Merge tag 'net-next-6.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/netdev/net-nextgrafted

Pull networking updates from Jakub Kicinski:
 "Core:

   - Add dedicated kmem_cache for typical/small skb->head, avoid having
     to access struct page at kfree time, and improve memory use.

   - Introduce sysctl to set default RPS configuration for new netdevs.

   - Define Netlink protocol specification format which can be used to
     describe messages used by each family and auto-generate parsers.
     Add tools for generating kernel data structures and uAPI headers.

   - Expose all net/core sysctls inside netns.

   - Remove 4s sleep in netpoll if carrier is instantly detected on
     boot.

   - Add configurable limit of MDB entries per port, and port-vlan.

   - Continue populating drop reasons throughout the stack.

   - Retire a handful of legacy Qdiscs and classifiers.

  Protocols:

   - Support IPv4 big TCP (TSO frames larger than 64kB).

   - Add IP_LOCAL_PORT_RANGE socket option, to control local port range
     on socket by socket basis.

   - Track and report in procfs number of MPTCP sockets used.

   - Support mixing IPv4 and IPv6 flows in the in-kernel MPTCP path
     manager.

   - IPv6: don't check net.ipv6.route.max_size and rely on garbage
     collection to free memory (similarly to IPv4).

   - Support Penultimate Segment Pop (PSP) flavor in SRv6 (RFC8986).

   - ICMP: add per-rate limit counters.

   - Add support for user scanning requests in ieee802154.

   - Remove static WEP support.

   - Support minimal Wi-Fi 7 Extremely High Throughput (EHT) rate
     reporting.

   - WiFi 7 EHT channel puncturing support (client & AP).

  BPF:

   - Add a rbtree data structure following the "next-gen data structure"
     precedent set by recently added linked list, that is, by using
     kfunc + kptr instead of adding a new BPF map type.

   - Expose XDP hints via kfuncs with initial support for RX hash and
     timestamp metadata.

   - Add BPF_F_NO_TUNNEL_KEY extension to bpf_skb_set_tunnel_key to
     better support decap on GRE tunnel devices not operating in collect
     metadata.

   - Improve x86 JIT's codegen for PROBE_MEM runtime error checks.

   - Remove the need for trace_printk_lock for bpf_trace_printk and
     bpf_trace_vprintk helpers.

   - Extend libbpf's bpf_tracing.h support for tracing arguments of
     kprobes/uprobes and syscall as a special case.

   - Significantly reduce the search time for module symbols by
     livepatch and BPF.

   - Enable cpumasks to be used as kptrs, which is useful for tracing
     programs tracking which tasks end up running on which CPUs in
     different time intervals.

   - Add support for BPF trampoline on s390x and riscv64.

   - Add capability to export the XDP features supported by the NIC.

   - Add __bpf_kfunc tag for marking kernel functions as kfuncs.

   - Add cgroup.memory=nobpf kernel parameter option to disable BPF
     memory accounting for container environments.

  Netfilter:

   - Remove the CLUSTERIP target. It has been marked as obsolete for
     years, and we still have WARN splats wrt races of the out-of-band
     /proc interface installed by this target.

   - Add 'destroy' commands to nf_tables. They are identical to the
     existing 'delete' commands, but do not return an error if the
     referenced object (set, chain, rule...) did not exist.

  Driver API:

   - Improve cpumask_local_spread() locality to help NICs set the right
     IRQ affinity on AMD platforms.

   - Separate C22 and C45 MDIO bus transactions more clearly.

   - Introduce new DCB table to control DSCP rewrite on egress.

   - Support configuration of Physical Layer Collision Avoidance (PLCA)
     Reconciliation Sublayer (RS) (802.3cg-2019). Modern version of
     shared medium Ethernet.

   - Support for MAC Merge layer (IEEE 802.3-2018 clause 99). Allowing
     preemption of low priority frames by high priority frames.

   - Add support for controlling MACSec offload using netlink SET.

   - Rework devlink instance refcounts to allow registration and
     de-registration under the instance lock. Split the code into
     multiple files, drop some of the unnecessarily granular locks and
     factor out common parts of netlink operation handling.

   - Add TX frame aggregation parameters (for USB drivers).

   - Add a new attr TCA_EXT_WARN_MSG to report TC (offload) warning
     messages with notifications for debug.

