libpmemlog(3)

NAME

libpmemlog -- persistent memory resident log file

SYNOPSIS

    #include <libpmemlog.h>
    cc ... -lpmemlog -lpmem

  Most commonly used functions:

    PMEMlogpool *pmemlog_open(const char *path);
    PMEMlogpool *pmemlog_create(const char *path, size_t poolsize, mode_t mode);
    void pmemlog_close(PMEMlogpool *plp);
    size_t pmemlog_nbyte(PMEMlogpool *plp);
    intpmemlog_append(PMEMlogpool *plp, const void *buf, size_t count);
    int pmemlog_appendv(PMEMlogpool *plp, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt);
    long long pmemlog_tell(PMEMlogpool *plp);
    void pmemlog_rewind(PMEMlogpool *plp);
    void pmemlog_walk(PMEMlogpool *plp, size_t chunksize,
        int (*process_chunk)(const void *buf, size_t len, void *arg),
        void *arg);

  Library API versioning:

    const char *pmemlog_check_version(
        unsigned major_required,
        unsigned minor_required);

  Managing library behavior:

    void pmemlog_set_funcs(
        void *(*malloc_func)(size_t size),
        void (*free_func)(void *ptr),
        void *(*realloc_func)(void *ptr, size_t size),
        char *(*strdup_func)(const char *s));
    int pmemlog_check(const char *path);

  Error handling:

    const char *pmemlog_errormsg(void);

DESCRIPTION

libpmemlog provides a log file in persistent memory (pmem) such that additions to the log are appended atomically. This library is intended for applications using direct access storage (DAX), which is storage that supports load/store access without paging blocks from a block storage device. Some types of non-volatile memory DIMMs (NVDIMMs) provide this type of byte addressable access to storage. A persistent memory aware file system is typically used to expose the direct access to applications. Memory mapping a file from this type of file system results in the load/store, non-paged access to pmem. libpmemlog builds on this type of memory mapped file.

This library is for applications that need a persistent log file, updated atomically (the updates cannot be torn by program interruption such as power failures). This library builds on the low-level pmem support provided by libpmem(3), handling the transactional update of the log, flushing to persistence, and recovery for the application.

libpmemlog is one of a collection of persistent memory libraries available, the others are:

•   libpmemobj(3), a general use persistent memory API, providing memory allocation and transactional operations on variable-sized objects.

•   libpmemblk(3), providing pmem-resident arrays of fixed-sized blocks with atomic updates.

•   libpmem(3), low-level persistent memory support.

Under normal usage, libpmemlog will never print messages or intentionally cause the process to exit. The only exception to this is the debugging information, when enabled, as described under DEBUGGING AND ERROR HANDLING below.

MOST COMMONLY USED FUNCTIONS

To use the pmem-resident log file provided by libpmemlog, a memory pool is first created. This is done with the pmemlog_create() function described in this section. The other functions described in this section then operate on the resulting log memory pool.

Once created, the memory pool is represented by an opaque handle, of type PMEMlogpool*, which is passed to most of the other functions in this section. Internally, libpmemlog will use either pmem_persist() or msync(2) when it needs to flush changes, depending on whether the memory pool appears to be persistent memory or a regular file (see the pmem_is_pmem() function in libpmem(3) for more information). There is no need for applications to flush changes directly when using the log memory API provided by libpmemlog.

    PMEMlogpool *pmemlog_open(const char *path);

The pmemlog_open() function opens an existing log memory pool, returning a memory pool handle used with most of the functions in this section. path must be an existing file containing a log memory pool as created by pmemlog_create(). The application must have permission to open the file and memory map it with read/write permissions. If an error prevents the pool from being opened, pmemlog_open() returns NULL and sets errno appropriately.

    PMEMlogpool *pmemlog_create(const char *path, size_t poolsize, mode_t mode);

The pmemlog_create() function creates a log memory pool with the given total poolsize. Since the transactional nature of a log memory pool requires some space overhead in the memory pool, the resulting available log size is less than poolsize, and is made available to the caller via the pmemlog_nbyte() function described below. path specifies the name of the memory pool file to be created. mode specifies the permissions to use when creating the file as described by creat(2). The memory pool file is fully allocated to the size poolsize using posix_fallocate(3). The caller may choose to take responsibility for creating the memory pool file by creating it before calling pmemlog_create() and then specifying poolsize as zero. In this case pmemlog_create() will take the pool size from the size of the existing file and will verify that the file appears to be empty by searching for any non-zero data in the pool header at the beginning of the file. The minimum file size allowed by the library for a log pool is defined in <libpmemlog.h> as PMEMLOG_MIN_POOL.

