[arch-releng] new testbuild with preliminary nilfs2 support

C Anthony Risinger anthony at extof.me
Tue Dec 7 16:35:29 CET 2010


On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 9:00 AM, Dieter Plaetinck <dieter at plaetinck.be> wrote:
> On Mon, 6 Dec 2010 22:34:34 +0100
> Dieter Plaetinck <dieter at plaetinck.be> wrote:
>
>> Another archiso testbuild
>> http://build.archlinux.org/isos/2010.12.06/
>>
>> Changes:
>> - aif, libui-sh from git. aif contains some filesystem refactorings
>> and nilfs2 support
>> - inclusion of nilfs-utils
>> - archiso2dual split profile instead of basic because dual core image
>> was 759MiB, now 686MiB
>> - remove joe from package lists, joe is not in repos anymore (not yet
>> committed in archiso git)
>> * known issues:
>> - interactive filesystem configuration interface is broken.
>> (autoprepare does work). sorry about this, will fix..
>> - nilfs-utils is not in core so doesn't get installed to target yet
>>
>> Dieter
>
> new testbuilds @ http://build.archlinux.org/isos/2010.12.07/
> i fixed the remaining bugs (or so i hope) in AIF which i introduced by
> doing lots of refactoring on the filesystem code, as well as added some
> nice things (like lvm2 hook is now added to mkinitcpio.conf for non-root
> filesystems as well)
>
> I don't plan to make new builds until nilfs-utils is in core, new
> archiso patches get merged, etc.

how about pulling btrfs-progs into core as well?  and on that note,
where does btrfs stand in terms of AIF?

i have a massively awesome update to mkinitcpio-btrfs (actually a
rewrite as `mkinitcpio-btrfsadm`, and a new tool `btrfsadm`) in the
pipeline, about 3-7 days from release, and i'd love to see some
btrfs-prog support already on the new disc (or is it already there?).

new hook supports highly anticipated features like:

) multi drive (RAID array) btrfs roots
) transparent, full system, kernel level snapshots and rollbacks
) multiple/parallel independent roots (writable system volumes)
) automatic history snapshots (every time you reboot -- autosnap)
) cron based snapshots (via the `btrfsadm` tool in the crontab)
) user snapshots (via the `btrfsadm` tool manually)
) simple, reliable, automatic stagnant snapshot pruning
) automatic snapshot enumeration for extlinux (only for single device
+ detached boot)
) TODO: hot spare support

the new on disk layout is vastly improved... rollbacks and snapshots
are a matter of moving symlinks, and determining stagnant snapshots is
a single command.  the whole process is incredibly simple and error
resistant.

i bring it up here mainly because i would reeeeeally like to see AIF
(and archboot and friends) creating the necessary structure by
default; it _heavily_ mirrors the method git uses to manage branches.
the structure could be created and the active subvol marked as
default... at this point the user would not even know, core, or be
affected by the underlying structure.

however, the hook introduces the concept of a `bootramfs` -- a kernel
+ initramfs based bootloader -- and i'm not sure how that can
officially mesh with Arch.  this means a 2-stage boot unless the user
has extlinux and is using a "detached" boot scheme (not important,
explained in a later email).

i'll go into more detail in the coming days; just looking for a
general feel from the release team regarding btrfs in general; at the
very least, if it's not already, i'd like to see the btrfs-progs be
included.

C Anthony


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