Internet DRAFT - draft-naik-nfsv4-xattrs

draft-naik-nfsv4-xattrs



 



NFSv4 Working Group                                              M. Naik
Internet Draft                                                  M. Eshel
Intended Status: Standards Track                             IBM Almaden
Expires: January 7, 2016                                    July 6, 2015


          Support for File System Extended Attributes in NFSv4
                       draft-naik-nfsv4-xattrs-02


Abstract

   This document proposes extensions to existing NFSv4 operations to
   allow file extended attributes (here forth also referred to as
   xattrs) to be manipulated in the protocol. An xattr is a file system
   feature that allows opaque metadata, not interpreted by the file
   system, to be associated with files and directories and are supported
   by many modern file systems. New file attributes are proposed to
   allow clients to query the server for xattr support, and new
   operations to get and set xattrs on file system objects.


Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as
   Internet-Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/1id-abstracts.html

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html


Copyright and License Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors. All rights reserved.
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 1]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document. Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.



Table of Contents

   1  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.1  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2  Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3  File System Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4  Namespaces  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   5  Differences with Named Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   6  Protocol Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.1  New Attributes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       6.1.1  Attribute 82: xattr_support . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.2  New Operations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       6.2.1  New definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       6.2.2  Caching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       6.2.3  GETXATTR - Get an extended attribute of a file  . . . .  9
       6.2.4  SETXATTR - Set an extended attribute of a file  . . . . 10
       6.2.5  LISTXATTR - List extended attributes of a file  . . . . 12
       6.2.6  REMOVEXATTR - Remove an extended attribute of a file  . 13
       6.2.7  Valid Errors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     6.3  Extensions to ACE Access Mask Attributes  . . . . . . . . . 16
     6.4  pNFS Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   7  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   8  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   9  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     9.1  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     9.2  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   10  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18








 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 2]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


1  Introduction

   Extended attributes, also called xattrs, are a means to associate
   opaque metadata with file system objects, typically organized in
   key/value pairs. They are especially useful when they add information
   that is not, or cannot be, present in the associated object itself.
   User-space applications can arbitrarily create, read from, and write
   to the key/value pairs.

   Extended attributes are file system-agnostic; applications use an
   interface not specific to any file system to manipulate them.
   Applications do not need to be concerned about how the key/value
   pairs are stored internally on the underlying file system. All major
   operating systems provide various flavors of extended attributes.
   Many user space tools allow xattrs to be included in attributes that
   need to be preserved when objects are updated, moved or copied. 

   Extended attributes have long been considered unsuitable for
   portability because they are inadequately defined and not formally
   documented by any standard (such as POSIX). However, evidence
   suggests that xattrs are widely deployed and their support in modern
   disk-based file systems is fairly universal.

   There are no clear indications on how xattrs can be mapped to any
   existing recommended or optional file attributes defined in RFC 5661
   [2]; thereby most NFS client implementations ignore application-
   specified xattrs. This results in data loss if one copies, over the
   NFS protocol, a file with xattrs from one file system to another that
   also supports xattrs. 

   There is a relatively strong interest in the community in exposing
   xattrs over NFS despite the shortcomings.

   This document discusses why the current NFSv4 named attributes as
   currently standardized in [2], are unsuitable for representing
   xattrs, and proposes alternate language, adjustment and protocol
   mechanisms to support them.

1.1  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [1].

   In this document, these words will appear with that interpretation  
   only when in ALL CAPS. Lower case uses of these words are not to be
   interpreted as carrying RFC-2119 significance.

 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 3]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


2  Use Cases

   Applications can store tracking information in extended attributes.
   Examples include storing metadata identifying the application that
   created the file, a tag to indicate when the file was last verified
   by a data integrity scrubber, or a tag to hold a checksum/crypto hash
   of the file contents along with the date of that signature. Xattrs
   can also be used for decorations or annotations. For example, a file
   downloaded from a web server can be tagged with the URL, which can be
   convenient if its source has to be determined in the future.
   Likewise, an email attachment, when saved, can be tagged with the
   message-id of the email, making it possible to trace the original
   message.

   Applications may need to behave differently when handling files of
   varying types. For example, file managers, such as GNOME's, offer
   unique icons, different click behavior, and special lists of
   operations to perform depending on the file format. This can be
   achieved by looking at the file extension (Windows), or interpret the
   type by inspecting it (Unix MIME type). Some file managers generate
   this information on the fly; others generate the information once and
   then cache it. Those that cache the information tend to put it in a
   custom database. The file manager must work to keep this database in
   sync with the files, which can change without the file manager's
   knowledge. A better approach is to jettison the custom database and
   store such metadata in extended attributes: these are easier to
   maintain, faster to access, and readily accessible by any application
   [5].

