linux-ext4 - Re: tune2fs -O ^metadata_csum not checking bitmap failures

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Date:	Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:16:36 -0700
From:	"Darrick J. Wong" <darrick.wong@...cle.com>
To:	TR Reardon <thomas_reardon@...mail.com>
Cc:	"linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org" <linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: tune2fs -O ^metadata_csum not checking bitmap failures

On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 05:10:21PM -0400, TR Reardon wrote:
> > Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:48:40 -0700
> > From: darrick.wong@...cle.com
> > To: thomas_reardon@...mail.com
> > CC: linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org
> > Subject: Re: tune2fs -O ^metadata_csum not checking bitmap failures
> >
> > On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 04:30:41PM -0400, TR Reardon wrote:
> >> When running tune2fs -O ^metadata_csum, disable_uninit_bg() is called to
> >> reset the gdt. However, return value is not checked, which allows a failure
> >> (say, a block bitmap failure somewhere, among other errors) to continue
> >> through to rewrite_metadata_checksums()
> >>
> >> This seems wrong; should not the rewrite occur only if
> >> disable/enable_uninit_bg() succeeds?
> >
> > The rewrite will fail if either of the error cases in disable_uninit_bg() fail,
> > since rewrite_metadata_checksums() also tries to load the bitmap and scan the
> > inodes.
> 
> Actually, rewrite_metadata_checksums() loads the bitmap with checksums OFF,
> which in the test I just ran, will succeed.  This leaves the fs in a weird
> half-checksummed state.

Icky. :(

> I should have been clearer above: if the initial disable_uninit_bg() failure
> occurs because of a *checksum error*, then we get into this confused state.
>  Given that people would possibly try to disable metadata_csum if there are
> checksum errors, this seems like a fairly common scenario.

I would say that if you have checksum errors you ought to run e2fsck, not just
tape over the warning light...

...though if you're prepared to deal with the fallout/really know what you're
doing, you can nuke the feature bit with 'feature ^metadata_csum' in debugfs.

In any case, we ought to avoid tune2fs writing junk to a broken fs.

--D
> 
> 
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