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authorIngo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>2013-04-30 10:49:04 +0200
committerIngo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>2013-04-30 10:49:04 +0200
commitfd29f424d458118f02e89596505c68a63dcb3007 (patch)
treeb52470ff7fe7a9f29260afe4a9f22a80fc900140 /Documentation
parentc1be5a5b1b355d40e6cf79cc979eb66dafa24ad1 (diff)
parent49717cb40410fe4b563968680ff7c513967504c6 (diff)
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Merge branch 'rcu/doc' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulmck/linux-rcu into core/urgent
Pull RCU documentation update for reducing OS jitter due to per-CPU kthreads, from Paul McKenney. Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt26
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/lockdep.txt5
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/rcubarrier.txt15
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt33
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt4
-rw-r--r--Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt35
-rw-r--r--Documentation/kernel-per-CPU-kthreads.txt202
7 files changed, 287 insertions, 33 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
index 31ef8fe07f82..79e789b8b8ea 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
@@ -217,9 +217,14 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
whether the increased speed is worth it.
8. Although synchronize_rcu() is slower than is call_rcu(), it
- usually results in simpler code. So, unless update performance
- is critically important or the updaters cannot block,
- synchronize_rcu() should be used in preference to call_rcu().
+ usually results in simpler code. So, unless update performance is
+ critically important, the updaters cannot block, or the latency of
+ synchronize_rcu() is visible from userspace, synchronize_rcu()
+ should be used in preference to call_rcu(). Furthermore,
+ kfree_rcu() usually results in even simpler code than does
+ synchronize_rcu() without synchronize_rcu()'s multi-millisecond
+ latency. So please take advantage of kfree_rcu()'s "fire and
+ forget" memory-freeing capabilities where it applies.
An especially important property of the synchronize_rcu()
primitive is that it automatically self-limits: if grace periods
@@ -268,7 +273,8 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
e. Periodically invoke synchronize_rcu(), permitting a limited
number of updates per grace period.
- The same cautions apply to call_rcu_bh() and call_rcu_sched().
+ The same cautions apply to call_rcu_bh(), call_rcu_sched(),
+ call_srcu(), and kfree_rcu().
9. All RCU list-traversal primitives, which include
rcu_dereference(), list_for_each_entry_rcu(), and
@@ -296,9 +302,9 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
all currently executing rcu_read_lock()-protected RCU read-side
critical sections complete. It does -not- necessarily guarantee
that all currently running interrupts, NMIs, preempt_disable()
- code, or idle loops will complete. Therefore, if you do not have
- rcu_read_lock()-protected read-side critical sections, do -not-
- use synchronize_rcu().
+ code, or idle loops will complete. Therefore, if your
+ read-side critical sections are protected by something other
+ than rcu_read_lock(), do -not- use synchronize_rcu().
Similarly, disabling preemption is not an acceptable substitute
for rcu_read_lock(). Code that attempts to use preemption
@@ -401,9 +407,9 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
read-side critical sections. It is the responsibility of the
RCU update-side primitives to deal with this.
-17. Use CONFIG_PROVE_RCU, CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD, and
- the __rcu sparse checks to validate your RCU code. These
- can help find problems as follows:
+17. Use CONFIG_PROVE_RCU, CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD, and the
+ __rcu sparse checks (enabled by CONFIG_SPARSE_RCU_POINTER) to
+ validate your RCU code. These can help find problems as follows:
CONFIG_PROVE_RCU: check that accesses to RCU-protected data
structures are carried out under the proper RCU
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/lockdep.txt b/Documentation/RCU/lockdep.txt
index a102d4b3724b..cd83d2348fef 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/lockdep.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/lockdep.txt
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ checking of rcu_dereference() primitives:
but retain the compiler constraints that prevent duplicating
or coalescsing. This is useful when when testing the
value of the pointer itself, for example, against NULL.
+ rcu_access_index(idx):
+ Return the value of the index and omit all barriers, but
+ retain the compiler constraints that prevent duplicating
+ or coalescsing. This is useful when when testing the
+ value of the index itself, for example, against -1.