   Swift, the OpenStack distributed object store, uses xattrs to store
   an object's metadata along with all the data together in one file.
   Swift-on-File [9] transfers the responsibility of maintaining object
   durability and availability to the underlying file system. Today,
   this requires a native file system client to mount the volumes. Xattr
   support in NFS would open up the possibility of storing and consuming
   data from other storage systems, and facilitate the migration of data
   between different backend storage systems.

   Baloo, the file indexing and search framework for KDE, has moved to
   storing metadata such as tags, ratings and comments, in file system
   xattrs instead of a custom database for simplicity. Starting with KDE
   Plasma 5.1, NFS is no longer supported due to its lack of xattr
   support [10]. 





 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 4]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


3  File System Support

   Extended attributes are supported by most modern file systems.

   In Linux, ext3, ext4, JFS, XFS, Btrfs, among other file systems
   support extended attributes. The getfattr and setfattr utilities can
   be used to retrieve and set xattrs. The names of the extended
   attributes must be prefixed by the name of the category and a dot;
   hence these categories are generally qualified as name spaces.
   Currently, four namespaces exist: user, trusted, security and system
   [5]. Recommendations on how they should be used have been published
   [4].

   FreeBSD supports extended attributes in two universal namespaces -
   user and system, although individual file systems are allowed to
   implement additional namespaces [6].

   Solaris 9 and later allows files to have extended attributes, but
   implements them as "forks", logically represented as files within a
   hidden directory that is associated with the target file [7]. 

   In the NTFS file system, extended attributes are one of several
   supported "file streams" [8].

   Xattrs can be retrieved and set through system calls or shell
   commands and generally supported by user-space tools that preserve
   other file attributes. For example, the "rsync" remote copy program
   will correctly preserve user extended attributes between Linux/ext4
   and OSX/hfs by stripping off the Linux-specific "user." prefix. 

4  Namespaces

   Operating systems may define multiple "namespaces" in which xattrs
   can be set. Namespaces are more than organizational classes; the
   operating system may enforce different access policies and allow
   different capabilities depending on the namespace. Linux, for
   example, defines "security", "system", "trusted" and "user"
   namespaces, the first three being specific to Linux [4]. 

   Implementations generally agree on the semantics of a "user"
   namespace, that allows applications to store arbitrary user attribute
   data with file system objects. Access to this namespace is controlled
   via the normal file system attributes. As such, getting and setting
   xattrs from the user namespace can be considered interoperable across
   platforms and vendor implementations. Attributes from other
   namespaces are typically platform-specific, but some of them may be
   generalized into well-defined set of names that promote interoperable
   implementations. Similarly, attaching the namespace to the attribute
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 5]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   key can avoid conflicting use of attributes.

   This document restricts the allowed namespaces to user-managed
   metadata only, in order to prevent the development of non-
   interoperable implementations. It requires that the attribute
   key/value MUST not be interpreted by the NFS clients and servers.

5  Differences with Named Attributes

   RFC5661 defines named attributes as opaque byte streams that are
   associated with a directory or file and referred to by a string name
   [2]. Named attributes are intended to be used by client applications
   as a method to associate application-specific data with a regular
   file or directory. In that sense, xattrs are similar in concept and
   use to named attributes, but there are subtle differences.

   File systems typically define individual xattrs "get" and "set"
   operations as being atomic, although  collectively they may be
   independent. Xattrs generally have size limits ranging from a few
   bytes to several kilobytes; the maximum supported size is not
   universally defined and is usually restricted by the file system.
   Similar to ACLs, the amount of xattr data exchanged between the
   client and server for get/set operations can be considered to fit in
   a single COMPOUND request, bounded by the channel's negotiated
   maximum size for requests. Named attributes, on the other hand, are
   unbounded data streams and do not impose atomicity requirements. 

   Individual named attributes are analogous to files, and caching of
   the data for these needs to be handled just as data caching is for
   ordinary files following close-to-open semantics. Xattrs, on the
   other hand, impose caching requirements like other file attributes.

   Named attributes and xattrs have different semantics and belong to
   disjoint namespaces. As a result, mapping one to another is, at best,
   a compromise. 

