[Bug 533761] Re: Redirected filesystem using bind option suddenly thinks every file is a directory

Fri May 7 12:09:07 UTC 2010

I think this problem was introduced when kernel 2.6.31-20 was installed.
I first noticed it two days after that update.

I can't be absolutely sure because the problem is so unpredictable, but
when I tried returning to 2.6.31-19 I could not reproduce the problem. I
also tried the mainline kernel (2.6.31.12) and the problem occurred
there as well, so it does not seem to be caused by an Ubuntu patch. I've
reported the bug at bugzilla.kernel.org:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15931

** Package changed: util-linux (Ubuntu) => linux (Ubuntu)

** Description changed:

  Binary package hint: util-linux
- 
- Please, someone respond quickly. I have left the situation as is so I
- can try to examine the situation with your suggestions, but I'm afraid
- that when I reboot the situation will have righted itself and it will be
- very hard to reproduce.

  A bizarre problem just occurred on my workstation: a number of
  directories mounted using the "bind" option has suddenly started to show
  every file in the directory with the same permissions as the directory,
  including the fact that it is a directory! In other words, Linux
  suddenly thinks all the files in my bound directory are directories!

  Here's the relevant part of /etc/fstab:

  //diskstation/home	/home/pepijn_remote	cifs	credentials=/home/pepijn .smbcredentials,uid=pepijn,gid=pepijn,iocharset=utf8	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/Documents	/home/pepijn/Documents	none	bind	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/Downloads	/home/pepijn/Downloads	none	bind	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/Public	/home/pepijn/Public	none	bind	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/Templates	/home/pepijn/Templates	none	bind	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/eBooks	/home/pepijn/eBooks	none	bind	0	0
  /home/pepijn_remote/Archive	/home/pepijn/Archive	none	bind	0	0

  As you can see, I mount my remote home directory from my NAS on
  /home/pepijn_remote using CIFS. I then bind some of the directories from
  that share in my real home directory. This has worked perfectly for
  months now.

  Suddenly, today, all hell broke loose. Programs started going haywire.
  It turned out that this was because Linux had suddenly decided that all
  the files in my directories were now directories! As you can imagine my
  IDE went berserk. To illustrate, here's (the first few lines of) the
  result of an "ls -al" in /home/pepijn_remote/Documents:

  total 256
  drwxrwxrw- 12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 .
  drwxr-xr-x 10 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-02-09 22:50 ..
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn 14702 2010-02-12 12:43 Afrekening Merlot.ods
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn 22287 2010-01-15 19:37 Afrekening New York en Atlanta.ods
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn 13153 2010-02-18 11:34 Amerika 2010.ods
  drwxrwxrwx  3 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-01-06 13:04 Belastingdienst
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn 11795 2009-12-05 18:14 certificates.p12
  drwxrwxr-x 33 pepijn pepijn     0 2009-12-05 16:32 Correspondentie
  -rwxrwxrwx  1 pepijn pepijn   402 2009-12-10 21:43 desktop.ini
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn 27385 2010-02-26 14:42 Domeinen.ods
  -rw-r--r--  1 pepijn pepijn  6633 2010-01-17 14:34 dosemu.out
  drwxrwxrwx  2 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-01-21 12:51 Downloads

  Perfectly normal. But here's the result of the same command in
  /home/pepijn/Documents (which should be exactly the same, and has been
  for months):

  total 12
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 .
  drwxr-xr-x 139 pepijn pepijn 12288 2010-03-07 12:44 ..
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Afrekening Merlot.ods
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Afrekening New York en Atlanta.ods
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Amerika 2010.ods
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Belastingdienst
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 certificates.p12
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Correspondentie
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 desktop.ini
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Domeinen.ods
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 dosemu.out
  drwxrwxrw-  12 pepijn pepijn     0 2010-03-07 12:24 Downloads

  As you can see it thinks every file is a directory!  In fact, the
  permissions of every entry are precisely that same as for ., the current
  directory. I have verified that the same goes for the other directories
  redirected using the "bind" option, they all have the same permissions
  as . for every file in the directory.

- I'll leave the situation like this for a short while so that someone can
- *quickly* ask me to try out commands to examine the problem. I have
- looked in the system log files and the output of "dmesg", but I see
- nothing out of the ordinary there.
+ I have looked in the system log files and the output of "dmesg", but I
+ see nothing out of the ordinary there.

  ProblemType: Bug
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Sun Mar  7 13:05:16 2010
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  Package: mount 2.16-1ubuntu5
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-20.57-generic
  SourcePackage: util-linux
  Uname: Linux 2.6.31-20-generic x86_64

** Bug watch added: Linux Kernel Bug Tracker #15931
   http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15931

** Also affects: linux via
   http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15931
   Importance: Unknown
       Status: Unknown

-- 
Redirected filesystem using bind option suddenly thinks every file is a directory
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/533761
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