kernel/ksysfs.c: export kernel cpu byteorder
authorThomas Weißschuh <linux@weissschuh.net>
Thu, 3 Nov 2022 15:24:07 +0000 (16:24 +0100)
committerGreg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Thu, 10 Nov 2022 18:07:31 +0000 (19:07 +0100)
Certain files in procfs are formatted in byteorder-dependent formats.
For example the IP addresses in /proc/net/udp.

When using emulation like qemu-user, applications are not guaranteed to
be using the same byteorder as the kernel.
Therefore the kernel needs to provide a way for applications to discover
the byteorder used in API-filesystems.
Using systemcalls is not enough because these are intercepted and
translated by the emulation.

Also this makes it easier for non-compiled applications like
shellscripts to discover the byteorder.

Signed-off-by: Thomas Weißschuh <linux@weissschuh.net>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20221103152407.3348-1-linux@weissschuh.net
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-kernel-cpu_byteorder [new file with mode: 0644]
kernel/ksysfs.c

diff --git a/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-kernel-cpu_byteorder b/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-kernel-cpu_byteorder
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..f0e6ac1
--- /dev/null
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+What:          /sys/kernel/cpu_byteorder
+Date:          February 2023
+KernelVersion: 6.2
+Contact:       Thomas Weißschuh <linux@weissschuh.net>
+Description:
+               The endianness of the running kernel.
+
+               Access: Read
+
+               Valid values:
+                       "little", "big"
+Users:         util-linux
index 65dba9076f312d1857441f173381add01f592d9e..2df00b789b907c4a4e15a388bf2f582a6a020753 100644 (file)
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  * Copyright (C) 2004 Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@vrfy.org>
  */
 
+#include <asm/byteorder.h>
 #include <linux/kobject.h>
 #include <linux/string.h>
 #include <linux/sysfs.h>
 
 #include <linux/rcupdate.h>    /* rcu_expedited and rcu_normal */
 
+#if defined(__LITTLE_ENDIAN)
+#define CPU_BYTEORDER_STRING   "little"
+#elif defined(__BIG_ENDIAN)
+#define CPU_BYTEORDER_STRING   "big"
+#else
+#error Unknown byteorder
+#endif
+
 #define KERNEL_ATTR_RO(_name) \
 static struct kobj_attribute _name##_attr = __ATTR_RO(_name)
 
@@ -34,6 +43,14 @@ static ssize_t uevent_seqnum_show(struct kobject *kobj,
 }
 KERNEL_ATTR_RO(uevent_seqnum);
 
+/* cpu byteorder */
+static ssize_t cpu_byteorder_show(struct kobject *kobj,
+                                 struct kobj_attribute *attr, char *buf)
+{
+       return sysfs_emit(buf, "%s\n", CPU_BYTEORDER_STRING);
+}
+KERNEL_ATTR_RO(cpu_byteorder);
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER
 /* uevent helper program, used during early boot */
 static ssize_t uevent_helper_show(struct kobject *kobj,
@@ -215,6 +232,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kernel_kobj);
 static struct attribute * kernel_attrs[] = {
        &fscaps_attr.attr,
        &uevent_seqnum_attr.attr,
+       &cpu_byteorder_attr.attr,
 #ifdef CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER
        &uevent_helper_attr.attr,
 #endif