Re: [PATCH] Memoryless nodes: use "node_memory_map" for cpuset mems_allowed validation

Lee Schermerhorn
2007-07-24T14:11:03Z

On Mon, 2007-07-23 at 14:48 -0700, Nishanth Aravamudan wrote:
> On 23.07.2007 [16:59:52 -0400], Lee Schermerhorn wrote:
> > On Mon, 2007-07-23 at 12:09 -0700, Nishanth Aravamudan wrote:
> > > On 20.07.2007 [16:49:24 -0400], Lee Schermerhorn wrote:
> > > > This fixes a problem I encountered testing Christoph's memoryless nodes
> > > > series. Applies atop that series. Other than this, series holds up
> > > > under what testing I've been able to do this week.
> > > >
> > > > Memoryless Nodes: use "node_memory_map" for cpusets mems_allowed validation
> > > >
> > > > cpusets try to ensure that any node added to a cpuset's
> > > > mems_allowed is on-line and contains memory. The assumption
> > > > was that online nodes contained memory. Thus, it is possible
> > > > to add memoryless nodes to a cpuset and then add tasks to this
> > > > cpuset. This results in continuous series of oom-kill and other
> > > > console stack traces and apparent system hang.
> > > >
> > > > Change cpusets to use node_states[N_MEMORY] [a.k.a.
> > > > node_memory_map] in place of node_online_map when vetting
> > > > memories. Return error if admin attempts to write a non-empty
> > > > mems_allowed node mask containing only memoryless-nodes.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Lee Schermerhorn <lee.schermerhorn@hp.com>
> > >
> > > Lee, while looking at this change, I think it ends up fixing
> > > cpuset_mems_allowed() to return nodemasks that only include nodes in
> > > node_states[N_MEMORY]. However, cpuset_current_mems_allowed is a
> > > lockless macro which would still be broken. I think it would need to
> > > becom a static inline nodes_and() in the CPUSET case and a #define
> > > node_states[N_MEMORY] in the non-CPUSET case?
> > >
> > > Or perhaps we should adjust cpusets to make it so that the mems_allowed
> > > member only includes nodes that are set in node_states[N_MEMORY]?
> >
> >
> > I thought that's what my patch to nodelist_parse() did. It ensures that
> > current->mems_allowed is correct [contains at least one node with
> > memory, and only nodes with memory] at the time it is installed, but
> > doesn't consider memory hot plug and node off-lining. Is this
> > [offline/hotplug] your point?
>
> And everytime it is updated, right? (current->mems_allowed). My concern
> is purely whether I can then directly use cpuset_current_mems_allowed in
> the interleave code for hugetlb.c and it will do the right thing. It
> will work, if the #define is changed for !CPUSETS and if your change
> guarantess current->mems_allowed is always consistent with
> node_states[N_MEMORY].

Other than offlining/hot removal of memory, I think the only place that
current->mems_allowed gets updated in in update_nodelist() [I wrote
nodelist_parse() previously by mistake]. My patch to that function
tries to ensure that current->mems_allowed always contains at least one
node with memory.

If by "gets updated" you're referring to
"cpuset_update_task_memory_state(), the latter calls
"guarantee_online_mems()", which I also patched to use
node_states[N_MEMORY] instead of "node_online_map". So, I think you can
use current->mems_allowed in the hugetlb code. Maybe call
"cpuset_update_task_memory_state()" before using it? However, I think
that will have the effect of escaping the cpuset constraints if all of
the nodes in the current task's mems_allowed have been offlined or hot
removed since this mask was created/updated in update_nodelist().

>
> I think I simply was confused about the full impact of your changes, as
> I don't know cpusets that well. I'm going to try and test a memoryless
> node box I have at work w/ your change, though, and see what happens.

FYI: I initially tried to test Christoph's memless nodes series with
your rebased hugetlb patches, but the system appeared to hang. [Might
be related to Ken Chen's recent hugetlb patch?] I backed off to just
Christoph's series and things seem to run OK. That's when I noticed
that one could create a cpuset with just memoryless nodes and posted the
subject patch. I'll get back to testing your patches on my memoryless
nodes system "real soon now".

Meanwhile, as you've pointed out, I missed the "node_online_map" usage
in the header and, I see, in the initialization of the top level cpuset
in cpuset_init_smp(). I'm testing this now. I'll repost the patch with
these fixes shortly.

For completeness, here's the numactl --hardware output [less the SLIT
info] from my test platform [ia64] in it's current config:

available: 5 nodes (0-4)
node 0 size: 0 MB
node 0 free: 0 MB
node 1 size: 0 MB
node 1 free: 0 MB
node 2 size: 0 MB
node 2 free: 0 MB
node 3 size: 0 MB
node 3 free: 0 MB
node 4 size: 8191 MB
node 4 free: 105 MB

Booted with mem=8G to ensure swapping, ... Free mem is so low because
of the tests I'm running. It varies between ~40M and ~150M.

>
> > Seems like that is an issue that exists in the unpatched code as
> > well--i.e., unlike cpuset_mems_allowed(), the lockless, "_current_"
> > version does not vet current->mems_allowed against the
> > nodes_online_mask. So, all valid nodes in current->mems_allowed could
> > have been off-lined since the mask was installed. Am I reading this
> > right?
>
> True -- I honestly don't know. I doubt much of this code has been fully
> audited for full node unplug?

Looks like at least an initial stab has been made...

Lee