linux/include/linux/miscdevice.h

67 lines
1.8 KiB

driver core: add devname module aliases to allow module on-demand auto-loading This adds: alias: devname:<name> to some common kernel modules, which will allow the on-demand loading of the kernel module when the device node is accessed. Ideally all these modules would be compiled-in, but distros seems too much in love with their modularization that we need to cover the common cases with this new facility. It will allow us to remove a bunch of pretty useless init scripts and modprobes from init scripts. The static device node aliases will be carried in the module itself. The program depmod will extract this information to a file in the module directory: $ cat /lib/modules/2.6.34-00650-g537b60d-dirty/modules.devname # Device nodes to trigger on-demand module loading. microcode cpu/microcode c10:184 fuse fuse c10:229 ppp_generic ppp c108:0 tun net/tun c10:200 dm_mod mapper/control c10:235 Udev will pick up the depmod created file on startup and create all the static device nodes which the kernel modules specify, so that these modules get automatically loaded when the device node is accessed: $ /sbin/udevd --debug ... static_dev_create_from_modules: mknod '/dev/cpu/microcode' c10:184 static_dev_create_from_modules: mknod '/dev/fuse' c10:229 static_dev_create_from_modules: mknod '/dev/ppp' c108:0 static_dev_create_from_modules: mknod '/dev/net/tun' c10:200 static_dev_create_from_modules: mknod '/dev/mapper/control' c10:235 udev_rules_apply_static_dev_perms: chmod '/dev/net/tun' 0666 udev_rules_apply_static_dev_perms: chmod '/dev/fuse' 0666 A few device nodes are switched to statically allocated numbers, to allow the static nodes to work. This might also useful for systems which still run a plain static /dev, which is completely unsafe to use with any dynamic minor numbers. Note: The devname aliases must be limited to the *common* and *single*instance* device nodes, like the misc devices, and never be used for conceptually limited systems like the loop devices, which should rather get fixed properly and get a control node for losetup to talk to, instead of creating a random number of device nodes in advance, regardless if they are ever used. This facility is to hide the mess distros are creating with too modualized kernels, and just to hide that these modules are not compiled-in, and not to paper-over broken concepts. Thanks! :) Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de> Cc: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net> Cc: Miklos Szeredi <miklos@szeredi.hu> Cc: Chris Mason <chris.mason@oracle.com> Cc: Alasdair G Kergon <agk@redhat.com> Cc: Tigran Aivazian <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk> Cc: Ian Kent <raven@themaw.net> Signed-Off-By: Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@vrfy.org> Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
2010-05-20 18:07:20 +02:00
loop: add management interface for on-demand device allocation Loop devices today have a fixed pre-allocated number of usually 8. The number can only be changed at module init time. To find a free device to use, /dev/loop%i needs to be scanned, and all devices need to be opened until a free one is possibly found. This adds a new /dev/loop-control device node, that allows to dynamically find or allocate a free device, and to add and remove loop devices from the running system: LOOP_CTL_ADD adds a specific device. Arg is the number of the device. It returns the device i or a negative error code. LOOP_CTL_REMOVE removes a specific device, Arg is the number the device. It returns the device i or a negative error code. LOOP_CTL_GET_FREE finds the next unbound device or allocates a new one. No arg is given. It returns the device i or a negative error code. The loop kernel module gets automatically loaded when /dev/loop-control is accessed the first time. The alias specified in the module, instructs udev to create this 'dead' device node, even when the module is not loaded. Example: cfd = open("/dev/loop-control", O_RDWR); # add a new specific loop device err = ioctl(cfd, LOOP_CTL_ADD, devnr); # remove a specific loop device err = ioctl(cfd, LOOP_CTL_REMOVE, devnr); # find or allocate a free loop device to use devnr = ioctl(cfd, LOOP_CTL_GET_FREE); sprintf(loopname, "/dev/loop%i", devnr); ffd = open("backing-file", O_RDWR); lfd = open(loopname, O_RDWR); err = ioctl(lfd, LOOP_SET_FD, ffd); Cc: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org> Cc: Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com> Signed-off-by: Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@vrfy.org> Signed-off-by: Jens Axboe <jaxboe@fusionio.com>
2011-07-31 22:08:04 +02:00