Depending on the configuration of the system, the available space of non-volatile memory space may be divided into multiple memory devices. In such case, the maximum size of the pmemlog memory pool could be limited by the capacity of a single memory device. The libpmemlog allows building persistent memory resident log spanning multiple memory devices by creation of persistent memory pools consisting of multiple files, where each part of such a pool set may be stored on different pmem-aware filesystem.

Creation of all the parts of the pool set can be done with the pmemlog_create() function. However, the recommended method for creating pool sets is to do it by using the pmempool(1) utility.

When creating the pool set consisting of multiple files, the path argument passed to pmemlog_create() must point to the special set file that defines the pool layout and the location of all the parts of the pool set. The poolsize argument must be 0. The meaning of layout and mode arguments doesn't change, except that the same mode is used for creation of all the parts of the pool set. If the error prevents any of the pool set files from being created, pmemlog_create() returns NULL and sets errno appropriately.

When opening the pool set consisting of multiple files, the path argument passed to pmemlog_open() must not point to the pmemlog memory pool file, but to the same set file that was used for the pool set creation. If an error prevents any of the pool set files from being opened, or if the actual size of any file does not match the corresponding part size defined in set file pmemlog_open() returns NULL and sets errno appropriately.

The set file is a plain text file, which must start with the line containing a PMEMPOOLSET string, followed by the specification of all the pool parts in the next lines. For each part, the file size and the absolute path must be provided.

The size has to be compliant with the format specified in IEC 80000-13, IEEE 1541 or the Metric Interchange Format. Standards accept SI units with obligatory B - kB, MB, GB, ... (multiplier by 1000) and IEC units with optional "iB" - KiB, MiB, GiB, - (multiplier by 1024).

The path of a part can point to a Device DAX and in such case the size argument can be set to an "AUTO" string, which means that the size of the device will be automatically resolved at pool creation time. When using Device DAX there's also one additional restriction, that a pool set can consist only of a single part.

Device DAX is the device-centric analogue of Filesystem DAX. It allows memory ranges to be allocated and mapped without need of an intervening file system. For more information please see ndctl-create-namespace(1).

The minimum file size of each part of the pool set is the same as the minimum size allowed for a log pool consisting of one file. It is defined in <libpmemlog.h> as PMEMLOG_MIN_POOL. Lines starting with "#" character are ignored.

Here is the example "mylogpool.set" file:

    PMEMPOOLSET
    100G /mountpoint0/myfile.part0
    200G /mountpoint1/myfile.part1
    400G /mountpoint2/myfile.part2

The files in the set may be created by running the following command:

    $ pmempool create log mylogpool.set

    void pmemlog_close(PMEMlogpool *plp);

The pmemlog_close() function closes the memory pool indicated by plp and deletes the memory pool handle. The log memory pool itself lives on in the file that contains it and may be re-opened at a later time using pmemlog_open() as described above.

    size_t pmemlog_nbyte(PMEMlogpool *plp);

The pmemlog_nbyte() function returns the amount of usable space in the log plp. This function may be used on a log to determine how much usable space is available after libpmemlog has added its metadata to the memory pool.

    int pmemlog_append(PMEMlogpool *plp, const void *buf, size_t count);

The pmemlog_append() function appends count bytes from buf to the current write offset in the log memory pool plp. Calling this function is analogous to appending to a file. The append is atomic and cannot be torn by a program failure or system crash. On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned and errno is set.

    int pmemlog_appendv(PMEMlogpool *plp, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt);

The pmemlog_appendv() function appends to the log plp just like pmemlog_append() above, but this function takes a scatter/gather list in a manner similar to writev(2). In this case, the entire list of buffers is appended atomically, as if the buffers in iov were concatenated in order. On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned and errno is set.

