Tag Archives: Semester Project

The Semester Project – Part VI: File System on Block Device

This twenty-third article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, enhances the previously written bare bone file system module, to connect with a real hardware partition.

<< Twenty-second Article

Since the last bare bone file system, the first thing which Pugs figured out was how to read from the underlying block device. Following is a typical way of doing it:

struct buffer_head *bh;

bh = sb_bread(sb, block); /* sb is the struct super_block pointer */
// bh->b_data contains the data
// Once done, bh should be released using:
brelse(bh);

To do the above and various other real SFS (Simula File System) operations, Pugs’ felt a need to have his own handle to be a key parameter, which he added as follows (in previous real_sfs_ds.h):

typedef struct sfs_info
{
	struct super_block *vfs_sb; /* Super block structure from VFS for this fs */
	sfs_super_block_t sb; /* Our fs super block */
	byte1_t *used_blocks; /* Used blocks tracker */
} sfs_info_t;

The main idea behind this was to put all required static global variables in a single structure, and point that by the private data pointer of the file system, which is s_fs_info pointer in the struct super_block structure. With that, the key changes in the fill_super_block() (in previous real_sfs_bb.c file) becomes:

  • Allocate the structure for the handle, using kzalloc()
  • Initialize the structure for the handle (through init_browsing())
  • Read the physical super block, verify and translate info from it into the VFS super block (through init_browsing())
  • Point it by s_fs_info (through init_browsing())
  • Update the VFS super block, accordingly

Accordingly, the error handling code would need to do the shut_browsing(info) and kfree(info). And, that would additionally also need to go along with the function corresponding to the kill_sb function pointer, defined in the previous real_sfs_bb.c by kill_block_super, called during umount.

Here’s the various code pieces:

#include <linux/slab.h> /* For kzalloc, ... */
...
static int sfs_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
{
	sfs_info_t *info;

	if (!(info = (sfs_info_t *)(kzalloc(sizeof(sfs_info_t), GFP_KERNEL))))
		return -ENOMEM;
	info->vfs_sb = sb;
	if (init_browsing(info) < 0)
	{
		kfree(info);
		return -EIO;
	}
	/* Updating the VFS super_block */
	sb->s_magic = info->sb.type;
	sb->s_blocksize = info->sb.block_size;
	sb->s_blocksize_bits = get_bit_pos(info->sb.block_size);

	...
}

static void sfs_kill_sb(struct super_block *sb)
{
	sfs_info_t *info = (sfs_info_t *)(sb->s_fs_info);

	kill_block_super(sb);
	if (info)
	{
		shut_browsing(info);
		kfree(info);
	}
}

kzalloc() in contrast to kmalloc(), also zeroes out the allocated location. get_bit_pos() is a simple Pugs’ way to compute logarithm base 2, as follows:

static int get_bit_pos(unsigned int val)
{
	int i;

	for (i = 0; val; i++)
	{
		val >>= 1;
	}
	return (i - 1);
}

And init_browsing(), shut_browsing() are basically the transformations of the earlier user-space functions of browse_real_sfs.c into kernel-space code real_sfs_ops.c, prototyped in real_sfs_ops.h. This basically involves the following transformations:

  • int sfs_handle” into “sfs_info_t *info
  • lseek() & read() into the read from the block device using sb_bread()
  • calloc() into vmalloc() & then appropriate initialization by zeros.
  • free() into vfree()

Here’s the transformed init_browsing() and shut_browsing() in real_sfs_ops.c:

#include <linux/fs.h> /* For struct super_block */
#include <linux/errno.h> /* For error codes */
#include <linux/vmalloc.h> /* For vmalloc, ... */

#include "real_sfs_ds.h"
#include "real_sfs_ops.h"

int init_browsing(sfs_info_t *info)
{
	byte1_t *used_blocks;
	int i, j;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;
	int retval;

	if ((retval = read_sb_from_real_sfs(info, &info->sb)) < 0)
	{
		return retval;
	}
	if (info->sb.type != SIMULA_FS_TYPE)
	{
		printk(KERN_ERR "Invalid SFS detected. Giving up.\n");
		return -EINVAL;
	}

	/* Mark used blocks */
	used_blocks = (byte1_t *)(vmalloc(info->sb.partition_size));
	if (!used_blocks)
	{
		return -ENOMEM;
	}
	for (i = 0; i < info->sb.data_block_start; i++)
	{
		used_blocks[i] = 1;
	}
	for (; i < info->sb.partition_size; i++)
	{
		used_blocks[i] = 0;
	}

	for (i = 0; i < info->sb.entry_count; i++)
	{
		if ((retval = read_from_real_sfs(info,
					info->sb.entry_table_block_start,
					i * sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t),
					&fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t))) < 0)
		{
			vfree(used_blocks);
			return retval;
		}
		if (!fe.name[0]) continue;
		for (j = 0; j < SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT; j++)
		{
			if (fe.blocks[j] == 0) break;
			used_blocks[fe.blocks[j]] = 1;
		}
	}

	info->used_blocks = used_blocks;
	info->vfs_sb->s_fs_info = info;
	return 0;
}
void shut_browsing(sfs_info_t *info)
{
	if (info->used_blocks)
		vfree(info->used_blocks);
}

Similarly, all other functions in browse_real_sfs.c would also have to be transformed, one by one. Also, note the read from the underlying block device is being captured by the two functions, namely read_sb_from_real_sfs() and read_from_real_sfs(), which are coded as follows:

#include <linux/buffer_head.h> /* struct buffer_head, sb_bread, ... */
#include <linux/string.h> /* For memcpy */

#include "real_sfs_ds.h"

static int read_sb_from_real_sfs(sfs_info_t *info, sfs_super_block_t *sb)
{
	struct buffer_head *bh;

	if (!(bh = sb_bread(info->vfs_sb, 0 /* Super block is the 0th block */)))
	{
		return -EIO;
	}
	memcpy(sb, bh->b_data, SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE);
	brelse(bh);
	return 0;
}
static int read_from_real_sfs(sfs_info_t *info, byte4_t block,
				byte4_t offset, void *buf, byte4_t len)
{
	byte4_t block_size = info->sb.block_size;
	byte4_t bd_block_size = info->vfs_sb->s_bdev->bd_block_size;
	byte4_t abs;
	struct buffer_head *bh;

