Documentation/filesystems: add binderfs

This documents the Android binderfs filesystem used to dynamically add and
remove binder devices that are private to each instance.

Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <christian.brauner@ubuntu.com>
[jc: tweaked markup and added to filesystems/index.rst]
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>

1 files changed, 68 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/binderfs.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/binderfs.rst
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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+The Android binderfs Filesystem
+===============================
+
+Android binderfs is a filesystem for the Android binder IPC mechanism.  It
+allows to dynamically add and remove binder devices at runtime.  Binder devices
+located in a new binderfs instance are independent of binder devices located in
+other binderfs instances.  Mounting a new binderfs instance makes it possible
+to get a set of private binder devices.
+
+Mounting binderfs
+-----------------
+
+Android binderfs can be mounted with::
+
+  mkdir /dev/binderfs
+  mount -t binder binder /dev/binderfs
+
+at which point a new instance of binderfs will show up at ``/dev/binderfs``.
+In a fresh instance of binderfs no binder devices will be present.  There will
+only be a ``binder-control`` device which serves as the request handler for
+binderfs. Mounting another binderfs instance at a different location will
+create a new and separate instance from all other binderfs mounts.  This is
+identical to the behavior of e.g. ``devpts`` and ``tmpfs``. The Android
+binderfs filesystem can be mounted in user namespaces.
+
+Options
+-------
+max
+  binderfs instances can be mounted with a limit on the number of binder
+  devices that can be allocated. The ``max=<count>`` mount option serves as
+  a per-instance limit. If ``max=<count>`` is set then only ``<count>`` number
+  of binder devices can be allocated in this binderfs instance.
+
+Allocating binder Devices
+-------------------------
+
+.. _ioctl: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/ioctl.2.html
+
+To allocate a new binder device in a binderfs instance a request needs to be
+sent through the ``binder-control`` device node.  A request is sent in the form
+of an `ioctl() <ioctl_>`_.
+
+What a program needs to do is to open the ``binder-control`` device node and
+send a ``BINDER_CTL_ADD`` request to the kernel.  Users of binderfs need to
+tell the kernel which name the new binder device should get.  By default a name
+can only contain up to ``BINDERFS_MAX_NAME`` chars including the terminating
+zero byte.
+
+Once the request is made via an `ioctl() <ioctl_>`_ passing a ``struct
+binder_device`` with the name to the kernel it will allocate a new binder
+device and return the major and minor number of the new device in the struct
+(This is necessary because binderfs allocates a major device number
+dynamically.).  After the `ioctl() <ioctl_>`_ returns there will be a new
+binder device located under /dev/binderfs with the chosen name.
+
+Deleting binder Devices
+-----------------------
+
+.. _unlink: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/unlink.2.html
+.. _rm: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/rm.1.html
+
+Binderfs binder devices can be deleted via `unlink() <unlink_>`_.  This means
+that the `rm() <rm_>`_ tool can be used to delete them. Note that the
+``binder-control`` device cannot be deleted since this would make the binderfs
+instance unuseable.  The ``binder-control`` device will be deleted when the
+binderfs instance is unmounted and all references to it have been dropped.