[PATCH 1/4] overlayfs: Fix QA failure

[PATCH 1/4] overlayfs: Fix QA failure

[uvv.mail]

From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>

The QA check for skipped mounts happens twice, at parsing stage and at
rootfs postprocessing. Fix the former, because it didn't happen properly.

Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
---
 meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py b/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
index 8b88900f71..dbfed317c0 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ def unitFileList(d):
     # check that we have required mount points set first
     requiredMountPoints = d.getVarFlags('OVERLAYFS_WRITABLE_PATHS')
     for mountPoint in requiredMountPoints:
-        if mountPoint not in overlayMountPoints:
+        qaSkip = (d.getVarFlag("OVERLAYFS_QA_SKIP", mountPoint) or "").split()
+        if mountPoint not in overlayMountPoints and not "mount-configured" in qaSkip:
             bb.fatal("Missing required mount point for OVERLAYFS_MOUNT_POINT[%s] in your MACHINE configuration" % mountPoint)
 
     for mountPoint in overlayMountPoints:

[PATCH 2/4] overlayfs: oe-selftest: Make the test more deterministic

[uvv.mail]

From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>

The test orignally was written under assumption that poky distro is
used. When poky-altcft is used for example, then systemd is already set
in DISTRO_FETURES, which the test did not expect.

Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
---
 meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py | 5 +++--
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
index 580fbdcb9c..3e55e97927 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #
 
 from oeqa.selftest.case import OESelftestTestCase
-from oeqa.utils.commands import bitbake, runqemu, get_bb_vars
+from oeqa.utils.commands import bitbake, runqemu, get_bb_vars, get_bb_var
 from oeqa.core.decorator import OETestTag
 from oeqa.core.decorator.data import skipIfNotMachine
 
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ inherit overlayfs
         res = bitbake('core-image-minimal', ignore_status=True)
         line = getline(res, "overlayfs-user was skipped: missing required distro features")
         self.assertTrue("overlayfs" in res.output, msg=res.output)
-        self.assertTrue("systemd" in res.output, msg=res.output)
+        if not "systemd" in get_bb_var('DISTRO_FEATURES'):
+            self.assertTrue("systemd" in res.output, msg=res.output)
         self.assertTrue("ERROR: Required build target 'core-image-minimal' has no buildable providers." in res.output, msg=res.output)
 
     def test_not_all_units_installed(self):

[PATCH 3/4] overlayfs: Remove helper unit

[uvv.mail]

From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>

Since systemd v256 workdir and upperdir are automatically created if
they don't exist, so we don't need an additional helper unit anymore.

Ref: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/6c75eff6afd90596d09a33a9275be292db4e3380

Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
---
 meta/classes-recipe/overlayfs.bbclass           | 10 ----------
 meta/classes-recipe/rootfs-postcommands.bbclass | 13 +------------
 meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in     | 13 -------------
 meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh             | 11 -----------
 meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in              |  3 +--
 meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py                        |  4 ----
 6 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 52 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in
 delete mode 100644 meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh

diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/overlayfs.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/overlayfs.bbclass
index a82763ec10..07cc68ad7b 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/overlayfs.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/overlayfs.bbclass
@@ -55,27 +55,21 @@ REQUIRED_DISTRO_FEATURES += "systemd overlayfs"
 
 inherit systemd features_check
 
-OVERLAYFS_CREATE_DIRS_TEMPLATE ??= "${COREBASE}/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in"
 OVERLAYFS_MOUNT_UNIT_TEMPLATE ??= "${COREBASE}/meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in"
 OVERLAYFS_ALL_OVERLAYS_TEMPLATE ??= "${COREBASE}/meta/files/overlayfs-all-overlays.service.in"
 
 python do_create_overlayfs_units() {
     from oe.overlayfs import mountUnitName
 
-    with open(d.getVar("OVERLAYFS_CREATE_DIRS_TEMPLATE"), "r") as f:
-        CreateDirsUnitTemplate = f.read()
     with open(d.getVar("OVERLAYFS_MOUNT_UNIT_TEMPLATE"), "r") as f:
         MountUnitTemplate = f.read()
     with open(d.getVar("OVERLAYFS_ALL_OVERLAYS_TEMPLATE"), "r") as f:
         AllOverlaysTemplate = f.read()
 
     def prepareUnits(data, lower):
-        from oe.overlayfs import helperUnitName
-
         args = {
             'DATA_MOUNT_POINT': data,
             'DATA_MOUNT_UNIT': mountUnitName(data),
-            'CREATE_DIRS_SERVICE': helperUnitName(lower),
             'LOWERDIR': lower,
         }
 
