Mark Harmstone c6153ed23e btrfs: add ioctl GET_CSUMS to read raw checksums from file range
Add a new unprivileged BTRFS_IOC_GET_CSUMS ioctl, which can be used to
query the on-disk csums for a file range.

The ioctl is deliberately per-file rather than exposing raw csum tree
lookups, to avoid leaking information to users about files they may not
have access to.

This is done by userspace passing a struct btrfs_ioctl_get_csums_args to
the kernel, which details the offset and length we're interested in, and
a buffer for the kernel to write its results into. The kernel writes a
struct btrfs_ioctl_get_csums_entry into the buffer, followed by the
csums if available. The maximum size of the user buffer is capped to
16MiB.

If the extent is an uncompressed, non-NODATASUM extent, the kernel sets
the entry type to BTRFS_GET_CSUMS_HAS_CSUMS and follows it with the
csums. If it is sparse, preallocated, or beyond the EOF, it sets the
type to BTRFS_GET_CSUMS_ZEROED - this is so userspace knows it can use
the precomputed hash of the zero sector. Otherwise, it sets the type to
BTRFS_GET_CSUMS_NODATASUM, BTRFS_GET_CSUMS_COMPRESSED,
BTRFS_GET_CSUM_ENCRYPTED, or BTRFS_GET_CSUM_INLINE.

For example, a file with a [0, 4K) hole and [4K, 12K) data extent would
produce the following output buffer:

  | [0, 4K) ZEROED | [4K, 12K) HAS_CSUMS | csum data |

We do store the csums of compressed extents, but we deliberately don't
return them here: they're calculated over the compressed data, not the
uncompressed data that's returned to userspace. Similarly for encrypted
data, once encryption is supported, in which the csums will be on the
ciphertext.

The main use case for this is for speeding up mkfs.btrfs --rootdir. For
the case when the source FS is btrfs and using the same csum algorithm,
we can avoid having to recalculate the csums - in my synthetic
benchmarks (16GB file on a spinning-rust drive), this resulted in a ~11%
speed-up (218s to 196s).

When using the --reflink option added in btrfs-progs v6.16.1, we can forgo
reading the data entirely, resulting a ~2200% speed-up on the same test
(128s to 6s).

    # mkdir rootdir
    # dd if=/dev/urandom of=rootdir/file bs=4096 count=4194304

    (without ioctl)
    # echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
    # time mkfs.btrfs --rootdir rootdir testimg
    ...
    real    3m37.965s
    user    0m5.496s
    sys     0m6.125s

    # echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
    # time mkfs.btrfs --rootdir rootdir --reflink testimg
    ...
    real    2m8.342s
    user    0m5.472s
    sys     0m1.667s

    (with ioctl)
    # echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
    # time mkfs.btrfs --rootdir rootdir testimg
    ...
    real    3m15.865s
    user    0m4.258s
    sys     0m6.261s

    # echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
    # time mkfs.btrfs --rootdir rootdir --reflink testimg
    ...
    real    0m5.847s
    user    0m2.899s
    sys     0m0.097s

Another notable use case is for deduplication, where reading the
checksums may serve as a hint instead of reading the whole file data.

Reviewed-by: Qu Wenruo <wqu@suse.com>
Signed-off-by: Mark Harmstone <mark@harmstone.com>
Signed-off-by: David Sterba <dsterba@suse.com>
2026-06-08 15:53:29 +02:00
2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
2026-06-07 15:37:58 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst
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