    NOTE: Since libpmemlog is designed as a low-latency code path, many of the checks routinely done by the operating system for writev(2) are not practical in the library's implementation of pmemlog_appendv(). No attempt is made to detect NULL or incorrect pointers, or illegal count values, for example.

    long long pmemlog_tell(PMEMlogpool *plp);

The pmemlog_tell() function returns the current write point for the log, expressed as a byte offset into the usable log space in the memory pool. This offset starts off as zero on a newly-created log, and is incremented by each successful append operation. This function can be used to determine how much data is currently in the log.

    void pmemlog_rewind(PMEMlogpool *plp);

The pmemlog_rewind() function resets the current write point for the log to zero. After this call, the next append adds to the beginning of the log.

    void pmemlog_walk(PMEMlogpool *plp, size_t chunksize,
        int (*process_chunk)(const void *buf, size_t len, void *arg),
        void *arg);

The pmemlog_walk() function walks through the log plp, from beginning to end, calling the callback function process_chunk for each chunksize block of data found. The argument arg is also passed to the callback to help avoid the need for global state. The chunksize argument is useful for logs with fixed-length records and may be specified as 0 to cause a single call to the callback with the entire log contents passed as the buf argument. The len argument tells the process_chunk function how much data buf is holding. The callback function should return 1 if pmemlog_walk() should continue walking through the log, or 0 to terminate the walk. The callback function is called while holding libpmemlog internal locks that make calls atomic, so the callback function must not try to append to the log itself or deadlock will occur.

LIBRARY API VERSIONING

This section describes how the library API is versioned, allowing applications to work with an evolving API.

    const char *pmemlog_check_version(
        unsigned major_required,
        unsigned minor_required);

The pmemlog_check_version() function is used to see if the installed libpmemlog supports the version of the library API required by an application. The easiest way to do this is for the application to supply the compile-time version information, supplied by defines in <libpmemlog.h>, like this:

    reason = pmemblk_check_version(PMEMLOG_MAJOR_VERSION,
                                   PMEMLOG_MINOR_VERSION);
    if (reason != NULL) {
        /* version check failed, reason string tells you why */
    }

Any mismatch in the major version number is considered a failure, but a library with a newer minor version number will pass this check since increasing minor versions imply backwards compatibility.

An application can also check specifically for the existence of an interface by checking for the version where that interface was introduced. These versions are documented in this man page as follows: unless otherwise specified, all interfaces described here are available in version 1.0 of the library. Interfaces added after version 1.0 will contain the text introduced in version x.y in the section of this manual describing the feature.

When the version check performed by pmemlog_check_version() is successful, the return value is NULL. Otherwise the return value is a static string describing the reason for failing the version check. The string returned by pmemlog_check_version() must not be modified or freed.

MANAGING LIBRARY BEHAVIOR

The library entry points described in this section are less commonly used than the previous sections.

    void pmemlog_set_funcs(
        void *(*malloc_func)(size_t size),
        void (*free_func)(void *ptr),
        void *(*realloc_func)(void *ptr, size_t size),
        char *(*strdup_func)(const char *s));

The pmemlog_set_funcs() function allows an application to override memory allocation calls used internally by libpmemlog. Passing in NULL for any of the handlers will cause the libpmemlog default function to be used. The library does not make heavy use of the system malloc functions, but it does allocate approximately 4-8 kilobytes for each memory pool in use.

    int pmemlog_check(const char *path);

The pmemlog_check() function performs a consistency check of the file indicated by path and returns 1 if the memory pool is found to be consistent. Any inconsistencies found will cause pmemlog_check() to return 0, in which case the use of the file with libpmemlog will result in undefined behavior. The debug version of libpmemlog will provide additional details on inconsistencies when PMEMLOG_LOG_LEVEL is at least 1, as described in the DEBUGGING AND ERROR HANDLING section below. pmemlog_check() will return -1 and set errno if it cannot perform the consistency check due to other errors. pmemlog_check() opens the given path read-only so it never makes any changes to the file. This function is not supported on Device DAX.

