The EXT4 file-system today deprecated its journaled mode of the “data=journal” mount option. Following its deprecation, this mode is planned for removal in the year 2028.
The data=journal mode for EXT4 is where all file data and metadata is written to the file-system’s journal before being committed to the main file-system. In the event of a crash or power loss, the journal can then be replayed to recover the data.
The EXT4 data=journal mode is great for those very concerned about data integrity and safety but comes with significant hits to the write performance compared to the default ordered (data=ordered) mode or data=writeback. Using the journaled mode also disables delayed allocation and Direct I/O support.
EXT4 journal deprecated
Per today’s Git merge for Linux 7.3, the EXT4 data=journal feature is deprecated and support for it will be removed in early 2028 following the 2027 Linux LTS kernel version.
That’s too bad. It was great for use as a root fs on VMware when you had an unreliable NFS storage. Kept every VM from needing an FSCK on recovery.
