On Mon, Jun 15, 2026 at 06:08:56PM +0200, Vincent Mailhol wrote:

DPS [1] defines GPT partition type UUIDs for OS partitions and
attributes that control whether such partitions should be
automatically discovered. The specification states that:

  The OS can discover and mount the necessary file systems with a
  non-existent or incomplete /etc/fstab file and without the root=
  kernel command line option.

DPS is already implemented in systemd-gpt-auto-generator [2], which,
when embedded in an initrd, indeed allows automatic detection of the
root filesystem through its partition type UUID.

This series adds this discovery feature directly into the kernel so
that people who are not using systemd or not using an initrd can still
benefit from it. The implementation follows the same model as
systemd-gpt-auto-generator:

I happen to co-maintain the DPS. It is userspace policy and complex
userspace policy at that and does not belong into the kernel.

This also implements a really tiny portion of the spec. It deals with a
lot more complex concepts such as automatic partitioning during
installation, verity, LUKS, containers. This is really not intended for
the kernel at all. I mean, it's great that this spec is being used but I
do not want this in the kernel just for the sake of auto-discovery.

The DPS is completely generic and can be implemented by tooling other
than systemd (util-linux implements it and so does refind iirc). I think
not wanting to use or build alternative userspace tooling for this is a
really weak argument for pushing this into the kernel.