1 ===============================================
2 Block layer support for Persistent Reservations
3 ===============================================
5 The Linux kernel supports a user space interface for simplified
6 Persistent Reservations which map to block devices that support
7 these (like SCSI). Persistent Reservations allow restricting
8 access to block devices to specific initiators in a shared storage
11 This document gives a general overview of the support ioctl commands.
12 For a more detailed reference please refer to the SCSI Primary
13 Commands standard, specifically the section on Reservations and the
14 "PERSISTENT RESERVE IN" and "PERSISTENT RESERVE OUT" commands.
16 All implementations are expected to ensure the reservations survive
17 a power loss and cover all connections in a multi path environment.
18 These behaviors are optional in SPC but will be automatically applied
22 The following types of reservations are supported:
23 --------------------------------------------------
26 Only the initiator that owns the reservation can write to the
27 device. Any initiator can read from the device.
30 Only the initiator that owns the reservation can access the
33 - PR_WRITE_EXCLUSIVE_REG_ONLY
34 Only initiators with a registered key can write to the device,
35 Any initiator can read from the device.
37 - PR_EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS_REG_ONLY
38 Only initiators with a registered key can access the device.
40 - PR_WRITE_EXCLUSIVE_ALL_REGS
42 Only initiators with a registered key can write to the device,
43 Any initiator can read from the device.
44 All initiators with a registered key are considered reservation
46 Please reference the SPC spec on the meaning of a reservation
47 holder if you want to use this type.
49 - PR_EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS_ALL_REGS
50 Only initiators with a registered key can access the device.
51 All initiators with a registered key are considered reservation
53 Please reference the SPC spec on the meaning of a reservation
54 holder if you want to use this type.
57 The following ioctl are supported:
58 ----------------------------------
63 This ioctl command registers a new reservation if the new_key argument
64 is non-null. If no existing reservation exists old_key must be zero,
65 if an existing reservation should be replaced old_key must contain
66 the old reservation key.
68 If the new_key argument is 0 it unregisters the existing reservation passed
75 This ioctl command reserves the device and thus restricts access for other
76 devices based on the type argument. The key argument must be the existing
77 reservation key for the device as acquired by the IOC_PR_REGISTER,
78 IOC_PR_REGISTER_IGNORE, IOC_PR_PREEMPT or IOC_PR_PREEMPT_ABORT commands.
84 This ioctl command releases the reservation specified by key and flags
85 and thus removes any access restriction implied by it.
91 This ioctl command releases the existing reservation referred to by
92 old_key and replaces it with a new reservation of type for the
93 reservation key new_key.
96 5. IOC_PR_PREEMPT_ABORT
97 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
99 This ioctl command works like IOC_PR_PREEMPT except that it also aborts
100 any outstanding command sent over a connection identified by old_key.
105 This ioctl command unregisters both key and any other reservation key
106 registered with the device and drops any existing reservation.
112 All the ioctls have a flag field. Currently only one flag is supported:
115 Ignore the existing reservation key. This is commonly supported for
116 IOC_PR_REGISTER, and some implementation may support the flag for
119 For all unknown flags the kernel will return -EOPNOTSUPP.