diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt | 91 |
1 files changed, 45 insertions, 46 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt index 6f469864d9f5..e98ff261a438 100644 --- a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt +++ b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt @@ -182,16 +182,13 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! when publicizing a pointer to a structure that can be traversed by an RCU read-side critical section. -5. If call_rcu(), or a related primitive such as call_rcu_bh(), - call_rcu_sched(), or call_srcu() is used, the callback function - will be called from softirq context. In particular, it cannot - block. +5. If call_rcu() or call_srcu() is used, the callback function will + be called from softirq context. In particular, it cannot block. -6. Since synchronize_rcu() can block, it cannot be called from - any sort of irq context. The same rule applies for - synchronize_rcu_bh(), synchronize_sched(), synchronize_srcu(), - synchronize_rcu_expedited(), synchronize_rcu_bh_expedited(), - synchronize_sched_expedite(), and synchronize_srcu_expedited(). +6. Since synchronize_rcu() can block, it cannot be called + from any sort of irq context. The same rule applies + for synchronize_srcu(), synchronize_rcu_expedited(), and + synchronize_srcu_expedited(). The expedited forms of these primitives have the same semantics as the non-expedited forms, but expediting is both expensive and @@ -212,20 +209,20 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! of the system, especially to real-time workloads running on the rest of the system. -7. If the updater uses call_rcu() or synchronize_rcu(), then the - corresponding readers must use rcu_read_lock() and - rcu_read_unlock(). If the updater uses call_rcu_bh() or - synchronize_rcu_bh(), then the corresponding readers must - use rcu_read_lock_bh() and rcu_read_unlock_bh(). If the - updater uses call_rcu_sched() or synchronize_sched(), then - the corresponding readers must disable preemption, possibly - by calling rcu_read_lock_sched() and rcu_read_unlock_sched(). - If the updater uses synchronize_srcu() or call_srcu(), then - the corresponding readers must use srcu_read_lock() and +7. As of v4.20, a given kernel implements only one RCU flavor, + which is RCU-sched for PREEMPT=n and RCU-preempt for PREEMPT=y. + If the updater uses call_rcu() or synchronize_rcu(), + then the corresponding readers my use rcu_read_lock() and + rcu_read_unlock(), rcu_read_lock_bh() and rcu_read_unlock_bh(), + or any pair of primitives that disables and re-enables preemption, + for example, rcu_read_lock_sched() and rcu_read_unlock_sched(). + If the updater uses synchronize_srcu() or call_srcu(), + then the corresponding readers must use srcu_read_lock() and srcu_read_unlock(), and with the same srcu_struct. The rules for the expedited primitives are the same as for their non-expedited counterparts. Mixing things up will result in confusion and - broken kernels. + broken kernels, and has even resulted in an exploitable security + issue. One exception to this rule: rcu_read_lock() and rcu_read_unlock() may be substituted for rcu_read_lock_bh() and rcu_read_unlock_bh() @@ -288,8 +285,7 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! d. Periodically invoke synchronize_rcu(), permitting a limited number of updates per grace period. - The same cautions apply to call_rcu_bh(), call_rcu_sched(), - call_srcu(), and kfree_rcu(). + The same cautions apply to call_srcu() and kfree_rcu(). Note that although these primitives do take action to avoid memory exhaustion when any given CPU has too many callbacks, a determined @@ -322,7 +318,7 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! 11. Any lock acquired by an RCU callback must be acquired elsewhere with softirq disabled, e.g., via spin_lock_irqsave(), - spin_lock_bh(), etc. Failing to disable irq on a given + spin_lock_bh(), etc. Failing to disable softirq on a given acquisition of that lock will result in deadlock as soon as the RCU softirq handler happens to run your RCU callback while interrupting that acquisition's critical section. @@ -335,13 +331,16 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! must use whatever locking or other synchronization is required to safely access and/or modify that data structure. - RCU callbacks are -usually- executed on the same CPU that executed - the corresponding call_rcu(), call_rcu_bh(), or call_rcu_sched(), - but are by -no- means guaranteed to be. For example, if a given - CPU goes offline while having an RCU callback pending, then that - RCU callback will execute on some surviving CPU. (If this was - not the case, a self-spawning RCU callback would prevent the - victim CPU from ever going offline.) + Do not assume that RCU callbacks will be executed on the same + CPU that executed the corresponding call_rcu() or call_srcu(). + For example, if a given CPU goes offline while having an RCU + callback pending, then that RCU callback will execute on some + surviving CPU. (If this was not the case, a self-spawning RCU + callback would prevent the victim CPU from ever going offline.) + Furthermore, CPUs designated by rcu_nocbs= might well -always- + have their RCU callbacks executed on some other CPUs, in fact, + for some real-time workloads, this is the whole point of using + the rcu_nocbs= kernel boot parameter. 13. Unlike other forms of RCU, it -is- permissible to block in an SRCU read-side critical section (demarked by srcu_read_lock() @@ -381,11 +380,11 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! SRCU's expedited primitive (synchronize_srcu_expedited()) never sends IPIs to other CPUs, so it is easier on - real-time workloads than is synchronize_rcu_expedited(), - synchronize_rcu_bh_expedited() or synchronize_sched_expedited(). + real-time workloads than is synchronize_rcu_expedited(). - Note that rcu_dereference() and rcu_assign_pointer() relate to - SRCU just as they do to other forms of RCU. + Note that rcu_assign_pointer() relates to SRCU just as it does to + other forms of RCU, but instead of rcu_dereference() you should + use srcu_dereference() in order to avoid lockdep splats. 14. The whole point of call_rcu(), synchronize_rcu(), and friends is to wait until all pre-existing readers have finished before @@ -405,6 +404,9 @@ 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. + For SRCU readers, you can use smp_mb__after_srcu_read_unlock() + immediately after an srcu_read_unlock() to get a full barrier. + 16. Use CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING, CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD, and the __rcu sparse checks to validate your RCU code. These can help find problems as follows: @@ -428,22 +430,19 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome! These debugging aids can help you find problems that are otherwise extremely difficult to spot. -17. If you register a callback using call_rcu(), call_rcu_bh(), - call_rcu_sched(), or call_srcu(), and pass in a function defined - within a loadable module, then it in necessary to wait for - all pending callbacks to be invoked after the last invocation - and before unloading that module. Note that it is absolutely - -not- sufficient to wait for a grace period! The current (say) - synchronize_rcu() implementation waits only for all previous - callbacks registered on the CPU that synchronize_rcu() is running - on, but it is -not- guaranteed to wait for callbacks registered - on other CPUs. +17. If you register a callback using call_rcu() or call_srcu(), and + pass in a function defined within a loadable module, then it in + necessary to wait for all pending callbacks to be invoked after + the last invocation and before unloading that module. Note that + it is absolutely -not- sufficient to wait for a grace period! + The current (say) synchronize_rcu() implementation is -not- + guaranteed to wait for callbacks registered on other CPUs. + Or even on the current CPU if that CPU recently went offline + and came back online. You instead need to use one of the barrier functions: o call_rcu() -> rcu_barrier() - o call_rcu_bh() -> rcu_barrier() - o call_rcu_sched() -> rcu_barrier() o call_srcu() -> srcu_barrier() However, these barrier functions are absolutely -not- guaranteed |