[PATCH RFC v4 3/3] block: enable RWF_DONTCACHE for block devices

From: Tal Zussman

Date: Wed Mar 25 2026 - 15:38:20 EST


Block device buffered reads and writes already pass through
filemap_read() and iomap_file_buffered_write() respectively, both of
which handle IOCB_DONTCACHE. Enable RWF_DONTCACHE for block device files
by setting FOP_DONTCACHE in def_blk_fops.

For CONFIG_BUFFER_HEAD=y paths, add block_write_begin_iocb() which
threads the kiocb through so that buffer_head-based I/O can use
DONTCACHE behavior. The existing block_write_begin() is preserved as a
wrapper that passes a NULL iocb. Set BIO_COMPLETE_IN_TASK in
submit_bh_wbc() when the folio has dropbehind so that buffer_head
writeback completions get deferred to task context.

CONFIG_BUFFER_HEAD=n paths are handled by the previously added iomap
BIO_COMPLETE_IN_TASK support.

This support is useful for databases that operate on raw block devices,
among other userspace applications.

Signed-off-by: Tal Zussman <tz2294@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
block/fops.c | 5 +++--
fs/buffer.c | 22 +++++++++++++++++++---
include/linux/buffer_head.h | 3 +++
3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/block/fops.c b/block/fops.c
index 4d32785b31d9..d8165f6ba71c 100644
--- a/block/fops.c
+++ b/block/fops.c
@@ -505,7 +505,8 @@ static int blkdev_write_begin(const struct kiocb *iocb,
unsigned len, struct folio **foliop,
void **fsdata)
{
- return block_write_begin(mapping, pos, len, foliop, blkdev_get_block);
+ return block_write_begin_iocb(iocb, mapping, pos, len, foliop,
+ blkdev_get_block);
}

static int blkdev_write_end(const struct kiocb *iocb,
@@ -967,7 +968,7 @@ const struct file_operations def_blk_fops = {
.splice_write = iter_file_splice_write,
.fallocate = blkdev_fallocate,
.uring_cmd = blkdev_uring_cmd,
- .fop_flags = FOP_BUFFER_RASYNC,
+ .fop_flags = FOP_BUFFER_RASYNC | FOP_DONTCACHE,
};

static __init int blkdev_init(void)
diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index ed724a902657..c60c0ad6cc35 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -2239,14 +2239,19 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(block_commit_write);
*
* The filesystem needs to handle block truncation upon failure.
*/
-int block_write_begin(struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
+int block_write_begin_iocb(const struct kiocb *iocb,
+ struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
struct folio **foliop, get_block_t *get_block)
{
pgoff_t index = pos >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+ fgf_t fgp_flags = FGP_WRITEBEGIN;
struct folio *folio;
int status;

- folio = __filemap_get_folio(mapping, index, FGP_WRITEBEGIN,
+ if (iocb && iocb->ki_flags & IOCB_DONTCACHE)
+ fgp_flags |= FGP_DONTCACHE;
+
+ folio = __filemap_get_folio(mapping, index, fgp_flags,
mapping_gfp_mask(mapping));
if (IS_ERR(folio))
return PTR_ERR(folio);
@@ -2261,6 +2266,13 @@ int block_write_begin(struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
*foliop = folio;
return status;
}
+
+int block_write_begin(struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
+ struct folio **foliop, get_block_t *get_block)
+{
+ return block_write_begin_iocb(NULL, mapping, pos, len, foliop,
+ get_block);
+}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(block_write_begin);

int block_write_end(loff_t pos, unsigned len, unsigned copied,
@@ -2589,7 +2601,8 @@ int cont_write_begin(const struct kiocb *iocb, struct address_space *mapping,
(*bytes)++;
}

- return block_write_begin(mapping, pos, len, foliop, get_block);
+ return block_write_begin_iocb(iocb, mapping, pos, len, foliop,
+ get_block);
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(cont_write_begin);

@@ -2801,6 +2814,9 @@ static void submit_bh_wbc(blk_opf_t opf, struct buffer_head *bh,

bio = bio_alloc(bh->b_bdev, 1, opf, GFP_NOIO);

+ if (folio_test_dropbehind(bh->b_folio))
+ bio_set_flag(bio, BIO_COMPLETE_IN_TASK);
+
fscrypt_set_bio_crypt_ctx_bh(bio, bh, GFP_NOIO);

bio->bi_iter.bi_sector = bh->b_blocknr * (bh->b_size >> 9);
diff --git a/include/linux/buffer_head.h b/include/linux/buffer_head.h
index b16b88bfbc3e..ddf88ce290f2 100644
--- a/include/linux/buffer_head.h
+++ b/include/linux/buffer_head.h
@@ -260,6 +260,9 @@ int block_read_full_folio(struct folio *, get_block_t *);
bool block_is_partially_uptodate(struct folio *, size_t from, size_t count);
int block_write_begin(struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
struct folio **foliop, get_block_t *get_block);
+int block_write_begin_iocb(const struct kiocb *iocb,
+ struct address_space *mapping, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
+ struct folio **foliop, get_block_t *get_block);
int __block_write_begin(struct folio *folio, loff_t pos, unsigned len,
get_block_t *get_block);
int block_write_end(loff_t pos, unsigned len, unsigned copied, struct folio *);

--
2.39.5