iptables very slow after commit784544739a25c30637397ace5489eeb6e15d7d49

Jeff Chua
2009-04-10T09:16:28Z

Adding 200 records in iptables took 6.0sec in 2.6.30-rc1 compared to
0.2sec in 2.6.29. I've bisected down this commit.

There are a few patches on top of the original patch. When I reverted the
original commit + changing rcu_read() to rcu_read_bh(), it speeds up the
inserts back to .2sec again.

I'm loading all the firewall rules during boot-up and this 6 secs slowness
is really not very nice to wait for.

This is more than 20% degradation.

Author: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@vyatta.com>
Date: Fri Feb 20 10:35:32 2009 +0100

netfilter: iptables: lock free counters

The reader/writer lock in ip_tables is acquired in the critical path
of processing packets and is one of the reasons just loading
iptables can cause a 20% performance loss. The rwlock serves two
functions:

Attached is the original commit + _bh changes to make it revert cleanly in
2.6.30-rc1.

I will be happy if someone has a proper patch for me to test further.

Thanks,
Jeff.

commit 784544739a25c30637397ace5489eeb6e15d7d49
Author: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@vyatta.com>
Date: Fri Feb 20 10:35:32 2009 +0100

netfilter: iptables: lock free counters

The reader/writer lock in ip_tables is acquired in the critical path of
processing packets and is one of the reasons just loading iptables can cause
a 20% performance loss. The rwlock serves two functions:

1) it prevents changes to table state (xt_replace) while table is in use.
This is now handled by doing rcu on the xt_table. When table is
replaced, the new table(s) are put in and the old one table(s) are freed
after RCU period.

2) it provides synchronization when accesing the counter values.
This is now handled by swapping in new table_info entries for each cpu
then summing the old values, and putting the result back onto one
cpu. On a busy system it may cause sampling to occur at different
times on each cpu, but no packet/byte counts are lost in the process.

Signed-off-by: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@vyatta.com>

Sucessfully tested on my dual quad core machine too, but iptables only (no ipv6 here)
BTW, my new "tbench 8" result is 2450 MB/s, (it was 2150 MB/s not so long ago)

Acked-by: Eric Dumazet <dada1@cosmosbay.com>
Signed-off-by: Patrick McHardy <kaber@trash.net>

diff --git a/include/linux/netfilter/x_tables.h b/include/linux/netfilter/x_tables.h
index 9fac88f..e8e08d0 100644
--- a/include/linux/netfilter/x_tables.h
+++ b/include/linux/netfilter/x_tables.h
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ struct xt_table
unsigned int valid_hooks;

/* Lock for the curtain */
- rwlock_t lock;
+ struct mutex lock;

/* Man behind the curtain... */
struct xt_table_info *private;
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ struct xt_table_info

/* ipt_entry tables: one per CPU */
/* Note : this field MUST be the last one, see XT_TABLE_INFO_SZ */
- char *entries[1];
+ void *entries[1];
};

#define XT_TABLE_INFO_SZ (offsetof(struct xt_table_info, entries) \
@@ -432,6 +432,8 @@ extern void xt_proto_fini(struct net *net, u_int8_t af);

extern struct xt_table_info *xt_alloc_table_info(unsigned int size);
extern void xt_free_table_info(struct xt_table_info *info);
+extern void xt_table_entry_swap_rcu(struct xt_table_info *old,
+ struct xt_table_info *new);

#ifdef CONFIG_COMPAT
#include <net/compat.h>
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/arp_tables.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/arp_tables.c
index b5db463..64a7c6c 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/arp_tables.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/arp_tables.c
@@ -261,9 +261,10 @@ unsigned int arpt_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
indev = in ? in->name : nulldevname;
outdev = out ? out->name : nulldevname;

- read_lock_bh(&table->lock);
- private = table->private;
- table_base = (void *)private->entries[smp_processor_id()];
+ rcu_read_lock_bh();
+ private = rcu_dereference(table->private);
+ table_base = rcu_dereference(private->entries[smp_processor_id()]);
+
e = get_entry(table_base, private->hook_entry[hook]);
back = get_entry(table_base, private->underflow[hook]);