   While it should be possible to write guidance about how a client can
   use the named attribute mechanism to act like xattrs, such as carving
   out some namespace and specifying locking primitives to enforce
   atomicity constraints on individual get/set operations, this is
   problematic.  A client application trying to use xattrs through named
   attributes with a server that supported xattrs directly would get a
   lower level of service, and could fail to cooperate on a local
   application running on the server unless the server file system
   defined its own interoperability constraints. File systems that
   already implement xattrs and named attributes natively would need
   additional guidance such as reserving named attribute namespace
   specifically for implementation purposes.
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 6]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


6  Protocol Enhancements

   This section proposes extensions to the NFSv4 protocol operations to
   allow xattrs to be queried and modified by clients. A new attribute
   is added to bitmap4 data type to allow xattr support to be queried.
   This follows the guidelines specified in [2] with respect to minor
   versioning. In addition, new operations, namely GETXATTR, SETXATTR,
   LISTXATTR and REMOVEXATTR are defined to allow xattr key/value to be
   queried and set. 

6.1  New Attributes

   The following RECOMMENDED attribute is proposed for use with GETATTR.
   A client can query the server to determine if xattrs are supported by
   setting the xattr_support bit in the GETATTR request.

   +------------------+----+-------------------+-----+----------------+
   |Name              | Id | Data Type         | Acc | Defined in     |
   +------------------+----+-------------------+-----+----------------+
   | xattr_support    | 82 | bool              | R   | Section 6.1.1  |
   +------------------+----+-------------------+-----+----------------+

6.1.1  Attribute 82: xattr_support

   True, if the object's file system supports extended attributes. 

   Note that the protocol does not enforce any limits on the number of
   keys, the length of a key or the size of a value, or the total size
   of xattrs that are allowed for a file. The server file system MAY
   impose additional limits. In addition, a single xattr key or value
   exchanged between the client and server for get/set operations is
   limited by the channel's negotiated maximum size for requests and
   responses.

6.2  New Operations

   Unlike other file system attributes, xattrs can represent disparate
   metadata most file systems allow disparate metadata to be associated
   with an object through one or more xattrs, and combining them into a
   single attribute is unwieldy. As such, adding new attributes to
   bitmap4 for use in GETATTR and SETATTR is inappropriate to support
   xattr operations. For example, obtaining the value of a single xattr
   using the bitmap would require a client implementation to read all
   the xattrs of the file and find a match for the one requested.
   Similarly, replacing or deleting a single xattr while keeping the
   others intact would require a client to read the xattrs first,
   replacing the existing list with a modified list that excludes the
   one to be deleted, and writing out the remaining xattrs. Moreover,
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 7]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   distinguishing between creating new and replacing existing xattrs on
   an object is not possible with the existing bitmap. 

   Applications need to perform the following operations on a given
   file's extended attributes [5]:

   o  Given a file, return a list of all of the file's assigned extended
      attribute keys.

   o  Given a file and a key, return the corresponding value.

   o  Given a file, a key, and a value, assign that value to the key.

   o  Given a file and a key, remove that extended attribute from the
      file.

   This section introduces four new operations, GETXATTR, SETXATTR,
   LISTXATTR and REMOVEXATTR, to query, set, list and remove xattrs
   respectively. GETXATTR allows obtaining the value of an xattr key,
   SETXATTR allows creating or replacing an xattr key with a value,
   LISTXATTR enumerates all the xattrs names, and REMOVEXATTR allows
   deleting a single xattr.

6.2.1  New definitions

   The NFS xattr structure is defined as follows:

        typedef utf8str_cis 	xattrname4;
        typedef opaque		xattrvalue4<>;

        struct xattr4 {
                xattrname4     xa_name;
                xattrvalue4    xa_value;
        };

   Each xattr, defined by xattr4, is a key/value pair. xattrname4 is a
   UTF-8 string denoting the xattr key name, xattrvalue4 is a variable
   length string that identifies the values of a specified xattr. The
   size of the xattr is a combination of the size of its name
   represented by xattrname4, and its value represented by xattrvalue4.
   Any regular file or directory may have an array of xattr4, each
   consisting of a key and associated value. The NFS client or server
   MUST NOT interpret the contents of xattr4. Similar to ACLs, the
   client can use the OPEN or ACCESS operations to check access without
   modifying or reading data or metadata. 