   - Allow offloading of UDP NEW connections via act_ct.

   - Add support for per action HW stats in TC.

   - Support hardware miss to TC action (continue processing in SW from
     a specific point in the action chain).

   - Warn if old Wireless Extension user space interface is used with
     modern cfg80211/mac80211 drivers. Do not support Wireless
     Extensions for Wi-Fi 7 devices at all. Everyone should switch to
     using nl80211 interface instead.

   - Improve the CAN bit timing configuration. Use extack to return
     error messages directly to user space, update the SJW handling,
     including the definition of a new default value that will benefit
     CAN-FD controllers, by increasing their oscillator tolerance.

  New hardware / drivers:

   - Ethernet:
      - nVidia BlueField-3 support (control traffic driver)
      - Ethernet support for imx93 SoCs
      - Motorcomm yt8531 gigabit Ethernet PHY
      - onsemi NCN26000 10BASE-T1S PHY (with support for PLCA)
      - Microchip LAN8841 PHY (incl. cable diagnostics and PTP)
      - Amlogic gxl MDIO mux

   - WiFi:
      - RealTek RTL8188EU (rtl8xxxu)
      - Qualcomm Wi-Fi 7 devices (ath12k)

   - CAN:
      - Renesas R-Car V4H

  Drivers:

   - Bluetooth:
      - Set Per Platform Antenna Gain (PPAG) for Intel controllers.

   - Ethernet NICs:
      - Intel (1G, igc):
         - support TSN / Qbv / packet scheduling features of i226 model
      - Intel (100G, ice):
         - use GNSS subsystem instead of TTY
         - multi-buffer XDP support
         - extend support for GPIO pins to E823 devices
      - nVidia/Mellanox:
         - update the shared buffer configuration on PFC commands
         - implement PTP adjphase function for HW offset control
         - TC support for Geneve and GRE with VF tunnel offload
         - more efficient crypto key management method
         - multi-port eswitch support
      - Netronome/Corigine:
         - add DCB IEEE support
         - support IPsec offloading for NFP3800
      - Freescale/NXP (enetc):
         - support XDP_REDIRECT for XDP non-linear buffers
         - improve reconfig, avoid link flap and waiting for idle
         - support MAC Merge layer
      - Other NICs:
         - sfc/ef100: add basic devlink support for ef100
         - ionic: rx_push mode operation (writing descriptors via MMIO)
         - bnxt: use the auxiliary bus abstraction for RDMA
         - r8169: disable ASPM and reset bus in case of tx timeout
         - cpsw: support QSGMII mode for J721e CPSW9G
         - cpts: support pulse-per-second output
         - ngbe: add an mdio bus driver
         - usbnet: optimize usbnet_bh() by avoiding unnecessary queuing
         - r8152: handle devices with FW with NCM support
         - amd-xgbe: support 10Mbps, 2.5GbE speeds and rx-adaptation
         - virtio-net: support multi buffer XDP
         - virtio/vsock: replace virtio_vsock_pkt with sk_buff
         - tsnep: XDP support

   - Ethernet high-speed switches:
      - nVidia/Mellanox (mlxsw):
         - add support for latency TLV (in FW control messages)
      - Microchip (sparx5):
         - separate explicit and implicit traffic forwarding rules, make
           the implicit rules always active
         - add support for egress DSCP rewrite
         - IS0 VCAP support (Ingress Classification)
         - IS2 VCAP filters (protos, L3 addrs, L4 ports, flags, ToS
           etc.)
         - ES2 VCAP support (Egress Access Control)
         - support for Per-Stream Filtering and Policing (802.1Q,
           8.6.5.1)

   - Ethernet embedded switches:
      - Marvell (mv88e6xxx):
         - add MAB (port auth) offload support
         - enable PTP receive for mv88e6390
      - NXP (ocelot):
         - support MAC Merge layer
         - support for the the vsc7512 internal copper phys
      - Microchip:
         - lan9303: convert to PHYLINK
         - lan966x: support TC flower filter statistics
         - lan937x: PTP support for KSZ9563/KSZ8563 and LAN937x
         - lan937x: support Credit Based Shaper configuration
         - ksz9477: support Energy Efficient Ethernet
      - other:
         - qca8k: convert to regmap read/write API, use bulk operations
         - rswitch: Improve TX timestamp accuracy

   - Intel WiFi (iwlwifi):
      - EHT (Wi-Fi 7) rate reporting
      - STEP equalizer support: transfer some STEP (connection to radio
        on platforms with integrated wifi) related parameters from the
        BIOS to the firmware.

