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@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
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Rules on how to access information in the Linux kernel sysfs
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+============================================================
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The kernel-exported sysfs exports internal kernel implementation details
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and depends on internal kernel structures and layout. It is agreed upon
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@@ -18,36 +19,38 @@ the following rules and then your programs should work with future
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versions of the sysfs interface.
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- Do not use libsysfs
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- It makes assumptions about sysfs which are not true. Its API does not
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- offer any abstraction, it exposes all the kernel driver-core
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- implementation details in its own API. Therefore it is not better than
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- reading directories and opening the files yourself.
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- Also, it is not actively maintained, in the sense of reflecting the
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- current kernel development. The goal of providing a stable interface
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- to sysfs has failed; it causes more problems than it solves. It
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- violates many of the rules in this document.
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-
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-- sysfs is always at /sys
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- Parsing /proc/mounts is a waste of time. Other mount points are a
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- system configuration bug you should not try to solve. For test cases,
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- possibly support a SYSFS_PATH environment variable to overwrite the
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- application's behavior, but never try to search for sysfs. Never try
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- to mount it, if you are not an early boot script.
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+ It makes assumptions about sysfs which are not true. Its API does not
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+ offer any abstraction, it exposes all the kernel driver-core
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+ implementation details in its own API. Therefore it is not better than
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+ reading directories and opening the files yourself.
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+ Also, it is not actively maintained, in the sense of reflecting the
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+ current kernel development. The goal of providing a stable interface
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+ to sysfs has failed; it causes more problems than it solves. It
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+ violates many of the rules in this document.
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+
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+- sysfs is always at ``/sys``
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+ Parsing ``/proc/mounts`` is a waste of time. Other mount points are a
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+ system configuration bug you should not try to solve. For test cases,
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+ possibly support a ``SYSFS_PATH`` environment variable to overwrite the
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+ application's behavior, but never try to search for sysfs. Never try
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+ to mount it, if you are not an early boot script.
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- devices are only "devices"
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- There is no such thing like class-, bus-, physical devices,
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- interfaces, and such that you can rely on in userspace. Everything is
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- just simply a "device". Class-, bus-, physical, ... types are just
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- kernel implementation details which should not be expected by
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- applications that look for devices in sysfs.
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-
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- The properties of a device are:
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- o devpath (/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb2/2-2/2-2:1.0)
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+ There is no such thing like class-, bus-, physical devices,
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+ interfaces, and such that you can rely on in userspace. Everything is
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+ just simply a "device". Class-, bus-, physical, ... types are just
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+ kernel implementation details which should not be expected by
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+ applications that look for devices in sysfs.
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+
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+ The properties of a device are:
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+
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+ - devpath (``/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb2/2-2/2-2:1.0``)
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+
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- identical to the DEVPATH value in the event sent from the kernel
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at device creation and removal
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- the unique key to the device at that point in time
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- the kernel's path to the device directory without the leading
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- /sys, and always starting with a slash
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+ ``/sys``, and always starting with a slash
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- all elements of a devpath must be real directories. Symlinks
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pointing to /sys/devices must always be resolved to their real
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target and the target path must be used to access the device.
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@@ -56,17 +59,20 @@ versions of the sysfs interface.
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- using or exposing symlink values as elements in a devpath string
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is a bug in the application
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- o kernel name (sda, tty, 0000:00:1f.2, ...)
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+ - kernel name (``sda``, ``tty``, ``0000:00:1f.2``, ...)
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+
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- a directory name, identical to the last element of the devpath
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- - applications need to handle spaces and characters like '!' in
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+ - applications need to handle spaces and characters like ``!`` in
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the name
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- o subsystem (block, tty, pci, ...)
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+ - subsystem (``block``, ``tty``, ``pci``, ...)
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+
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- simple string, never a path or a link
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- retrieved by reading the "subsystem"-link and using only the
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last element of the target path
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- o driver (tg3, ata_piix, uhci_hcd)
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+ - driver (``tg3``, ``ata_piix``, ``uhci_hcd``)
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+
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- a simple string, which may contain spaces, never a path or a
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link
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- it is retrieved by reading the "driver"-link and using only the
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@@ -75,110 +81,112 @@ versions of the sysfs interface.
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driver; copying the driver value in a child device context is a
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bug in the application
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- o attributes
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+ - attributes
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+
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- the files in the device directory or files below subdirectories
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of the same device directory
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- accessing attributes reached by a symlink pointing to another device,
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like the "device"-link, is a bug in the application
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- Everything else is just a kernel driver-core implementation detail
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- that should not be assumed to be stable across kernel releases.
