Re: [PATCH v2 14/14] arm64/mm: Add ptep_get_and_clear_full() to optimize process teardown

Ryan Roberts
2023-12-04T09:39:18Z

On 03/12/2023 23:20, Alistair Popple wrote:
>
> Ryan Roberts <ryan.roberts@arm.com> writes:
>
>> On 30/11/2023 05:07, Alistair Popple wrote:
>>>
>>> Ryan Roberts <ryan.roberts@arm.com> writes:
>>>
>>>>>>> So if we do need to deal with racing HW, I'm pretty sure my v1 implementation is
>>>>>>> buggy because it iterated through the PTEs, getting and accumulating. Then
>>>>>>> iterated again, writing that final set of bits to all the PTEs. And the HW could
>>>>>>> have modified the bits during those loops. I think it would be possible to fix
>>>>>>> the race, but intuition says it would be expensive.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So the issue as I understand it is subsequent iterations would see a
>>>>>> clean PTE after the first iteration returned a dirty PTE. In
>>>>>> ptep_get_and_clear_full() why couldn't you just copy the dirty/accessed
>>>>>> bit (if set) from the PTE being cleared to an adjacent PTE rather than
>>>>>> all the PTEs?
>>>>>
>>>>> The raciness I'm describing is the race between reading access/dirty from one
>>>>> pte and applying it to another. But yes I like your suggestion. if we do:
>>>>>
>>>>> pte = __ptep_get_and_clear_full(ptep)
>>>>>
>>>>> on the target pte, then we have grabbed access/dirty from it in a race-free
>>>>> manner. we can then loop from current pte up towards the top of the block until
>>>>> we find a valid entry (and I guess wrap at the top to make us robust against
>>>>> future callers clearing an an arbitrary order). Then atomically accumulate the
>>>>> access/dirty bits we have just saved into that new entry. I guess that's just a
>>>>> cmpxchg loop - there are already examples of how to do that correctly when
>>>>> racing the TLB.
>>>>>
>>>>> For most entries, we will just be copying up to the next pte. For the last pte,
>>>>> we would end up reading all ptes and determine we are the last one.
>>>>>
>>>>> What do you think?
>>>>
>>>> OK here is an attempt at something which solves the fragility. I think this is
>>>> now robust and will always return the correct access/dirty state from
>>>> ptep_get_and_clear_full() and ptep_get().
>>>>
>>>> But I'm not sure about performance; each call to ptep_get_and_clear_full() for
>>>> each pte in a contpte block will cause a ptep_get() to gather the access/dirty
>>>> bits from across the contpte block - which requires reading each pte in the
>>>> contpte block. So its O(n^2) in that sense. I'll benchmark it and report back.
>>>>
>>>> Was this the type of thing you were thinking of, Alistair?
>>>
>>> Yes, that is along the lines of what I was thinking. However I have
>>> added a couple of comments inline.
>>>
>>>> --8<--
>>>> arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h | 23 ++++++++-
>>>> arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>> arch/arm64/mm/fault.c | 38 +++++++++------
>>>> 3 files changed, 125 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
>>>>
>>>> diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
>>>> index 9bd2f57a9e11..6c295d277784 100644
>>>> --- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
>>>> +++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
>>>> @@ -851,6 +851,7 @@ static inline pmd_t pmd_modify(pmd_t pmd, pgprot_t newprot)
>>>> return pte_pmd(pte_modify(pmd_pte(pmd), newprot));
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> +extern int __ptep_set_access_flags_notlbi(pte_t *ptep, pte_t entry);
>>>> extern int __ptep_set_access_flags(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>>> unsigned long address, pte_t *ptep,
>>>> pte_t entry, int dirty);
>>>> @@ -1145,6 +1146,8 @@ extern pte_t contpte_ptep_get(pte_t *ptep, pte_t orig_pte);
>>>> extern pte_t contpte_ptep_get_lockless(pte_t *orig_ptep);
>>>> extern void contpte_set_ptes(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
>>>> pte_t *ptep, pte_t pte, unsigned int nr);
>>>> +extern pte_t contpte_ptep_get_and_clear_full(struct mm_struct *mm,
>>>> + unsigned long addr, pte_t *ptep);
>>>> extern int contpte_ptep_test_and_clear_young(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>>> unsigned long addr, pte_t *ptep);
>>>> extern int contpte_ptep_clear_flush_young(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>>> @@ -1270,12 +1273,28 @@ static inline void pte_clear(struct mm_struct *mm,
>>>> __pte_clear(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> +#define __HAVE_ARCH_PTEP_GET_AND_CLEAR_FULL
>>>> +static inline pte_t ptep_get_and_clear_full(struct mm_struct *mm,
>>>> + unsigned long addr, pte_t *ptep, int full)
>>>> +{
