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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2022-12-12 17:18:50 -0800
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2022-12-12 17:18:50 -0800
commita7cacfb0688e3988660e90fad7017cc9a18ab390 (patch)
tree90dc3a868ece1794f7a671aa3b5a51d1be9025cf /Documentation/admin-guide
parent96f42635684739cb563aa48d92d0d16b8dc9bda8 (diff)
parentcc8c418b4fc09ed58ddd27b8e90ec797e9ca1e67 (diff)
downloadlinux-a7cacfb0688e3988660e90fad7017cc9a18ab390.tar.bz2
Merge tag 'docs-6.2' of git://git.lwn.net/linux
Pull documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet: "This was a not-too-busy cycle for documentation; highlights include: - The beginnings of a set of translations into Spanish, headed up by Carlos Bilbao - More Chinese translations - A change to the Sphinx "alabaster" theme by default for HTML generation. Unlike the previous default (Read the Docs), alabaster is shipped with Sphinx by default, reducing the number of other dependencies that need to be installed. It also (IMO) produces a cleaner and more readable result. - The ability to render the documentation into the texinfo format (something Sphinx could always do, we just never wired it up until now) Plus the usual collection of typo fixes, build-warning fixes, and minor updates" * tag 'docs-6.2' of git://git.lwn.net/linux: (67 commits) Documentation/features: Use loongarch instead of loong Documentation/features-refresh.sh: Only sed the beginning "arch" of ARCH_DIR docs/zh_CN: Fix '.. only::' directive's expression docs/sp_SP: Add memory-barriers.txt Spanish translation docs/zh_CN/LoongArch: Update links of LoongArch ISA Vol1 and ELF psABI docs/LoongArch: Update links of LoongArch ISA Vol1 and ELF psABI Documentation/features: Update feature lists for 6.1 Documentation: Fixed a typo in bootconfig.rst docs/sp_SP: Add process coding-style translation docs/sp_SP: Add kernel-docs.rst Spanish translation docs: Create translations/sp_SP/process/, move submitting-patches.rst docs: Add book to process/kernel-docs.rst docs: Retire old resources from kernel-docs.rst docs: Update maintainer of kernel-docs.rst Documentation: riscv: Document the sv57 VM layout Documentation: USB: correct possessive "its" usage math64: fix kernel-doc return value warnings math64: add kernel-doc for DIV64_U64_ROUND_UP math64: favor kernel-doc from header files doc: add texinfodocs and infodocs targets ...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/admin-guide')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst2
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/hw_random.rst6
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/mm/zswap.rst8
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/fs.rst240
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst2
5 files changed, 102 insertions, 156 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
index d99994345d41..9355c525fbe0 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ In addition to the kernel command line, the boot config can be used for
passing the kernel parameters. All the key-value pairs under ``kernel``
key will be passed to kernel cmdline directly. Moreover, the key-value
pairs under ``init`` will be passed to init process via the cmdline.
-The parameters are concatinated with user-given kernel cmdline string
+The parameters are concatenated with user-given kernel cmdline string
as the following order, so that the command line parameter can override
bootconfig parameters (this depends on how the subsystem handles parameters
but in general, earlier parameter will be overwritten by later one.)::
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw_random.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw_random.rst
index 121de96e395e..d494601717f1 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw_random.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw_random.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-==========================================================
-Linux support for random number generator in i8xx chipsets
-==========================================================
+=================================
+Hardware random number generators
+=================================
Introduction
============
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/zswap.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/zswap.rst
index 6e6f7b0d6562..f67de481c7f6 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/zswap.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/zswap.rst
@@ -14,13 +14,7 @@ for potentially reduced swap I/O. This trade-off can also result in a
significant performance improvement if reads from the compressed cache are
faster than reads from a swap device.
-.. note::
- Zswap is a new feature as of v3.11 and interacts heavily with memory
- reclaim. This interaction has not been fully explored on the large set of
- potential configurations and workloads that exist. For this reason, zswap
- is a work in progress and should be considered experimental.
-
- Some potential benefits:
+Some potential benefits:
* Desktop/laptop users with limited RAM capacities can mitigate the
performance impact of swapping.
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/fs.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/fs.rst
index 2a501c9ddc55..a321b84eccaa 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/fs.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/fs.rst
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
Documentation for /proc/sys/fs/
===============================
-kernel version 2.2.10
-
Copyright (c) 1998, 1999, Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>
Copyright (c) 2009, Shen Feng<shen@cn.fujitsu.com>
@@ -12,58 +10,40 @@ For general info and legal blurb, please look in intro.rst.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-This file contains documentation for the sysctl files in
-/proc/sys/fs/ and is valid for Linux kernel version 2.2.