   - Qualcomm 802.11ax WiFi (ath11k):
      - IPQ5018 support
      - Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) responder role support
      - channel 177 support

   - MediaTek WiFi (mt76):
      - per-PHY LED support
      - mt7996: EHT (Wi-Fi 7) support
      - Wireless Ethernet Dispatch (WED) reset support
      - switch to using page pool allocator

   - RealTek WiFi (rtw89):
      - support new version of Bluetooth co-existance

   - Mobile:
      - rmnet: support TX aggregation"

* tag 'net-next-6.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/netdev/net-next: (1872 commits)
  page_pool: add a comment explaining the fragment counter usage
  net: ethtool: fix __ethtool_dev_mm_supported() implementation
  ethtool: pse-pd: Fix double word in comments
  xsk: add linux/vmalloc.h to xsk.c
  sefltests: netdevsim: wait for devlink instance after netns removal
  selftest: fib_tests: Always cleanup before exit
  net/mlx5e: Align IPsec ASO result memory to be as required by hardware
  net/mlx5e: TC, Set CT miss to the specific ct action instance
  net/mlx5e: Rename CHAIN_TO_REG to MAPPED_OBJ_TO_REG
  net/mlx5: Refactor tc miss handling to a single function
  net/mlx5: Kconfig: Make tc offload depend on tc skb extension
  net/sched: flower: Support hardware miss to tc action
  net/sched: flower: Move filter handle initialization earlier
  net/sched: cls_api: Support hardware miss to tc action
  net/sched: Rename user cookie and act cookie
  sfc: fix builds without CONFIG_RTC_LIB
  sfc: clean up some inconsistent indentings
  net/mlx4_en: Introduce flexible array to silence overflow warning
  net: lan966x: Fix possible deadlock inside PTP
  net/ulp: Remove redundant ->clone() test in inet_clone_ulp().
  ...