 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 8]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


6.2.2  Caching

   The caching behavior for extended attributes is similar to other file
   attributes such as ACLs and is affected by whether OPEN delegation
   has been granted to a client or not. 

   When a delegation is in effect, an operation by a second client to a
   delegated file will cause the server to recall the delegation through
   a callback. For individual operations, we will describe, under
   IMPLEMENTATION, when such operations are required to effect a recall.

   When the client does not hold a delegation on the file, xattrs
   obtained from the server may be cached and clients can use them to
   avoid subsequent GETXATTR requests. Such caching is write through in
   that modification to xattrs is always done by means of requests to
   the server and should not be only done locally. Due to the relative
   infrequency of xattr updates, it is suggested that all changes be
   propagated synchronously. The client MUST NOT maintain a cache of
   modified xattrs.

   The result of local caching is that the xattrs maintained on
   individual clients may not be coherent. Changes made in one order on
   the server may be seen in a different order on one client and in a
   third order on another client. In order to manage the incoherency
   caused by separate operations to obtain xattrs and other file
   attributes, a client should treat xattrs just like other file
   attributes with respect to caching as detailed in section 10.6 of RFC
   5661 [2]. A client may validate its cached version of xattrs for a
   file by fetching both the change and time_access attributes and
   assuming that if the change attribute has the same value as it did
   when the attributes were cached, then xattrs have not changed.

6.2.3  GETXATTR - Get an extended attribute of a file

6.2.3.1 	ARGUMENTS

        struct GETXATTR4args {
                /* CURRENT_FH: file */
                xattrname4    ga_name;
        };








 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                 [Page 9]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


6.2.3.2	RESULTS

        union GETXATTR4res switch (nfsstat4 gr_status) {
         case NFS4_OK:
                xattrvalue4   gr_value;
         default:
                void;
        };

6.2.3.3	DESCRIPTION

   The GETXATTR operation will obtain the value for the given extended
   attribute key for the file system object specified by the current
   filehandle.

   The server MUST return the xattr value for the key that the client
   requests if xattrs are supported by the server for the target file
   system.  If the server does not support xattrs on the target file
   system, then it MUST NOT return a value and MUST return an error. The
   server also MUST return an error if it supports xattrs on the target
   but cannot obtain the requested data.  In that case, no value will be
   returned. If the xattr value contained in the server response will
   exceed the channel's negotiated maximum response size, then the
   server MUST return NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG in gr_status. 

6.2.3.4	IMPLEMENTATION

   If there is an OPEN_DELEGATE_WRITE delegation held by another client
   for the file in question, and size and/or change are among the set of
   attributes being interrogated in GETATTR, the server can either
   obtain the actual current value of these attributes from the client
   holding the delegation by using the CB_GETATTR callback, or revoke
   the delegation. See Section 18.7.4 of RFC 5661 for details [2].
   Consequently, if a client needs to verify the list of extended
   attributes with the server, it must also query the change attribute
   of the file with GETATTR. This handling is similar to how a client
   would revalidate other file attributes such as ACLs.

6.2.4  SETXATTR - Set an extended attribute of a file

6.2.4.1 	ARGUMENTS

        enum setxattr_type4 {
                SETXATTR4_CREATE      = 0,
                SETXATTR4_REPLACE     = 1,
        };


 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 10]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


        struct SETXATTR4args {
                /* CURRENT_FH: file */
      	 setxattr_type4 sa_type;
                xattr4         sa_xattr; 
        };

6.2.4.2	RESULTS

        union SETXATTR4res switch (nfsstat4 sr_status) {
         case NFS4_OK:
                void;
         default:
                void;
        };

6.2.4.3	DESCRIPTION

   The SETXATTR operation changes one extended attribute of a file
   system object. The change desired is specified by sa_type.
   SETXATTR4_CREATE is used to associate the given value with the given
   extended attribute key for the file system object specified by the
   current filehandle. The server MUST return an error if the attribute
   key already exists. SETXATTR4_REPLACE is also used to set an xattr,
   but the server MUST return an error if the attribute key does not
   exist.

   If the xattr key and/or value contained in the client request exceeds
   the channel's negotiated maximum request size, then the server MUST
   return NFS4ERR_REQ_TOO_BIG in sr_status. If the server file system
   imposes additional limits on the size of key name or value, it MAY
   return NFS4ERR_ENOSPC.

   A successful SETXATTR SHOULD change the file time_modify and change
   attributes. However, these attributes SHOULD NOT be changed unless
   the xattrs are changed.