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+ Everything else is just a kernel driver-core implementation detail
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+ that should not be assumed to be stable across kernel releases.
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- Properties of parent devices never belong into a child device.
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- Always look at the parent devices themselves for determining device
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- context properties. If the device 'eth0' or 'sda' does not have a
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- "driver"-link, then this device does not have a driver. Its value is empty.
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- Never copy any property of the parent-device into a child-device. Parent
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- device properties may change dynamically without any notice to the
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- child device.
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+ Always look at the parent devices themselves for determining device
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+ context properties. If the device ``eth0`` or ``sda`` does not have a
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+ "driver"-link, then this device does not have a driver. Its value is empty.
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+ Never copy any property of the parent-device into a child-device. Parent
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+ device properties may change dynamically without any notice to the
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+ child device.
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- Hierarchy in a single device tree
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- There is only one valid place in sysfs where hierarchy can be examined
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- and this is below: /sys/devices.
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- It is planned that all device directories will end up in the tree
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- below this directory.
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+ There is only one valid place in sysfs where hierarchy can be examined
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+ and this is below: ``/sys/devices.``
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+ It is planned that all device directories will end up in the tree
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+ below this directory.
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- Classification by subsystem
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- There are currently three places for classification of devices:
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- /sys/block, /sys/class and /sys/bus. It is planned that these will
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- not contain any device directories themselves, but only flat lists of
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- symlinks pointing to the unified /sys/devices tree.
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- All three places have completely different rules on how to access
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- device information. It is planned to merge all three
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- classification directories into one place at /sys/subsystem,
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- following the layout of the bus directories. All buses and
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- classes, including the converted block subsystem, will show up
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- there.
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- The devices belonging to a subsystem will create a symlink in the
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- "devices" directory at /sys/subsystem/<name>/devices.
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-
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- If /sys/subsystem exists, /sys/bus, /sys/class and /sys/block can be
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- ignored. If it does not exist, you always have to scan all three
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- places, as the kernel is free to move a subsystem from one place to
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- the other, as long as the devices are still reachable by the same
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- subsystem name.
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-
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- Assuming /sys/class/<subsystem> and /sys/bus/<subsystem>, or
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- /sys/block and /sys/class/block are not interchangeable is a bug in
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- the application.
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+ There are currently three places for classification of devices:
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+ ``/sys/block,`` ``/sys/class`` and ``/sys/bus.`` It is planned that these will
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+ not contain any device directories themselves, but only flat lists of
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+ symlinks pointing to the unified ``/sys/devices`` tree.
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+ All three places have completely different rules on how to access
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+ device information. It is planned to merge all three
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+ classification directories into one place at ``/sys/subsystem``,
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+ following the layout of the bus directories. All buses and
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+ classes, including the converted block subsystem, will show up
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+ there.
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+ The devices belonging to a subsystem will create a symlink in the
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+ "devices" directory at ``/sys/subsystem/<name>/devices``,
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+
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+ If ``/sys/subsystem`` exists, ``/sys/bus``, ``/sys/class`` and ``/sys/block``
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+ can be ignored. If it does not exist, you always have to scan all three
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+ places, as the kernel is free to move a subsystem from one place to
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+ the other, as long as the devices are still reachable by the same
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+ subsystem name.
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+
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+ Assuming ``/sys/class/<subsystem>`` and ``/sys/bus/<subsystem>``, or
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+ ``/sys/block`` and ``/sys/class/block`` are not interchangeable is a bug in
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+ the application.
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- Block
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- The converted block subsystem at /sys/class/block or
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- /sys/subsystem/block will contain the links for disks and partitions
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- at the same level, never in a hierarchy. Assuming the block subsystem to
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- contain only disks and not partition devices in the same flat list is
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- a bug in the application.
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+ The converted block subsystem at ``/sys/class/block`` or
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+ ``/sys/subsystem/block`` will contain the links for disks and partitions
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+ at the same level, never in a hierarchy. Assuming the block subsystem to
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+ contain only disks and not partition devices in the same flat list is
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+ a bug in the application.