The rcu_dereference_check() check expression can be any boolean
expression, but would normally include a lockdep expression. However,
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/rcubarrier.txt b/Documentation/RCU/rcubarrier.txt
index 38428c125135..2e319d1b9ef2 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/rcubarrier.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/rcubarrier.txt
@@ -79,7 +79,20 @@ complete. Pseudo-code using rcu_barrier() is as follows:
2. Execute rcu_barrier().
3. Allow the module to be unloaded.
-The rcutorture module makes use of rcu_barrier in its exit function
+There are also rcu_barrier_bh(), rcu_barrier_sched(), and srcu_barrier()
+functions for the other flavors of RCU, and you of course must match
+the flavor of rcu_barrier() with that of call_rcu(). If your module
+uses multiple flavors of call_rcu(), then it must also use multiple
+flavors of rcu_barrier() when unloading that module. For example, if
+it uses call_rcu_bh(), call_srcu() on srcu_struct_1, and call_srcu() on
+srcu_struct_2(), then the following three lines of code will be required
+when unloading:
+
+ 1 rcu_barrier_bh();
+ 2 srcu_barrier(&srcu_struct_1);
+ 3 srcu_barrier(&srcu_struct_2);
+
+The rcutorture module makes use of rcu_barrier() in its exit function
as follows:
1 static void
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt b/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt
index 1927151b386b..e38b8df3d727 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt
@@ -92,14 +92,14 @@ If the CONFIG_RCU_CPU_STALL_INFO kernel configuration parameter is set,
more information is printed with the stall-warning message, for example:
INFO: rcu_preempt detected stall on CPU
- 0: (63959 ticks this GP) idle=241/3fffffffffffffff/0
+ 0: (63959 ticks this GP) idle=241/3fffffffffffffff/0 softirq=82/543
(t=65000 jiffies)
In kernels with CONFIG_RCU_FAST_NO_HZ, even more information is
printed:
INFO: rcu_preempt detected stall on CPU
- 0: (64628 ticks this GP) idle=dd5/3fffffffffffffff/0 drain=0 . timer not pending
+ 0: (64628 ticks this GP) idle=dd5/3fffffffffffffff/0 softirq=82/543 last_accelerate: a345/d342 nonlazy_posted: 25 .D
(t=65000 jiffies)
The "(64628 ticks this GP)" indicates that this CPU has taken more
@@ -116,13 +116,28 @@ number between the two "/"s is the value of the nesting, which will
be a small positive number if in the idle loop and a very large positive
number (as shown above) otherwise.
-For CONFIG_RCU_FAST_NO_HZ kernels, the "drain=0" indicates that the CPU is
-not in the process of trying to force itself into dyntick-idle state, the
-"." indicates that the CPU has not given up forcing RCU into dyntick-idle
-mode (it would be "H" otherwise), and the "timer not pending" indicates
-that the CPU has not recently forced RCU into dyntick-idle mode (it
-would otherwise indicate the number of microseconds remaining in this
-forced state).
+The "softirq=" portion of the message tracks the number of RCU softirq
+handlers that the stalled CPU has executed. The number before the "/"
+is the number that had executed since boot at the time that this CPU
+last noted the beginning of a grace period, which might be the current
+(stalled) grace period, or it might be some earlier grace period (for
+example, if the CPU might have been in dyntick-idle mode for an extended
+time period. The number after the "/" is the number that have executed
+since boot until the current time. If this latter number stays constant
+across repeated stall-warning messages, it is possible that RCU's softirq
+handlers are no longer able to execute on this CPU. This can happen if
+the stalled CPU is spinning with interrupts are disabled, or, in -rt
+kernels, if a high-priority process is starving RCU's softirq handler.
+
+For CONFIG_RCU_FAST_NO_HZ kernels, the "last_accelerate:" prints the
+low-order 16 bits (in hex) of the jiffies counter when this CPU last
+invoked rcu_try_advance_all_cbs() from rcu_needs_cpu() or last invoked
+rcu_accelerate_cbs() from rcu_prepare_for_idle(). The "nonlazy_posted:"
+prints the number of non-lazy callbacks posted since the last call to
+rcu_needs_cpu(). Finally, an "L" indicates that there are currently
+no non-lazy callbacks ("." is printed otherwise, as shown above) and
+"D" indicates that dyntick-idle processing is enabled ("." is printed
+otherwise, for example, if disabled via the "nohz=" kernel boot parameter).