6.2.4.4	IMPLEMENTATION

   If the object whose xattr is being changed has a file delegation that
   is held by a client other than the one doing the SETXATTR, the
   delegation(s) must be recalled, and the operation cannot proceed to
   actually change the xattr until each such delegation is returned or
   revoked. In all cases in which delegations are recalled, the server
   is likely to return one or more NFS4ERR_DELAY errors while the
   delegation(s) remains outstanding, although it might not do that if
   the delegations are returned quickly.


 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 11]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


6.2.5  LISTXATTR - List extended attributes of a file

6.2.5.1 	ARGUMENTS

        struct LISTXATTR4args {
                /* CURRENT_FH: file */
                nfs_cookie4    la_cookie;
                count4         la_maxcount; 
        };

5.2.5.2	RESULTS

        struct LISTXATTR4resok (
                nfs_cookie4    lr_cookie;
                verifier4      lr_cookieverf;
                bool           lr_eof;
                xattrname4     lr_names<>;
        };

        union LISTXATTR4res switch (nfsstat4 lr_status) {
         case NFS4_OK:
                LISTXATTR4resok  lr_value;
         default:
                void;
        };

6.2.5.3	DESCRIPTION

   The LISTXATTR operation retrieves a variable number of extended
   attribute keys from the file system object specified by the current
   filehandle, along with information to allow the client to request
   additional attribute keys in a subsequent LISTXATTR.

   The arguments contain a cookie value that represents where the
   LISTXATTR should start within the list of xattrs.  A value of 0
   (zero) for la_cookie is used to start reading at the beginning of the
   list.  For subsequent LISTXATTR requests, the client specifies a
   cookie value that is provided by the server on a previous LISTXATTR
   request.

   The la_cookieverf value should be set to 0 (zero) when the la_cookie
   value is 0 (zero) (first xattr read).  On subsequent requests, it
   should be lr_cookieverf as returned by the server.  The la_cookieverf
   must match that returned by the LISTXATTR in which the cookie was
   acquired.  If the server determines that the la_cookieverf is no
   longer valid for the directory, the error NFS4ERR_NOT_SAME must be
   returned.

 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 12]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   The la_maxcount value of the argument is the maximum number of bytes
   for the result. This maximum size represents all of the data being
   returned within the LISTXATTR4resok structure and includes the XDR
   overhead.  The server may return less data.  If the server is unable
   to return a single xattr name within the maxcount limit, the error
   NFS4ERR_TOOSMALL will be returned to the client.

   On successful return, the server's response will provide a list of
   extended attribute keys.  The "lr_eof" flag has a value of TRUE if
   there are no more keys for the object.

   The cookie value is only meaningful to the server and is used as a
   "bookmark" for the xattr key.  As mentioned, this cookie is used by
   the client for subsequent LISTXATTR operations so that it may
   continue listing keys.  The cookie is similar in concept to a READDIR
   cookie or the READ offset but should not be interpreted as such by
   the client. Ideally, the cookie value should not change if the object
   xattr values is modified since the client may be caching these
   values.

   On success, the current filehandle retains its value.

6.2.5.4	IMPLEMENTATION

   The handling of ls_cookie and ls_cookieverf is similar to that of the
   READDIR operation. The cookieverf may be used by the server to help
   manage cookie values that may become stale.  It should be a rare
   occurrence that a server is unable to continue properly listing
   xattrs with the provided cookie/cookieverf pair.  The server should
   make every effort to avoid this condition since the application at
   the client may not be able to properly handle this type of failure.

    The use of the ls_cookieverf will also protect the client from using
   LISTXATTR cookie values that may be stale.  For example, if the file
   system has been migrated, the server may or may not be able to use
   the same cookie values to service LISTXATTR as the previous server
   used.  With the client providing the ls_cookieverf, the server is
   able to provide the appropriate response to the client.  This
   prevents the case where the server may accept a cookie value but the
   underlying object xattrs have changed and the response is invalid
   from the client's context of its previous LISTXATTR.

