-
+============================
XZ data compression in Linux
============================
Introduction
+============
- XZ is a general purpose data compression format with high compression
- ratio and relatively fast decompression. The primary compression
- algorithm (filter) is LZMA2. Additional filters can be used to improve
- compression ratio even further. E.g. Branch/Call/Jump (BCJ) filters
- improve compression ratio of executable data.
+XZ is a general purpose data compression format with high compression
+ratio and relatively fast decompression. The primary compression
+algorithm (filter) is LZMA2. Additional filters can be used to improve
+compression ratio even further. E.g. Branch/Call/Jump (BCJ) filters
+improve compression ratio of executable data.
- The XZ decompressor in Linux is called XZ Embedded. It supports
- the LZMA2 filter and optionally also BCJ filters. CRC32 is supported
- for integrity checking. The home page of XZ Embedded is at
- <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html>, where you can find the
- latest version and also information about using the code outside
- the Linux kernel.
+The XZ decompressor in Linux is called XZ Embedded. It supports
+the LZMA2 filter and optionally also BCJ filters. CRC32 is supported
+for integrity checking. The home page of XZ Embedded is at
+<http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html>, where you can find the
+latest version and also information about using the code outside
+the Linux kernel.
- For userspace, XZ Utils provide a zlib-like compression library
- and a gzip-like command line tool. XZ Utils can be downloaded from
- <http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
+For userspace, XZ Utils provide a zlib-like compression library
+and a gzip-like command line tool. XZ Utils can be downloaded from
+<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
XZ related components in the kernel
-
- The xz_dec module provides XZ decompressor with single-call (buffer
- to buffer) and multi-call (stateful) APIs. The usage of the xz_dec
- module is documented in include/linux/xz.h.
-
- The xz_dec_test module is for testing xz_dec. xz_dec_test is not
- useful unless you are hacking the XZ decompressor. xz_dec_test
- allocates a char device major dynamically to which one can write
- .xz files from userspace. The decompressed output is thrown away.
- Keep an eye on dmesg to see diagnostics printed by xz_dec_test.
- See the xz_dec_test source code for the details.
-
- For decompressing the kernel image, initramfs, and initrd, there
- is a wrapper function in lib/decompress_unxz.c. Its API is the
- same as in other decompress_*.c files, which is defined in
- include/linux/decompress/generic.h.
-
- scripts/xz_wrap.sh is a wrapper for the xz command line tool found
- from XZ Utils. The wrapper sets compression options to values suitable
- for compressing the kernel image.
-
- For kernel makefiles, two commands are provided for use with
- $(call if_needed). The kernel image should be compressed with
- $(call if_needed,xzkern) which will use a BCJ filter and a big LZMA2
- dictionary. It will also append a four-byte trailer containing the
- uncompressed size of the file, which is needed by the boot code.
- Other things should be compressed with $(call if_needed,xzmisc)
- which will use no BCJ filter and 1 MiB LZMA2 dictionary.
+===================================
+
+The xz_dec module provides XZ decompressor with single-call (buffer
+to buffer) and multi-call (stateful) APIs. The usage of the xz_dec
+module is documented in include/linux/xz.h.
+
+The xz_dec_test module is for testing xz_dec. xz_dec_test is not
+useful unless you are hacking the XZ decompressor. xz_dec_test
+allocates a char device major dynamically to which one can write
+.xz files from userspace. The decompressed output is thrown away.
+Keep an eye on dmesg to see diagnostics printed by xz_dec_test.
+See the xz_dec_test source code for the details.
+
+For decompressing the kernel image, initramfs, and initrd, there
+is a wrapper function in lib/decompress_unxz.c. Its API is the
+same as in other decompress_*.c files, which is defined in
+include/linux/decompress/generic.h.
+
+scripts/xz_wrap.sh is a wrapper for the xz command line tool found
+from XZ Utils. The wrapper sets compression options to values suitable
+for compressing the kernel image.
+
+For kernel makefiles, two commands are provided for use with
+$(call if_needed). The kernel image should be compressed with
+$(call if_needed,xzkern) which will use a BCJ filter and a big LZMA2
+dictionary. It will also append a four-byte trailer containing the
+uncompressed size of the file, which is needed by the boot code.
+Other things should be compressed with $(call if_needed,xzmisc)
+which will use no BCJ filter and 1 MiB LZMA2 dictionary.
Notes on compression options
+============================
- Since the XZ Embedded supports only streams with no integrity check or
- CRC32, make sure that you don't use some other integrity check type
- when encoding files that are supposed to be decoded by the kernel. With
- liblzma, you need to use either LZMA_CHECK_NONE or LZMA_CHECK_CRC32
- when encoding. With the xz command line tool, use --check=none or
- --check=crc32.
-
- Using CRC32 is strongly recommended unless there is some other layer
- which will verify the integrity of the uncompressed data anyway.
- Double checking the integrity would probably be waste of CPU cycles.
- Note that the headers will always have a CRC32 which will be validated
- by the decoder; you can only change the integrity check type (or
- disable it) for the actual uncompressed data.
