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authorFuad Tabba <fuad.tabba@linux.dev>2026-09-22 19:14:30 +0100
committerWill Deacon <will@kernel.org>2026-09-23 12:34:30 +0000
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treecb91c941eccb15f94cbec4e96aa3a9c8736b5d66 /Documentation/admin-guide/device-mapper/writecache.rst
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arm64/boot: Disable trapping of PMZR_EL0 writes to EL2grafted
__init_el2_fgt2() writes one mask to both HDFGRTR2_EL2 and HDFGWTR2_EL2. PMZR_EL0 is write-only, so its trap bit, nPMZR_EL0, exists only in HDFGWTR2_EL2 and is therefore never set: a PMZR_EL0 write from the host traps to EL2, where the nVHE hypervisor has no handler and BUG()s. The kernel never writes PMZR_EL0, but kernel.perf_user_access=1 has the PMU driver set PMUSERENR_EL0.UEN for a task with a user-read event, so a write from EL0 reaches the trap and takes the host down without a panic message. Accumulate the HDFGWTR2_EL2 bits separately, as __init_el2_fgt() already does for HDFGWTR_EL2, and set nPMZR_EL0 with the other FEAT_PMUv3p9 bits. Fixes: 858c7bfcb35e1 ("arm64/boot: Enable EL2 requirements for FEAT_PMUv3p9") Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Signed-off-by: Fuad Tabba <fuad.tabba@linux.dev> Reviewed-by: Anshuman Khandual <anshuman.khandual@arm.com> Reviewed-by: Oliver Upton <oupton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
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+=================
+Writecache target
+=================
+
+The writecache target caches writes on persistent memory or on SSD. It
+doesn't cache reads because reads are supposed to be cached in page cache
+in normal RAM.
+
+When the device is constructed, the first sector should be zeroed or the
+first sector should contain valid superblock from previous invocation.
+
+Constructor parameters:
+
+1. type of the cache device - "p" or "s"
+ - p - persistent memory
+ - s - SSD
+2. the underlying device that will be cached
+3. the cache device
+4. block size (4096 is recommended; the maximum block size is the page
+ size)
+5. the number of optional parameters (the parameters with an argument
+ count as two)
+
+ start_sector n (default: 0)
+ offset from the start of cache device in 512-byte sectors
+ high_watermark n (default: 50)
+ start writeback when the number of used blocks reach this
+ watermark
+ low_watermark x (default: 45)
+ stop writeback when the number of used blocks drops below
+ this watermark
+ writeback_jobs n (default: unlimited)
+ limit the number of blocks that are in flight during
+ writeback. Setting this value reduces writeback
+ throughput, but it may improve latency of read requests
+ autocommit_blocks n (default: 64 for pmem, 65536 for ssd)
+ when the application writes this amount of blocks without
+ issuing the FLUSH request, the blocks are automatically
+ committed
+ autocommit_time ms (default: 1000)
+ autocommit time in milliseconds. The data is automatically
+ committed if this time passes and no FLUSH request is
+ received
+ fua (by default on)
+ applicable only to persistent memory - use the FUA flag
+ when writing data from persistent memory back to the
+ underlying device
+ nofua
+ applicable only to persistent memory - don't use the FUA
+ flag when writing back data and send the FLUSH request
+ afterwards
+
+ - some underlying devices perform better with fua, some
+ with nofua. The user should test it
+ cleaner
+ when this option is activated (either in the constructor
+ arguments or by a message), the cache will not promote
+ new writes (however, writes to already cached blocks are
+ promoted, to avoid data corruption due to misordered
+ writes) and it will gradually writeback any cached
+ data. The userspace can then monitor the cleaning
+ process with "dmsetup status". When the number of cached
+ blocks drops to zero, userspace can unload the
+ dm-writecache target and replace it with dm-linear or
+ other targets.
+ max_age n
+ specifies the maximum age of a block in milliseconds. If
+ a block is stored in the cache for too long, it will be
+ written to the underlying device and cleaned up.
+ metadata_only
+ only metadata is promoted to the cache. This option
+ improves performance for heavier REQ_META workloads.
+ pause_writeback n (default: 3000)
+ pause writeback if there was some write I/O redirected to
+ the origin volume in the last n milliseconds
+
+Status:
+
+1. error indicator - 0 if there was no error, otherwise error number
+2. the number of blocks
+3. the number of free blocks
+4. the number of blocks under writeback
+5. the number of read blocks
+6. the number of read blocks that hit the cache
+7. the number of write blocks
+8. the number of write blocks that hit uncommitted block
+9. the number of write blocks that hit committed block
+10. the number of write blocks that bypass the cache
+11. the number of write blocks that are allocated in the cache
+12. the number of write requests that are blocked on the freelist
+13. the number of flush requests
+14. the number of discarded blocks
+
+Messages:
+ flush
+ Flush the cache device. The message returns successfully
+ if the cache device was flushed without an error
+ flush_on_suspend
+ Flush the cache device on next suspend. Use this message
+ when you are going to remove the cache device. The proper
+ sequence for removing the cache device is:
+
+ 1. send the "flush_on_suspend" message
+ 2. load an inactive table with a linear target that maps
+ to the underlying device
+ 3. suspend the device
+ 4. ask for status and verify that there are no errors
+ 5. resume the device, so that it will use the linear
+ target
+ 6. the cache device is now inactive and it can be deleted
+ cleaner
+ See above "cleaner" constructor documentation.
+ clear_stats
+ Clear the statistics that are reported on the status line