6.2.6  REMOVEXATTR - Remove an extended attribute of a file

6.2.6.1 	ARGUMENTS



 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 13]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


        struct REMOVEXATTR4args {
                /* CURRENT_FH: file */
                xattrname4     ra_name; 
        };

6.2.6.2	RESULTS

        union REMOVEXATTR4res switch (nfsstat4 rr_status) {
         case NFS4_OK:
                void;
         default:
                void;
        };

6.2.6.3	DESCRIPTION

   The REMOVEXATTR operation deletes one extended attribute of a file
   system object specified by ra_name. The server MUST return an error
   if the attribute key does not exist. If the xattr key contained in
   the client request exceeds the channel's negotiated maximum request
   size, then the server MUST return NFS4ERR_REQ_TOO_BIG in rr_status.

   A successful REMOVEXATTR SHOULD change the file time_modify and
   change attributes. However, these attributes SHOULD NOT be changed
   unless the xattr is not removed.

6.2.6.4	IMPLEMENTATION

   If the object whose xattr is being removed has a file delegation that
   is held by a client other than the one doing the REMOVEXATTR, the
   delegation(s) must be recalled, and the operation cannot proceed to
   delete the xattr until each such delegation is returned or revoked.
   In all cases in which delegations are recalled, the server is likely
   to return one or more NFS4ERR_DELAY errors while the delegation(s)
   remains outstanding, although it might not do that if the delegations
   are returned quickly.

6.2.7  Valid Errors

   This section contains a table that gives the valid error returns for
   each new protocol operation.  The error code NFS4_OK (indicating no
   error) is not listed but should be understood to be returnable by all
   new operations.  The error values for all other operations are
   defined in Section 15.2 of RFC 5661 [2].

          Valid Error Returns for Each New Protocol Operation

   +----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 14]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   | Operation            | Errors                                     |
   +----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
   | GETXATTR             | NFS4ERR_ACCESS, NFS4ERR_BADXDR,            |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DEADSESSION, NFS4ERR_DELAY,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_FHEXPIRED, NFS4ERR_GRACE,          |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_INVAL, NFS4ERR_IO, NFS4ERR_ISDIR,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_MOVED, NFS4ERR_NAMETOOLONG,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NOFILEHANDLE, NFS4ERR_NOTSUPP,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OP_NOT_IN_SESSION, NFS4ERR_NOTDIR, |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_PERM, NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG,         |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG_TO_CACHE,              |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REQ_TOO_BIG,                       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_RETRY_UNCACHED_REP,                |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_SERVERFAULT, NFS4ERR_STALE,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_TOO_MANY_OPS, NFS4ERR_WRONG_TYPE   |
   | SETXATTR             | NFS4ERR_ACCESS, NFS4ERR_ADMIN_REVOKED,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_ATTRNOTSUPP, NFS4ERR_BADCHAR,      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_BADOWNER, NFS4ERR_BAD_RANGE,       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_BADXDR, NFS4ERR_BAD_STATEID,       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DEADSESSION, NFS4ERR_DELAY,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DELEG_REVOKED, NFS4ERR_DQUOT,      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_EXIST, NFS4ERR_EXPIRED,            |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_FBIG, NFS4ERR_FHEXPIRED,           |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_GRACE, NFS4ERR_INVAL, NFS4ERR_IO,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_LOCKED, NFS4ERR_MOVED,             |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NAMETOOLONG, NFS4ERR_NOFILEHANDLE, |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NOSPC, NFS4ERR_NOTDIR,             |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OLD_STATEID, NFS4ERR_OPENMODE,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OP_NOT_IN_SESSION, NFS4ERR_PERM,   |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG,                       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG_TO_CACHE,              |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REQ_TOO_BIG,                       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_RETRY_UNCACHED_REP, NFS4ERR_ROFS,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_SERVERFAULT, NFS4ERR_STALE,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_TOO_MANY_OPS,                      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_UNKNOWN_LAYOUTTYPE,                |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_WRONG_TYPE                         |
   | LISTXATTR            | NFS4ERR_ACCESS, NFS4ERR_ADMIN_REVOKED,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DEADSESSION, NFS4ERR_DELAY,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_FHEXPIRED, NFS4ERR_GRACE,          |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_INVAL, NFS4ERR_IO, NFS4ERR_ISDIR,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_MOVED, NFS4ERR_NAMETOOLONG,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NOFILEHANDLE, NFS4ERR_NOTSUPP,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OP_NOT_IN_SESSION, NFS4ERR_NOTDIR, |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_PERM, NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG,         |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REP_TOO_BIG_TO_CACHE,              |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_REQ_TOO_BIG,                       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_RETRY_UNCACHED_REP,                |
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 15]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


