EXT2-DB: A "mini-db" using EXT2 with a Go API

This project combines a Computer Science course assignment that aimed to create an interactive shell for running commands on a .iso or .img disk image using the EXT2 filesystem, with a Go API, leveraging these developed operations as a "database."

Link to the EXT2 project (switch to the db-engine branch for this project)

Architecture

The system consists of two main components that communicate via standard I/O (stdin/stdout):

1. Database (ext2-db-engine):
   A C command-line tool compiled from the original project, which directly manipulates an EXT2 disk image.
   It handles all low-level operations, such as inode allocation, bitmap manipulation, and block read/write.

2. Go API:
   A simple RESTful API that exposes endpoints for Create and List (with filters) operations on a "user database."
   It processes HTTP requests, validates data, and calls the C "database" to persist or retrieve information.

How to Run the Project

Prerequisites

• GCC compiler
• readline library (sudo apt-get install libreadline-dev or equivalent)
• Go (version 1.18 or higher)

Compilation and Execution

The project uses a Makefile in the root of the ext2-fs-tools submodule to compile the C engine and a Makefile in the ext2-db-go-api root to orchestrate everything.

1. Compile the C engine:

   cd ext2-db-engine
   make all
   cd ..
   

1.1 Generate a new image

make generate-ext2

1.2 Creating the table

make run

Inside the terminal that opens, create the database with the command:

touch user_record

2. Start the Go API: In the project root, run:

   cd api
   go run .

   The server will be running at http://localhost:8080.

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How to Use the API

The API exposes the following endpoints for the User entity:

Create a New User

• Endpoint: POST /users

• Description: Creates a new user record in the /user_record file inside the EXT2 image.

• Request Body (JSON):

  {
      "id": 1,
      "is_active": 1,
      "username": "moraski",
      "email": "moraski@gmail.com"
  }

Fetch Users

• Endpoint: GET /users
• Description: Returns a list of all registered users.
• Query Parameters:
  • limit=<number>: Limits the number of results.
  • filters=<conditions>: (Optional) Filters results. Conditions must follow the pattern field:operator:value.
    • Supports =, %