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mount_unionfs(8)

NAME

     mount_unionfs -- mount union file systems

SYNOPSIS

     mount_unionfs [-br] [-o options] directory uniondir

DESCRIPTION

     The mount_unionfs utility attaches directory above uniondir in such a way
     that the contents of both directory trees remain visible.	By default,
     directory becomes the upper layer and uniondir becomes the lower layer.

     The options are as follows:

     -b      Invert the default position, so that directory becomes the lower
	     layer and uniondir becomes the upper layer.  However, uniondir
	     remains the mount point.

     -o      Options are specified with a -o flag followed by a comma sepa-
	     rated string of options.  See the mount(8) man page for possible
	     options and their meanings.

     -r      Hide the lower layer completely in the same way as mounting with
	     mount_nullfs(8).

     To enforce file system security, the user mounting the file system must
     be superuser or else have write permission on the mounted-on directory.
     In addition, the vfs.usermount sysctl(8) variable must be set to 1 to
     permit file system mounting by ordinary users.

     Filenames are looked up in the upper layer and then in the lower layer.
     If a directory is found in the lower layer, and there is no entry in the
     upper layer, then a shadow directory will be created in the upper layer.
     It will be owned by the user who originally did the union mount, with
     mode ``rwxrwxrwx'' (0777) modified by the umask in effect at that time.

     If a file exists in the upper layer then there is no way to access a file
     with the same name in the lower layer.  If necessary, a combination of
     loopback and union mounts can be made which will still allow the lower
     files to be accessed by a different pathname.

     Except in the case of a directory, access to an object is granted via the
     normal file system access checks.	For directories, the current user must
     have access to both the upper and lower directories (should they both
     exist).

     Requests to create or modify objects in uniondir are passed to the upper
     layer with the exception of a few special cases.  An attempt to open for
     writing a file which exists in the lower layer causes a copy of the
     entire file to be made to the upper layer, and then for the upper layer
     copy to be opened.  Similarly, an attempt to truncate a lower layer file
     to zero length causes an empty file to be created in the upper layer.
     Any other operation which would ultimately require modification to the
     lower layer fails with EROFS.

     The union file system manipulates the namespace, rather than individual
     file systems.  The union operation applies recursively down the directory
     tree now rooted at uniondir.  Thus any file systems which are mounted

	   mount -t unionfs /var/obj /usr/src

     mount the CD-ROM drive /dev/cd0a on /usr/src and then attaches /var/obj
     on top.  For most purposes the effect of this is to make the source tree
     appear writable even though it is stored on a CD-ROM.

     The command

	   mount -t unionfs -o -b /sys $HOME/sys

     attaches the system source tree below the sys directory in the user's
     home directory.  This allows individual users to make private changes to
     the source, and build new kernels, without those changes becoming visible
     to other users.  Note that the files in the lower layer remain accessible
     via /sys.

SEE ALSO

     intro(2), mount(2), unmount(2), fstab(5), mount(8), mount_nullfs(8)

BUGS

     THIS FILE SYSTEM TYPE IS NOT YET FULLY SUPPORTED (READ: IT DOESN'T WORK)
     AND USING IT MAY, IN FACT, DESTROY DATA ON YOUR SYSTEM.  USE AT YOUR OWN
     RISK.  BEWARE OF DOG.  SLIPPERY WHEN WET.

     This code also needs an owner in order to be less dangerous - serious
     hackers can apply by sending mail to <hackers@FreeBSD.org> and announcing
     their intent to take it over.

     Without whiteout support from the file system backing the upper layer,
     there is no way that delete and rename operations on lower layer objects
     can be done.  EROFS is returned for this kind of operations along with
     any others which would make modifications to the lower layer, such as
     chmod(1).

     Running find(1) over a union tree has the side-effect of creating a tree
     of shadow directories in the upper layer.

HISTORY

     The mount_unionfs utility first appeared in 4.4BSD.  It first worked in
     FreeBSD-(fill this in).

FreeBSD 5.4			March 27, 1994			   FreeBSD 5.4

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