[PATCH v1] f2fs: dirty directory inodes on mtime/ctime update
From: Joanne Chang
Date: Mon Jun 22 2026 - 23:31:09 EST
Xfstests generic/547 sometimes fail with mismatched directory metadata
before and after a power failure. This happens because when a directory
entry is added, renamed, or deleted, its mtime and ctime are updated and
the inode is marked dirty via
f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, sync=false). The sync=false flag means
the dirty inode is not added to the global DIRTY_META list. Therefore,
subsequent checkpoints skip flushing these updated directory blocks,
causing directory timestamps to revert to stale values after a sudden
power failure.
Address this by changing the dirtying parameter to sync=true during
directory entry mutations and renames. This forces F2FS to immediately
queue the updated directory blocks on the global DIRTY_META list,
ensuring timestamps are committed to checkpoints.
Signed-off-by: Joanne Chang <joannechien@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/f2fs/dir.c | 6 +++---
fs/f2fs/inline.c | 2 +-
fs/f2fs/namei.c | 6 +++---
3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/f2fs/dir.c b/fs/f2fs/dir.c
index a9563f7fcd88..e1c42d2b5c15 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/dir.c
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ void f2fs_set_link(struct inode *dir, struct f2fs_dir_entry *de,
folio_mark_dirty(folio);
inode_set_mtime_to_ts(dir, inode_set_ctime_current(dir));
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, true);
f2fs_folio_put(folio, true);
}
@@ -615,7 +615,7 @@ void f2fs_update_parent_metadata(struct inode *dir, struct inode *inode,
clear_inode_flag(inode, FI_NEW_INODE);
}
inode_set_mtime_to_ts(dir, inode_set_ctime_current(dir));
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, true);
if (F2FS_I(dir)->i_current_depth != current_depth)
f2fs_i_depth_write(dir, current_depth);
@@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ void f2fs_delete_entry(struct f2fs_dir_entry *dentry, struct folio *folio,
f2fs_folio_put(folio, true);
inode_set_mtime_to_ts(dir, inode_set_ctime_current(dir));
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, true);
if (inode)
f2fs_drop_nlink(dir, inode);
diff --git a/fs/f2fs/inline.c b/fs/f2fs/inline.c
index e2f7bedf1552..aec06fb4fd76 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/inline.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/inline.c
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ void f2fs_delete_inline_entry(struct f2fs_dir_entry *dentry,
f2fs_folio_put(folio, true);
inode_set_mtime_to_ts(dir, inode_set_ctime_current(dir));
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(dir, true);
if (inode)
f2fs_drop_nlink(dir, inode);
diff --git a/fs/f2fs/namei.c b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
index cac03b8e91a1..7ffdf23cea5e 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ static int f2fs_rename(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct inode *old_dir,
f2fs_up_write(&F2FS_I(old_inode)->i_sem);
inode_set_ctime_current(old_inode);
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(old_inode, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(old_inode, true);
f2fs_delete_entry(old_entry, old_folio, old_dir, NULL);
old_folio = NULL;
@@ -1246,7 +1246,7 @@ static int f2fs_cross_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
f2fs_i_links_write(old_dir, old_nlink > 0);
f2fs_up_write(&F2FS_I(old_dir)->i_sem);
}
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(old_dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(old_dir, true);
/* update directory entry info of new dir inode */
f2fs_set_link(new_dir, new_entry, new_folio, old_inode);
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ static int f2fs_cross_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
f2fs_i_links_write(new_dir, new_nlink > 0);
f2fs_up_write(&F2FS_I(new_dir)->i_sem);
}
- f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(new_dir, false);
+ f2fs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(new_dir, true);
if (F2FS_OPTION(sbi).fsync_mode == FSYNC_MODE_STRICT) {
f2fs_add_ino_entry(sbi, old_dir->i_ino, TRANS_DIR_INO);
--
2.54.0.1189.g8c84645362-goog