be used to find the child devices in ``/sys/class.`` That is the single
+ valid use of these links; they must never appear in any path as an
+ element. Assuming the existence of these links for devices which are
+ real child device directories in the ``/sys/devices`` tree is a bug in
+ the application.
+
+ It is planned to remove all these links when all class device
+ directories live in ``/sys/devices.``
+
+- Position of devices along device chain can change.
+ Never depend on a specific parent device position in the devpath,
+ or the chain of parent devices. The kernel is free to insert devices into
+ the chain. You must always request the parent device you are looking for
+ by its subsystem value. You need to walk up the chain until you find
+ the device that matches the expected subsystem. Depending on a specific
+ position of a parent device or exposing relative paths using ``../`` to
+ access the chain of parents is a bug in the application.
+
+- When reading and writing sysfs device attribute files, avoid dependency
+ on specific error codes wherever possible. This minimizes coupling to
+ the error handling implementation within the kernel.
+
+ In general, failures to read or write sysfs device attributes shall
+ propagate errors wherever possible. Common errors include, but are not
+ limited to:
+
+ ``-EIO``: The read or store operation is not supported, typically
+ returned by the sysfs system itself if the read or store pointer
+ is ``NULL``.
+
+ ``-ENXIO``: The read or store operation failed
+
+ Error codes will not be changed without good reason, and should a change
+ to error codes result in user-space breakage, it will be fixed, or the
+ the offending change will be reverted.
+
+ Userspace applications can, however, expect the format and contents of
+ the attribute files to remain consistent in the absence of a version
+ attribute change in the context of a given attribute.