	/*
	 * Translating the real SFS block numbering to underlying block device
	 * block numbering, for sb_bread()
	 */
	abs = block * block_size + offset;
	block = abs / bd_block_size;
	offset = abs % bd_block_size;
	if (offset + len > bd_block_size) // Should never happen
	{
		return -EINVAL;
	}
	if (!(bh = sb_bread(info->vfs_sb, block)))
	{
		return -EIO;
	}
	memcpy(buf, bh->b_data + offset, len);
	brelse(bh);
	return 0;
}

All the above code pieces put in together as the real_sfs_minimal.c (based on the file real_sfs_bb.c created earlier), real_sfs_ops.c, real_sfs_ds.h (based on the same file created earlier), real_sfs_ops.h, and a supporting Makefile, along with the previously created format_real_sfs.c application are available from rsfs_on_block_device_code.tbz2.

Real SFS on block device

Once compiled using make, getting the real_sfs_first.ko driver, Pugs didn’t expect it to be way different from the previous real_sfs_bb.ko driver, but at least now it should be reading and verifying the underlying partition. And for that he first tried mounting the usual partition of a pen drive to get an “Invalid SFS detected” message in dmesg output; and then after formatting it. Note the same error of “Not a directory”, etc as in previous article, still existing – as anyways it is still very similar to the previous bare bone driver – the core functionalities yet to be implemented – just that it is now on a real block device partition. Figure 39 shows the exact commands for all these steps.

Figure 39: Connecting the SFS module with the pen drive partition

Figure 39: Connecting the SFS module with the pen drive partition

Note: “./format_real_sfs” and “mount” commands may take lot of time (may be in minutes), depending on the partition size. So, preferably use a partition, say less than 1MB.

With this important step of getting the file system module interacting with the underlying block device, the last step for Pugs would be to do the other transformations from browse_real_sfs.c and accordingly use them in the SFS module.

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The Semester Project – Part V: File System Module Template

This twenty-second article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, lays out a bare bone file system module.

<< Twenty-first Article

With the formatting of the pen drive, the file system is all set in the hardware space. Now, it is the turn to decode that using a corresponding file system module in the kernel space, and accordingly provide the user space file system interface, for it to be browsed like any other file systems.

The 5 sets of System Calls

Unlike character or block drivers, the file system drivers involve not just one structure of function pointers, but instead 5 structures of function pointers, for the various interfaces, provided by a file system. These are:

  • struct file_system_type – contains functions to operate on the super block
  • struct super_operations – contains functions to operate on the inodes
  • struct inode_operations – contains functions to operate on the directory entries
  • struct file_operations – contains functions to operate on the file data (through page cache)
  • struct address_space_operations – contains page cache operations for the file data

With these, there were many new terms for Pugs. He referred the following glossary to understand the various terms used above and later in the file system module development:

  • Page cache or Buffer cache: Pool of RAM buffers, each of page size (typically 4096 bytes). These buffers are used as the cache for the file data read from the underlying hardware, thus increasing the performance of file operations
  • Inode: Structure containing the meta data / information of a file, like permissions, owner, etc. Though file name is a meta data of a file, for better space utilization, in typical Linux file systems, it is not kept in inode, instead in something called directory entries. Collection of inodes, is called an inode table
  • Directory entry: Structure containing the name and inode number of a file or directory. In typical Linux based file systems, a collection of directory entries for the immediate files and directories of say directory D, is stored in the data blocks of the directory D
  • Super block: Structure containing the information about the various data structures of the file systems, like the inode tables, … Basically the meta meta data, i.e. meta data for the meta data
  • Virtual File System (VFS): Conceptual file system layer interfacing the kernel space to user space in an abstract manner, showing “everything” as a file, and translating their operations from user to the appropriate entity in the kernel space

Each one of the above five structures contains a list of function pointers, which needs to be populated depending on what all features are there or to be supported in the file system (module). For example, struct file_system_type may contain system calls for mounting and unmounting a file system, basically operating on its super block; struct super_operations may contain inode read/write system calls; struct inode_operations may contain function to lookup directory entries; struct file_operations may generically operate on the page cached file data, which may in turn invoke page cache operations, defined in the struct address_space_operations. For these various operations, most of these functions will then interface with the corresponding underlying block device driver to ultimately operate with the formatted file system in the hardware space.

To start with Pugs laid out the complete framework of his real SFS module, but with minimal functionality, good enough to compile, load, and not crash the kernel. He populated only the first of these five structures – the struct file_system_type; and left all the others empty. Here’s the exact code of the structure definitions:

#include <linux/fs.h> /* For system calls, structures, ... */

static struct file_system_type sfs;
static struct super_operations sfs_sops;
static struct inode_operations sfs_iops;
static struct file_operations sfs_fops;
static struct address_space_operations sfs_aops;
#include <linux/version.h> /* For LINUX_VERSION_CODE & KERNEL_VERSION */

static struct file_system_type sfs =
{
	name: "sfs", /* Name of our file system */
#if (LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,38))
	get_sb:  sfs_get_sb,
#else
	mount:  sfs_mount,
#endif
	kill_sb: kill_block_super,
	owner: THIS_MODULE
};

Note that before Linux kernel version 2.6.38, the mount function pointer was referred as get_sb, and also, it used to have slightly different parameters. And hence, the above #if for it to be compatible at least across 2.6.3x and possibly with 3.x kernel versions – no guarantee for others. Accordingly, the corresponding functions sfs_get_sb() and sfs_mount(), are also #if’d, as follows:

#include <linux/kernel.h> /* For printk, ... */

if (LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,38))
static int sfs_get_sb(struct file_system_type *fs_type, int flags,
			const char *devname, void *data, struct vfsmount *vm)
{
	printk(KERN_INFO "sfs: devname = %s\n", devname);

	/* sfs_fill_super this will be called to fill the super block */
	return get_sb_bdev(fs_type, flags, devname, data, &sfs_fill_super, vm);
}
#else
static struct dentry *sfs_mount(struct file_system_type *fs_type,
					int flags, const char *devname, void *data)
{
	printk(KERN_INFO "sfs: devname = %s\n", devname);

