Method and system for reporting inconsistency of file system persistent point in time images and automatically thawing a file system

A method for automatically preventing a process from indefinitely freezing a file system, the method comprising:

• in response to the file system being frozen by a freezing process to prevent changes to the file system, causing, by a processing device, the freezing process to generate a signal upon thawing the file system to allow changes to the file system;
• initiating, by a snapshot process, an operation on the file system, wherein operation comprises creation of a consistent persistent point in time (PPT) image of the file system;
• initiating, by the freezing process, a verification process to determine whether a testing process, initiated by the verification process, successfully creates a file in the file system;
• if the testing process successfully creates the file, sending, by the verification process, a signal to the freezing process;
• in response to receiving the signal, outputting, by the freezing process, an indication that the file system was thawed, by a process other than the freezing process, before completion of the operation;
• and
• causing the verification process to thaw the file system if the verification process does not receive the signal from the freezing process within a predetermined period of time after the freezing process froze the file system.

A processing system comprising:

• a processor;
• a storage interface through which to access a file system stored on a storage device;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:
• in response to the file system being frozen by a freezing process to prevent changes to the file system, causing a verification process, initiated by the freezing process, to determine whether a testing process, initiated by the verification process, successfully writes data to the file system;
• initiating, by a snapshot process, an operation on the file system, wherein the operation comprises creation of a consistent persistent point in time (PPT) image of the file system;
• if the testing process successfully writes data, sending, by the verification process, a signal to the freezing process;
• and
• in response to receiving the signal, outputting, by the freezing process, a warning that the file system was thawed, by a process other than the freezing process, before completion of the operation.

A method comprising:

• during a period of time when a freezing process freezes a file system to create a persistent point in time (PPT) image of the file system by a snapshot process, causing, by a processing device, a testing process, initiated by a verification process, to initiate a write operation to the file system;
• determining, by the verification process, whether the write operation has been successfully performed during the period of time;
• if the testing process successfully performs the write operation during the period of time, sending, by the verification process, a signal to the freezing process;
• and
• in response to receiving the signal, generating, by the freezing process, a warning that the file system was thawed, by a process other than the freezing process, during the period of time and before creation of the PPT image.