Linux NTFS kernel driver for Fedora — AKMOD/KMOD packaging

Fedora 44 and later packaging, kernel-module integration and maintenance automation for the linux-ntfs NTFS filesystem driver developed by Namjae Jeon, tracking the upstream ntfs-next development branch.

This project packages the Linux NTFS kernel driver as Fedora RPM/AKMOD/KMOD packages and provides automatic kernel-module maintenance through akmods. It builds and maintains ntfs.ko for Fedora kernels and integrates with the standard Fedora storage stack (udisks2).

The driver is compiled as an external kernel module (ntfs.ko) from the upstream linux-ntfs/ntfs-next source. This project does not merely enable or activate an ntfs driver already built into the Fedora kernel.

Status: experimental project for Fedora 44 and later. This repository packages and automates the upstream linux-ntfs driver; it is not the upstream driver repository itself. It is independent of the desktop environment and is specifically designed to provide native ntfs filesystem support rather than ntfs-3g/FUSE or the separate in-kernel ntfs3 filesystem.

What this project provides

• linux-ntfs built as Fedora RPM packages with akmod integration.
• Automatic rebuild of the module for installed Fedora kernels through akmods.
• Automatic monitoring of the upstream ntfs-next branch.
• Automatic source archive and SPEC maintenance when upstream changes.
• A user systemd timer that performs the periodic upstream check.
• A controlled root installation path using systemd and Polkit instead of direct privileged operations from the user service.
• Native NTFS mounting through the ntfs kernel filesystem driver.

The project is designed so that a normal user does not need to manually compile ntfs.ko after every kernel update.

Installation

Clone the repository and run the single installation entry point as the target user:

git clone git@github.com:lyesseb/linux-ntfs-akmod.git \
    "$HOME/Developpement/linux-ntfs-akmod-dev"

cd "$HOME/Developpement/linux-ntfs-akmod-dev"

git switch ntfs-next-latest

./tools/install-systemd-user.sh

The installer automatically:

1. checks the required Fedora build/runtime dependencies;
2. ensures RPM Fusion Free is available;
3. removes ntfs-3g when it is installed, so mount -t ntfs is not redirected to the FUSE ntfs-3g helper;
4. installs the required build tools and matching kernel-devel for the running kernel;
5. installs the system helper, systemd template and Polkit rule;
6. installs and enables the user systemd timer.

The installer is intended to be run without sudo. It invokes sudo only for operations that require root privileges.

Uninstallation

The project provides a dedicated uninstallation entry point:

cd "$HOME/Developpement/linux-ntfs-akmod-dev"
./tools/uninstall-systemd-user.sh

The uninstaller is intended to be run without sudo. It invokes sudo only for operations that require root privileges.

Before a real uninstallation, all NTFS volumes using the linux-ntfs driver must be unmounted. The uninstaller checks this automatically and stops if an ntfs filesystem is still mounted.

A simulation can be performed first:

./tools/uninstall-systemd-user.sh --dry-run

The uninstaller removes:

1. the user linux-ntfs-next-update.timer and its service files;
2. the system-side installation helper and systemd template;
3. the Polkit rule installed by the project;
4. the installed akmod-linux-ntfs package;
5. the installed linux-ntfs-kmod-common package;
6. all installed kmod-linux-ntfs-* packages.

After removal, ntfs-3g is restored automatically so that the system has a standard NTFS userspace handler again.

The uninstaller does not modify /etc/fstab.

After uninstallation, the project-specific automatic maintenance timer, AKMOD/KMOD packages and privileged installation path are no longer present.

Native NTFS mounting

This project intentionally uses the upstream linux-ntfs filesystem driver as the ntfs filesystem type.

ntfs-3g must not intercept -t ntfs, because its mount.ntfs helper routes the request through FUSE and produces fuseblk mounts.

With ntfs-3g absent, the expected path is:

Dolphin / UDisks
        ↓
      ntfs
        ↓
linux-ntfs.ko

NTFS volumes can then be mounted normally from Dolphin/UDisks without adding NTFS entries to /etc/fstab.

The validated result is an actual ntfs mount, not fuseblk and not the in-kernel ntfs3 filesystem.