DEBUGGING AND ERROR HANDLING

Two versions of libpmemlog are typically available on a development system. The normal version, accessed when a program is linked using the -lpmemlog option, is optimized for performance. That version skips checks that impact performance and never logs any trace information or performs any run-time assertions. If an error is detected during the call to libpmemlog function, an application may retrieve an error message describing the reason of failure using the following function:

    const char *pmemlog_errormsg(void);

The pmemlog_errormsg() function returns a pointer to a static buffer containing the last error message logged for current thread. The error message may include description of the corresponding error code (if errno was set), as returned by strerror(3). The error message buffer is thread-local; errors encountered in one thread do not affect its value in other threads. The buffer is never cleared by any library function; its content is significant only when the return value of the immediately preceding call to libpmemlog function indicated an error, or if errno was set. The application must not modify or free the error message string, but it may be modified by subsequent calls to other library functions.

A second version of libpmemlog, accessed when a program uses the libraries under /usr/lib/nvml_debug, contains run-time assertions and trace points. The typical way to access the debug version is to set the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH to /usr/lib/nvml_debug or /usr/lib64/nvml_debug depending on where the debug libraries are installed on the system. The trace points in the debug version of the library are enabled using the environment variable PMEMLOG_LOG_LEVEL, which can be set to the following values:

•   0 - This is the default level when PMEMLOG_LOG_LEVEL is not set. No log messages are emitted at this level.

•   1 - Additional details on any errors detected are logged (in addition to returning the errno-based errors as usual). The same information may be retrieved using pmemlog_errormsg().

•   2 - A trace of basic operations is logged.

•   3 - This level enables a very verbose amount of function call tracing in the library.

•   4 - This level enables voluminous and fairly obscure tracing information that is likely only useful to the libpmemlog developers.

The environment variable PMEMLOG_LOG_FILE specifies a file name where all logging information should be written. If the last character in the name is "-", the PID of the current process will be appended to the file name when the log file is created. If PMEMLOG_LOG_FILE is not set, the logging output goes to stderr.

Setting the environment variable PMEMLOG_LOG_LEVEL has no effect on the non-debug version of libpmemlog. See also libpmem(3) to get information about other environment variables affecting libpmemlog behavior.

EXAMPLE

The following example illustrates how the libpmemlog API is used.

    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <fcntl.h>
    #include <errno.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>
    #include <unistd.h>
    #include <string.h>
    #include <libpmemlog.h>
    /* size of the pmemlog pool -- 1 GB */
    #define POOL_SIZE ((size_t)(1 << 30))
    /*
     * printit -- log processing callback for use with pmemlog_walk()
     */
    int
    printit(const void *buf, size_t len, void *arg)
    {
        fwrite(buf, len, 1, stdout);
        return 0;
    }
    int
    main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
        const char path[] = "/pmem-fs/myfile";
        PMEMlogpool *plp;
        size_t nbyte;
        char *str;
        /* create the pmemlog pool or open it if it already exists */
        plp = pmemlog_create(path, POOL_SIZE, 0666);
        if (plp == NULL)
            plp = pmemlog_open(path);
        if (plp == NULL) {
            perror(path);
            exit(1);
        }
        /* how many bytes does the log hold? */
        nbyte = pmemlog_nbyte(plp);
        printf("log holds %zu bytes", nbyte);
        /* append to the log... */
        str = "This is the first string appended";
        if (pmemlog_append(plp, str, strlen(str)) < 0) {
            perror("pmemlog_append");
            exit(1);
        }
        str = "This is the second string appended";
        if (pmemlog_append(plp, str, strlen(str)) < 0) {
            perror("pmemlog_append");
            exit(1);
        }
        /* print the log contents */
        printf("log contains:");
        pmemlog_walk(plp, 0, printit, NULL);
        pmemlog_close(plp);
    }

See <http://pmem.io/nvml/libpmemlog> for more examples using the libpmemlog API.

BUGS

Unlike libpmemobj, data replication is not supported in libpmemlog. Thus, it is not allowed to specify replica sections in pool set files.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

libpmemlog builds on the persistent memory programming model recommended by the SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group: <http://snia.org/nvmp>

SEE ALSO

mmap(2), munmap(2), msync(2), strerror(3), libpmemobj(3), libpmemblk(3), libpmem(3), libvmem(3), ndctl-create-namespace(1) and <http://pmem.io>