	/* sfs_fill_super this will be called to fill the super block */
	return mount_bdev(fs_type, flags, devname, data, &sfs_fill_super);
}
#endif

The only difference in the above 2 functions is that in the later, the VFS mount point related structure has been removed. The printk() in there would display the underlying partition’s device file which the user is going to mount, basically the pen drive’s SFS formatted partition. get_sb_bdev() and mount_bdev() are generic block device mount functions for the respective kernel versions, defined in fs/super.c and prototyped in <linux/fs.h>. Pugs also used them, as most other file system writers do. Are you wondering: Does all file system mount a block device, the same way? Most of it yes, except the part where the mount operation needs to fill in the VFS’ super block structure (struct super_block), as per the super block of the underlying file system – obviously that most probably would be different. But then how does it do that? Observe carefully, in the above functions, apart from passing all the parameters as is, there is an additional parameter sfs_fill_super, and that is Pugs’ custom function to fill the VFS’ super block, as per the SFS file system.

Unlike the mount function pointer, the unmount function pointer has been same (kill_sb) for quite some kernel versions; and in unmounting, there is not even the minimal distinction required across different file systems. So, the generic block device unmount function kill_block_super() has been used directly as the function pointer.

In sfs_fill_super(), Pugs is ideally supposed to read the super block from the underlying hardware-space SFS, and then accordingly translate and fill that into VFS’ super block to enable VFS to provide the user space file system interface. But he is yet to figure that out, as how to read from the underlying block device, in the kernel space. Information of which block device to use, is already embedded into the super_block structure itself, obtained from the user issuing the mount command. But as Pugs decided to get the bare bone real SFS up, first, he went ahead writing this sfs_super_fill() function also as a hard-coded fill function. And with that itself, he registered the Simula file system with the VFS. As any other Linux driver, here’s the file system driver’s constructor and destructor for that:

#include <linux/module.h> /* For module related macros, ... */

static int __init sfs_init(void)
{
	int err;

	err = register_filesystem(&sfs);
	return err;
}

static void __exit sfs_exit(void)
{
	unregister_filesystem(&sfs);
}

module_init(sfs_init);
module_exit(sfs_exit);

Both register_filesystem() and unregister_filesystem() takes pointer to the the struct file_system_type sfs (filled above), as their parameter, to respectively register and unregister the file system described by it.

Hard-coded SFS super block and root inode

And yes, here’s the hard-coded sfs_fill_super() function:

#include "real_sfs_ds.h" /* For SFS related defines, data structures, ... */

static int sfs_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
{
	printk(KERN_INFO "sfs: sfs_fill_super\n");

	sb->s_blocksize = SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE;
	sb->s_blocksize_bits = SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE_BITS;
	sb->s_magic = SIMULA_FS_TYPE;
	sb->s_type = &sfs; // file_system_type
	sb->s_op = &sfs_sops; // super block operations

	sfs_root_inode = iget_locked(sb, 1); // obtain an inode from VFS
	if (!sfs_root_inode)
	{
		return -EACCES;
	}
	if (sfs_root_inode->i_state & I_NEW) // allocated fresh now
	{
		printk(KERN_INFO "sfs: Got new root inode, let's fill in\n");
		sfs_root_inode->i_op = &sfs_iops; // inode operations
		sfs_root_inode->i_mode = S_IFDIR | S_IRWXU |
			S_IRGRP | S_IXGRP | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH;
		sfs_root_inode->i_fop = &sfs_fops; // file operations
		sfs_root_inode->i_mapping->a_ops = &sfs_aops; // address operations
		unlock_new_inode(sfs_root_inode);
	}
	else
	{
		printk(KERN_INFO "sfs: Got root inode from inode cache\n");
	}

#if (LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(3,4,0))
	sb->s_root = d_alloc_root(sfs_root_inode);
#else
	sb->s_root = d_make_root(sfs_root_inode);
#endif
	if (!sb->s_root)
	{
		iget_failed(sfs_root_inode);
		return -ENOMEM;
	}

	return 0;
}

As mentioned earlier, this function is basically supposed to read the underlying SFS super block, and accordingly translate and fill the struct super_block, pointed to by its first parameter sb. So, understanding it is same as understanding the minimal fields of the struct super_block, which are getting filled up. The first three are the block size, its logarithm base 2, and the type/magic code of the Simula file system. As Pugs codes further, we shall see that once he gets the super block from the hardware space, he would instead get these values from that super block, and more importantly verify them, to ensure that the correct partition is being mounted.

After that, the various structure pointers are pointed to their corresponding structure of the function pointers. Last but not least, the root inode’s pointer s_root is pointed to the struct inode structure, obtained from VFS’ inode cache, based on the inode number of root – right now, which has been hard coded to 1 – it may possibly change. If the inode structure is obtained fresh, i.e. for the first time, it is then filled as per the underlying SFS’ root inode’s content. Also, the mode field is being hard-coded to “drwxr-xr-x“. Apart from that, the usual structure pointers are being initialized by the corresponding structure addresses. And finally, the root’s inode is being attached to the super block using d_alloc_root() or d_make_root(), as per the kernel version.

All the above code pieces put in together as the bare bone real_sfs_bb.c, along with the real_sfs_ds.h (based on the same file created earlier), and a supporting Makefile are available from rsfsbb_code.tbz2.

Bare bone SFS module in action

Once compiled using make, getting the real_sfs_bb.ko driver, Pugs did his usual unusual experiments, shown as in Figure 38.

Figure 38: Bare-bone real SFS experiments

Figure 38: Bare-bone real SFS experiments

Pugs’ experiments (Explanation of Figure 38):

  • Checked the kernel window /proc/filesystems for the kernel supported file systems
  • Loaded the real_sfs_bb.ko driver
  • Re-checked the kernel window /proc/filesystems for the kernel supported file systems. Now, it shows sfs listed at the end
  • Did a mount of his pen drive partition /dev/sdb1 onto /mnt using the sfs file system. Checked the dmesg logs on the adjacent window. (Keep in mind, that right now, the sfs_fill_super() is not really reading the partition, and hence not doing any checks. So, it really doesn’t matter as to how the /dev/sdb1 is formatted.) But yes, the mount output shows that it is mounted using the sfs file system

Oops!!! But df output shows “Function not implemented”, cd gives “Not a directory”. Aha!! Pugs haven’t implemented any other functions in any of the other four function pointer structures, yet. So, that’s expected.

