/proc/mounts vs mount inconsistency in 2.6.16 (SLES10 SP1)

From: Ulrich Windl
Date: Fri Apr 18 2008 - 09:08:46 EST


Hi,

I think I found a little problem in kernel 2.6.16.54-0.2.5-xen (Current SLES10
SP1):

By mistake I mounted some filesystem read-only over /.

Realizing the mistake, I did an "umount /", which seemed to work.

Then I noticed that / was mounted read-only, while the files being there were
those of the right root filesystem.

So I did a "Mount -o remount /" which enabled writes again.

As some other program had odd effects, I did "cat /proc/mounts" which still
displayed the wrong device and readonly (/dev/system/as2-root / reiserfs ro 0 0),
while umount refused to unmount it "umount: /dev/system/as2-root: not mounted".

It seems the interface between the mount/umount program and /proc/mounts is a bit
instable...

Some Details:
Device /dev/system/as2-root is mounted in the privileged domain,
and so cannot be mounted by a guest.
# mount
/dev/mapper/system-root on / type reiserfs (rw)
[...]
# cat /proc/mounts
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
[...]
/dev/system/as2-root / reiserfs ro 0 0
# umount /dev/system/as2-root
umount: /dev/system/as2-root: not mounted
# umount -f /dev/system/as2-root
umount2: Invalid argument
umount: /dev/system/as2-root: not mounted
# mount -o remount /dev/system/root / ### having looked it up in /etc/fstab
# cat /proc/mounts
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
[...]
/dev/system/as2-root / reiserfs ro 0 0
# mount /dev/system/root /
# cat /proc/mounts
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
[...]
/dev/system/as2-root / reiserfs ro 0 0
# umount / ### succeeds!
# mount /dev/system/root /
mount: /dev/system/root already mounted or / busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/mapper/system-root is already mounted on /
# cat /proc/mounts
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
[...]
/dev/system/as2-root / reiserfs ro 0 0
/dev/system/root / reiserfs ro 0 0
# xm create -c as2
Using config file "/etc/xen/vm/as2".
Error: Device 2049 (vbd) could not be connected.
Device /dev/system/as2-root is mounted in the privileged domain,
and so cannot be mounted by a guest.

S**t: Isn't there a solution other than rebooting Dom0 (XEN talk)?

Regards,
Ulrich
P.S. I'm not subscribed to the kernel list, so if you want to reach me, please CC:

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