NTFS partitions can also be mounted automatically at boot through /etc/fstab once the linux-ntfs AKMOD/KMOD mechanism is installed and the module is available for the running kernel.

Automatic maintenance

The main orchestrator is:

tools/auto-update-ntfs-next.sh

It:

• checks the upstream ntfs-next branch;
• detects whether the tracked commit changed;
• prepares a reproducible source archive;
• updates documentation/ntfs-next-commit.txt and the SPEC;
• synchronizes the local rpmbuild tree;
• builds the expected RPMs with rpmbuild when required;
• identifies the expected AKMOD RPM deterministically from the SPEC;
• removes an existing SRPM carrying exactly the same version-release reference before rebuilding;
• requests installation through the systemd root helper.

The user systemd units are installed by:

tools/install-systemd-user.sh
tools/systemd/linux-ntfs-next-update.service.in
tools/systemd/linux-ntfs-next-update.timer

The root-side installation path is implemented by:

tools/linux-ntfs-akmod-install
tools/systemd/linux-ntfs-akmod-install@.service.in
tools/polkit/49-linux-ntfs-akmod.rules

The dependency bootstrap is:

tools/install-dependencies.sh

Update robustness

Preparation of the ntfs-next source archive is idempotent: an existing stale target archive no longer prevents a new update attempt. The update mechanism prepares the archive in a temporary location before installing it, so a retry after a failed update can start cleanly without being blocked by a residual artifact.

Package layout

A successful build produces the common, generic KMOD and AKMOD packages, for example:

linux-ntfs-kmod-common-<version>-<release>.<disttag>.x86_64.rpm
kmod-linux-ntfs-<version>-<release>.<disttag>.x86_64.rpm
akmod-linux-ntfs-<version>-<release>.<disttag>.x86_64.rpm

For a specific installed kernel, the corresponding kernel KMOD package is produced and installed by the normal Fedora akmods workflow.

Verification

Check the current kernel and matching module:

uname -r
rpm -q "kernel-devel-$(uname -r)"
modinfo ntfs | grep -E '^(filename|description|vermagic):'

Check the installed packages:

rpm -qa | grep -E '^(akmod-linux-ntfs|kmod-linux-ntfs|linux-ntfs-kmod-common)-' | sort

Check the automatic maintenance timer:

systemctl --user status linux-ntfs-next-update.timer --no-pager
systemctl --user list-timers linux-ntfs-next-update.timer --no-pager

Check NTFS mounts:

findmnt -t ntfs
findmnt -t fuseblk || true

The expected filesystem type is ntfs and fuseblk should be absent for volumes mounted through this project.

Validation

The project has been validated on multiple Fedora systems.

Validation records include clean installation and reinstallation scenarios, AKMOD/KMOD installation, kernel-module loading after reboot, automatic maintenance through the systemd user timer, and functional NTFS mounting through Dolphin/UDisks using the ntfs filesystem.

See documentation/VALIDATION-MACHINES.txt for the detailed validation records.

Important design rules

The project intentionally keeps these responsibilities separate:

upstream ntfs-next
        ↓
automatic update checker
        ↓
SPEC + source archive
        ↓
rpmbuild
        ↓
deterministic AKMOD selection
        ↓
systemd root installation helper
        ↓
akmods
        ↓
kmod-linux-ntfs for each kernel

Do not reintroduce:

• date-based discovery of the RPM produced by rpmbuild;
• permanent manual compilation of ntfs.ko after every kernel update;
• direct akmods execution from the user update service;
• ntfs-3g as the handler for the ntfs filesystem type.

Documentation

Detailed project documentation is available in:

• documentation/README.txt
• documentation/INSTALLATION-REINSTALLATION.txt
• documentation/MAINTENANCE.txt
• documentation/ntfs-next-commit.txt
• documentation/packages.txt
• documentation/VALIDATION-MACHINES.txt

Upstream

Upstream project:

https://github.com/namjaejeon/linux-ntfs

This repository contains the Fedora packaging, automation and installation machinery around the upstream ntfs-next development branch; it is not the upstream kernel driver repository itself.