Note: The above experiments are using “sudo”. Instead one may get into root shell and do the same without a “sudo”.

Okay, so no kernel crashes, and a bare bone file system in action – Yippee. Ya! Ya! Pugs knows that df, cd, … are not yet functional. For that, he needs to start adding the various system calls in the other (four) function pointer structures to be able to do cool-cool browsing, the same way as is done with all other file systems, using the various shell commands. And yes, Pugs is already onto his task – after all he needs to have a geeky demo for his final semester project.

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The Semester Project – Part IV: Formatting a Pen Drive

This twenty-first article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, takes the next step towards writing a file system module by writing a formatting application for your real pen drive.

<< Twentieth Article

Thanks friends for your confidence in Shweta and not trying to help her out in figuring out the issues with her code. She indeed figured out and fixed the following issues in her code:

  • sfs_read() and sfs_write() need to check for the read and write file permissions before proceeding to read and write, respectively
  • sfs_write() should free any previously allocated blocks, as write is always over-write
  • Moreover, the earlier written sfs_remove() also, now needs to free up the allocated blocks

SFS Format for a real partition

There after Pugs took the lead and slightly modified Shweta’s format_sfs.c and sfs_ds.h files to format a real pen drive’s partition. The key change is that instead of creating the default regular file .sfsf to format, now it would be operating on an existing block device file corresponding to an underlying partition, say something like /dev/sdb1. So,

  • It would get the partition’s size from the partition’s block device file itself, rather than taking it as a command-line argument
  • Accordingly, it would now expect the partition’s block device file name instead of size, as main()‘s first argument.
  • Also, it would not need the mark_data_block() to grow the file equal to the partition size

The ioctl command BLKGETSIZE64 gets the 64-bit size of the underlying block device partition, in bytes. Then, it is divided by the block size (SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE) to get the partition’s size in block units. Here is the corresponding modified snippet of the main() function in format_real_sfs.c (updated format_sfs.c), along with the required typedef in real_sfs_ds.h (updated sfs_ds.h). (Note: For readability, Pugs renamed all uint* by byte*):

typedef unsigned long long byte8_t;
...
byte8_t size;

sfs_handle = open(argv[1], O_RDWR);
if (sfs_handle == -1)
{
	fprintf(stderr, "Error formatting %s: %s\n", argv[1], strerror(errno));
	return 2;
}
if (ioctl(sfs_handle, BLKGETSIZE64, &size) == -1)
{
	fprintf(stderr, "Error getting size of %s: %s\n", argv[1], strerror(errno));
	return 3;
}
sb.partition_size = size / SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE;

As per the above code, the following additional header files need to be included:

#include <errno.h> /* For errno */
#include <string.h> /* For strerror() */
#include <sys/ioctl.h> /* For ioctl() */
#include <linux/fs.h> /* For BLKGETSIZE64 */

With all the above changes compiled into format_real_sfs, Pugs plugged in his pen drive, partition of which got auto mounted. Then, he took backup of its content and unmounted the same – ready for a real SFS format of the pen drive partition.

Caution: Take a backup of your pen drive’s content – you are formatting it for real. Be careful in choosing the right partition of your pen drive. Otherwise, you may forever lose data from your hard disk or even make your system un-bootable. You have been warned.

Figure 36: Formatting the pen drive

Figure 36: Formatting the pen drive

Figure 36 demonstrates all the above but backup steps at root prompt #. Instead, one may use sudo, as well. Note that Pugs got his pen drive partition mounted at /media/10AC-BF1C, and the corresponding device file is /dev/sdb1 (/dev/sdb being the complete pen drive). You may have both these differently. Accordingly, follow the steps for yourself. Also, note that, the real SFS formatting is then started using the following command:

# ./format_real_sfs /dev/sdb1

And then, there is a ^C (Ctrl-C) immediately after that, basically terminating the formatting. Aha! Did Pugs realize something important was there on the pen drive? Not really, as his pen drive is already empty. Actually, what happened is that formatting was going on for quite some time – so Pugs had some doubt about his code changes and so he terminated it. Reviewing his code didn’t yield much, so he reissued the formatting, this time with the time command, to figure out exactly how much time is the formatting taking and then may be debug/fix that. And finally! The formatting is complete but after a whopping 430.88 seconds (7+ minutes), yes minutes. time basically shows the real time taken (includes the time when other processes has been running after context switch), time executed in user space, time executed in kernel space. That’s huge – something needs optimization. And it didn’t take much time for a close review to undermine the issue. The key time taker code would be the clear_file_entries() function. Right now its clearing the file entries one by one, i.e. writing 64-byte sized file entries one by one – that’s pretty non-optimal. A better approach would be to fill up a block with such entries, and then write these blocks one by one. In case of a 512-byte block (i.e. SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE defined as 512), that would mean 8 file entries in a 512-byte block and then writing these 512-byte blocks one by one. So, Pugs changed the clear_file_entries() function to do the same, and viola! formatting is complete in a little less than 26 seconds. Here’s the answer to your curiosity – the re-written clear_file_entries() function:

void clear_file_entries(int sfs_handle, sfs_super_block_t *sb)
{
	int i;
	byte1_t block[SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE];

	for (i = 0; i < sb->block_size / sb->entry_size; i++)
	{
		memcpy(block + i * sb->entry_size, &fe, sizeof(fe));
	}
	for (i = 0; i < sb->entry_table_size; i++)
	{
		write(sfs_handle, block, sizeof(block));
	}
}

Now, you may plug out and plug in the pen drive back. And you may wonder that neither it is auto-mounted, nor you are able to mount it. That’s expected, as now it is formatted with a file system which is not yet coded as (kernel) module and there is no one in the kernel to decode the same. So, coding that kernel module would be the ultimate step to get everything working like with any other existing file systems (vfat, ext3, …). If you are worried that your pen drive is spoiled, you may re-format it with the FAT32 (vfat) file system as follows (as root or with sudo):

# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1 # Be careful with the correct partition device file

and then plug out & plug in the pen drive to get auto-mounted. But, you know Pugs being a cool carefree guy, instead went ahead to try out browsing the Simula file system created on the pen drive partition.

