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Date:      Sun, 29 Jul 2018 20:52:35 -0400
From:      David Cross <dcrosstech@gmail.com>
To:        "Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd-rwg@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net>
Cc:        FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: Request for comments, new geom part type alias: freebsd-geom
Message-ID:  <144DA23D-26CF-4293-AE97-54CC8D6B52E3@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <201807292102.w6TL2Cq4062739@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net>
References:  <201807292102.w6TL2Cq4062739@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net>

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Just a named GPT UUID type, like freebsd-swap, freebsd-ufs

As for ambiguous data: consider you have a RAID 10 of a UFS filesystem.  If y=
ou put that into freebsd-ufs freebsd-boot will see that and potentially atte=
mpt to boot it.  If you have a raw raid gstripe, what shows up to the BIOS a=
s to what this drives is depends entirely on the _contents_ of the drive at a=
 specific position, information that could be controlled by a user.  So to '=
the bios' the meaning is what the OS put there, but the OS put user data the=
re; how does the OS control the intent (as the BIOS sees it) of that data?

On Jul 29, 2018, at 17:02, Rodney W. Grimes <freebsd-rwg@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.=
net> wrote:

>> I'd like to propose that we create a GPT partition for geom labeled
>> partitions (gmirror, gstripe, geli, etc.. anything that can be 'tasted' a=
nd
>> automatically determined.) called 'freebsd-geom'.
>>=20
>> There are numerous cases where you shouldn't have a raw geom on a disk (f=
or
>> example, imagine a raid 10 of a filesystem with VMs on it..on a raw disk
>> its possible that the lead block happens to line up with a VM disk image o=
r
>> anything else a BIOS may determine is bootable).
>>=20
>> So the question becomes which part id to use; IF its a mirror of a swap o=
f
>> UFS it seems perfectly reasonable to use freebsd-swap or freebsd-ufs (if a=

>> bit dangerous).  If its a mirror or a geli then you can again be in the
>> situation where the boot blocks (or something else), in certain
>> circumstances mistakes these for raw filesystems with similarly calamitou=
s
>> results.
>>=20
>> Given these, it seems a 'freebsd-geom' (or similar) seems entirely
>> appropriate; we can mark these for what they really are, and eliminate
>> these cases where the system misinterprets intentions based on ambiguous
>> data.
>=20
> Do you have more details on just how your going to implement a "GPT"
> partition for geom labeled partitions.  Though I think I understand
> what it is you want to do, how you describe it leads to some confusion
> on just what you are desiring to do.
>=20
> I am aware of some major issues involving gmultipath (GEOM::MULTIPATH)
> and gpt partitioned disks (GEOM::GPT) that due to bad tasting priorities
> you get bogus GPT error messages during boot if you have labeled your
> gmultipath devices, and infact can damage a gpt disk if you apply a
> multipath label onto a valid gpt disk. =20
>=20
> Please describe the "ambiguous data" as well, as I am not aware of
> what that would be.
>=20
> Thanks,
> --=20
> Rod Grimes                                                 rgrimes@freebsd=
.org



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