Commit | Line | Data |
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784c4d8b SB |
1 | |
2 | To support containers, we now allow multiple instances of devpts filesystem, | |
3 | such that indices of ptys allocated in one instance are independent of indices | |
4 | allocated in other instances of devpts. | |
5 | ||
6 | To preserve backward compatibility, this support for multiple instances is | |
7 | enabled only if: | |
8 | ||
9 | - CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES=y, and | |
10 | - '-o newinstance' mount option is specified while mounting devpts | |
11 | ||
12 | IOW, devpts now supports both single-instance and multi-instance semantics. | |
13 | ||
14 | If CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES=n, there is no change in behavior and | |
15 | this referred to as the "legacy" mode. In this mode, the new mount options | |
16 | (-o newinstance and -o ptmxmode) will be ignored with a 'bogus option' message | |
17 | on console. | |
18 | ||
19 | If CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES=y and devpts is mounted without the | |
20 | 'newinstance' option (as in current start-up scripts) the new mount binds | |
21 | to the initial kernel mount of devpts. This mode is referred to as the | |
22 | 'single-instance' mode and the current, single-instance semantics are | |
23 | preserved, i.e PTYs are common across the system. | |
24 | ||
25 | The only difference between this single-instance mode and the legacy mode | |
26 | is the presence of new, '/dev/pts/ptmx' node with permissions 0000, which | |
27 | can safely be ignored. | |
28 | ||
29 | If CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES=y and 'newinstance' option is specified, | |
30 | the mount is considered to be in the multi-instance mode and a new instance | |
31 | of the devpts fs is created. Any ptys created in this instance are independent | |
32 | of ptys in other instances of devpts. Like in the single-instance mode, the | |
33 | /dev/pts/ptmx node is present. To effectively use the multi-instance mode, | |
34 | open of /dev/ptmx must be a redirected to '/dev/pts/ptmx' using a symlink or | |
35 | bind-mount. | |
36 | ||
37 | Eg: A container startup script could do the following: | |
38 | ||
39 | $ chmod 0666 /dev/pts/ptmx | |
40 | $ rm /dev/ptmx | |
41 | $ ln -s pts/ptmx /dev/ptmx | |
42 | $ ns_exec -cm /bin/bash | |
43 | ||
44 | # We are now in new container | |
45 | ||
46 | $ umount /dev/pts | |
47 | $ mount -t devpts -o newinstance lxcpts /dev/pts | |
48 | $ sshd -p 1234 | |
49 | ||
50 | where 'ns_exec -cm /bin/bash' calls clone() with CLONE_NEWNS flag and execs | |
51 | /bin/bash in the child process. A pty created by the sshd is not visible in | |
52 | the original mount of /dev/pts. | |
53 | ||
54 | User-space changes | |
55 | ------------------ | |
56 | ||
57 | In multi-instance mode (i.e '-o newinstance' mount option is specified at least | |
58 | once), following user-space issues should be noted. | |
59 | ||
60 | 1. If -o newinstance mount option is never used, /dev/pts/ptmx can be ignored | |
61 | and no change is needed to system-startup scripts. | |
62 | ||
63 | 2. To effectively use multi-instance mode (i.e -o newinstance is specified) | |
64 | administrators or startup scripts should "redirect" open of /dev/ptmx to | |
65 | /dev/pts/ptmx using either a bind mount or symlink. | |
66 | ||
67 | $ mount -t devpts -o newinstance devpts /dev/pts | |
68 | ||
69 | followed by either | |
70 | ||
71 | $ rm /dev/ptmx | |
72 | $ ln -s pts/ptmx /dev/ptmx | |
73 | $ chmod 666 /dev/pts/ptmx | |
74 | or | |
75 | $ mount -o bind /dev/pts/ptmx /dev/ptmx | |
76 | ||
77 | 3. The '/dev/ptmx -> pts/ptmx' symlink is the preferred method since it | |
78 | enables better error-reporting and treats both single-instance and | |
79 | multi-instance mounts similarly. | |
80 | ||
81 | But this method requires that system-startup scripts set the mode of | |
82 | /dev/pts/ptmx correctly (default mode is 0000). The scripts can set the | |
83 | mode by, either | |
84 | ||
85 | - adding ptmxmode mount option to devpts entry in /etc/fstab, or | |
86 | - using 'chmod 0666 /dev/pts/ptmx' | |
87 | ||
88 | 4. If multi-instance mode mount is needed for containers, but the system | |
89 | startup scripts have not yet been updated, container-startup scripts | |
90 | should bind mount /dev/ptmx to /dev/pts/ptmx to avoid breaking single- | |
91 | instance mounts. | |
92 | ||
93 | Or, in general, container-startup scripts should use: | |
94 | ||
95 | mount -t devpts -o newinstance -o ptmxmode=0666 devpts /dev/pts | |
96 | if [ ! -L /dev/ptmx ]; then | |
97 | mount -o bind /dev/pts/ptmx /dev/ptmx | |
98 | fi | |
99 | ||
100 | When all devpts mounts are multi-instance, /dev/ptmx can permanently be | |
101 | a symlink to pts/ptmx and the bind mount can be ignored. | |
102 | ||
103 | 5. A multi-instance mount that is not accompanied by the /dev/ptmx to | |
104 | /dev/pts/ptmx redirection would result in an unusable/unreachable pty. | |
105 | ||
106 | mount -t devpts -o newinstance lxcpts /dev/pts | |
107 | ||
108 | immediately followed by: | |
109 | ||
110 | open("/dev/ptmx") | |
111 | ||
112 | would create a pty, say /dev/pts/7, in the initial kernel mount. | |
113 | But /dev/pts/7 would be invisible in the new mount. | |
114 | ||
115 | 6. The permissions for /dev/pts/ptmx node should be specified when mounting | |
116 | /dev/pts, using the '-o ptmxmode=%o' mount option (default is 0000). | |
117 | ||
118 | mount -t devpts -o newinstance -o ptmxmode=0644 devpts /dev/pts | |
119 | ||
120 | The permissions can be later be changed as usual with 'chmod'. | |
121 | ||
122 | chmod 666 /dev/pts/ptmx | |
123 | ||
124 | 7. A mount of devpts without the 'newinstance' option results in binding to | |
125 | initial kernel mount. This behavior while preserving legacy semantics, | |
126 | does not provide strict isolation in a container environment. i.e by | |
127 | mounting devpts without the 'newinstance' option, a container could | |
128 | get visibility into the 'host' or root container's devpts. | |
129 | ||
130 | To workaround this and have strict isolation, all mounts of devpts, | |
131 | including the mount in the root container, should use the newinstance | |
132 | option. |