Multiple Warnings From One Stall
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
index 0cc7820967f4..10df0b82f459 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
@@ -265,9 +265,9 @@ rcu_dereference()
rcu_read_lock();
p = rcu_dereference(head.next);
rcu_read_unlock();
- x = p->address;
+ x = p->address; /* BUG!!! */
rcu_read_lock();
- y = p->data;
+ y = p->data; /* BUG!!! */
rcu_read_unlock();
Holding a reference from one RCU read-side critical section
diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
index 8ccbf27aead4..52ecc9b84673 100644
--- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -2484,9 +2484,12 @@ bytes respectively. Such letter suffixes can also be entirely omitted.
In kernels built with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU=y, set
the specified list of CPUs to be no-callback CPUs.
Invocation of these CPUs' RCU callbacks will
- be offloaded to "rcuoN" kthreads created for
- that purpose. This reduces OS jitter on the
+ be offloaded to "rcuox/N" kthreads created for
+ that purpose, where "x" is "b" for RCU-bh, "p"
+ for RCU-preempt, and "s" for RCU-sched, and "N"
+ is the CPU number. This reduces OS jitter on the
offloaded CPUs, which can be useful for HPC and
+
real-time workloads. It can also improve energy
efficiency for asymmetric multiprocessors.
@@ -2510,6 +2513,17 @@ bytes respectively. Such letter suffixes can also be entirely omitted.
leaf rcu_node structure. Useful for very large
systems.
+ rcutree.jiffies_till_first_fqs= [KNL,BOOT]
+ Set delay from grace-period initialization to
+ first attempt to force quiescent states.
+ Units are jiffies, minimum value is zero,
+ and maximum value is HZ.
+
+ rcutree.jiffies_till_next_fqs= [KNL,BOOT]
+ Set delay between subsequent attempts to force
+ quiescent states. Units are jiffies, minimum
+ value is one, and maximum value is HZ.
+
rcutree.qhimark= [KNL,BOOT]
Set threshold of queued
RCU callbacks over which batch limiting is disabled.
@@ -2524,16 +2538,15 @@ bytes respectively. Such letter suffixes can also be entirely omitted.
rcutree.rcu_cpu_stall_timeout= [KNL,BOOT]
Set timeout for RCU CPU stall warning messages.
- rcutree.jiffies_till_first_fqs= [KNL,BOOT]
- Set delay from grace-period initialization to
- first attempt to force quiescent states.
- Units are jiffies, minimum value is zero,
- and maximum value is HZ.
+ rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay= [KNL,BOOT]
+ Set wakeup interval for idle CPUs that have
+ RCU callbacks (RCU_FAST_NO_HZ=y).
- rcutree.jiffies_till_next_fqs= [KNL,BOOT]
- Set delay between subsequent attempts to force
- quiescent states. Units are jiffies, minimum
- value is one, and maximum value is HZ.
+ rcutree.rcu_idle_lazy_gp_delay= [KNL,BOOT]
+ Set wakeup interval for idle CPUs that have
+ only "lazy" RCU callbacks (RCU_FAST_NO_HZ=y).
+ Lazy RCU callbacks are those which RCU can
+ prove do nothing more than free memory.
rcutorture.fqs_duration= [KNL,BOOT]
Set duration of force_quiescent_state bursts.
diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-per-CPU-kthreads.txt b/Documentation/kernel-per-CPU-kthreads.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cbf7ae412da4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-per-CPU-kthreads.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+REDUCING OS JITTER DUE TO PER-CPU KTHREADS
+
+This document lists per-CPU kthreads in the Linux kernel and presents
+options to control their OS jitter. Note that non-per-CPU kthreads are
+not listed here. To reduce OS jitter from non-per-CPU kthreads, bind
+them to a "housekeeping" CPU dedicated to such work.
+
+
+REFERENCES
+
+o Documentation/IRQ-affinity.txt: Binding interrupts to sets of CPUs.
+
+o Documentation/cgroups: Using cgroups to bind tasks to sets of CPUs.
+
+o man taskset: Using the taskset command to bind tasks to sets
+ of CPUs.
+
+o man sched_setaffinity: Using the sched_setaffinity() system
+ call to bind tasks to sets of CPUs.
+
+o /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuN/online: Control CPU N's hotplug state,
+ writing "0" to offline and "1" to online.
