I have developed and validated an RPM/AKMOD packaging and automated update method for the upstream linux-ntfs driver from the ntfs-next branch. This may be useful for testing the improved NTFS driver on Fedora before it is enabled directly in the Fedora kernel configuration.

The upstream linux-ntfs source used by the project is:
https://github.com/namjaejeon/linux-ntfs/tree/ntfs-next

The Fedora RPM/AKMOD packaging and automation project is available here:
https://github.com/lyesseb/linux-ntfs-akmod

The project tracks the upstream linux-ntfs ntfs-next branch and provides RPM/AKMOD packaging together with automation for updating the upstream source and rebuilding the kernel module.

The installation, driver and AKMOD update mechanism have been tested and validated on four different Fedora systems.

Detailed validation was performed on a Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 (Type 82Y9), running Fedora 44 KDE with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and kernel 7.1.8-200.fc44.x86_64.

On this system:

- the linux-ntfs driver from the upstream ntfs-next branch is built and installed through akmod-linux-ntfs;
- AKMOD builds completed successfully for Fedora kernels 7.1.7-200.fc44.x86_64 and 7.1.8-200.fc44.x86_64, with additional successful rebuilds;
- the resulting ntfs.ko module is installed for the running kernel and is currently loaded;
- two NTFS volumes are mounted read-write through the linux-ntfs driver;
- the volumes are mounted with native_symlink=raw and symlink=wsl;
- UDisks2 is active and the NTFS volumes are usable in the normal Fedora KDE environment;
- a direct read/write/read/delete test was successfully performed on an NTFS filesystem mounted through the linux-ntfs driver.

The same driver and installation/update method have also been tested successfully on three additional Fedora systems.

The purpose of this project is not to replace Fedora's kernel integration. It provides a reproducible way for Fedora developers to build, install and test the upstream linux-ntfs driver from ntfs-next on Fedora.

If useful, I would be happy to provide the exact installation and testing procedure, additional test results, or help reproduce the setup.

If you’re on Fedora and want to use the new ntfs kernel driver without rebuilding the entire kernel, I maintain an AKMOD/KMOD packaging of the upstream linux-ntfs / ntfs-next driver here: GitHub - lyesseb/linux-ntfs-akmod: New NTFS file-system driver (NTFS+) for Fedora 44+, based on linux-ntfs/ntfs-next, packaged as AKMOD/KMOD with native NTFS support. · GitHub

This is available in 7.2.6-200, which unfortunately drops ntfs3 as well. Fix is incoming [1] so next kernel build should ship both drivers.

[1] https://gitlab.com/cki-project/kernel-ark/-/commit/972da12cd3519373902f7c6e6e2bcaf8570dc15b

FYI @spot - putting ntfs in /etc/fstab still results in mounts being mounted using ntfs-3g. Could be line https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/ntfs-3g/blob/rawhide/f/ntfs-3g.spec#_124, but it is also likely we should not be changing what mount.ntfs does mid-release.

(In reply to Julian Sikorski from comment #4)
> FYI @spot - putting ntfs in /etc/fstab still results in mounts being mounted
> using ntfs-3g. Could be line
> https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/ntfs-3g/blob/rawhide/f/ntfs-3g.spec#_124,
> but it is also likely we should not be changing what mount.ntfs does
> mid-release.

Does this new driver have an accompanying userspace mount utility? If/when we switch from ntfs-3g, we can coordinate that changeout.

(In reply to Tom "spot" Callaway from comment #5)
> (In reply to Julian Sikorski from comment #4)
> > FYI @spot - putting ntfs in /etc/fstab still results in mounts being mounted
> > using ntfs-3g. Could be line
> > https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/ntfs-3g/blob/rawhide/f/ntfs-3g.spec#_124,
> > but it is also likely we should not be changing what mount.ntfs does
> > mid-release.
> 
> Does this new driver have an accompanying userspace mount utility? If/when
> we switch from ntfs-3g, we can coordinate that changeout.

it does: https://github.com/ntfsprogs-plus/ntfsprogs-plus