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Subject: [VIRTIO RFC] content: add virtio file system device
The work-in-progress virtio file system device transports Linux FUSE
requests between a FUSE daemon running on the host and the FUSE driver
inside the guest.
This is an early version of the spec that maps FUSE requests to
virtqueues. No changes are needed to the FUSE request format.
Multiqueue is supported for normal requests. FUSE_INTERRUPT and
FUSE_FORGET requests are only sent on the dedicated hiprio queue.
Notifications are sent on the notifications queue.
The FUSE driver currently works in a "pull" model where userspace reads
requests from /dev/fuse one at a time. Virtqueues are a "push" model
where the FUSE driver will need to enqueue requests onto a specific
virtqueue and wait for the guest to process them.
The request queue buffers are completed by the device when the request
has been processed and struct fuse_out_header has been filled out. The
FUSE driver then picks up the completed request and processes it as if
the FUSE daemon had written to /dev/fuse.
Notifications involve device-to-driver communication. Since virtqueues
live in guest RAM, the device cannot initiate communication. Instead
the notifications queue is populated with empty buffers by the FUSE
driver (similar to a NIC rx queue). The device then "completes" a
buffer when it wishes to notify the driver. Replies to the notification
are place in a normal request queue, they do not go via the
notifications queue.
Note that this design assumes that the driver knows the required buffer
size for each request. My understanding is that this is true in FUSE.
The only exception is FUSE_NOTIFY_STORE, and even there the FUSE
implementation has a limit of 32 pages, which makes for a natural buffer
size limit for the notifications queue.
Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>
---
The HTML version of this draft spec is available at
https://stefanha.github.io/virtio/virtio-fs.html#x1-38800010.
This is mostly for reference and serious review isn't necessary yet.
For more information on virtio-fs, see https://virtio-fs.gitlab.io/.
Once the implementation matures we will send a real VIRTIO spec patch.
content.tex | 3 +
introduction.tex | 3 +
virtio-fs.tex | 208 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 214 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 virtio-fs.tex
diff --git a/content.tex b/content.tex
index b101d1b..4d38c5a 100644
--- a/content.tex
+++ b/content.tex
@@ -2528,6 +2528,8 @@ Device ID & Virtio Device \\
\hline
24 & Memory device \\
\hline
+26 & file system device \\
+\hline
\end{tabular}
Some of the devices above are unspecified by this document,
@@ -5432,6 +5434,7 @@ descriptor for the \field{sense_len}, \field{residual},
\input{virtio-gpu.tex}
\input{virtio-input.tex}
\input{virtio-crypto.tex}
+\input{virtio-fs.tex}
\chapter{Reserved Feature Bits}\label{sec:Reserved Feature Bits}
diff --git a/introduction.tex b/introduction.tex
index a4ac01d..6eeda5d 100644
--- a/introduction.tex
+++ b/introduction.tex
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ Levels'', BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. \newline\url{http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc
\phantomsection\label{intro:SCSI MMC}\textbf{[SCSI MMC]} &
SCSI Multimedia Commands,
\newline\url{http://www.t10.org/cgi-bin/ac.pl?t=f&f=mmc6r00.pdf}\\
+ \phantomsection\label{intro:FUSE}\textbf{[FUSE]} &
+ Linux FUSE interface,
+ \newline\url{https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/include/uapi/linux/fuse.h}\\
\end{longtable}
diff --git a/virtio-fs.tex b/virtio-fs.tex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f16ed48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/virtio-fs.tex
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+\section{File System Device}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device}
+
+The virtio file system device provides file system access. The device may
+directly manage a file system or act as a gateway to a remote file system. The
+details of how files are accessed are hidden by the device interface, allowing
+for a range of use cases.
+
+Unlike block-level storage devices such as virtio block and SCSI, the virtio
+file system device provides file-level access to data. The device interface
+therefore contains the following file system concepts:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Regular files are named objects that contain data. They can be resized
+ and auxiliary data can be stored in so-called extended attributes.
+\item Directories are containers for files and sub-directories.
+\item Symbolic links store a path which is traversed to resolve the link.
+\item Device nodes are special files whose behavior is determined by device
+ drivers.
+\end{itemize}
+
+The device interface is based on the Linux Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE)
+interface. This consists of file system requests that traverse the file system
+and access the files and directories within it. The request structure is
+defined by \hyperref[intro:FUSE]{FUSE}. The virtio file system device acts as
+a transport for FUSE requests and is analogous to the /dev/fuse device.
+
+TODO table explaining how FUSE concepts are mapped. "The virtio device has the role of the FUSE daemon."
+
+The request types are as follows:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Normal requests are submitted by the driver and completed by the device.
+\item Interrupt requests are submitted by the driver to abort requests that the
+ device may have yet to complete.
+\item Notifications are submitted by the device and completed by the driver.
+\end{itemize}
+
+This section relies on definitions from \hyperref[intro:FUSE]{FUSE}.
+
+\subsection{Device ID}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device ID}
+ 26
+
+\subsection{Virtqueues}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Virtqueues}
+
+\begin{description}
+\item[0] notifications
+\item[1] hiprio
+\item[2\ldots n] request queues
+\end{description}
+
+\subsection{Feature bits}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Feature bits}
+
+There are currently no feature bits defined.
+
+\subsection{Device configuration layout}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device configuration layout}
+
+All fields of this configuration are always available.
