evms blocks access to disk devices
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
evms (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
Critical
|
Unassigned | ||
Gutsy |
Fix Released
|
Critical
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: evms
For several releases the Ubuntu kernel has been carrying around a patch that allows evms/lvm to interact more easily with block devices.
The basic idea of the patch is to revert some stricter locking on devices so that evms can claim to be handling a device, while still allowing userspace to access partitions without using evms.
This is a bad thing, mainly because it means I can mount /dev/sda1 even though evms is using it, or using the entire of /dev/sda.
However, we kept this patch because it was easiest, and kept some things from breaking. I'm not prepared to continue this any longer. We need to address the problem well before gutsy+1 (most likely the next LTS).
Aside from the odd use case above, which users should expect to break, normal operations are breaking as well. I have a system with 4 scsi drives, none of them being managed by evms or lvm, and yet I cannot mount the partitions on them after evms starts up. I had to explicitly exclude things in /etc/evms.conf.
So either the solution is we switch to using evms for everything, or we teach evms to not be so broad in the devices it claims. by default.
Related branches
Changed in evms: | |
assignee: | nobody → ubuntu-kernel-team |
importance: | Undecided → Critical |
status: | Unconfirmed → Confirmed |
Unmilestoning, as agreed in yesterday's meeting, since evms is in universe now (due to general brokenness and lack of maintainership)