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From: NeilBrown <neilb@ownmail.net>
To: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>,
	Alexander Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>,
	Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>, Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>,
	Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org>,
	Trond Myklebust <trondmy@kernel.org>,
	Anna Schumaker <anna@kernel.org>,
	Miklos Szeredi <miklos@szeredi.hu>,
	Amir Goldstein <amir73il@gmail.com>, Jeremy Kerr <jk@ozlabs.org>,
	Ard Biesheuvel <ardb@kernel.org>
Cc: linux-efi@vger.kernel.org, linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org, linux-unionfs@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH v3 05/19] VFS: introduce d_alloc_noblock()
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:01:23 +1000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260427040517.828226-6-neilb@ownmail.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260427040517.828226-1-neilb@ownmail.net>

From: NeilBrown <neil@brown.name>

Several filesystems use the results of readdir to prime the dcache.
These filesystems use d_alloc_parallel() which can block if there is a
concurrent lookup.  Blocking in that case is pointless as the lookup
will add info to the dcache and there is no value in the readdir waiting
to see if it should add the info too.

Also these calls to d_alloc_parallel() are made while the parent
directory is locked.  A proposed change to locking will lock the parent
later, after d_alloc_parallel().  This means it won't be safe to wait in
d_alloc_parallel() while holding the directory lock.

So this patch introduces d_alloc_noblock() which doesn't block but
instead returns ERR_PTR(-EWOULDBLOCK).  Filesystems that prime the
dcache (smb/client, nfs, fuse, cephfs) can now use that and ignore
-EWOULDBLOCK errors as harmless.

Unlike d_alloc_parallel(), d_alloc_noblock() calculates the hash and
performs a lookup before an allocation, as that is what all callers
want.

Signed-off-by: NeilBrown <neil@brown.name>
---
 fs/dcache.c            | 91 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 include/linux/dcache.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 87 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/dcache.c b/fs/dcache.c
index 2dcefa60db32..dc06e70695d2 100644
--- a/fs/dcache.c
+++ b/fs/dcache.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <linux/bit_spinlock.h>
 #include <linux/rculist_bl.h>
 #include <linux/list_lru.h>
+#include <linux/namei.h>
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "mount.h"
 
@@ -2672,8 +2673,16 @@ static inline bool d_must_wait(struct dentry *dentry)
 	return true;
 }
 
-struct dentry *d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *parent,
-				const struct qstr *name)
+/* What to do when __d_alloc_parallel finds a d_in_lookup dentry */
+enum alloc_para {
+	ALLOC_PARA_WAIT,
+	ALLOC_PARA_FAIL,
+};
+
+static inline
+struct dentry *__d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *parent,
+				  const struct qstr *name,
+				  enum alloc_para how)
 {
 	unsigned int hash = name->hash;
 	struct hlist_bl_head *b = in_lookup_hash(parent, hash);
@@ -2755,9 +2764,20 @@ struct dentry *d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *parent,
 		 * wait for them to finish
 		 */
 		spin_lock(&dentry->d_lock);
-		wait_var_event_spinlock(&dentry->d_flags,
-					!d_must_wait(dentry),
-					&dentry->d_lock);
+		if (d_in_lookup(dentry))
+			switch (how) {
+			case ALLOC_PARA_FAIL:
+				spin_unlock(&dentry->d_lock);
+				dput(new);
+				dput(dentry);
+				return ERR_PTR(-EWOULDBLOCK);
+			case ALLOC_PARA_WAIT:
+				wait_var_event_spinlock(&dentry->d_flags,
+							!d_must_wait(dentry),
+							&dentry->d_lock);
+				/* ... and continue */
+			}
+
 		/*
 		 * it's not in-lookup anymore; in principle we should repeat
 		 * everything from dcache lookup, but it's likely to be what
@@ -2786,8 +2806,69 @@ struct dentry *d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *parent,
 	dput(dentry);
 	goto retry;
 }
+
+/**
+ * d_alloc_parallel() - allocate a new dentry and ensure uniqueness
+ * @parent - dentry of the parent
+ * @name   - name of the dentry within that parent.
+ *
+ * A new dentry is allocated and, providing it is unique, added to the
+ * relevant index.
+ * If an existing dentry is found with the same parent/name that is
+ * not d_in_lookup(), then that is returned instead.
+ * If the existing dentry is d_in_lookup(), d_alloc_parallel() waits for
+ * that lookup to complete before returning the dentry and then ensures the
+ * match is still valid.
+ * Thus if the returned dentry is d_in_lookup() then the caller has
+ * exclusive access until it completes the lookup.
+ * If the returned dentry is not d_in_lookup() then a lookup has
+ * already completed.
+ *
+ * The @name must already have ->hash set, as can be achieved
+ * by e.g. try_lookup_noperm().
+ *
+ * Returns: the dentry, whether found or allocated, or an error %-ENOMEM.
+ */
+struct dentry *d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *parent,
+				const struct qstr *name)
+{
+	return __d_alloc_parallel(parent, name, ALLOC_PARA_WAIT);
+}
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(d_alloc_parallel);
 
