[PATCH v2] Update metacopy section in overlayfs documentation
From: Yuriy Belikov
Date: Wed Sep 04 2024 - 12:54:58 EST
Changes since v1:
- Provide info about trusted.overlay.metacopy extended attribute.
- Minor rephrasing regarding copy-up operation with
metacopy=on
Signed-off-by: Yuriy Belikov <yuriybelikov1@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst | 7 +++++--
1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
index 165514401441..e5ad43f4f4d7 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
@@ -367,8 +367,11 @@ Metadata only copy up
When the "metacopy" feature is enabled, overlayfs will only copy
up metadata (as opposed to whole file), when a metadata specific operation
-like chown/chmod is performed. Full file will be copied up later when
-file is opened for WRITE operation.
+like chown/chmod is performed. An upper file in this state is marked with
+"trusted.overlayfs.metacopy" xattr which indicates that the upper file
+contains no data. Full data will be copied up later when file is opened for
+WRITE operation. After the lower file's data is copied up,
+the "trusted.overlayfs.metacopy" xattr is removed from the upper file.
In other words, this is delayed data copy up operation and data is copied
up when there is a need to actually modify data.
--
2.43.5