   |                      | NFS4ERR_SERVERFAULT, NFS4ERR_STALE,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_TOO_MANY_OPS, NFS4ERR_WRONG_TYPE   |
   | REMOVEXATTR          | NFS4ERR_ACCESS, NFS4ERR_ADMIN_REVOKED,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_ATTRNOTSUPP, NFS4ERR_BADCHAR,      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_BADOWNER, NFS4ERR_BAD_RANGE,       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_BADXDR, NFS4ERR_BAD_STATEID,       |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DEADSESSION, NFS4ERR_DELAY,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_DELEG_REVOKED, NFS4ERR_DQUOT,      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_EXIST, NFS4ERR_EXPIRED,            |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_FBIG, NFS4ERR_FHEXPIRED,           |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_GRACE, NFS4ERR_INVAL, NFS4ERR_IO,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_LOCKED, NFS4ERR_MOVED,             |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NAMETOOLONG, NFS4ERR_NOFILEHANDLE, |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_NOSPC, NFS4ERR_NOTDIR,             |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OLD_STATEID, NFS4ERR_OPENMODE,     |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_OP_NOT_IN_SESSION, NFS4ERR_PERM,   |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_RETRY_UNCACHED_REP, NFS4ERR_ROFS,  |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_SERVERFAULT, NFS4ERR_STALE,        |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_TOO_MANY_OPS,                      |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_UNKNOWN_LAYOUTTYPE,                |
   |                      | NFS4ERR_WRONG_TYPE                         |
   +----------------------+--------------------------------------------+

6.3  Extensions to ACE Access Mask Attributes

   Two new bitmask constants are proposed for the access mask field:

         const ACE4_GET_XATTRS          = 0x00200000;
         const ACE4_SET_XATTRS          = 0x00400000;

   Permission to get/list and set/remove the extended attributes of a
   file. The affected operations are GETXATTR/LISTXATTR and
   SETXATTR/REMOVEXATTR respectively. No additional granularity of
   control is implied by these constants for server implementations.

6.4  pNFS Considerations

   All xattr operations are sent to the metadata server, which is
   responsible for coordinating the changes onto the storage devices.

7  Security Considerations

   The additions to the NFS protocol for supporting extended attributes
   do not alter the security considerations of the NFSv4.1 protocol [2].

8  IANA Considerations

   All IANA considerations are covered in [2].
 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 16]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


9  References

9.1  Normative References

   [1]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
        Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [2]  Shepler, S., Ed., Eisler, M., Ed., and D. Noveck, Ed., "Network
        File System (NFS) Version 4 Minor Version 1 Protocol", RFC 5661,
        January 2010.

   [3]  Shepler, S., Ed., Eisler, M., Ed., and D. Noveck, Ed., "Network
        File System (NFS) Version 4 Minor Version 1 External Data
        Representation Standard (XDR) Description", RFC 5662, January
        2010.

9.2  Informative References

   [4]  http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/CommonExtendedAttributes,
        "Guidelines for extended attributes".

   [5]  Love, R., "Linux System Programming: Talking Directly to the
        Kernel and C Library", O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2007.

   [6]  http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=extattr&sektion=9,
        "FreeBSD Man Pages - extattr"

   [7]  http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19253-01/816-5175/6mbba7f02,   
        "Oracle Man Pages - fsattr"

   [8]  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
        us/library/windows/desktop/aa364404(v=vs.85).aspx, "File
        Streams"

   [9]  Swift-on-File: https://github.com/stackforge/swiftonfile

   [10] KDE Planet: http://vhanda.in/blog/2014/08/extended-attributes-
        updates/

10  Acknowledgements

        This draft has attempted to capture the discussion on adding
        xattrs to the NFSv4 protocol from many participants on the IETF
        NFSv4 mailing list. Valuable input and advice was received on
        earlier revisions of this draft from several people on the NFSv4
        mailing list, including Tom Haynes, Christoph Hellwig and Nico
        Williams.

 


Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 17]

Internet Draft        Extended Attributes in NFSv4          July 6, 2015


Authors' Addresses

        Manoj Naik
        IBM Almaden
        650 Harry Rd
        San Jose, CA 95120

        Phone: +1 408-927-1707
        Email: mnaik@us.ibm.com

        Marc Eshel
        IBM Almaden
        650 Harry Rd
        San Jose, CA 95120

        Phone: +1 408-927-1894
        Email: eshel@us.ibm.com


































Naik, et al.            Expires January 7, 2016                [Page 18]