1 files changed, 487 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/configfs.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/configfs.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c9342ed6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/configfs.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,487 @@
+=======================================================
+Configfs - Userspace-driven Kernel Object Configuration
+=======================================================
+
+Joel Becker <joel.becker@oracle.com>
+
+Updated: 31 March 2005
+
+Copyright (c) 2005 Oracle Corporation,
+	Joel Becker <joel.becker@oracle.com>
+
+
+What is configfs?
+=================
+
+configfs is a ram-based filesystem that provides the converse of
+sysfs's functionality.  Where sysfs is a filesystem-based view of
+kernel objects, configfs is a filesystem-based manager of kernel
+objects, or config_items.
+
+With sysfs, an object is created in kernel (for example, when a device
+is discovered) and it is registered with sysfs.  Its attributes then
+appear in sysfs, allowing userspace to read the attributes via
+readdir(3)/read(2).  It may allow some attributes to be modified via
+write(2).  The important point is that the object is created and
+destroyed in kernel, the kernel controls the lifecycle of the sysfs
+representation, and sysfs is merely a window on all this.
+
+A configfs config_item is created via an explicit userspace operation:
+mkdir(2).  It is destroyed via rmdir(2).  The attributes appear at
+mkdir(2) time, and can be read or modified via read(2) and write(2).
+As with sysfs, readdir(3) queries the list of items and/or attributes.
+symlink(2) can be used to group items together.  Unlike sysfs, the
+lifetime of the representation is completely driven by userspace.  The
+kernel modules backing the items must respond to this.
+
+Both sysfs and configfs can and should exist together on the same
+system.  One is not a replacement for the other.
+
+Using configfs
+==============
+
+configfs can be compiled as a module or into the kernel.  You can access
+it by doing::
+
+	mount -t configfs none /config
+
+The configfs tree will be empty unless client modules are also loaded.
+These are modules that register their item types with configfs as
+subsystems.  Once a client subsystem is loaded, it will appear as a
+subdirectory (or more than one) under /config.  Like sysfs, the
+configfs tree is always there, whether mounted on /config or not.
+
+An item is created via mkdir(2).  The item's attributes will also
+appear at this time.  readdir(3) can determine what the attributes are,
+read(2) can query their default values, and write(2) can store new
+values.  Don't mix more than one attribute in one attribute file.
+
+There are two types of configfs attributes:
+
+* Normal attributes, which similar to sysfs attributes, are small ASCII text
+  files, with a maximum size of one page (PAGE_SIZE, 4096 on i386).  Preferably
+  only one value per file should be used, and the same caveats from sysfs apply.
+  Configfs expects write(2) to store the entire buffer at once.  When writing to
+  normal configfs attributes, userspace processes should first read the entire
+  file, modify the portions they wish to change, and then write the entire
+  buffer back.
+
+* Binary attributes, which are somewhat similar to sysfs binary attributes,
+  but with a few slight changes to semantics.  The PAGE_SIZE limitation does not
+  apply, but the whole binary item must fit in single kernel vmalloc'ed buffer.
+  The write(2) calls from user space are buffered, and the attributes'
+  write_bin_attribute method will be invoked on the final close, therefore it is
+  imperative for user-space to check the return code of close(2) in order to
+  verify that the operation finished successfully.
+  To avoid a malicious user OOMing the kernel, there's a per-binary attribute
+  maximum buffer value.
+
+When an item needs to be destroyed, remove it with rmdir(2).  An
+item cannot be destroyed if any other item has a link to it (via
+symlink(2)).  Links can be removed via unlink(2).
+
+Configuring FakeNBD: an Example
+===============================
+
+Imagine there's a Network Block Device (NBD) driver that allows you to
+access remote block devices.  Call it FakeNBD.  FakeNBD uses configfs
+for its configuration.  Obviously, there will be a nice program that
+sysadmins use to configure FakeNBD, but somehow that program has to tell
+the driver about it.  Here's where configfs comes in.
+
+When the FakeNBD driver is loaded, it registers itself with configfs.
+readdir(3) sees this just fine::
+
+	# ls /config
+	fakenbd
+
+A fakenbd connection can be created with mkdir(2).  The name is
+arbitrary, but likely the tool will make some use of the name.  Perhaps
+it is a uuid or a disk name::
+
+	# mkdir /config/fakenbd/disk1
+	# ls /config/fakenbd/disk1
+	target device rw
+
+The target attribute contains the IP address of the server FakeNBD will
+connect to.  The device attribute is the device on the server.
+Predictably, the rw attribute determines whether the connection is
+read-only or read-write::
+
+	# echo 10.0.0.1 > /config/fakenbd/disk1/target
+	# echo /dev/sda1 > /config/fakenbd/disk1/device
+	# echo 1 > /config/fakenbd/disk1/rw
+
+That's it.  That's all there is.  Now the device is configured, via the