Browsing the pen drive partition

Obviously, there were slight modifications to the browse_sfs.c application as well, in line with the changes to format_sfs.c. Major one being compulsorily taking the partition’s device file to browse as the command-line argument, instead of browsing the default regular file .sfsf.

All the updated files (real_sfs_ds.h, format_real_sfs.c, browse_real_sfs.c and Makefile) are available from rsfs_code.tar.bz2.

Figure 37: SFS browser on pen drive

Figure 37: SFS browser on pen drive

Figure 37 shows the browser in action. However, the coolest browsing would be the same way as is done with all other file systems, using the shell commands cd, ls, … Yes, and for that we would need the real SFS module in place. Keep following what’s Pugs upto for getting that in place.

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File Systems: The Semester Project – Part III

This twentieth article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, completes the basic simulation of a file system in user space.

<< Nineteenth Article

Till now, Shweta had implemented 4 basic functionalities of the simulated file system (sfs) browser, namely quit (browser), list (files), create (an empty file), remove (a file). Here she adds 3 little advanced functionalities to get a feel of a complete basic file system:

  • Changing permissions of a file
  • Reading from a file
  • Writing into a file

Here’s a sneak peek into her thinking process as how she came up with her implementations.

For the various command implementations, two very common requirements keep popping quite often:

  • Getting the index of the entry for a particular filename
  • Updating the entry for a given filename

Hence these two requirements, captured as the functions sfs_lookup() and sfs_update():

int sfs_lookup(int sfs_handle, char *fn, sfs_file_entry_t *fe)
{
	int i;

	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
	for (i = 0; i < sb.entry_count; i++)
	{   
		read(sfs_handle, fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
		if (!fe->name[0]) continue;
		if (strcmp(fe->name, fn) == 0) return i;
	}   

	return -1; 
}

void sfs_update(int sfs_handle, char *fn, int *size, int update_ts, int *perms)
{
	int i;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;

	if ((i = sfs_lookup(sfs_handle, fn, &fe)) == -1)
	{
		printf("File %s doesn't exist\n", fn);
		return;
	}
	if (size) fe.size = *size;
	if (update_ts) fe.timestamp = time(NULL);
	if (perms && (*perms <= 07)) fe.perms = *perms;
	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size +
						i * sb.entry_size, SEEK_SET);
	write(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
}

sfs_lookup() traverses through all the entries (skipping the invalid i.e. empty filename entries), till it finds the filename match and then returns the index and the entry of the matched entry in the function’s third parameter. It returns -1 in case of no match is found.

sfs_update() uses sfs_lookup() to get the entry and its index for the given filename. Then, it updates it back into the filesystem with: a) size, if passed (i.e. non-NULL), b) current timestamp if update_ts is set, c) permissions, if passed (i.e. non-NULL).

Changing file permissions

In the Simula file system, file permissions are basically a combination ‘rwx‘ for the user only, stored as an integer, with Linux like notation of 4 for ‘r‘, 2 for ‘w‘, 1 for ‘x‘. For changing the permissions of a given filename, sfs_update() can be used best by passing NULL pointer for size, zero for update_ts, and the pointer to permissions to change for perms. So sfs_chperm() would be as follows:

void sfs_chperm(int sfs_handle, char *fn, int perm)
{
	sfs_update(sfs_handle, fn, NULL, 0, &perm);
}

Reading a file

Reading a file is basically sequentially reading & displaying the contents of the data blocks indicated by their position from the blocks array of file’s entry and displaying that on stdout’s file descriptor 1. A couple of things to be taken care of:

  • File is assumed to be without holes, i.e. block position of 0 in the blocks array indicates no more data block’s for the file
  • Reading should not go beyond the file size. Special care to be taken while reading the last block with data, as it may be partially valid

Here’s the complete read function, keeping track of valid data using bytes left to read:

uint1_t block[SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE]; // Shared as global with sfs_write

void sfs_read(int sfs_handle, char *fn)
{
	int i, block_i, already_read, rem_to_read, to_read;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;

	if ((i = sfs_lookup(sfs_handle, fn, &fe)) == -1)
	{
		printf("File %s doesn't exist\n", fn);
		return;
	}
	already_read = 0;
	rem_to_read = fe.size;
	for (block_i = 0; block_i < SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT; block_i++)
	{
		if (!fe.blocks[block_i]) break;
		to_read = (rem_to_read >= sb.block_size) ?
						sb.block_size : rem_to_read;
		lseek(sfs_handle, fe.blocks[block_i] * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
		read(sfs_handle, block, to_read);
		write(1, block, to_read);
		already_read += to_read;
		rem_to_read -= to_read;
		if (!rem_to_read) break;
	}
}

Writing a file

Interestingly, write is not a trivial function. Getting data from the user through browser is okay. But based on that, free available blocks has to be obtained, filled and then their position be noted sequentially in the blocks array of the file’s entry. Typically, we do this whenever we have received a block full data, except the last block. That’s tricky – how do we know the last block? So, we read till end of input, marked by Control-D on its own line from the user – and that is indicated by a return of 0 from read. And in that case, we check if any non-full block of data is left to be written, and if yes follow the same procedure of obtaining a free available block, filling it up (with the partial data), and updating its position in the blocks array.

After all this, we have finally written the file data, along with the data block positions in the blocks array of the file’s entry. And now it’s time to update file’s entry with the total size of data written, as well as timestamp to currently modified. Once done, this entry has to be updated back into the entry table, which is the last step. And in this flow, the following shouldn’t be missed out during getting & filling up free blocks:

  • Check for no more block positions available in blocks array of the file’s entry
  • Check for no more free blocks available in the file system

In either of the 2 cases, the thought is to do a graceful stop with data being written upto the maximum possible, and discarding the rest.