>>>> + pte_t orig_pte = __ptep_get(ptep);
>>>> +
>>>> + if (!pte_valid_cont(orig_pte))
>>>> + return __ptep_get_and_clear(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> +
>>>> + if (!full) {
>>>> + contpte_try_unfold(mm, addr, ptep, orig_pte);
>>>> + return __ptep_get_and_clear(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> + }
>>>> +
>>>> + return contpte_ptep_get_and_clear_full(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> +}
>>>> +
>>>> #define __HAVE_ARCH_PTEP_GET_AND_CLEAR
>>>> static inline pte_t ptep_get_and_clear(struct mm_struct *mm,
>>>> unsigned long addr, pte_t *ptep)
>>>> {
>>>> - contpte_try_unfold(mm, addr, ptep, __ptep_get(ptep));
>>>> - return __ptep_get_and_clear(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> + return ptep_get_and_clear_full(mm, addr, ptep, 0);
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> #define __HAVE_ARCH_PTEP_TEST_AND_CLEAR_YOUNG
>>>> diff --git a/arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c b/arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c
>>>> index 2a57df16bf58..99b211118d93 100644
>>>> --- a/arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c
>>>> +++ b/arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c
>>>> @@ -145,6 +145,14 @@ pte_t contpte_ptep_get(pte_t *ptep, pte_t orig_pte)
>>>> for (i = 0; i < CONT_PTES; i++, ptep++) {
>>>> pte = __ptep_get(ptep);
>>>>
>>>> + /*
>>>> + * Deal with the partial contpte_ptep_get_and_clear_full() case,
>>>> + * where some of the ptes in the range may be cleared but others
>>>> + * are still to do. See contpte_ptep_get_and_clear_full().
>>>> + */
>>>> + if (!pte_valid(pte))
>>>> + continue;
>>>> +
>>>> if (pte_dirty(pte))
>>>> orig_pte = pte_mkdirty(orig_pte);
>>>>
>>>> @@ -257,6 +265,79 @@ void contpte_set_ptes(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
>>>> }
>>>> EXPORT_SYMBOL(contpte_set_ptes);
>>>>
>>>> +pte_t contpte_ptep_get_and_clear_full(struct mm_struct *mm,
>>>> + unsigned long addr, pte_t *ptep)
>>>> +{
>>>> + /*
>>>> + * When doing a full address space teardown, we can avoid unfolding the
>>>> + * contiguous range, and therefore avoid the associated tlbi. Instead,
>>>> + * just get and clear the pte. The caller is promising to call us for
>>>> + * every pte, so every pte in the range will be cleared by the time the
>>>> + * final tlbi is issued.
>>>> + *
>>>> + * This approach requires some complex hoop jumping though, as for the
>>>> + * duration between returning from the first call to
>>>> + * ptep_get_and_clear_full() and making the final call, the contpte
>>>> + * block is in an intermediate state, where some ptes are cleared and
>>>> + * others are still set with the PTE_CONT bit. If any other APIs are
>>>> + * called for the ptes in the contpte block during that time, we have to
>>>> + * be very careful. The core code currently interleaves calls to
>>>> + * ptep_get_and_clear_full() with ptep_get() and so ptep_get() must be
>>>> + * careful to ignore the cleared entries when accumulating the access
>>>> + * and dirty bits - the same goes for ptep_get_lockless(). The only
>>>> + * other calls we might resonably expect are to set markers in the
>>>> + * previously cleared ptes. (We shouldn't see valid entries being set
>>>> + * until after the tlbi, at which point we are no longer in the
>>>> + * intermediate state). Since markers are not valid, this is safe;
>>>> + * set_ptes() will see the old, invalid entry and will not attempt to
>>>> + * unfold. And the new pte is also invalid so it won't attempt to fold.
>>>> + * We shouldn't see pte markers being set for the 'full' case anyway
>>>> + * since the address space is being torn down.
>>>> + *
>>>> + * The last remaining issue is returning the access/dirty bits. That
>>>> + * info could be present in any of the ptes in the contpte block.
>>>> + * ptep_get() will gather those bits from across the contpte block (for
>>>> + * the remaining valid entries). So below, if the pte we are clearing
>>>> + * has dirty or young set, we need to stash it into a pte that we are
>>>> + * yet to clear. This allows future calls to return the correct state
>>>> + * even when the info was stored in a different pte. Since the core-mm
>>>> + * calls from low to high address, we prefer to stash in the last pte of
>>>> + * the contpte block - this means we are not "dragging" the bits up
>>>> + * through all ptes and increases the chances that we can exit early
>>>> + * because a given pte will have neither dirty or young set.
>>>> + */
>>>> +
>>>> + pte_t orig_pte = __ptep_get_and_clear(mm, addr, ptep);
>>>> + bool dirty = pte_dirty(orig_pte);
>>>> + bool young = pte_young(orig_pte);
>>>> + pte_t *start;