@@ -83,10 +77,6 @@ python do_create_overlayfs_units() {
         with open(os.path.join(d.getVar('WORKDIR'), mountUnitName(lower)), 'w') as f:
             f.write(MountUnitTemplate.format(**args))
 
-        bb.debug(1, "Generate helper systemd unit %s" % helperUnitName(lower))
-        with open(os.path.join(d.getVar('WORKDIR'), helperUnitName(lower)), 'w') as f:
-            f.write(CreateDirsUnitTemplate.format(**args))
-
     def prepareGlobalUnit(dependentUnits):
         from oe.overlayfs import allOverlaysUnitName
         args = {
diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/rootfs-postcommands.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/rootfs-postcommands.bbclass
index 2a36840f29..f0c7ee658d 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/rootfs-postcommands.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/rootfs-postcommands.bbclass
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ ROOTFS_POSTPROCESS_COMMAND += '${@bb.utils.contains("DISTRO_FEATURES", "systemd"
 
 ROOTFS_POSTPROCESS_COMMAND += 'empty_var_volatile'
 
-ROOTFS_POSTPROCESS_COMMAND += '${@bb.utils.contains("DISTRO_FEATURES", "overlayfs", "overlayfs_qa_check overlayfs_postprocess", "", d)}'
+ROOTFS_POSTPROCESS_COMMAND += '${@bb.utils.contains("DISTRO_FEATURES", "overlayfs", "overlayfs_qa_check", "", d)}'
 
 inherit image-artifact-names
 
@@ -570,14 +570,3 @@ python overlayfs_qa_check() {
     if not allUnitExist:
         bb.fatal('Not all mount paths and units are installed in the image')
 }
-
-python overlayfs_postprocess() {
-    import shutil
-
-    # install helper script
-    helperScriptName = "overlayfs-create-dirs.sh"
-    helperScriptSource = oe.path.join(d.getVar("COREBASE"), "meta/files", helperScriptName)
-    helperScriptDest = oe.path.join(d.getVar("IMAGE_ROOTFS"), "/usr/sbin/", helperScriptName)
-    shutil.copyfile(helperScriptSource, helperScriptDest)
-    os.chmod(helperScriptDest, 0o755)
-}
diff --git a/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in b/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in
deleted file mode 100644
index c8431548d7..0000000000
--- a/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.service.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-[Unit]
-Description=Overlayfs directories setup {LOWERDIR}
-RequiresMountsFor={DATA_MOUNT_POINT}
-DefaultDependencies=no
-
-[Service]
-Type=oneshot
-ExecStart=/usr/sbin/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh {LOWERDIR} {DATA_MOUNT_POINT}
-RemainAfterExit=true
-StandardOutput=journal
-
-[Install]
-WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh b/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 9954c34352..0000000000
--- a/meta/files/overlayfs-create-dirs.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# This script is intended to be used sorely by overlayfs-create-dirs.service
-# Usage: overlayfs-create-dirs.sh <LOWERDIR> <DATA_MOUNT_POINT>
-
-lowerdir=$1
-datamountpoint=$2
-mkdir -p ${datamountpoint}/upper${lowerdir}
-mkdir -p ${datamountpoint}/workdir${lowerdir}
-if [ -d "$lowerdir" ]; then
-    chown $(stat -c "%U:%G" ${lowerdir}) ${datamountpoint}/upper${lowerdir}
-fi
diff --git a/meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in b/meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in
index 9c117f2c52..eb78d2cb4f 100644
--- a/meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in
+++ b/meta/files/overlayfs-unit.mount.in
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Overlayfs mount unit {LOWERDIR}
-Requires={CREATE_DIRS_SERVICE}
-After={CREATE_DIRS_SERVICE}
+RequiresMountsFor={DATA_MOUNT_POINT}
 
 [Mount]
 What=overlay
diff --git a/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py b/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
index dbfed317c0..3805746d90 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oe/overlayfs.py
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@ def allOverlaysUnitName(d):
 def mountUnitName(unit):
     return escapeSystemdUnitName(unit) + '.mount'
 
-def helperUnitName(unit):
-    return escapeSystemdUnitName(unit) + '-create-upper-dir.service'
-
 def unitFileList(d):
     fileList = []
     overlayMountPoints = d.getVarFlags("OVERLAYFS_MOUNT_POINT")
@@ -47,7 +44,6 @@ def unitFileList(d):
             continue
         for path in mountPointList.split():
             fileList.append(mountUnitName(path))
-            fileList.append(helperUnitName(path))
 
     fileList.append(allOverlaysUnitName(d))
 

[PATCH 4/4] oe-selftest: overlayfs: Add a demo case for /etc

[uvv.mail]

From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>

/etc is a special directory. It's possible to create a mount unit for
it, but many system services that start early at boot time will not
rescan its content when you mount overlay on top. The added test case
demonstrates this but adding a sample systemd service and enabling it in
overlay.

Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
---
 meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py | 98 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 98 insertions(+)

diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
index 3e55e97927..288d889f03 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/overlayfs.py
@@ -263,6 +263,104 @@ EOT
 
         self._test_correct_image('systemd-machine-units', systemd_machine_unit_append)
 
+    @OETestTag("runqemu")
+    def test_etc_mount(self):
+        """
+        Summary:   /etc is not supposed to be used with overlayfs.bbclass
+        Expected:  Observe inconsistencies after using etc overlay with a mount unit
+        Author:    Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
+        """
+        systemd_machine_unit_append = """
+SYSTEMD_SERVICE:${PN} += " \
+    data.mount \
+    etc.mount \
+"
+
+do_install:append() {
+    install -d ${D}${systemd_system_unitdir}
+    install -d ${D}${ROOT_HOME}
+    cat <<EOT > ${D}${systemd_system_unitdir}/etc.mount
+[Unit]
+Description=OverlayFS mount for /etc directory
+DefaultDependencies=no
+RequiresMountsFor=/data
+
+[Mount]
+What=overlay
+Where=/etc
+Type=overlay
+Options=lowerdir=/etc,upperdir=/data/overlay/etc,workdir=/data/overlay-workdir/etc
+[Install]
+WantedBy=local-fs.target
+EOT
+
+    cat <<EOT >${D}${systemd_system_unitdir}/data.mount
+[Unit]
+Description=Persistent storage partition
+
+[Mount]
+What=/dev/sda3
+Where=/data
+Type=ext4
+Options=defaults
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=local-fs.target
+EOT
+    cat <<EOT > ${D}${ROOT_HOME}/test-daemon.service
+[Unit]
+Description=My one-shot task
+After=local-fs.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/echo test
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+EOT
+}
+
+FILES:${PN} += "${ROOT_HOME}"
+"""
+
+        config = """
+IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " systemd-machine-units"
+DISTRO_FEATURES:append = " overlayfs"
+
+# Use systemd as init manager
+INIT_MANAGER = "systemd"
+
+# enable overlayfs in the kernel
+KERNEL_EXTRA_FEATURES:append = " features/overlayfs/overlayfs.scc"
+
+IMAGE_FSTYPES += "wic"
+WKS_FILE = "overlayfs_etc.wks.in"
+OVERLAYFS_ROOTFS_TYPE = "ext4"
+"""
+
+        self.write_config(config)
+
+        machine_inc = """
+OVERLAYFS_MOUNT_POINT[etc] = "/etc"
+OVERLAYFS_QA_SKIP[mnt-overlay] = "mount-configured"
+"""
+        self.set_machine_config(machine_inc)
+        self.write_recipeinc('systemd-machine-units', systemd_machine_unit_append)
+        bitbake('core-image-minimal')
+        with runqemu('core-image-minimal', image_fstype='wic', discard_writes=False) as qemu:
+            test_daemon_path = get_bb_var('ROOT_HOME') + '/test-daemon.service'
+            status, output = qemu.run_serial('cp -f ' + test_daemon_path + ' /etc/systemd/system/')
+            status, output = qemu.run_serial("systemctl enable test-daemon")
+            status, output = qemu.run_serial("sync")
+        with runqemu('core-image-minimal', image_fstype='wic') as qemu:
+            # Check the test service status. It's enabled and supposed to start, but it didn't
+            status, output = qemu.run_serial("systemctl is-enabled test-daemon")
+            self.assertTrue("enabled" in output, msg=output)
+            status, output = qemu.run_serial("systemctl is-active test-daemon")
+            self.assertTrue("inactive" in output, msg=output)
+
 @OETestTag("runqemu")
 class OverlayFSEtcRunTimeTests(OESelftestTestCase):
     """overlayfs-etc class tests"""

Re: [OE-core] [PATCH 4/4] oe-selftest: overlayfs: Add a demo case for /etc

[Mathieu Dubois-Briand]

On Mon Dec 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM CET, Vyacheslav Yurkov via lists.openembedded.org wrote:
> From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
>
> /etc is a special directory. It's possible to create a mount unit for
> it, but many system services that start early at boot time will not
> rescan its content when you mount overlay on top. The added test case
> demonstrates this but adding a sample systemd service and enabling it in
> overlay.
>
> Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
> ---

Hi Vyacheslav,

Thanks for your patches.

