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authorIngo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>2010-08-23 11:32:34 +0200
committerIngo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>2010-08-23 11:32:34 +0200
commita6b9b4d50f492630443b38404d1f436b3b748c14 (patch)
treef3512389c42cecfae50b6a315ec6ab1fa470e30d /Documentation
parente36c886a0f9d624377977fa6cae309cfd7f362fa (diff)
parent28457ee69c473a903e51e26c7bcd6f1e9eceb93e (diff)
Merge branch 'rcu/next' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulmck/linux-2.6-rcu into core/rcu
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl14
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt46
2 files changed, 43 insertions, 17 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl
index 0b1a3f97f285..d7884b13fb11 100644
--- a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl
+++ b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl
@@ -1645,7 +1645,9 @@ the amount of locking which needs to be done.
all the readers who were traversing the list when we deleted the
element are finished. We use <function>call_rcu()</function> to
register a callback which will actually destroy the object once
- the readers are finished.
+ all pre-existing readers are finished. Alternatively,
+ <function>synchronize_rcu()</function> may be used to block until
+ all pre-existing are finished.
</para>
<para>
But how does Read Copy Update know when the readers are
@@ -1714,7 +1716,7 @@ the amount of locking which needs to be done.
- object_put(obj);
+ list_del_rcu(&amp;obj-&gt;list);
cache_num--;
-+ call_rcu(&amp;obj-&gt;rcu, cache_delete_rcu, obj);
++ call_rcu(&amp;obj-&gt;rcu, cache_delete_rcu);
}
/* Must be holding cache_lock */
@@ -1725,14 +1727,6 @@ the amount of locking which needs to be done.
if (++cache_num > MAX_CACHE_SIZE) {
struct object *i, *outcast = NULL;
list_for_each_entry(i, &amp;cache, list) {
-@@ -85,6 +94,7 @@
- obj-&gt;popularity = 0;
- atomic_set(&amp;obj-&gt;refcnt, 1); /* The cache holds a reference */
- spin_lock_init(&amp;obj-&gt;lock);
-+ INIT_RCU_HEAD(&amp;obj-&gt;rcu);
-
- spin_lock_irqsave(&amp;cache_lock, flags);
- __cache_add(obj);
@@ -104,12 +114,11 @@
struct object *cache_find(int id)
{
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
index 790d1a812376..0c134f8afc6f 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
@@ -218,13 +218,22 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
include:
a. Keeping a count of the number of data-structure elements
- used by the RCU-protected data structure, including those
- waiting for a grace period to elapse. Enforce a limit
- on this number, stalling updates as needed to allow
- previously deferred frees to complete.
-
- Alternatively, limit only the number awaiting deferred
- free rather than the total number of elements.
+ used by the RCU-protected data structure, including
+ those waiting for a grace period to elapse. Enforce a
+ limit on this number, stalling updates as needed to allow
+ previously deferred frees to complete. Alternatively,
+ limit only the number awaiting deferred free rather than
+ the total number of elements.
+
+ One way to stall the updates is to acquire the update-side
+ mutex. (Don't try this with a spinlock -- other CPUs
+ spinning on the lock could prevent the grace period
+ from ever ending.) Another way to stall the updates
+ is for the updates to use a wrapper function around
+ the memory allocator, so that this wrapper function
+ simulates OOM when there is too much memory awaiting an
+ RCU grace period. There are of course many other
+ variations on this theme.
b. Limiting update rate. For example, if updates occur only
once per hour, then no explicit rate limiting is required,
@@ -365,3 +374,26 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
and the compiler to freely reorder code into and out of RCU
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:
+
+ CONFIG_PROVE_RCU: check that accesses to RCU-protected data
+ structures are carried out under the proper RCU
+ read-side critical section, while holding the right
+ combination of locks, or whatever other conditions
+ are appropriate.
+
+ CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD: check that you don't pass the
+ same object to call_rcu() (or friends) before an RCU
+ grace period has elapsed since the last time that you
+ passed that same object to call_rcu() (or friends).
+
+ __rcu sparse checks: tag the pointer to the RCU-protected data
+ structure with __rcu, and sparse will warn you if you
+ access that pointer without the services of one of the
+ variants of rcu_dereference().
+
+ These debugging aids can help you find problems that are
+ otherwise extremely difficult to spot.