+
+o In order to locate kernel-generated OS jitter on CPU N:
+
+ cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing
+ echo 1 > max_graph_depth # Increase the "1" for more detail
+ echo function_graph > current_tracer
+ # run workload
+ cat per_cpu/cpuN/trace
+
+
+KTHREADS
+
+Name: ehca_comp/%u
+Purpose: Periodically process Infiniband-related work.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do any of the following:
+1. Don't use eHCA Infiniband hardware, instead choosing hardware
+ that does not require per-CPU kthreads. This will prevent these
+ kthreads from being created in the first place. (This will
+ work for most people, as this hardware, though important, is
+ relatively old and is produced in relatively low unit volumes.)
+2. Do all eHCA-Infiniband-related work on other CPUs, including
+ interrupts.
+3. Rework the eHCA driver so that its per-CPU kthreads are
+ provisioned only on selected CPUs.
+
+
+Name: irq/%d-%s
+Purpose: Handle threaded interrupts.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do the following:
+1. Use irq affinity to force the irq threads to execute on
+ some other CPU.
+
+Name: kcmtpd_ctr_%d
+Purpose: Handle Bluetooth work.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do one of the following:
+1. Don't use Bluetooth, in which case these kthreads won't be
+ created in the first place.
+2. Use irq affinity to force Bluetooth-related interrupts to
+ occur on some other CPU and furthermore initiate all
+ Bluetooth activity on some other CPU.
+
+Name: ksoftirqd/%u
+Purpose: Execute softirq handlers when threaded or when under heavy load.
+To reduce its OS jitter, each softirq vector must be handled
+separately as follows:
+TIMER_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. To the extent possible, keep the CPU out of the kernel when it
+ is non-idle, for example, by avoiding system calls and by forcing
+ both kernel threads and interrupts to execute elsewhere.
+2. Build with CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU=y. After boot completes, force
+ the CPU offline, then bring it back online. This forces
+ recurring timers to migrate elsewhere. If you are concerned
+ with multiple CPUs, force them all offline before bringing the
+ first one back online. Once you have onlined the CPUs in question,
+ do not offline any other CPUs, because doing so could force the
+ timer back onto one of the CPUs in question.
+NET_TX_SOFTIRQ and NET_RX_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. Force networking interrupts onto other CPUs.
+2. Initiate any network I/O on other CPUs.
+3. Once your application has started, prevent CPU-hotplug operations
+ from being initiated from tasks that might run on the CPU to
+ be de-jittered. (It is OK to force this CPU offline and then
+ bring it back online before you start your application.)
+BLOCK_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. Force block-device interrupts onto some other CPU.
+2. Initiate any block I/O on other CPUs.
+3. Once your application has started, prevent CPU-hotplug operations
+ from being initiated from tasks that might run on the CPU to
+ be de-jittered. (It is OK to force this CPU offline and then
+ bring it back online before you start your application.)
+BLOCK_IOPOLL_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. Force block-device interrupts onto some other CPU.
+2. Initiate any block I/O and block-I/O polling on other CPUs.
+3. Once your application has started, prevent CPU-hotplug operations
+ from being initiated from tasks that might run on the CPU to
+ be de-jittered. (It is OK to force this CPU offline and then
+ bring it back online before you start your application.)
+TASKLET_SOFTIRQ: Do one or more of the following:
+1. Avoid use of drivers that use tasklets. (Such drivers will contain
+ calls to things like tasklet_schedule().)
+2. Convert all drivers that you must use from tasklets to workqueues.
+3. Force interrupts for drivers using tasklets onto other CPUs,
+ and also do I/O involving these drivers on other CPUs.
+SCHED_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. Avoid sending scheduler IPIs to the CPU to be de-jittered,
+ for example, ensure that at most one runnable kthread is present
+ on that CPU. If a thread that expects to run on the de-jittered
+ CPU awakens, the scheduler will send an IPI that can result in
+ a subsequent SCHED_SOFTIRQ.
+2. Build with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU=y, CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU_ALL=y,
+ CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL=y, and, in addition, ensure that the CPU
+ to be de-jittered is marked as an adaptive-ticks CPU using the
+ "nohz_full=" boot parameter. This reduces the number of
+ scheduler-clock interrupts that the de-jittered CPU receives,
+ minimizing its chances of being selected to do the load balancing
+ work that runs in SCHED_SOFTIRQ context.
+3. To the extent possible, keep the CPU out of the kernel when it
+ is non-idle, for example, by avoiding system calls and by
+ forcing both kernel threads and interrupts to execute elsewhere.