>>>> +
>>>> + if (!dirty && !young)
>>>> + return contpte_ptep_get(ptep, orig_pte);
>>>
>>> I don't think we need to do this. If the PTE is !dirty && !young we can
>>> just return it. As you say we have to assume HW can set those flags at
>>> any time anyway so it doesn't get us much. This means in the common case
>>> we should only run through the loop setting the dirty/young flags once
>>> which should alay the performance concerns.
>>
>> I don't follow your logic. This is precisely the problem I was trying to solve
>> vs my original (simple) attempt - we want to always report the correct
>> access/dirty info. If we read one of the PTEs and neither access nor dirty are
>> set, that doesn't mean its old and clean, it just means that that info is
>> definitely not stored in this PTE - we need to check the others. (when the
>> contiguous bit is set, the HW will only update the access/dirty bits for 1 of
>> the PTEs in the contpte block).
>
> So my concern wasn't about incorrectly returning a !young && !dirty PTE
> when the CONT_PTE block was *previously* clean/old (ie. the first
> ptep_get/ptep_get_and_clear_full returned clean/old) because we have to
> tolerate that anyway due to HW being able to set those bits. Rather my
> concern was ptep_get_and_clear_full() could implicitly clear dirty/young
> bits - ie. ptep_get_and_clear_full() could return a dirty/young PTE but
> the next call would not.
>
> That's because regardless of what we do here it is just a matter of
> timing if we have to assume other HW threads can set these bits at any
> time. There is nothing stopping HW from doing that just after we read
> them in that loop, so a block can always become dirty/young at any time.
> However it shouldn't become !dirty/!young without explicit SW
> intervention.
>
> But this is all a bit of a moot point due to the discussion below.
>
>> Also, IIRC correctly, the core-mm sets access when initially setting up the
>> mapping so its not guarranteed that all but one of the PTEs in the contpte block
>> have (!dirty && !young).
>>
>>>
>>> However I am now wondering if we're doing the wrong thing trying to hide
>>> this down in the arch layer anyway. Perhaps it would be better to deal
>>> with this in the core-mm code after all.
>>>
>>> So how about having ptep_get_and_clear_full() clearing the PTEs for the
>>> entire cont block? We know by definition all PTEs should be pointing to
>>> the same folio anyway, and it seems at least zap_pte_range() would cope
>>> with this just fine because subsequent iterations would just see
>>> pte_none() and continue the loop. I haven't checked the other call sites
>>> though, but in principal I don't see why we couldn't define
>>> ptep_get_and_clear_full() as being something that clears all PTEs
>>> mapping a given folio (although it might need renaming).
>>
>> Ahha! Yes, I've been working on a solution like this since Barry raised it
>> yesterday. I have a working version, that seems to perform well. I wouldn't want
>> to just clear all the PTEs in the block inside ptep_get_and_clear_full() because
>> although it might work today, its fragile in the same way that my v2 version is.
>
> Yes, agree a new helper would be needed.
>
>> Instead, I've defined a new helper, clear_ptes(), which takes a starting pte and
>> a number of ptes to clear (like set_ptes()). It returns the PTE read from the
>> *first* slot, but with the access/dirty bits being accumulated from all of the
>> ptes in the requested batch. Then zap_pte_range() is reworked to find
>> appropriate batches (similar to how I've reworked for ptep_set_wrprotects()).
>>
>> I was trying to avoid introducing new helpers, but I think this is the most
>> robust approach, and looks slightly more performant to, on first sight. It also
>> addresses cases where full=0, which Barry says are important for madvise(DONTNEED).
>
> I strongly agree with this approach now especially if it is equally (or
> more!) performant. I get why you didn't want to intorduce new helpers
> but I think doing so was making things too subtle so would like to see
> this.
>
>>>
>>> This does assume you don't need to partially unmap a page in
>>> zap_pte_range (ie. end >= folio), but we're already making that
>>> assumption.
>>
>> That's fine for full=1. But we can't make that assumption for full=0. If a VMA
>> gets split for a reason that doesn't require re-setting the PTEs then a contpte
>> block could straddle 2 VMAs. But the solution I describe above is robust to that.
>>
>> I'll finish gathering perf data then post for all 3 approaches; v2 as originally
>> posted, "robust ptep_get_and_clear_full()", and clear_ptes(). Hopefully later today.
>
> Thanks!