+This file contains documentation for the sysctl files and directories
+in ``/proc/sys/fs/``.
The files in this directory can be used to tune and monitor
miscellaneous and general things in the operation of the Linux
-kernel. Since some of the files _can_ be used to screw up your
+kernel. Since some of the files *can* be used to screw up your
system, it is advisable to read both documentation and source
before actually making adjustments.
1. /proc/sys/fs
===============
-Currently, these files are in /proc/sys/fs:
-
-- aio-max-nr
-- aio-nr
-- dentry-state
-- dquot-max
-- dquot-nr
-- file-max
-- file-nr
-- inode-max
-- inode-nr
-- inode-state
-- nr_open
-- overflowuid
-- overflowgid
-- pipe-user-pages-hard
-- pipe-user-pages-soft
-- protected_fifos
-- protected_hardlinks
-- protected_regular
-- protected_symlinks
-- suid_dumpable
-- super-max
-- super-nr
+Currently, these files might (depending on your configuration)
+show up in ``/proc/sys/fs``:
+
+.. contents:: :local:
aio-nr & aio-max-nr
-------------------
-aio-nr is the running total of the number of events specified on the
-io_setup system call for all currently active aio contexts. If aio-nr
-reaches aio-max-nr then io_setup will fail with EAGAIN. Note that
-raising aio-max-nr does not result in the pre-allocation or re-sizing
-of any kernel data structures.
+``aio-nr`` shows the current system-wide number of asynchronous io
+requests. ``aio-max-nr`` allows you to change the maximum value
+``aio-nr`` can grow to. If ``aio-nr`` reaches ``aio-nr-max`` then
+``io_setup`` will fail with ``EAGAIN``. Note that raising
+``aio-max-nr`` does not result in the
+pre-allocation or re-sizing of any kernel data structures.
dentry-state
------------
-From linux/include/linux/dcache.h::
+This file shows the values in ``struct dentry_stat``, as defined in
+``linux/include/linux/dcache.h``::
struct dentry_stat_t dentry_stat {
int nr_dentry;
@@ -76,95 +56,84 @@ From linux/include/linux/dcache.h::
Dentries are dynamically allocated and deallocated.
-nr_dentry shows the total number of dentries allocated (active
-+ unused). nr_unused shows the number of dentries that are not
+``nr_dentry`` shows the total number of dentries allocated (active
++ unused). ``nr_unused shows`` the number of dentries that are not
actively used, but are saved in the LRU list for future reuse.
-Age_limit is the age in seconds after which dcache entries
-can be reclaimed when memory is short and want_pages is
-nonzero when shrink_dcache_pages() has been called and the
+``age_limit`` is the age in seconds after which dcache entries
+can be reclaimed when memory is short and ``want_pages`` is
+nonzero when ``shrink_dcache_pages()`` has been called and the
dcache isn't pruned yet.
-nr_negative shows the number of unused dentries that are also
+``nr_negative`` shows the number of unused dentries that are also
negative dentries which do not map to any files. Instead,
they help speeding up rejection of non-existing files provided
by the users.
-dquot-max & dquot-nr
---------------------
-
-The file dquot-max shows the maximum number of cached disk
-quota entries.
-
-The file dquot-nr shows the number of allocated disk quota
-entries and the number of free disk quota entries.
-
-If the number of free cached disk quotas is very low and
-you have some awesome number of simultaneous system users,
-you might want to raise the limit.
-
-
file-max & file-nr
------------------
-The value in file-max denotes the maximum number of file-
+The value in ``file-max`` denotes the maximum number of file-
handles that the Linux kernel will allocate. When you get lots
of error messages about running out of file handles, you might
want to increase this limit.
Historically,the kernel was able to allocate file handles
dynamically, but not to free them again. The three values in
-file-nr denote the number of allocated file handles, the number
+``file-nr`` denote the number of allocated file handles, the number
of allocated but unused file handles, and the maximum number of
-file handles. Linux 2.6 always reports 0 as the number of free
+file handles. Linux 2.6 and later always reports 0 as the number of free
file handles -- this is not an error, it just means that the
number of allocated file handles exactly matches the number of
used file handles.
-Attempts to allocate more file descriptors than file-max are
-reported with printk, look for "VFS: file-max limit <number>
-reached".
+Attempts to allocate more file descriptors than ``file-max`` are
+reported with ``printk``, look for::
+ VFS: file-max limit <number> reached
-nr_open
--------
-
-This denotes the maximum number of file-handles a process can
-allocate. Default value is 1024*1024 (1048576) which should be
-enough for most machines. Actual limit depends on RLIMIT_NOFILE
-resource limit.
+in the kernel logs.
-inode-max, inode-nr & inode-state
----------------------------------
+inode-nr & inode-state
+----------------------
As with file handles, the kernel allocates the inode structures
dynamically, but can't free them yet.