@@ -335,7 +336,8 @@ unsigned int arpt_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
e = (void *)e + e->next_offset;
}
} while (!hotdrop);
- read_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+
+ rcu_read_unlock_bh();

if (hotdrop)
return NF_DROP;
@@ -738,11 +740,65 @@ static void get_counters(const struct xt_table_info *t,
}
}

-static inline struct xt_counters *alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
+
+/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
+ * and everything is OK. */
+static int
+add_counter_to_entry(struct arpt_entry *e,
+ const struct xt_counters addme[],
+ unsigned int *i)
+{
+ ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
+
+ (*i)++;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+/* Take values from counters and add them back onto the current cpu */
+static void put_counters(struct xt_table_info *t,
+ const struct xt_counters counters[])
+{
+ unsigned int i, cpu;
+
+ local_bh_disable();
+ cpu = smp_processor_id();
+ i = 0;
+ ARPT_ENTRY_ITERATE(t->entries[cpu],
+ t->size,
+ add_counter_to_entry,
+ counters,
+ &i);
+ local_bh_enable();
+}
+
+static inline int
+zero_entry_counter(struct arpt_entry *e, void *arg)
+{
+ e->counters.bcnt = 0;
+ e->counters.pcnt = 0;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+clone_counters(struct xt_table_info *newinfo, const struct xt_table_info *info)
+{
+ unsigned int cpu;
+ const void *loc_cpu_entry = info->entries[raw_smp_processor_id()];
+
+ memcpy(newinfo, info, offsetof(struct xt_table_info, entries));
+ for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
+ memcpy(newinfo->entries[cpu], loc_cpu_entry, info->size);
+ ARPT_ENTRY_ITERATE(newinfo->entries[cpu], newinfo->size,
+ zero_entry_counter, NULL);
+ }
+}
+
+static struct xt_counters *alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
{
unsigned int countersize;
struct xt_counters *counters;
- const struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *info;

/* We need atomic snapshot of counters: rest doesn't change
* (other than comefrom, which userspace doesn't care
@@ -752,14 +808,30 @@ static inline struct xt_counters *alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
counters = vmalloc_node(countersize, numa_node_id());

if (counters == NULL)
- return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+ goto nomem;
+
+ info = xt_alloc_table_info(private->size);
+ if (!info)
+ goto free_counters;

- /* First, sum counters... */
- write_lock_bh(&table->lock);
- get_counters(private, counters);
- write_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ clone_counters(info, private);
+
+ mutex_lock(&table->lock);
+ xt_table_entry_swap_rcu(private, info);
+ synchronize_net(); /* Wait until smoke has cleared */
+
+ get_counters(info, counters);
+ put_counters(private, counters);
+ mutex_unlock(&table->lock);
+
+ xt_free_table_info(info);

return counters;
+
+ free_counters:
+ vfree(counters);
+ nomem:
+ return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
}

static int copy_entries_to_user(unsigned int total_size,
@@ -1099,20 +1171,6 @@ static int do_replace(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len)
return ret;
}

-/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
- * and everything is OK.
- */
-static inline int add_counter_to_entry(struct arpt_entry *e,
- const struct xt_counters addme[],
- unsigned int *i)
-{
-
- ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
-
- (*i)++;
- return 0;
-}
-
static int do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
int compat)
{
@@ -1172,13 +1230,14 @@ static int do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
goto free;
}

- write_lock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_lock(&t->lock);
private = t->private;
if (private->number != num_counters) {
ret = -EINVAL;
goto unlock_up_free;
}

+ preempt_disable();
i = 0;
/* Choose the copy that is on our node */
loc_cpu_entry = private->entries[smp_processor_id()];
@@ -1187,8 +1246,10 @@ static int do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
add_counter_to_entry,
paddc,
&i);
+ preempt_enable();
unlock_up_free:
- write_unlock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&t->lock);
+
xt_table_unlock(t);
module_put(t->me);
free:
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c
index ef8b6ca..08cde5b 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c
@@ -347,10 +347,12 @@ ipt_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
mtpar.family = tgpar.family = NFPROTO_IPV4;
tgpar.hooknum = hook;

