Donate to e Foundation | Murena handsets with /e/OS | Own a part of Murena! Learn more

Commit fd29f424 authored by Ingo Molnar's avatar Ingo Molnar
Browse files

Merge branch 'rcu/doc' of...

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: default avatarIngo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>
parents c1be5a5b 49717cb4
Loading
Loading
Loading
Loading
+16 −10
Original line number Diff line number Diff line
@@ -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
+5 −0
Original line number Diff line number Diff line
@@ -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,
+14 −1
Original line number Diff line number Diff line
@@ -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
+24 −9
Original line number Diff line number Diff line
@@ -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
+2 −2
Original line number Diff line number Diff line
@@ -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
Loading