-The value in inode-max denotes the maximum number of inode
-handlers. This value should be 3-4 times larger than the value
-in file-max, since stdin, stdout and network sockets also
-need an inode struct to handle them. When you regularly run
-out of inodes, you need to increase this value.
-
-The file inode-nr contains the first two items from
-inode-state, so we'll skip to that file...
+The file ``inode-nr`` contains the first two items from
+``inode-state``, so we'll skip to that file...
-Inode-state contains three actual numbers and four dummies.
-The actual numbers are, in order of appearance, nr_inodes,
-nr_free_inodes and preshrink.
+``inode-state`` contains three actual numbers and four dummies.
+The actual numbers are, in order of appearance, ``nr_inodes``,
+``nr_free_inodes`` and ``preshrink``.
-Nr_inodes stands for the number of inodes the system has
-allocated, this can be slightly more than inode-max because
-Linux allocates them one pageful at a time.
+``nr_inodes`` stands for the number of inodes the system has
+allocated.
-Nr_free_inodes represents the number of free inodes (?) and
-preshrink is nonzero when the nr_inodes > inode-max and the
+``nr_free_inodes`` represents the number of free inodes (?) and
+preshrink is nonzero when the
system needs to prune the inode list instead of allocating
more.
+mount-max
+---------
+
+This denotes the maximum number of mounts that may exist
+in a mount namespace.
+
+
+nr_open
+-------
+
+This denotes the maximum number of file-handles a process can
+allocate. Default value is 1024*1024 (1048576) which should be
+enough for most machines. Actual limit depends on ``RLIMIT_NOFILE``
+resource limit.
+
+
overflowgid & overflowuid
-------------------------
@@ -192,7 +161,7 @@ pipe-user-pages-soft
Maximum total number of pages a non-privileged user may allocate for pipes
before the pipe size gets limited to a single page. Once this limit is reached,
new pipes will be limited to a single page in size for this user in order to
-limit total memory usage, and trying to increase them using fcntl() will be
+limit total memory usage, and trying to increase them using ``fcntl()`` will be
denied until usage goes below the limit again. The default value allows to
allocate up to 1024 pipes at their default size. When set to 0, no limit is
applied.
@@ -207,7 +176,7 @@ file.
When set to "0", writing to FIFOs is unrestricted.
-When set to "1" don't allow O_CREAT open on FIFOs that we don't own
+When set to "1" don't allow ``O_CREAT`` open on FIFOs that we don't own
in world writable sticky directories, unless they are owned by the
owner of the directory.
@@ -221,7 +190,7 @@ protected_hardlinks
A long-standing class of security issues is the hardlink-based
time-of-check-time-of-use race, most commonly seen in world-writable
-directories like /tmp. The common method of exploitation of this flaw
+directories like ``/tmp``. The common method of exploitation of this flaw
is to cross privilege boundaries when following a given hardlink (i.e. a
root process follows a hardlink created by another user). Additionally,
on systems without separated partitions, this stops unauthorized users
@@ -239,13 +208,13 @@ This protection is based on the restrictions in Openwall and grsecurity.
protected_regular
-----------------
-This protection is similar to protected_fifos, but it
+This protection is similar to `protected_fifos`_, but it
avoids writes to an attacker-controlled regular file, where a program
expected to create one.
When set to "0", writing to regular files is unrestricted.
-When set to "1" don't allow O_CREAT open on regular files that we
+When set to "1" don't allow ``O_CREAT`` open on regular files that we
don't own in world writable sticky directories, unless they are
owned by the owner of the directory.
@@ -257,7 +226,7 @@ protected_symlinks
A long-standing class of security issues is the symlink-based
time-of-check-time-of-use race, most commonly seen in world-writable
-directories like /tmp. The common method of exploitation of this flaw
+directories like ``/tmp``. The common method of exploitation of this flaw
is to cross privilege boundaries when following a given symlink (i.e. a
root process follows a symlink belonging to another user). For a likely
incomplete list of hundreds of examples across the years, please see:
@@ -272,23 +241,25 @@ follower match, or when the directory owner matches the symlink's owner.
This protection is based on the restrictions in Openwall and grsecurity.
-suid_dumpable:
---------------
+suid_dumpable
+-------------
This value can be used to query and set the core dump mode for setuid
or otherwise protected/tainted binaries. The modes are
= ========== ===============================================================
-0 (default) traditional behaviour. Any process which has changed
+0 (default) Traditional behaviour. Any process which has changed
privilege levels or is execute only will not be dumped.
-1 (debug) all processes dump core when possible. The core dump is
+1 (debug) All processes dump core when possible. The core dump is
owned by the current user and no security is applied. This is
intended for system debugging situations only.