+/**
+ * d_alloc_noblock() - find or allocate a new dentry
+ * @parent - dentry of the parent
+ * @name   - name of the dentry within that parent.
+ *
+ * A new dentry is allocated and, providing it is unique, added to the
+ * relevant index.
+ * If an existing dentry is found with the same parent/name that is
+ * not d_in_lookup() then that is returned instead.
+ * If the existing dentry is d_in_lookup(), d_alloc_noblock()
+ * returns with error %-EWOULDBLOCK.
+ * Thus if the returned dentry is d_in_lookup() then the caller has
+ * exclusive access until it completes the lookup.
+ * If the returned dentry is not d_in_lookup() then a lookup has
+ * already completed.
+ *
+ * The @name need not already have ->hash set.
+ *
+ * Returns: the dentry, whether found or allocated, or an error
+ *    %-ENOMEM, %-EWOULDBLOCK, and anything returned by ->d_hash().
+ */
+struct dentry *d_alloc_noblock(struct dentry *parent,
+			       struct qstr *name)
+{
+	struct dentry *de;
+
+	de = try_lookup_noperm(name, parent);
+	if (!de)
+		de = __d_alloc_parallel(parent, name, ALLOC_PARA_FAIL);
+	return de;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(d_alloc_noblock);
+
 /*
  * - Unhash the dentry
  * - Retrieve and clear the waitqueue head in dentry
diff --git a/include/linux/dcache.h b/include/linux/dcache.h
index 14b91a7d0bb6..85e8570cbd48 100644
--- a/include/linux/dcache.h
+++ b/include/linux/dcache.h
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ extern void d_delete(struct dentry *);
 extern struct dentry * d_alloc(struct dentry *, const struct qstr *);
 extern struct dentry * d_alloc_anon(struct super_block *);
 extern struct dentry * d_alloc_parallel(struct dentry *, const struct qstr *);
+extern struct dentry * d_alloc_noblock(struct dentry *, struct qstr *);
 extern struct dentry * d_splice_alias(struct inode *, struct dentry *);
 /* weird procfs mess; *NOT* exported */
 extern struct dentry * d_splice_alias_ops(struct inode *, struct dentry *,
-- 
2.50.0.107.gf914562f5916.dirty


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-04-27  4:06 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 53+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-04-27  4:01 [PATCH v3 00/19] Prepare to lift lookup out of exclusive lock for directory ops NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 01/19] VFS: fix various typos in documentation for start_creating start_removing etc NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 02/19] VFS: enhance d_splice_alias() to handle in-lookup dentries NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 03/19] VFS: allow d_alloc_name() to be used with ->d_hash NeilBrown
2026-04-28  2:10   ` Al Viro
2026-04-29  2:44     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 04/19] VFS: use wait_var_event for waiting in d_alloc_parallel() NeilBrown
2026-04-28  3:37   ` Al Viro
2026-04-28 11:18     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-28 14:22       ` Al Viro
2026-04-28 23:26         ` NeilBrown
2026-04-29  5:26           ` Al Viro
2026-04-29 17:07             ` Al Viro
2026-04-29 21:03               ` Linus Torvalds
2026-04-30 23:51               ` NeilBrown
2026-05-01  1:11                 ` Al Viro
2026-05-01  1:39                   ` NeilBrown
2026-05-01  1:45                     ` NeilBrown
2026-05-01  3:37                     ` Al Viro
2026-05-01 10:46                       ` NeilBrown
2026-05-01  1:20                 ` NeilBrown
2026-04-28 16:32     ` Linus Torvalds
2026-04-27  4:01 ` NeilBrown [this message]
2026-04-28  2:22   ` [PATCH v3 05/19] VFS: introduce d_alloc_noblock() Al Viro
2026-04-28 11:24     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 06/19] VFS: add d_duplicate() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 07/19] VFS: Add LOOKUP_SHARED flag NeilBrown
2026-04-27  7:43   ` Amir Goldstein
2026-04-27  8:47     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  9:05       ` Amir Goldstein
2026-04-27 23:51         ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 08/19] VFS/xfs/ntfs: drop parent lock across d_alloc_parallel() in d_add_ci() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  7:49   ` Amir Goldstein
2026-04-27  8:48     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 09/19] ovl: stop using lookup_one() in iterate_shared() handling NeilBrown
2026-04-27 10:10   ` Amir Goldstein
2026-04-28  0:24     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 10/19] VFS/ovl: add d_alloc_noblock_return() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  9:40   ` Amir Goldstein
2026-04-28  0:34     ` NeilBrown
2026-04-28  4:35       ` Al Viro
2026-04-28 11:44         ` NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 11/19] efivarfs: use d_alloc_name() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 12/19] shmem: use d_duplicate() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 13/19] nfs: remove d_drop()/d_alloc_parallel() from nfs_atomic_open() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 14/19] nfs: use d_splice_alias() in nfs_link() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 15/19] nfs: don't d_drop() before d_splice_alias() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 16/19] nfs: don't d_drop() before d_splice_alias() in atomic_create NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 17/19] nfs: Use d_alloc_noblock() in nfs_prime_dcache() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 18/19] nfs: use d_alloc_noblock() in silly-rename NeilBrown
2026-04-27  4:01 ` [PATCH v3 19/19] nfs: use d_duplicate() NeilBrown
2026-04-27  8:42 ` [syzbot ci] Re: Prepare to lift lookup out of exclusive lock for directory ops syzbot ci
2026-04-28 23:16   ` NeilBrown

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