kernfs (Linux)

In the Linux kernel, kernfs is a set of functions that contains the functionality required for creating virtual file systems used internally by various kernel subsystems. The creation of kernfs resulted from splitting off part of the internal logic used by sysfs, which provides a set of virtual files by exporting information about hardware devices and associated device drivers from the kernel's device model to user space, into an independent and reusable functionality so other kernel subsystems can implement their own virtual file systems more easily and consistently.^[1][2][3]

The associated patchset, with Tejun Heo as its main author, was merged into the Linux kernel mainline in kernel version 3.14, which was released on March 30, 2014.^[1][4] One of the primary users of kernfs is the virtual file system used internally by cgroups, whose redesign continued into version 3.15 of the Linux kernel.^[5]

See also

• procfs – a special file system in Unix-like operating systems that presents information about processes and other system information
• tmpfs – a common name for a temporary file storage facility on many Unix-like operating systems

References

1. Tejun Heo (October 13, 2013). "Linux kernel source tree: kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git: sysfs, kernfs: add skeletons for kernfs". kernel.org. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
2. Michael Larabel (January 20, 2014). "Linux kernel's sysfs logic turns into "kernfs" for 3.14". Phoronix. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
3. Tejun Heo (October 24, 2013). "sysfs: separate out kernfs, part #1". LWN.net. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
4. "Linux kernel 3.14, Section 3. Core". kernelnewbies.org. March 30, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
5. Tejun Heo (February 11, 2014). "Linux kernel source tree: kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git: cgroups: convert to kernfs". kernel.org. Retrieved May 23, 2014.

External links

• Source code, fs/kernfs within the Linux kernel source tree