Ptrace is unchecked.
This is insecure as it allows regular users to examine the
memory contents of privileged processes.
-2 (suidsafe) any binary which normally would not be dumped is dumped
- anyway, but only if the "core_pattern" kernel sysctl is set to
+2 (suidsafe) Any binary which normally would not be dumped is dumped
+ anyway, but only if the ``core_pattern`` kernel sysctl (see
+ :ref:`Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst <core_pattern>`)
+ is set to
either a pipe handler or a fully qualified path. (For more
details on this limitation, see CVE-2006-2451.) This mode is
appropriate when administrators are attempting to debug
@@ -301,36 +272,11 @@ or otherwise protected/tainted binaries. The modes are
= ========== ===============================================================
-super-max & super-nr
---------------------
-
-These numbers control the maximum number of superblocks, and
-thus the maximum number of mounted filesystems the kernel
-can have. You only need to increase super-max if you need to
-mount more filesystems than the current value in super-max
-allows you to.
-
-
-aio-nr & aio-max-nr
--------------------
-
-aio-nr shows the current system-wide number of asynchronous io
-requests. aio-max-nr allows you to change the maximum value
-aio-nr can grow to.
-
-
-mount-max
----------
-
-This denotes the maximum number of mounts that may exist
-in a mount namespace.
-
-
2. /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
===========================
-Documentation for the files in /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc is
+Documentation for the files in ``/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc`` is
in Documentation/admin-guide/binfmt-misc.rst.
@@ -343,28 +289,32 @@ creation of a user space library that implements the POSIX message queues
API (as noted by the MSG tag in the POSIX 1003.1-2001 version of the System
Interfaces specification.)
-The "mqueue" filesystem contains values for determining/setting the amount of
-resources used by the file system.
+The "mqueue" filesystem contains values for determining/setting the
+amount of resources used by the file system.
-/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/queues_max is a read/write file for setting/getting the
-maximum number of message queues allowed on the system.
+``/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/queues_max`` is a read/write file for
+setting/getting the maximum number of message queues allowed on the
+system.
-/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msg_max is a read/write file for setting/getting the
-maximum number of messages in a queue value. In fact it is the limiting value
-for another (user) limit which is set in mq_open invocation. This attribute of
-a queue must be less or equal then msg_max.
+``/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msg_max`` is a read/write file for
+setting/getting the maximum number of messages in a queue value. In
+fact it is the limiting value for another (user) limit which is set in
+``mq_open`` invocation. This attribute of a queue must be less than
+or equal to ``msg_max``.
-/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msgsize_max is a read/write file for setting/getting the
-maximum message size value (it is every message queue's attribute set during
-its creation).
+``/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msgsize_max`` is a read/write file for
+setting/getting the maximum message size value (it is an attribute of
+every message queue, set during its creation).
-/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msg_default is a read/write file for setting/getting the
-default number of messages in a queue value if attr parameter of mq_open(2) is
-NULL. If it exceed msg_max, the default value is initialized msg_max.
+``/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msg_default`` is a read/write file for
+setting/getting the default number of messages in a queue value if the
+``attr`` parameter of ``mq_open(2)`` is ``NULL``. If it exceeds
+``msg_max``, the default value is initialized to ``msg_max``.
-/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msgsize_default is a read/write file for setting/getting
-the default message size value if attr parameter of mq_open(2) is NULL. If it
-exceed msgsize_max, the default value is initialized msgsize_max.
+``/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msgsize_default`` is a read/write file for
+setting/getting the default message size value if the ``attr``
+parameter of ``mq_open(2)`` is ``NULL``. If it exceeds
+``msgsize_max``, the default value is initialized to ``msgsize_max``.
4. /proc/sys/fs/epoll - Configuration options for the epoll interface
=====================================================================
@@ -378,7 +328,7 @@ Every epoll file descriptor can store a number of files to be monitored
for event readiness. Each one of these monitored files constitutes a "watch".
This configuration option sets the maximum number of "watches" that are
allowed for each user.
-Each "watch" costs roughly 90 bytes on a 32bit kernel, and roughly 160 bytes
-on a 64bit one.
-The current default value for max_user_watches is the 1/25 (4%) of the
-available low memory, divided for the "watch" cost in bytes.
+Each "watch" costs roughly 90 bytes on a 32-bit kernel, and roughly 160 bytes
+on a 64-bit one.
+The current default value for ``max_user_watches`` is 4% of the
+available low memory, divided by the "watch" cost in bytes.
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
index c2c64c1b706f..05e57c1cf937 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ Highest valid capability of the running kernel. Exports
``CAP_LAST_CAP`` from the kernel.
+.. _core_pattern:
+
core_pattern
============