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- "device"-link and <subsystem>:<kernel name>-links
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- Never depend on the "device"-link. The "device"-link is a workaround
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- for the old layout, where class devices are not created in
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- /sys/devices/ like the bus devices. If the link-resolving of a
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- device directory does not end in /sys/devices/, you can use the
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- "device"-link to find the parent devices in /sys/devices/. That is the
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- single valid use of the "device"-link; it must never appear in any
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- path as an element. Assuming the existence of the "device"-link for
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- a device in /sys/devices/ is a bug in the application.
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- Accessing /sys/class/net/eth0/device is a bug in the application.
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-
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- Never depend on the class-specific links back to the /sys/class
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- directory. These links are also a workaround for the design mistake
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- that class devices are not created in /sys/devices. If a device
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- directory does not contain directories for child devices, these links
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- may be used to find the child devices in /sys/class. That is the single
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- valid use of these links; they must never appear in any path as an
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- element. Assuming the existence of these links for devices which are
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- real child device directories in the /sys/devices tree is a bug in
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- the application.
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-
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- It is planned to remove all these links when all class device
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- directories live in /sys/devices.
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+ Never depend on the "device"-link. The "device"-link is a workaround
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+ for the old layout, where class devices are not created in
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+ ``/sys/devices/`` like the bus devices. If the link-resolving of a
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+ device directory does not end in ``/sys/devices/``, you can use the
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+ "device"-link to find the parent devices in ``/sys/devices/``, That is the
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+ single valid use of the "device"-link; it must never appear in any
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+ path as an element. Assuming the existence of the "device"-link for
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+ a device in ``/sys/devices/`` is a bug in the application.
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+ Accessing ``/sys/class/net/eth0/device`` is a bug in the application.
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+
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+ Never depend on the class-specific links back to the ``/sys/class``
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+ directory. These links are also a workaround for the design mistake
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+ that class devices are not created in ``/sys/devices.`` If a device
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+ directory does not contain directories for child devices, these links
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+ may be used to find the child devices in ``/sys/class.`` That is the single
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+ valid use of these links; they must never appear in any path as an
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+ element. Assuming the existence of these links for devices which are
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+ real child device directories in the ``/sys/devices`` tree is a bug in
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+ the application.
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+
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+ It is planned to remove all these links when all class device
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+ directories live in ``/sys/devices.``
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- Position of devices along device chain can change.
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- Never depend on a specific parent device position in the devpath,
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- or the chain of parent devices. The kernel is free to insert devices into
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- the chain. You must always request the parent device you are looking for
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- by its subsystem value. You need to walk up the chain until you find
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- the device that matches the expected subsystem. Depending on a specific
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- position of a parent device or exposing relative paths using "../" to
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- access the chain of parents is a bug in the application.
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+ Never depend on a specific parent device position in the devpath,
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+ or the chain of parent devices. The kernel is free to insert devices into
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+ the chain. You must always request the parent device you are looking for
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+ by its subsystem value. You need to walk up the chain until you find
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+ the device that matches the expected subsystem. Depending on a specific
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+ position of a parent device or exposing relative paths using ``../`` to
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+ access the chain of parents is a bug in the application.
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- When reading and writing sysfs device attribute files, avoid dependency
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- on specific error codes wherever possible. This minimizes coupling to
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- the error handling implementation within the kernel.
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+ on specific error codes wherever possible. This minimizes coupling to
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+ the error handling implementation within the kernel.
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- In general, failures to read or write sysfs device attributes shall
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- propagate errors wherever possible. Common errors include, but are not
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- limited to:
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+ In general, failures to read or write sysfs device attributes shall
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+ propagate errors wherever possible. Common errors include, but are not
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+ limited to:
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- -EIO: The read or store operation is not supported, typically returned by
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- the sysfs system itself if the read or store pointer is NULL.
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+ ``-EIO``: The read or store operation is not supported, typically
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+ returned by the sysfs system itself if the read or store pointer
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+ is ``NULL``.
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- -ENXIO: The read or store operation failed
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+ ``-ENXIO``: The read or store operation failed
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- Error codes will not be changed without good reason, and should a change
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- to error codes result in user-space breakage, it will be fixed, or the
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- the offending change will be reverted.
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+ Error codes will not be changed without good reason, and should a change
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+ to error codes result in user-space breakage, it will be fixed, or the
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+ the offending change will be reverted.
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- Userspace applications can, however, expect the format and contents of
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- the attribute files to remain consistent in the absence of a version
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- attribute change in the context of a given attribute.
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+ Userspace applications can, however, expect the format and contents of
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+ the attribute files to remain consistent in the absence of a version
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+ attribute change in the context of a given attribute.
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