- read_lock_bh(&table->lock);
IP_NF_ASSERT(table->valid_hooks & (1 << hook));
- private = table->private;
- table_base = (void *)private->entries[smp_processor_id()];
+
+ rcu_read_lock_bh();
+ private = rcu_dereference(table->private);
+ table_base = rcu_dereference(private->entries[smp_processor_id()]);
+
e = get_entry(table_base, private->hook_entry[hook]);

/* For return from builtin chain */
@@ -445,7 +447,7 @@ ipt_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
}
} while (!hotdrop);

- read_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ rcu_read_unlock_bh();

#ifdef DEBUG_ALLOW_ALL
return NF_ACCEPT;
@@ -924,13 +926,68 @@ get_counters(const struct xt_table_info *t,
counters,
&i);
}
+
+}
+
+/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
+ * and everything is OK. */
+static int
+add_counter_to_entry(struct ipt_entry *e,
+ const struct xt_counters addme[],
+ unsigned int *i)
+{
+ ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
+
+ (*i)++;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+/* Take values from counters and add them back onto the current cpu */
+static void put_counters(struct xt_table_info *t,
+ const struct xt_counters counters[])
+{
+ unsigned int i, cpu;
+
+ local_bh_disable();
+ cpu = smp_processor_id();
+ i = 0;
+ IPT_ENTRY_ITERATE(t->entries[cpu],
+ t->size,
+ add_counter_to_entry,
+ counters,
+ &i);
+ local_bh_enable();
+}
+
+
+static inline int
+zero_entry_counter(struct ipt_entry *e, void *arg)
+{
+ e->counters.bcnt = 0;
+ e->counters.pcnt = 0;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+clone_counters(struct xt_table_info *newinfo, const struct xt_table_info *info)
+{
+ unsigned int cpu;
+ const void *loc_cpu_entry = info->entries[raw_smp_processor_id()];
+
+ memcpy(newinfo, info, offsetof(struct xt_table_info, entries));
+ for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
+ memcpy(newinfo->entries[cpu], loc_cpu_entry, info->size);
+ IPT_ENTRY_ITERATE(newinfo->entries[cpu], newinfo->size,
+ zero_entry_counter, NULL);
+ }
}

static struct xt_counters * alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
{
unsigned int countersize;
struct xt_counters *counters;
- const struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *info;

/* We need atomic snapshot of counters: rest doesn't change
(other than comefrom, which userspace doesn't care
@@ -939,14 +996,30 @@ static struct xt_counters * alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
counters = vmalloc_node(countersize, numa_node_id());

if (counters == NULL)
- return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+ goto nomem;

- /* First, sum counters... */
- write_lock_bh(&table->lock);
- get_counters(private, counters);
- write_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ info = xt_alloc_table_info(private->size);
+ if (!info)
+ goto free_counters;
+
+ clone_counters(info, private);
+
+ mutex_lock(&table->lock);
+ xt_table_entry_swap_rcu(private, info);
+ synchronize_net(); /* Wait until smoke has cleared */
+
+ get_counters(info, counters);
+ put_counters(private, counters);
+ mutex_unlock(&table->lock);
+
+ xt_free_table_info(info);

return counters;
+
+ free_counters:
+ vfree(counters);
+ nomem:
+ return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
}

static int
@@ -1312,27 +1385,6 @@ do_replace(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len)
return ret;
}

-/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
- * and everything is OK. */
-static int
-add_counter_to_entry(struct ipt_entry *e,
- const struct xt_counters addme[],
- unsigned int *i)
-{
-#if 0
- duprintf("add_counter: Entry %u %lu/%lu + %lu/%lu\n",
- *i,
- (long unsigned int)e->counters.pcnt,
- (long unsigned int)e->counters.bcnt,
- (long unsigned int)addme[*i].pcnt,
- (long unsigned int)addme[*i].bcnt);
-#endif
-
- ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
-
- (*i)++;
- return 0;
-}

static int
do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len, int compat)
@@ -1393,13 +1445,14 @@ do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len, int compat
goto free;
}

