SFS loading order error

I am amazed that we keep finding new things to fix, where we think that area is OK. Posted about a problem with loading the devx sfs on the main desktop:

https://bkhome.org/news/202607/partial-fix-for-devx-sfs-loaded-on-main-desktop.html

This lead me to a startling discovery; the easy.sfs and devx.sfs layers were loaded in the overlayfs, but the devx.sfs was on the bottom! That is not supposed to happen; extra sfs's are supposed to be stacked on top of easy.sfs.

They do stack correctly in containers, and that is where my attention has been. Have neglected loading of extra sfs's on the main desktop. The cause goes back to when EasyOS adopted overlayfs, and dropped aufs.

The overlayfs mount has a format like this:

mount -t overlay -olowerdir=/lower1:/lower2:/lower3,upperdir=/upper

...where /lower1 is top of the read-only layers, /lower3 the lowest.

I had it the wrong way round, probably from "aufs thinking". Have fixed these files in the initrd:

/sbin/extrasfs
/inc/layer-lockdown, layer3, layer2, layer1, layer0

In many cases, an sfs stacked below easy.sfs will still work, but in the case of the devx sfs, it mucks up apt. Now on the track to properly fixing the problem that forum member retiredt00 reported.   

Tags: easy