+ This further reduces the number of scheduler-clock interrupts
+ received by the de-jittered CPU.
+HRTIMER_SOFTIRQ: Do all of the following:
+1. To the extent possible, keep the CPU out of the kernel when it
+ is non-idle. For example, avoid system calls and force both
+ kernel threads and interrupts to execute elsewhere.
+2. Build with CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU=y. Once boot completes, force the
+ CPU offline, then bring it back online. This forces recurring
+ timers to migrate elsewhere. If you are concerned with multiple
+ CPUs, force them all offline before bringing the first one
+ back online. Once you have onlined the CPUs in question, do not
+ offline any other CPUs, because doing so could force the timer
+ back onto one of the CPUs in question.
+RCU_SOFTIRQ: Do at least one of the following:
+1. Offload callbacks and keep the CPU in either dyntick-idle or
+ adaptive-ticks state by doing all of the following:
+ a. Build with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU=y, CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU_ALL=y,
+ CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL=y, and, in addition ensure that the CPU
+ to be de-jittered is marked as an adaptive-ticks CPU using
+ the "nohz_full=" boot parameter. Bind the rcuo kthreads
+ to housekeeping CPUs, which can tolerate OS jitter.
+ b. To the extent possible, keep the CPU out of the kernel
+ when it is non-idle, for example, by avoiding system
+ calls and by forcing both kernel threads and interrupts
+ to execute elsewhere.
+2. Enable RCU to do its processing remotely via dyntick-idle by
+ doing all of the following:
+ a. Build with CONFIG_NO_HZ=y and CONFIG_RCU_FAST_NO_HZ=y.
+ b. Ensure that the CPU goes idle frequently, allowing other
+ CPUs to detect that it has passed through an RCU quiescent
+ state. If the kernel is built with CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL=y,
+ userspace execution also allows other CPUs to detect that
+ the CPU in question has passed through a quiescent state.
+ c. To the extent possible, keep the CPU out of the kernel
+ when it is non-idle, for example, by avoiding system
+ calls and by forcing both kernel threads and interrupts
+ to execute elsewhere.
+
+Name: rcuc/%u
+Purpose: Execute RCU callbacks in CONFIG_RCU_BOOST=y kernels.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do at least one of the following:
+1. Build the kernel with CONFIG_PREEMPT=n. This prevents these
+ kthreads from being created in the first place, and also obviates
+ the need for RCU priority boosting. This approach is feasible
+ for workloads that do not require high degrees of responsiveness.
+2. Build the kernel with CONFIG_RCU_BOOST=n. This prevents these
+ kthreads from being created in the first place. This approach
+ is feasible only if your workload never requires RCU priority
+ boosting, for example, if you ensure frequent idle time on all
+ CPUs that might execute within the kernel.
+3. Build with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU=y and CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU_ALL=y,
+ which offloads all RCU callbacks to kthreads that can be moved
+ off of CPUs susceptible to OS jitter. This approach prevents the
+ rcuc/%u kthreads from having any work to do, so that they are
+ never awakened.
+4. Ensure that the CPU never enters the kernel, and, in particular,
+ avoid initiating any CPU hotplug operations on this CPU. This is
+ another way of preventing any callbacks from being queued on the
+ CPU, again preventing the rcuc/%u kthreads from having any work
+ to do.
+
+Name: rcuob/%d, rcuop/%d, and rcuos/%d
+Purpose: Offload RCU callbacks from the corresponding CPU.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do at least one of the following:
+1. Use affinity, cgroups, or other mechanism to force these kthreads
+ to execute on some other CPU.
+2. Build with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPUS=n, which will prevent these
+ kthreads from being created in the first place. However, please
+ note that this will not eliminate OS jitter, but will instead
+ shift it to RCU_SOFTIRQ.
+
+Name: watchdog/%u
+Purpose: Detect software lockups on each CPU.
+To reduce its OS jitter, do at least one of the following:
+1. Build with CONFIG_LOCKUP_DETECTOR=n, which will prevent these
+ kthreads from being created in the first place.
+2. Echo a zero to /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog to disable the
+ watchdog timer.
+3. Echo a large number of /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog_thresh in
+ order to reduce the frequency of OS jitter due to the watchdog
+ timer down to a level that is acceptable for your workload.