When using both encryption and SELinux (or another feature that requires
an xattr per file) on a filesystem with 256-byte inodes, each file's
xattrs usually spill into an external xattr block. Currently, the
xattrs are inherited in the order ACL, security, then encryption.
Therefore, if spillage occurs, the encryption xattr will always end up
in the external block. This is not ideal because the encryption xattrs
contain a nonce, so they will always be unique and will prevent the
external xattr blocks from being deduplicated.
To improve the situation, change the inheritance order to encryption,
ACL, then security. This gives the encryption xattr a better chance to
be stored in-inode, allowing the other xattr(s) to be deduplicated.
Note that it may be better for userspace to format the filesystem with
512-byte inodes in this case. However, it's not the default.
Signed-off-by: Eric Biggers <ebiggers@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>
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