Transactional NTFS (abbreviated TxF [1] ) is a component introduced in Windows Vista and present in later versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that brings the concept of atomic transactions to the NTFS file system, allowing Windows application developers to write file-output routines that are guaranteed to either succeed completely or to fail completely. [2] Major operating system components, including System Restore, Task Scheduler, and Windows Update, rely on TxF for stability. [1] During the development of Windows Vista, WinFS also relied on TxF for storing files. [3]
Due to its complexity and various nuances which developers need to consider as part of application development, Microsoft has deprecated TxF and stated that it may be removed in a future version of Windows. [4] Microsoft has strongly recommended that developers investigate using the alternatives rather than adopting the Transactional NTFS API platform which may not be available in future versions of Windows. [2]
Transactional NTFS allows for files and directories to be created, modified, renamed, and deleted atomically. Using transactions ensures correctness of operation; in a series of file operations (done as a transaction), the operation will be committed if all the operations succeed. In case of any failure, the entire operation will roll back and fail.
Transactional NTFS is implemented on top of the Kernel Transaction Manager, which is a Windows kernel component introduced in Windows Vista that provides transactioning of objects in the kernel. [1] The NTFS file system already supports journaling of low-level operations, such as writing a block of data. Transactional NTFS expands on this capability to include:
With the exception of read operations, using Transactional NTFS for transactions on Encrypting File System files is not supported in Windows Vista until Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008. [5]
NTFS is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft. Starting with Windows NT 3.1, it is the default file system of the Windows NT family.
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Common Log File System (CLFS) is a general-purpose logging subsystem that is accessible to both kernel-mode as well as user-mode applications for building high-performance transaction logs. It was introduced with Windows Server 2003 R2 and included in later Windows operating systems. CLFS can be used for both data logging as well as for event logging. CLFS is used by TxF and TxR to store transactional state changes before they commit a transaction. Binary Log File(s) created from CLFS can not be viewed by any integrated Windows tool.
Microsoft strongly recommends developers utilize alternative means to achieve your application s needs. Many scenarios that TxF was developed for can be achieved through simpler and more readily available techniques. Furthermore, TxF may not be available in future versions of Microsoft Windows.