fsfreeze and xfs_freeze
Users can freeze, snapshot, and unfreeze a file system with an SecFS GuardPoint using fsfreeze|xfs_freeze for both XFS and EXT3/4.
SecFS supports freezing with fsfreeze|xfs_freeze or by any other program issuing the same type of requests. Freezing SecFS results in freezing the underlying file system, as well as the primary file system.
Restrictions
There are restrictions for using fsfreeze|xfs_freeze support with CTE.
Platform Restrictions
The following platform restrictions occur with CTE and fsfreeze|xfs_freeze:
- CTE supports the
fsfreeze|xfs_freezeutility for freezing SECFS GuardPoints on all Linux distributions for kernels >=3.0 for Redhat, SLES, and Ubuntu platforms on EXT3/EXT4/XFS file systems. (Earlier Kernels do not contain the proper freeze_super VFS code).
Target Restrictions
The expected target of the fsfreeze|xfs_freeze command is the path of the GuardPoint.
For example, if /dev/sdb is mounted as ext4 on /data and CTE contains the GuardPoint: /data/protected, then the target of fsfreeze must be /data/protected, not /data.
Valid:
fsfreeze -f /data/protected
Not valid:
fsfreeze -f /data
File System Restrictions
The following file system restrictions occur with CTE and fsfreeze|xfs_freeze:
-
If multiple GuardPoints exist on the same file system, you only need to freeze one.
For example, if
/dev/sdbis mounted as ext4 on/dataand the CTE GuardPoints are/data/protected1and/data/protected2, then issuing:fsfreeze -f /data/protected1freezes /data/protected1, /data/protected2 and the underlying ext4 file system.
Caution
Do not unguard a GuardPoint, or restart the CTE Agent, while the file system is frozen. The only action permitted on a frozen file system is taking a snapshot or backing up.
-
If you try to freeze
/data/protected2after freezing/data/protected1, it returns as busy -
If you are not permitted to freeze one GuardPoint, then you cannot freeze any GuardPoints
LDT Restrictions
-
You cannot freeze a file system while it is undergoing an LDT rekey operation. If it detects a rekey, the freeze returns as busy
-
You cannot start an LDT rekey on a frozen file system
Offline Data Transformation Restrictions
Do NOT use fsfreeze|xfs_freeze while an offline transform policy is in effect.