+shell no less.
+
+Coding With configfs
+====================
+
+Every object in configfs is a config_item.  A config_item reflects an
+object in the subsystem.  It has attributes that match values on that
+object.  configfs handles the filesystem representation of that object
+and its attributes, allowing the subsystem to ignore all but the
+basic show/store interaction.
+
+Items are created and destroyed inside a config_group.  A group is a
+collection of items that share the same attributes and operations.
+Items are created by mkdir(2) and removed by rmdir(2), but configfs
+handles that.  The group has a set of operations to perform these tasks
+
+A subsystem is the top level of a client module.  During initialization,
+the client module registers the subsystem with configfs, the subsystem
+appears as a directory at the top of the configfs filesystem.  A
+subsystem is also a config_group, and can do everything a config_group
+can.
+
+struct config_item
+==================
+
+::
+
+	struct config_item {
+		char                    *ci_name;
+		char                    ci_namebuf[UOBJ_NAME_LEN];
+		struct kref             ci_kref;
+		struct list_head        ci_entry;
+		struct config_item      *ci_parent;
+		struct config_group     *ci_group;
+		struct config_item_type *ci_type;
+		struct dentry           *ci_dentry;
+	};
+
+	void config_item_init(struct config_item *);
+	void config_item_init_type_name(struct config_item *,
+					const char *name,
+					struct config_item_type *type);
+	struct config_item *config_item_get(struct config_item *);
+	void config_item_put(struct config_item *);
+
+Generally, struct config_item is embedded in a container structure, a
+structure that actually represents what the subsystem is doing.  The
+config_item portion of that structure is how the object interacts with
+configfs.
+
+Whether statically defined in a source file or created by a parent
+config_group, a config_item must have one of the _init() functions
+called on it.  This initializes the reference count and sets up the
+appropriate fields.
+
+All users of a config_item should have a reference on it via
+config_item_get(), and drop the reference when they are done via
+config_item_put().
+
+By itself, a config_item cannot do much more than appear in configfs.
+Usually a subsystem wants the item to display and/or store attributes,
+among other things.  For that, it needs a type.
+
+struct config_item_type
+=======================
+
+::
+
+	struct configfs_item_operations {
+		void (*release)(struct config_item *);
+		int (*allow_link)(struct config_item *src,
+				  struct config_item *target);
+		void (*drop_link)(struct config_item *src,
+				 struct config_item *target);
+	};
+
+	struct config_item_type {
+		struct module                           *ct_owner;
+		struct configfs_item_operations         *ct_item_ops;
+		struct configfs_group_operations        *ct_group_ops;
+		struct configfs_attribute               **ct_attrs;
+		struct configfs_bin_attribute		**ct_bin_attrs;
+	};
+
+The most basic function of a config_item_type is to define what
+operations can be performed on a config_item.  All items that have been
+allocated dynamically will need to provide the ct_item_ops->release()
+method.  This method is called when the config_item's reference count
+reaches zero.
+
+struct configfs_attribute
+=========================
+
+::
+
+	struct configfs_attribute {
+		char                    *ca_name;
+		struct module           *ca_owner;
+		umode_t                  ca_mode;
+		ssize_t (*show)(struct config_item *, char *);
+		ssize_t (*store)(struct config_item *, const char *, size_t);
+	};
+
+When a config_item wants an attribute to appear as a file in the item's
+configfs directory, it must define a configfs_attribute describing it.
+It then adds the attribute to the NULL-terminated array
+config_item_type->ct_attrs.  When the item appears in configfs, the
+attribute file will appear with the configfs_attribute->ca_name
+filename.  configfs_attribute->ca_mode specifies the file permissions.
+
+If an attribute is readable and provides a ->show method, that method will
+be called whenever userspace asks for a read(2) on the attribute.  If an
+attribute is writable and provides a ->store  method, that method will be
+called whenever userspace asks for a write(2) on the attribute.
+
+struct configfs_bin_attribute
+=============================
+
+::
+
+	struct configfs_bin_attribute {
+		struct configfs_attribute	cb_attr;
+		void				*cb_private;
+		size_t				cb_max_size;
+	};
+
+The binary attribute is used when the one needs to use binary blob to
+appear as the contents of a file in the item's configfs directory.
+To do so add the binary attribute to the NULL-terminated array
+config_item_type->ct_bin_attrs, and the item appears in configfs, the
+attribute file will appear with the configfs_bin_attribute->cb_attr.ca_name
+filename.  configfs_bin_attribute->cb_attr.ca_mode specifies the file
+permissions.
+The cb_private member is provided for use by the driver, while the
+cb_max_size member specifies the maximum amount of vmalloc buffer
+to be used.
+
+If binary attribute is readable and the config_item provides a
+ct_item_ops->read_bin_attribute() method, that method will be called
+whenever userspace asks for a read(2) on the attribute.  The converse