It looks like the added test is failing on the autobuilder, on arm host
platform, with some wic related error:

2025-12-24 10:16:24,719 - oe-selftest - INFO - overlayfs.OverlayFSTests.test_etc_mount (subunit.RemotedTestCase)
2025-12-24 10:16:24,720 - oe-selftest - INFO -  ... FAIL
...
39519	/srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/work/qemuarm64-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0/tmp-wic/boot.img
| ERROR: Couldn't find correct bootimg_dir, exiting
|
| WARNING: exit code 1 from a shell command.
NOTE: recipe core-image-minimal-1.0-r0: task do_image_wic: Failed
ERROR: Task (/srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/layers/openembedded-core/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-minimal.bb:do_image_wic) failed with exit code '1'
NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 5451 tasks of which 5354 didn't need to be rerun and 1 failed.
NOTE: The errors for this build are stored in /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/log/error-report/error_report_20251224101317.txt
You can send the errors to a reports server by running:
  send-error-report /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/log/error-report/error_report_20251224101317.txt [-s server]
NOTE: The contents of these logs will be posted in public if you use the above command with the default server. Please ensure you remove any identifying or proprietary information when prompted before sending.

Summary: 1 task failed:
  /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/layers/openembedded-core/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-minimal.bb:do_image_wic
    log: /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/work/qemuarm64-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0/temp/log.do_image_wic.3087704
Summary: There was 1 ERROR message, returning a non-zero exit code.

https://autobuilder.yoctoproject.org/valkyrie/#/builders/23/builds/3043

Can you have a look at this?

Thanks,
Mathieu

-- 
Mathieu Dubois-Briand, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
https://bootlin.com

Re: [OE-core] [PATCH 4/4] oe-selftest: overlayfs: Add a demo case for /etc

[Vyacheslav Yurkov]

On 24.12.2025 13:07, Mathieu Dubois-Briand wrote:
> On Mon Dec 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM CET, Vyacheslav Yurkov via lists.openembedded.org wrote:
>> From: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
>>
>> /etc is a special directory. It's possible to create a mount unit for
>> it, but many system services that start early at boot time will not
>> rescan its content when you mount overlay on top. The added test case
>> demonstrates this but adding a sample systemd service and enabling it in
>> overlay.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Vyacheslav Yurkov <uvv.mail@gmail.com>
>> ---
> Hi Vyacheslav,
>
> Thanks for your patches.
>
> It looks like the added test is failing on the autobuilder, on arm host
> platform, with some wic related error:
>
> 2025-12-24 10:16:24,719 - oe-selftest - INFO - overlayfs.OverlayFSTests.test_etc_mount (subunit.RemotedTestCase)
> 2025-12-24 10:16:24,720 - oe-selftest - INFO -  ... FAIL
> ...
> 39519	/srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/work/qemuarm64-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0/tmp-wic/boot.img
> | ERROR: Couldn't find correct bootimg_dir, exiting
> |
> | WARNING: exit code 1 from a shell command.
> NOTE: recipe core-image-minimal-1.0-r0: task do_image_wic: Failed
> ERROR: Task (/srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/layers/openembedded-core/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-minimal.bb:do_image_wic) failed with exit code '1'
> NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 5451 tasks of which 5354 didn't need to be rerun and 1 failed.
> NOTE: The errors for this build are stored in /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/log/error-report/error_report_20251224101317.txt
> You can send the errors to a reports server by running:
>    send-error-report /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/log/error-report/error_report_20251224101317.txt [-s server]
> NOTE: The contents of these logs will be posted in public if you use the above command with the default server. Please ensure you remove any identifying or proprietary information when prompted before sending.
>
> Summary: 1 task failed:
>    /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/layers/openembedded-core/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-minimal.bb:do_image_wic
>      log: /srv/pokybuild/yocto-worker/oe-selftest-armhost/build/build-st-904882/tmp/work/qemuarm64-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0/temp/log.do_image_wic.3087704
> Summary: There was 1 ERROR message, returning a non-zero exit code.
>
> https://autobuilder.yoctoproject.org/valkyrie/#/builders/23/builds/3043
>
> Can you have a look at this?
>
> Thanks,
> Mathieu
>

Hi Mathieu,
It was not supposed to run on arm yet. Did I forget a tag?

There's a ticket to fix it for arm 
https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14963 , but I haven't 
addressed it yet.

Slava