- write_lock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_lock(&t->lock);
private = t->private;
if (private->number != num_counters) {
ret = -EINVAL;
goto unlock_up_free;
}

+ preempt_disable();
i = 0;
/* Choose the copy that is on our node */
loc_cpu_entry = private->entries[raw_smp_processor_id()];
@@ -1408,8 +1461,9 @@ do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len, int compat
add_counter_to_entry,
paddc,
&i);
+ preempt_enable();
unlock_up_free:
- write_unlock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&t->lock);
xt_table_unlock(t);
module_put(t->me);
free:
diff --git a/net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c b/net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c
index d64594b..34af7bb 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c
@@ -382,10 +382,12 @@ ip6t_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
mtpar.family = tgpar.family = NFPROTO_IPV6;
tgpar.hooknum = hook;

- read_lock_bh(&table->lock);
IP_NF_ASSERT(table->valid_hooks & (1 << hook));
- private = table->private;
- table_base = (void *)private->entries[smp_processor_id()];
+
+ rcu_read_lock_bh();
+ private = rcu_dereference(table->private);
+ table_base = rcu_dereference(private->entries[smp_processor_id()]);
+
e = get_entry(table_base, private->hook_entry[hook]);

/* For return from builtin chain */
@@ -483,7 +485,7 @@ ip6t_do_table(struct sk_buff *skb,
#ifdef CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG
((struct ip6t_entry *)table_base)->comefrom = NETFILTER_LINK_POISON;
#endif
- read_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ rcu_read_unlock_bh();

#ifdef DEBUG_ALLOW_ALL
return NF_ACCEPT;
@@ -964,11 +966,64 @@ get_counters(const struct xt_table_info *t,
}
}

+/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
+ * and everything is OK. */
+static int
+add_counter_to_entry(struct ip6t_entry *e,
+ const struct xt_counters addme[],
+ unsigned int *i)
+{
+ ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
+
+ (*i)++;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+/* Take values from counters and add them back onto the current cpu */
+static void put_counters(struct xt_table_info *t,
+ const struct xt_counters counters[])
+{
+ unsigned int i, cpu;
+
+ local_bh_disable();
+ cpu = smp_processor_id();
+ i = 0;
+ IP6T_ENTRY_ITERATE(t->entries[cpu],
+ t->size,
+ add_counter_to_entry,
+ counters,
+ &i);
+ local_bh_enable();
+}
+
+static inline int
+zero_entry_counter(struct ip6t_entry *e, void *arg)
+{
+ e->counters.bcnt = 0;
+ e->counters.pcnt = 0;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+clone_counters(struct xt_table_info *newinfo, const struct xt_table_info *info)
+{
+ unsigned int cpu;
+ const void *loc_cpu_entry = info->entries[raw_smp_processor_id()];
+
+ memcpy(newinfo, info, offsetof(struct xt_table_info, entries));
+ for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
+ memcpy(newinfo->entries[cpu], loc_cpu_entry, info->size);
+ IP6T_ENTRY_ITERATE(newinfo->entries[cpu], newinfo->size,
+ zero_entry_counter, NULL);
+ }
+}
+
static struct xt_counters *alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
{
unsigned int countersize;
struct xt_counters *counters;
- const struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *private = table->private;
+ struct xt_table_info *info;

/* We need atomic snapshot of counters: rest doesn't change
(other than comefrom, which userspace doesn't care
@@ -977,16 +1032,30 @@ static struct xt_counters *alloc_counters(struct xt_table *table)
counters = vmalloc_node(countersize, numa_node_id());

if (counters == NULL)
- return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+ goto nomem;
+
+ info = xt_alloc_table_info(private->size);
+ if (!info)
+ goto free_counters;
+
+ clone_counters(info, private);
+
+ mutex_lock(&table->lock);
+ xt_table_entry_swap_rcu(private, info);
+ synchronize_net(); /* Wait until smoke has cleared */
+
+ get_counters(info, counters);
+ put_counters(private, counters);
+ mutex_unlock(&table->lock);