+
+\begin{lstlisting}
+struct virtio_fs_config {
+ char tag[36];
+ le32 num_queues;
+};
+\end{lstlisting}
+
+\begin{description}
+\item[\field{tag}] is the name associated with this file system. The tag is
+ encoded in UTF-8 and padded with NUL bytes if shorter than the
+ available space. This field is not NUL-terminated if the encoded bytes
+ take up the entire field.
+\item[\field{num_queues}] is the total number of request virtqueues exposed by
+ the device. The driver MAY use only one request queue,
+ or it can use more to achieve better performance.
+\end{description}
+
+\drivernormative{\subsubsection}{Device configuration layout}{Device Types / File System Device / Device configuration layout}
+
+The driver MUST NOT write to device configuration fields.
+
+\devicenormative{\subsubsection}{Device configuration layout}{Device Types / File System Device / Device configuration layout}
+
+\devicenormative{\subsection}{Device Initialization}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Initialization}
+
+On initialization the driver MUST first discover the
+device's virtqueues.
+
+If the driver uses the notifications queue, the driver SHOULD place at least
+one buffer in the notifications queue.
+
+TODO how is the notifications buffer size determined?
+
+\subsection{Device Operation}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation}
+
+Device operation consists of operating the virtqueues to facilitate file system
+access.
+
+\subsubsection{Device Operation: Request Queues}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Request Queues}
+
+The driver enqueues requests on an arbitrary request queue, and
+they are used by the device on that same queue. It is the
+responsibility of the driver to ensure strict request ordering
+for commands placed on different queues, because they will be
+consumed with no order constraints.
+
+Requests have the following format:
+
+\begin{lstlisting}
+struct virtio_fs_req {
+ // Device-readable part
+ struct fuse_in_header in;
+ u8 datain[];
+
+ // Device-writable part
+ struct fuse_out_header out;
+ u8 dataout[];
+};
+\end{lstlisting}
+
+Note that the words "in" and "out" follow the FUSE meaning and do not indicate
+the direction of data transfer under VIRTIO. "In" means input to a request and
+"out" means output from processing a request.
+
+\field{in} is the common header for all types of FUSE requests.
+
+\field{datain} consists of request-specific data, if any. This is identical to
+the data read from the /dev/fuse device by a FUSE daemon.
+
+\field{out} is the completion header common to all types of FUSE requests.
+
+\field{dataout} consists of request-specific data, if any. This is identical
+to the data written to the /dev/fuse device by a FUSE daemon.
+
+For example, the full layout of a FUSE_READ request is as follows:
+
+\begin{lstlisting}
+struct virtio_fs_read_req {
+ // Device-readable part
+ struct fuse_in_header in;
+ union {
+ struct fuse_read_in readin;
+ u8 datain[sizeof(struct fuse_read_in)];
+ };
+
+ // Device-writable part
+ struct fuse_out_header out;
+ u8 dataout[out.len - sizeof(struct fuse_out_header)];
+};
+\end{lstlisting}
+
+\devicenormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: Request Queues}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Request Queues}
+
+\drivernormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: Request Queues}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Request Queues}
+
+\subsubsection{Device Operation: High Priority Queue}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: High Priority Queue}
+
+The hiprio queue follows the same request format as the requests queue. This
+queue only contains FUSE_INTERRUPT, FUSE_FORGET, and FUSE_BATCH_FORGET
+requests.
+
+Interrupt and forget requests have a higher priority than normal requests. In
+order to ensure that they can always be delivered, even if all request queues
+are full, a separate queue is used.
+
+\devicenormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: High Priority Queue}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: High Priority Queue}
+
+The device SHOULD attempt to process the hiprio queue promptly.
+
+The device MAY process request queues concurrently with the hiprio queue.
+
+\drivernormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: High Priority Queue}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: High Priority Queue}
+
+The driver MUST submit FUSE_INTERRUPT, FUSE_FORGET, and FUSE_BATCH_FORGET requests solely on the hiprio queue.
+
+The driver MUST anticipate that request queues are processed concurrently with the hiprio queue.
+
+\subsubsection{Device Operation: Notifications Queue}\label{sec:Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Notifications Queue}
+
+The notifications queue is used for notification requests from the device to
+the driver. The request queues cannot be used since they only work in the
+direction of the driver to the device.
+
+Notifications are different from normal requests because they only contain
+device writable fields. The driver sends notification replies on one of the
+request queues. The format of notification requests is as follows:
+
+\begin{lstlisting}
+struct virtio_fs_notification_req {
+ // Device-writable part
+ struct fuse_out_header out;
+ u8 dataout[];
+};
+\end{lstlisting}
+
+\field{out} is the completion header common to all types of FUSE requests. The
+\field{out.unique} field is 0 and the \field{out.error} field contains a
+FUSE_NOTIFY_* code.
+
+\field{dataout} consists of request-specific data, if any. This is identical
+to the data written to the /dev/fuse device by a FUSE daemon.
+
+\devicenormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: Notifications Queue}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Notifications Queue}
+
+The device MUST set \field{out.unique} to 0 and set \field{out.error} to a FUSE_NOTIFY_* code.
+
+\drivernormative{\paragraph}{Device Operation: Notifications Queue}{Device Types / File System Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Notifications Queue}
+
+The driver MUST verify that \field{out.unique} is 0.
+
+TODO how to size buffers?
+
--
2.19.2
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