+will happen for write(2). The reads/writes are bufferred so only a
+single read/write will occur; the attributes' need not concern itself
+with it.
+
+struct config_group
+===================
+
+A config_item cannot live in a vacuum.  The only way one can be created
+is via mkdir(2) on a config_group.  This will trigger creation of a
+child item::
+
+	struct config_group {
+		struct config_item		cg_item;
+		struct list_head		cg_children;
+		struct configfs_subsystem 	*cg_subsys;
+		struct list_head		default_groups;
+		struct list_head		group_entry;
+	};
+
+	void config_group_init(struct config_group *group);
+	void config_group_init_type_name(struct config_group *group,
+					 const char *name,
+					 struct config_item_type *type);
+
+
+The config_group structure contains a config_item.  Properly configuring
+that item means that a group can behave as an item in its own right.
+However, it can do more: it can create child items or groups.  This is
+accomplished via the group operations specified on the group's
+config_item_type::
+
+	struct configfs_group_operations {
+		struct config_item *(*make_item)(struct config_group *group,
+						 const char *name);
+		struct config_group *(*make_group)(struct config_group *group,
+						   const char *name);
+		void (*disconnect_notify)(struct config_group *group,
+					  struct config_item *item);
+		void (*drop_item)(struct config_group *group,
+				  struct config_item *item);
+	};
+
+A group creates child items by providing the
+ct_group_ops->make_item() method.  If provided, this method is called from
+mkdir(2) in the group's directory.  The subsystem allocates a new
+config_item (or more likely, its container structure), initializes it,
+and returns it to configfs.  Configfs will then populate the filesystem
+tree to reflect the new item.
+
+If the subsystem wants the child to be a group itself, the subsystem
+provides ct_group_ops->make_group().  Everything else behaves the same,
+using the group _init() functions on the group.
+
+Finally, when userspace calls rmdir(2) on the item or group,
+ct_group_ops->drop_item() is called.  As a config_group is also a
+config_item, it is not necessary for a separate drop_group() method.
+The subsystem must config_item_put() the reference that was initialized
+upon item allocation.  If a subsystem has no work to do, it may omit
+the ct_group_ops->drop_item() method, and configfs will call
+config_item_put() on the item on behalf of the subsystem.
+
+Important:
+   drop_item() is void, and as such cannot fail.  When rmdir(2)
+   is called, configfs WILL remove the item from the filesystem tree
+   (assuming that it has no children to keep it busy).  The subsystem is
+   responsible for responding to this.  If the subsystem has references to
+   the item in other threads, the memory is safe.  It may take some time
+   for the item to actually disappear from the subsystem's usage.  But it
+   is gone from configfs.
+
+When drop_item() is called, the item's linkage has already been torn
+down.  It no longer has a reference on its parent and has no place in
+the item hierarchy.  If a client needs to do some cleanup before this
+teardown happens, the subsystem can implement the
+ct_group_ops->disconnect_notify() method.  The method is called after
+configfs has removed the item from the filesystem view but before the
+item is removed from its parent group.  Like drop_item(),
+disconnect_notify() is void and cannot fail.  Client subsystems should
+not drop any references here, as they still must do it in drop_item().
+
+A config_group cannot be removed while it still has child items.  This
+is implemented in the configfs rmdir(2) code.  ->drop_item() will not be
+called, as the item has not been dropped.  rmdir(2) will fail, as the
+directory is not empty.
+
+struct configfs_subsystem
+=========================
+
+A subsystem must register itself, usually at module_init time.  This
+tells configfs to make the subsystem appear in the file tree::
+
+	struct configfs_subsystem {
+		struct config_group	su_group;
+		struct mutex		su_mutex;
+	};
+
+	int configfs_register_subsystem(struct configfs_subsystem *subsys);
+	void configfs_unregister_subsystem(struct configfs_subsystem *subsys);
+
+A subsystem consists of a toplevel config_group and a mutex.
+The group is where child config_items are created.  For a subsystem,
+this group is usually defined statically.  Before calling
+configfs_register_subsystem(), the subsystem must have initialized the
+group via the usual group _init() functions, and it must also have
+initialized the mutex.
+
+When the register call returns, the subsystem is live, and it
+will be visible via configfs.  At that point, mkdir(2) can be called and
+the subsystem must be ready for it.
+
+An Example
+==========
+
+The best example of these basic concepts is the simple_children
+subsystem/group and the simple_child item in
+samples/configfs/configfs_sample.c. It shows a trivial object displaying
+and storing an attribute, and a simple group creating and destroying
+these children.
+
+Hierarchy Navigation and the Subsystem Mutex
+============================================
+
+There is an extra bonus that configfs provides.  The config_groups and
+config_items are arranged in a hierarchy due to the fact that they
+appear in a filesystem.  A subsystem is NEVER to touch the filesystem