Once again all of these put together are in the function below:

uint1_t block[SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE]; // Shared as global with sfs_read

void sfs_write(int sfs_handle, char *fn)
{
	int i, cur_read_i, to_read, cur_read, total_size, block_i, free_i;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe; 

	if ((i = sfs_lookup(sfs_handle, fn, &fe)) == -1) 
	{   
		printf("File %s doesn't exist\n", fn);
		return;
	}   
	cur_read_i = 0;
	to_read = sb.block_size;
	total_size = 0;
	block_i = 0;
	while ((cur_read = read(0, block + cur_read_i, to_read)) > 0)
	{   
		if (cur_read == to_read)
		{   
			/* Write this block */
			if (block_i == SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT)
				break; /* File size limit */
			if ((free_i = get_data_block(sfs_handle)) == -1) 
				break; /* File system full */
			lseek(sfs_handle, free_i * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
			write(sfs_handle, block, sb.block_size);
			fe.blocks[block_i] = free_i;
			block_i++;
			total_size += sb.block_size;
			/* Reset various variables */
			cur_read_i = 0;
			to_read = sb.block_size;
		}
		else
		{
			cur_read_i += cur_read;
			to_read -= cur_read;
		}
	}
	if ((cur_read <= 0) && (cur_read_i))
	{
		/* Write this partial block */
		if ((block_i != SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT) &&
			((fe.blocks[block_i] = get_data_block(sfs_handle)) != -1))
		{
			lseek(sfs_handle, fe.blocks[block_i] * sb.block_size,
									SEEK_SET);
			write(sfs_handle, block, cur_read_i);
			total_size += cur_read_i;
		}
	}

	fe.size = total_size;
	fe.timestamp = time(NULL);
	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size +
						i * sb.entry_size, SEEK_SET);
	write(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
}

The last stride

With the above 3 sfs command functions, the final change to the browse_sfs() function in (previous article’s) browse_sfs.c would be to add the cases for handling these 3 new commands of chperm, write, and read.

One of the daunting questions, if it has not yet bothered you, is how do you find the free available blocks. Notice that in sfs_write(), we just called a function get_data_block() and everything went smooth. But think through how would that be implemented. Do you need to traverse all the file entry’s every time to figure out which all has been used and the remaining are free. That would be killing. Instead, an easier technique would be to get the used ones by parsing all the file entry’s, only initially once, and then keep track of them whenever more entries are used or freed up. But for that a complete framework needs to be put in place, which includes:

  • uint1_t typedef (in sfs_ds.h)
  • used_blocks dynamic array to keep track of used blocks (in browse_sfs.c)
  • Function init_browsing() to initialize the dynamic array used_blocks, i.e. allocate and mark the initial used blocks (in browse_sfs.c)
  • Correspondingly the inverse function shut_browsing() to cleanup the same (in browse_sfs.c)
  • And definitely the functions get_data_block() and put_data_block() to respectively get and put back the free data blocks based on the dynamic array used_blocks (in browse_sfs.c)

All these thoughts, incorporated in the earlier sfs_ds.h and browse_sfs.c files, along with a Makefile and the earlier formatter application format_sfs.c, are available from sfs_code.tar.bz2. Once compiled into browse_sfs and executed as ./browse_sfs, it shows up as something like in Figure 35.

Figure 35: Demo of Simula file system browser's new features

Figure 35: Demo of Simula file system browser’s new features

Summing up

As Shweta, showed the above working demo to her project-mate, he observed some miss-outs, and challenged her to find them out on her own. He hinted them to be related to the newly added functionality and ‘getting free block’ framework – some even visible from the demo, i.e. Figure 35. Can you help Shweta, find them out? If yes, post them in the comments below.

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File Systems: The Semester Project – Part II

This nineteenth article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, continues with introducing the concept of a file system, by simulating one in user space.

<< Eighteenth Article

In the previous article, Shweta readied the partition on the .sfsf file by formating it with the format_sfs application. To complete the understanding of a file system, the next step in its simulation is to browse and play around with the file system created. Here is Shweta’s first-cut browser application to achieve the same. Let’s have a closer look. sfs_ds.h is the same header file, already created by Shweta.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <time.h>

#include "sfs_ds.h"

sfs_super_block_t sb;

void sfs_list(int sfs_handle)
{
	int i;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;

	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
	for (i = 0; i < sb.entry_count; i++)
	{
		read(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
		if (!fe.name[0]) continue;
		printf("%-15s  %10d bytes  %c%c%c  %s",
			fe.name, fe.size,
			fe.perms & 04 ? 'r' : '-',
			fe.perms & 02 ? 'w' : '-',
			fe.perms & 01 ? 'x' : '-',
			ctime((time_t *)&fe.timestamp)
			);
	}
}
void sfs_create(int sfs_handle, char *fn)
{
	int i;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;

	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
	for (i = 0; i < sb.entry_count; i++)
	{
		read(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
		if (!fe.name[0]) break;
		if (strcmp(fe.name, fn) == 0)
		{
			printf("File %s already exists\n", fn);
			return;
		}
	}
	if (i == sb.entry_count)
	{
		printf("No entries left\n", fn);
		return;
	}

	lseek(sfs_handle, -(off_t)(sb.entry_size), SEEK_CUR);

	strncpy(fe.name, fn, 15);
	fe.name[15] = 0;
	fe.size = 0;
	fe.timestamp = time(NULL);
	fe.perms = 07;
	for (i = 0; i < SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT; i++)
	{
		fe.blocks[i] = 0;
	}

	write(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
}
void sfs_remove(int sfs_handle, char *fn)
{
	int i;
	sfs_file_entry_t fe;

	lseek(sfs_handle, sb.entry_table_block_start * sb.block_size, SEEK_SET);
	for (i = 0; i < sb.entry_count; i++)
	{
		read(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
		if (!fe.name[0]) continue;
		if (strcmp(fe.name, fn) == 0) break;
	}
	if (i == sb.entry_count)
	{
		printf("File %s doesn't exist\n", fn);
		return;
	}

	lseek(sfs_handle, -(off_t)(sb.entry_size), SEEK_CUR);

	memset(&fe, 0, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
	write(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(sfs_file_entry_t));
}

void browse_sfs(int sfs_handle)
{
	int done;
	char cmd[256], *fn;
	int ret;

	done = 0;