-
- In userspace, LZMA2 is typically used with dictionary sizes of several
- megabytes. The decoder needs to have the dictionary in RAM, thus big
- dictionaries cannot be used for files that are intended to be decoded
- by the kernel. 1 MiB is probably the maximum reasonable dictionary
- size for in-kernel use (maybe more is OK for initramfs). The presets
- in XZ Utils may not be optimal when creating files for the kernel,
- so don't hesitate to use custom settings. Example:
-
- xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=512KiB inputfile
-
- An exception to above dictionary size limitation is when the decoder
- is used in single-call mode. Decompressing the kernel itself is an
- example of this situation. In single-call mode, the memory usage
- doesn't depend on the dictionary size, and it is perfectly fine to
- use a big dictionary: for maximum compression, the dictionary should
- be at least as big as the uncompressed data itself.
+Since the XZ Embedded supports only streams with no integrity check or
+CRC32, make sure that you don't use some other integrity check type
+when encoding files that are supposed to be decoded by the kernel. With
+liblzma, you need to use either LZMA_CHECK_NONE or LZMA_CHECK_CRC32
+when encoding. With the xz command line tool, use --check=none or
+--check=crc32.
+
+Using CRC32 is strongly recommended unless there is some other layer
+which will verify the integrity of the uncompressed data anyway.
+Double checking the integrity would probably be waste of CPU cycles.
+Note that the headers will always have a CRC32 which will be validated
+by the decoder; you can only change the integrity check type (or
+disable it) for the actual uncompressed data.
+
+In userspace, LZMA2 is typically used with dictionary sizes of several
+megabytes. The decoder needs to have the dictionary in RAM, thus big
+dictionaries cannot be used for files that are intended to be decoded
+by the kernel. 1 MiB is probably the maximum reasonable dictionary
+size for in-kernel use (maybe more is OK for initramfs). The presets
+in XZ Utils may not be optimal when creating files for the kernel,
+so don't hesitate to use custom settings. Example::
+
+ xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=512KiB inputfile
+
+An exception to above dictionary size limitation is when the decoder
+is used in single-call mode. Decompressing the kernel itself is an
+example of this situation. In single-call mode, the memory usage
+doesn't depend on the dictionary size, and it is perfectly fine to
+use a big dictionary: for maximum compression, the dictionary should
+be at least as big as the uncompressed data itself.
Future plans
+============
- Creating a limited XZ encoder may be considered if people think it is
- useful. LZMA2 is slower to compress than e.g. Deflate or LZO even at
- the fastest settings, so it isn't clear if LZMA2 encoder is wanted
- into the kernel.
+Creating a limited XZ encoder may be considered if people think it is
+useful. LZMA2 is slower to compress than e.g. Deflate or LZO even at
+the fastest settings, so it isn't clear if LZMA2 encoder is wanted
+into the kernel.
- Support for limited random-access reading is planned for the
- decompression code. I don't know if it could have any use in the
- kernel, but I know that it would be useful in some embedded projects
- outside the Linux kernel.
+Support for limited random-access reading is planned for the
+decompression code. I don't know if it could have any use in the
+kernel, but I know that it would be useful in some embedded projects
+outside the Linux kernel.
Conformance to the .xz file format specification
+================================================
- There are a couple of corner cases where things have been simplified
- at expense of detecting errors as early as possible. These should not
- matter in practice all, since they don't cause security issues. But
- it is good to know this if testing the code e.g. with the test files
- from XZ Utils.
+There are a couple of corner cases where things have been simplified
+at expense of detecting errors as early as possible. These should not
+matter in practice all, since they don't cause security issues. But
+it is good to know this if testing the code e.g. with the test files
+from XZ Utils.
Reporting bugs
+==============
- Before reporting a bug, please check that it's not fixed already
- at upstream. See <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html> to get the
- latest code.
+Before reporting a bug, please check that it's not fixed already
+at upstream. See <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html> to get the
+latest code.
- Report bugs to <lasse.collin@tukaani.org> or visit #tukaani on
- Freenode and talk to Larhzu. I don't actively read LKML or other
- kernel-related mailing lists, so if there's something I should know,
- you should email to me personally or use IRC.
+Report bugs to <lasse.collin@tukaani.org> or visit #tukaani on
+Freenode and talk to Larhzu. I don't actively read LKML or other
+kernel-related mailing lists, so if there's something I should know,
+you should email to me personally or use IRC.
- Don't bother Igor Pavlov with questions about the XZ implementation
- in the kernel or about XZ Utils. While these two implementations
- include essential code that is directly based on Igor Pavlov's code,
- these implementations aren't maintained nor supported by him.
+Don't bother Igor Pavlov with questions about the XZ implementation
+in the kernel or about XZ Utils. While these two implementations
+include essential code that is directly based on Igor Pavlov's code,
+these implementations aren't maintained nor supported by him.
projects / platform / kernel / linux-starfive.git / commitdiff