+parts, but the subsystem might be interested in this hierarchy.  For
+this reason, the hierarchy is mirrored via the config_group->cg_children
+and config_item->ci_parent structure members.
+
+A subsystem can navigate the cg_children list and the ci_parent pointer
+to see the tree created by the subsystem.  This can race with configfs'
+management of the hierarchy, so configfs uses the subsystem mutex to
+protect modifications.  Whenever a subsystem wants to navigate the
+hierarchy, it must do so under the protection of the subsystem
+mutex.
+
+A subsystem will be prevented from acquiring the mutex while a newly
+allocated item has not been linked into this hierarchy.   Similarly, it
+will not be able to acquire the mutex while a dropping item has not
+yet been unlinked.  This means that an item's ci_parent pointer will
+never be NULL while the item is in configfs, and that an item will only
+be in its parent's cg_children list for the same duration.  This allows
+a subsystem to trust ci_parent and cg_children while they hold the
+mutex.
+
+Item Aggregation Via symlink(2)
+===============================
+
+configfs provides a simple group via the group->item parent/child
+relationship.  Often, however, a larger environment requires aggregation
+outside of the parent/child connection.  This is implemented via
+symlink(2).
+
+A config_item may provide the ct_item_ops->allow_link() and
+ct_item_ops->drop_link() methods.  If the ->allow_link() method exists,
+symlink(2) may be called with the config_item as the source of the link.
+These links are only allowed between configfs config_items.  Any
+symlink(2) attempt outside the configfs filesystem will be denied.
+
+When symlink(2) is called, the source config_item's ->allow_link()
+method is called with itself and a target item.  If the source item
+allows linking to target item, it returns 0.  A source item may wish to
+reject a link if it only wants links to a certain type of object (say,
+in its own subsystem).
+
+When unlink(2) is called on the symbolic link, the source item is
+notified via the ->drop_link() method.  Like the ->drop_item() method,
+this is a void function and cannot return failure.  The subsystem is
+responsible for responding to the change.
+
+A config_item cannot be removed while it links to any other item, nor
+can it be removed while an item links to it.  Dangling symlinks are not
+allowed in configfs.
+
+Automatically Created Subgroups
+===============================
+
+A new config_group may want to have two types of child config_items.
+While this could be codified by magic names in ->make_item(), it is much
+more explicit to have a method whereby userspace sees this divergence.
+
+Rather than have a group where some items behave differently than
+others, configfs provides a method whereby one or many subgroups are
+automatically created inside the parent at its creation.  Thus,
+mkdir("parent") results in "parent", "parent/subgroup1", up through
+"parent/subgroupN".  Items of type 1 can now be created in
+"parent/subgroup1", and items of type N can be created in
+"parent/subgroupN".
+
+These automatic subgroups, or default groups, do not preclude other
+children of the parent group.  If ct_group_ops->make_group() exists,
+other child groups can be created on the parent group directly.
+
+A configfs subsystem specifies default groups by adding them using the
+configfs_add_default_group() function to the parent config_group
+structure.  Each added group is populated in the configfs tree at the same
+time as the parent group.  Similarly, they are removed at the same time
+as the parent.  No extra notification is provided.  When a ->drop_item()
+method call notifies the subsystem the parent group is going away, it
+also means every default group child associated with that parent group.
+
+As a consequence of this, default groups cannot be removed directly via
+rmdir(2).  They also are not considered when rmdir(2) on the parent
+group is checking for children.
+
+Dependent Subsystems
+====================
+
+Sometimes other drivers depend on particular configfs items.  For
+example, ocfs2 mounts depend on a heartbeat region item.  If that
+region item is removed with rmdir(2), the ocfs2 mount must BUG or go
+readonly.  Not happy.
+
+configfs provides two additional API calls: configfs_depend_item() and
+configfs_undepend_item().  A client driver can call
+configfs_depend_item() on an existing item to tell configfs that it is
+depended on.  configfs will then return -EBUSY from rmdir(2) for that
+item.  When the item is no longer depended on, the client driver calls
+configfs_undepend_item() on it.
+
+These API cannot be called underneath any configfs callbacks, as
+they will conflict.  They can block and allocate.  A client driver
+probably shouldn't calling them of its own gumption.  Rather it should
+be providing an API that external subsystems call.
+
+How does this work?  Imagine the ocfs2 mount process.  When it mounts,
+it asks for a heartbeat region item.  This is done via a call into the
+heartbeat code.  Inside the heartbeat code, the region item is looked
+up.  Here, the heartbeat code calls configfs_depend_item().  If it
+succeeds, then heartbeat knows the region is safe to give to ocfs2.
+If it fails, it was being torn down anyway, and heartbeat can gracefully
+pass up an error.