	printf("Welcome to SFS Browsing Shell v1.0\n\n");
	printf("Block size	 : %d bytes\n", sb.block_size);
	printf("Partition size : %d blocks\n", sb.partition_size);
	printf("File entry size: %d bytes\n", sb.entry_size);
	printf("Entry tbl size : %d blocks\n", sb.entry_table_size);
	printf("Entry count	: %d\n", sb.entry_count);
	printf("\n");
	while (!done)
	{
		printf(" $> ");
		ret = scanf("%[^\n]", cmd);
		if (ret < 0)
		{
			done = 1;
			printf("\n");
			continue;
		}
		else
		{
			getchar();
			if (ret == 0) continue;
		}
		if (strcmp(cmd, "?") == 0)
		{
			printf("Supported commands:\n");
			printf("\t?\tquit\tlist\tcreate\tremove\n");
			continue;
		}
		else if (strcmp(cmd, "quit") == 0)
		{
			done = 1;
			continue;
		}
		else if (strcmp(cmd, "list") == 0)
		{
			sfs_list(sfs_handle);
			continue;
		}
		else if (strncmp(cmd, "create", 6) == 0)
		{
			if (cmd[6] == ' ')
			{
				fn = cmd + 7;
				while (*fn == ' ') fn++;
				if (*fn != '')
				{
					sfs_create(sfs_handle, fn);
					continue;
				}
			}
		}
		else if (strncmp(cmd, "remove", 6) == 0)
		{
			if (cmd[6] == ' ')
			{
				fn = cmd + 7;
				while (*fn == ' ') fn++;
				if (*fn != '')
				{
					sfs_remove(sfs_handle, fn);
					continue;
				}
			}
		}
		printf("Unknown/Incorrect command: %s\n", cmd);
		printf("Supported commands:\n");
		printf("\t?\tquit\tlist\tcreate <file>\tremove <file>\n");
	}
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
	char *sfs_file = SIMULA_DEFAULT_FILE;
	int sfs_handle;

	if (argc > 2)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Incorrect invocation. Possibilities are:\n");
		fprintf(stderr,
			"\t%s /* Picks up %s as the default partition_file */\n",
			argv[0], SIMULA_DEFAULT_FILE);
		fprintf(stderr, "\t%s [ partition_file ]\n", argv[0]);
		return 1;
	}
	if (argc == 2)
	{
		sfs_file = argv[1];
	}
	sfs_handle = open(sfs_file, O_RDWR);
	if (sfs_handle == -1)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to browse SFS over %s\n", sfs_file);
		return 2;
	}
	read(sfs_handle, &sb, sizeof(sfs_super_block_t));
	if (sb.type != SIMULA_FS_TYPE)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Invalid SFS detected. Giving up.\n");
		close(sfs_handle);
		return 3;
	}
	browse_sfs(sfs_handle);
	close(sfs_handle);
	return 0;
}

The above (shell like) program primarily reads the super block from the partition file (.sfsf by default, or the file provided from command line), and then gets into browsing the file system based on that information, using the browse_sfs() function. Note the check performed for the valid file system on the partition file using the magic number SIMULA_FS_TYPE.

browse_sfs() prints the file system information and provides four basic file system functionalities using the following commands:

  • quit – to quit the file system browser
  • list – to list the current files in the file system (using sfs_list())
  • create <filename> – to create a new file in the file system (using sfs_create(filename))
  • remove <filename> – to remove an existing file from the file system (using sfs_remove(filename))

Figure 34 shows the browser in action, using the above commands.

Figure 34: Simula file system browser output

Figure 34: Simula file system browser output

sfs_list() traverses through all the file entries in the partition and prints all the non-null filename entries – with file name, size, permissions, and its creation time stamp. sfs_create() looks up for an available (null filename) entry and then updates it with the given filename, size of 0 bytes, permissions of “rwx”, and the current time stamp. And sfs_remove() looks up for an existing file entry, having the filename to be removed, and then nullifies it. The other parts in the above code are more of basic error handling cases like invalid command in browse_sfs(), existing file name in sfs_create(), non-existing file name in sfs_remove(), etc.

Note that the above application is the first-cut one of a full-fledged application. And so the files created right now are just with the basic fixed parameters. And, there is no way to change their permissions, content, etc, yet. However, it must be clear by now that adding those features is just a matter of adding commands and their corresponding functions, which would be provided for a few more interesting features by Shweta as she further works out the details of the browsing application.

Summing up

Once done with the other features as well, the next set of steps would take the project duo further closer to their final goals. Watch out for who takes charge of the next step of moving the file system logic to the kernel space.

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File Systems: The Semester Project

This eighteenth article, which is part of the series on Linux device drivers, kick starts with introducing the concept of a file system, by simulating one in user space.

<< Seventeenth Article

If you have not yet guessed the semester project topic, then you should have a careful look at the table of contents of the various books on Linux device drivers. You’ll find that no book lists a chapter on file systems. Not because they are not used or not useful. In fact, there are close to 100 different file systems existing, as of today, and possibly most of them in active use. Then, why are they not talked in general? And are so many file systems required? Which one of them is the best? Let’s understand these one by one.

In reality, there is no best file system, and in fact there may not be one to come, as well. This is because a particular file system suits best only for a particular set of requirements. Thus, different requirements ask for different best file systems, leading to so many active file systems and many more to come. So, basically they are not generic enough to be talked generically, rather more of a research topic. And the reason for them being the toughest of all drivers is simple: Least availability of generic written material – the best documentation being the code of various file systems. Hmmm! Sounds perfect for a semester project, right?

