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-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/directory-locking.rst26
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/directory-locking.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/directory-locking.rst
index 504ba940c36c..dccd61c7c5c3 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/directory-locking.rst
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/directory-locking.rst
@@ -22,12 +22,11 @@ exclusive.
 3) object removal.  Locking rules: caller locks parent, finds victim,
 locks victim and calls the method.  Locks are exclusive.
 
-4) rename() that is _not_ cross-directory.  Locking rules: caller locks
-the parent and finds source and target.  In case of exchange (with
-RENAME_EXCHANGE in flags argument) lock both.  In any case,
-if the target already exists, lock it.  If the source is a non-directory,
-lock it.  If we need to lock both, lock them in inode pointer order.
-Then call the method.  All locks are exclusive.
+4) rename() that is _not_ cross-directory.  Locking rules: caller locks the
+parent and finds source and target.  We lock both (provided they exist).  If we
+need to lock two inodes of different type (dir vs non-dir), we lock directory
+first.  If we need to lock two inodes of the same type, lock them in inode
+pointer order.  Then call the method.  All locks are exclusive.
 NB: we might get away with locking the source (and target in exchange
 case) shared.
 
@@ -44,15 +43,17 @@ All locks are exclusive.
 rules:
 
 	* lock the filesystem
-	* lock parents in "ancestors first" order.
+	* lock parents in "ancestors first" order. If one is not ancestor of
+	  the other, lock them in inode pointer order.
 	* find source and target.
 	* if old parent is equal to or is a descendent of target
 	  fail with -ENOTEMPTY
 	* if new parent is equal to or is a descendent of source
 	  fail with -ELOOP
-	* If it's an exchange, lock both the source and the target.
-	* If the target exists, lock it.  If the source is a non-directory,
-	  lock it.  If we need to lock both, do so in inode pointer order.
+	* Lock both the source and the target provided they exist. If we
+	  need to lock two inodes of different type (dir vs non-dir), we lock
+	  the directory first. If we need to lock two inodes of the same type,
+	  lock them in inode pointer order.
 	* call the method.
 
 All ->i_rwsem are taken exclusive.  Again, we might get away with locking
@@ -66,8 +67,9 @@ If no directory is its own ancestor, the scheme above is deadlock-free.
 
 Proof:
 
-	First of all, at any moment we have a partial ordering of the
-	objects - A < B iff A is an ancestor of B.
+	First of all, at any moment we have a linear ordering of the
+	objects - A < B iff (A is an ancestor of B) or (B is not an ancestor
+        of A and ptr(A) < ptr(B)).
 
 	That ordering can change.  However, the following is true: