1 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
3 tristate "Overlay filesystem support"
6 An overlay filesystem combines two filesystems - an 'upper' filesystem
7 and a 'lower' filesystem. When a name exists in both filesystems, the
8 object in the 'upper' filesystem is visible while the object in the
9 'lower' filesystem is either hidden or, in the case of directories,
10 merged with the 'upper' object.
12 For more information see Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
14 config OVERLAY_FS_REDIRECT_DIR
15 bool "Overlayfs: turn on redirect directory feature by default"
18 If this config option is enabled then overlay filesystems will use
19 redirects when renaming directories by default. In this case it is
20 still possible to turn off redirects globally with the
21 "redirect_dir=off" module option or on a filesystem instance basis
22 with the "redirect_dir=off" mount option.
24 Note, that redirects are not backward compatible. That is, mounting
25 an overlay which has redirects on a kernel that doesn't support this
26 feature will have unexpected results.
30 config OVERLAY_FS_REDIRECT_ALWAYS_FOLLOW
31 bool "Overlayfs: follow redirects even if redirects are turned off"
35 Disable this to get a possibly more secure configuration, but that
36 might not be backward compatible with previous kernels.
38 If backward compatibility is not an issue, then it is safe and
39 recommended to say N here.
41 For more information, see Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
45 config OVERLAY_FS_INDEX
46 bool "Overlayfs: turn on inodes index feature by default"
49 If this config option is enabled then overlay filesystems will use
50 the index directory to map lower inodes to upper inodes by default.
51 In this case it is still possible to turn off index globally with the
52 "index=off" module option or on a filesystem instance basis with the
53 "index=off" mount option.
55 The inodes index feature prevents breaking of lower hardlinks on copy
58 Note, that the inodes index feature is not backward compatible.
59 That is, mounting an overlay which has an inodes index on a kernel
60 that doesn't support this feature will have unexpected results.
64 config OVERLAY_FS_NFS_EXPORT
65 bool "Overlayfs: turn on NFS export feature by default"
67 depends on OVERLAY_FS_INDEX
68 depends on !OVERLAY_FS_METACOPY
70 If this config option is enabled then overlay filesystems will use
71 the index directory to decode overlay NFS file handles by default.
72 In this case, it is still possible to turn off NFS export support
73 globally with the "nfs_export=off" module option or on a filesystem
74 instance basis with the "nfs_export=off" mount option.
76 The NFS export feature creates an index on copy up of every file and
77 directory. This full index is used to detect overlay filesystems
78 inconsistencies on lookup, like redirect from multiple upper dirs to
79 the same lower dir. The full index may incur some overhead on mount
80 time, especially when verifying that directory file handles are not
83 Note, that the NFS export feature is not backward compatible.
84 That is, mounting an overlay which has a full index on a kernel
85 that doesn't support this feature will have unexpected results.
87 Most users should say N here and enable this feature on a case-by-
88 case basis with the "nfs_export=on" mount option.
90 Say N unless you fully understand the consequences.
92 config OVERLAY_FS_XINO_AUTO
93 bool "Overlayfs: auto enable inode number mapping"
98 If this config option is enabled then overlay filesystems will use
99 unused high bits in undelying filesystem inode numbers to map all
100 inodes to a unified address space. The mapped 64bit inode numbers
101 might not be compatible with applications that expect 32bit inodes.
103 If compatibility with applications that expect 32bit inodes is not an
104 issue, then it is safe and recommended to say Y here.
106 For more information, see Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.rst
110 config OVERLAY_FS_METACOPY
111 bool "Overlayfs: turn on metadata only copy up feature by default"
112 depends on OVERLAY_FS
113 select OVERLAY_FS_REDIRECT_DIR
115 If this config option is enabled then overlay filesystems will
116 copy up only metadata where appropriate and data copy up will
117 happen when a file is opened for WRITE operation. It is still
118 possible to turn off this feature globally with the "metacopy=off"
119 module option or on a filesystem instance basis with the
120 "metacopy=off" mount option.
122 Note, that this feature is not backward compatible. That is,
123 mounting an overlay which has metacopy only inodes on a kernel
124 that doesn't support this feature will have unexpected results.