In order to get to do such a research project, a lot of smaller steps has to be taken. The first one being understanding the concept of a file system itself. That could be done best by simulating one in user space. Shweta took the ownership of getting this first step done, as follows:

  • Use a regular file for a partition, that is for the actual data storage of the file system (Hardware space equivalent)
  • Design a basic file system structure (Kernel space equivalent) and implement the format/mkfs command for it, over the regular file
  • Provide an interface/shell to type commands and operate on the file system, similar to the usual bash shell. In general, this step is achieved by the shell along with the corresponding file system driver in kernel space. But here that translation is embodied/simulated into the user space interface, itself. (Next article shall discuss this in detail)

The default regular file chosen is .sfsf (simula-ting file system file) in the current directory. Starting . (dot) is for it to be hidden. The basic file system design mainly contains two structures, the super block containing the info about the file system, and the file entry structure containing the info about each file in the file system. Here are Shweta’s defines and structures defined in sfs_ds.h

#ifndef SFS_DS_H
#define SFS_DS_H

#define SIMULA_FS_TYPE 0x13090D15 /* Magic Number for our file system */
#define SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE 512 /* in bytes */
#define SIMULA_FS_ENTRY_SIZE 64 /* in bytes */
#define SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT ((SIMULA_FS_ENTRY_SIZE - (16 + 3 * 4)) / 4)

#define SIMULA_DEFAULT_FILE ".sfsf"

typedef unsigned int uint4_t;

typedef struct sfs_super_block
{
	uint4_t type; /* Magic number to identify the file system */
	uint4_t block_size; /* Unit of allocation */
	uint4_t partition_size; /* in blocks */
	uint4_t entry_size; /* in bytes */ 
	uint4_t entry_table_size; /* in blocks */
	uint4_t entry_table_block_start; /* in blocks */
	uint4_t entry_count; /* Total entries in the file system */
	uint4_t data_block_start; /* in blocks */
	uint4_t reserved[SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE / 4 - 8];
} sfs_super_block_t; /* Making it of SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE */

typedef struct sfs_file_entry
{
	char name[16];
	uint4_t size; /* in bytes */
	uint4_t timestamp; /* Seconds since Epoch */
	uint4_t perms; /* Permissions for user */
	uint4_t blocks[SIMULA_FS_DATA_BLOCK_CNT];
} sfs_file_entry_t;

#endif

Note that Shweta has put some redundant fields in the sfs_super_block_t rather than computing them every time. And practically that is not space inefficient, as any way lot of empty reserved space is available in the super block, which is expected to be the complete first block of a partition. For example, entry_count is a redundant field as it is same as the entry table’s size (in bytes) divided by the entry’s size, which both are part of the super block structure. Moreover, the data_block_start number could also be computed by how many blocks have been used before it, but again not preferred.

Also, note the hard coded assumptions made about the block size of 512 bytes, and some random magic number for the simula file system. This magic number is used to verify that we are dealing with the right file system, when operating on it.

Coming to the file entry, it contains the following for every file:

  • Name of up to 15 characters (1 byte for ”)
  • Size in bytes
  • Time stamp (creation or modification? Not yet decided by Shweta)
  • Permissions (just one set, for the user)
  • Array of block numbers for up to 9 data blocks. Why 9? To make the complete entry of SIMULA_FS_ENTRY_SIZE (64).

With the file system design ready, the make file system (mkfs) or more commonly known format application is implemented next, as format_sfs.c:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include "sfs_ds.h"

#define SFS_ENTRY_RATIO 0.10 /* 10% of all blocks */
#define SFS_ENTRY_TABLE_BLOCK_START 1

sfs_super_block_t sb =
{
	.type = SIMULA_FS_TYPE,
	.block_size = SIMULA_FS_BLOCK_SIZE,
	.entry_size = SIMULA_FS_ENTRY_SIZE,
	.entry_table_block_start = SFS_ENTRY_TABLE_BLOCK_START
};
sfs_file_entry_t fe; /* All 0's */

void write_super_block(int sfs_handle, sfs_super_block_t *sb)
{
	write(sfs_handle, sb, sizeof(sfs_super_block_t));
}
void clear_file_entries(int sfs_handle, sfs_super_block_t *sb)
{
	int i;

	for (i = 0; i < sb->entry_count; i++)
	{
		write(sfs_handle, &fe, sizeof(fe));
	}
}
void mark_data_blocks(int sfs_handle, sfs_super_block_t *sb)
{
	char c = 0;

	lseek(sfs_handle, sb->partition_size * sb->block_size - 1, SEEK_SET);
	write(sfs_handle, &c, 1); /* To make the file size to partition size */
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
	int sfs_handle;

	if (argc != 2)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <partition size in 512-byte blocks>\n",
			argv[0]);
		return 1;
	}
	sb.partition_size = atoi(argv[1]);
	sb.entry_table_size = sb.partition_size * SFS_ENTRY_RATIO;
	sb.entry_count = sb.entry_table_size * sb.block_size / sb.entry_size;
	sb.data_block_start = SFS_ENTRY_TABLE_BLOCK_START + sb.entry_table_size;

	sfs_handle = creat(SIMULA_DEFAULT_FILE,
		S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR | S_IRGRP | S_IROTH);
	if (sfs_handle == -1)
	{
		perror("No permissions to format");
		return 2;
	}
	write_super_block(sfs_handle, &sb);
	clear_file_entries(sfs_handle, &sb);
	mark_data_blocks(sfs_handle, &sb);
	close(sfs_handle);
	return 0;
}

Note the heuristic of 10% of total space to be used for the file entries, defined by SFS_ENTRY_RATIO. Apart from that, this format application takes the partition size as input and accordingly creates the default file .sfsf, with:

  • Its first block as the super block, using write_super_block()
  • The next 10% of total blocks as the file entry’s zeroed out table, using clear_file_entries()
  • And the remaining as the data blocks, using mark_data_blocks(). This basically writes a zero at the end, to actually extend the underlying file .sfsf to the partition size

As any other format/mkfs application, format_sfs.c is compiled using gcc, and executed on the shell as follows:

$ gcc format_sfs.c -o format_sfs
$ ./format_sfs 1024 # Partition size in blocks of 512-bytes
$ ls -al # List the .sfsf created with a size of 512 KiBytes

Figure 33 shows the .sfsf pictorially for the partition size of 1024 blocks of 512 bytes each.

Figure 33: Simula file system on 512 KiB of partition (.sfsf)

Figure 33: Simula file system on 512 KiB of partition (.sfsf)

Summing up

With the above design of simula file system (sfs_ds.h), along with the implementation for its format command (format_sfs.c), Shweta has thus created the empty file system over the simulated partition .sfsf. Now, as listed earlier, the final step in simulating the user space file system is to create the interface/shell to type commands and operate on the empty file system just created on .sfsf. Let’s watch out for Shweta coding that as well, completing the first small step towards understanding their project.

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