- /* First, sum counters... */
- write_lock_bh(&table->lock);
- get_counters(private, counters);
- write_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
xt_free_table_info(info);

return counters;

+ free_counters:
+ vfree(counters);
+ nomem:
+ return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
}

static int
@@ -1351,28 +1420,6 @@ do_replace(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len)
return ret;
}

-/* We're lazy, and add to the first CPU; overflow works its fey magic
- * and everything is OK. */
-static inline int
-add_counter_to_entry(struct ip6t_entry *e,
- const struct xt_counters addme[],
- unsigned int *i)
-{
-#if 0
- duprintf("add_counter: Entry %u %lu/%lu + %lu/%lu\n",
- *i,
- (long unsigned int)e->counters.pcnt,
- (long unsigned int)e->counters.bcnt,
- (long unsigned int)addme[*i].pcnt,
- (long unsigned int)addme[*i].bcnt);
-#endif
-
- ADD_COUNTER(e->counters, addme[*i].bcnt, addme[*i].pcnt);
-
- (*i)++;
- return 0;
-}
-
static int
do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
int compat)
@@ -1433,13 +1480,14 @@ do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
goto free;
}

- write_lock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_lock(&t->lock);
private = t->private;
if (private->number != num_counters) {
ret = -EINVAL;
goto unlock_up_free;
}

+ preempt_disable();
i = 0;
/* Choose the copy that is on our node */
loc_cpu_entry = private->entries[raw_smp_processor_id()];
@@ -1448,8 +1496,9 @@ do_add_counters(struct net *net, void __user *user, unsigned int len,
add_counter_to_entry,
paddc,
&i);
+ preempt_enable();
unlock_up_free:
- write_unlock_bh(&t->lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&t->lock);
xt_table_unlock(t);
module_put(t->me);
free:
diff --git a/net/netfilter/x_tables.c b/net/netfilter/x_tables.c
index bfbf521..bfcac92 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/x_tables.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/x_tables.c
@@ -625,6 +625,20 @@ void xt_free_table_info(struct xt_table_info *info)
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(xt_free_table_info);

+void xt_table_entry_swap_rcu(struct xt_table_info *oldinfo,
+ struct xt_table_info *newinfo)
+{
+ unsigned int cpu;
+
+ for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
+ void *p = oldinfo->entries[cpu];
+ rcu_assign_pointer(oldinfo->entries[cpu], newinfo->entries[cpu]);
+ newinfo->entries[cpu] = p;
+ }
+
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(xt_table_entry_swap_rcu);
+
/* Find table by name, grabs mutex & ref. Returns ERR_PTR() on error. */
struct xt_table *xt_find_table_lock(struct net *net, u_int8_t af,
const char *name)
@@ -671,21 +685,22 @@ xt_replace_table(struct xt_table *table,
struct xt_table_info *oldinfo, *private;

/* Do the substitution. */
- write_lock_bh(&table->lock);
+ mutex_lock(&table->lock);
private = table->private;
/* Check inside lock: is the old number correct? */
if (num_counters != private->number) {
duprintf("num_counters != table->private->number (%u/%u)\n",
num_counters, private->number);
- write_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&table->lock);
*error = -EAGAIN;
return NULL;
}
oldinfo = private;
- table->private = newinfo;
+ rcu_assign_pointer(table->private, newinfo);
newinfo->initial_entries = oldinfo->initial_entries;
- write_unlock_bh(&table->lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&table->lock);

+ synchronize_net();
return oldinfo;
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(xt_replace_table);
@@ -719,7 +734,8 @@ struct xt_table *xt_register_table(struct net *net, struct xt_table *table,

/* Simplifies replace_table code. */
table->private = bootstrap;
- rwlock_init(&table->lock);
+ mutex_init(&table->lock);
+
if (!xt_replace_table(table, 0, newinfo, &ret))
goto unlock;