From the commit log of the new version, which I'll hopefully post later today:

The following shows the results of running a kernel compilation workload
and measuring the cost of arm64_sys_exit_group() (which at ~1.5% is a
very small part of the overall workload).

Benchmarks were run on Ampere Altra in 2 configs; single numa node and 2
numa nodes (tlbis are more expensive in 2 node config).

- baseline: v6.7-rc1 + anonfolio-v7
- no-opt: contpte series without any attempt to optimize exit()
- simple-ptep_get_clear_full: simple optimization to exploit full=1.
ptep_get_clear_full() does not fully conform to its intended semantic
- robust-ptep_get_clear_full: similar to previous but
ptep_get_clear_full() fully conforms to its intended semantic
- clear_ptes: optimization implemented by this patch

| config | numa=1 | numa=2 |
|----------------------------|--------|--------|
| baseline | 0% | 0% |
| no-opt | 190% | 768% |
| simple-ptep_get_clear_full | 8% | 29% |
| robust-ptep_get_clear_full | 21% | 19% |
| clear_ptes | 13% | 9% |

In all cases, the cost of arm64_sys_exit_group() increases; this is
anticipated because there is more work to do to tear down the page
tables. But clear_ptes() gives the smallest increase overall.

Note that "simple-ptep_get_clear_full" is the version I posted with v2.
"robust-ptep_get_clear_full" is the version I tried as part of this
conversation. And "clear_ptes" is the batched version that I think we all now
prefer (and plan to post as part of v3).

Thanks,
Ryan