Re: [patch 1/2] infrastructure to debug (dynamic) objects

Andrew Morton
2008-03-01T10:52:29Z

On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:24:56 -0000 Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de> wrote:

> We can see an ever repeating problem pattern with objects of any kind in
> the kernel:
>
> 1) free of active objects
> 2) reinitialization of active objects
>
> Both problems can be hard to debug because the crash happens at a
> point where we have no chance to decode the root cause anymore. One
> problem spot are kernel timers, where the detection of the problem
> often happens in interrupt context and usually causes the machine to
> panic.
>
> While working on a timer related bug report I had to hack in
> specialized code into the timer subsystem to get a reasonable hint for
> the root cause. This debug hack was fine for temporary use, but far
> from a mergeable solution due to the intrusiveness into the timer code
> and the lack of the ability to detect and report the root cause
> instantly and at the same time keeping the system operational so that
> we have a decent chance to get hold of the debug information without
> special debugging aids like serial consoles.
>
> The problems described above are not restricted to timers, but timers
> tend to expose it usually in a full system crash. Other objects are
> less explosive, but the symptoms caused by such mistakes can be even
> harder to debug.
>
> Instead of creating specialized debugging code for the timer subsystem
> a generic infrastructure is created which allows developers to verify
> their code and provides an easy to enable debug facility for users in
> case of trouble.
>
> The debugobjects core code keeps track of operations on static and
> dynamic objects by inserting them into a hashed list and sanity
> checking them on object operations and provides additional checks
> whenever kernel memory is freed.
>
> The tracked object operations are:
> - initializing an object
> - adding an object to a subsystem list
> - deleting an object from a subsystem list
>
> Each operation is sanity checked before the operation is executed and
> the subsystem specific code can provide a fixup function which prevents
> the damage of the operation. When the sanity check triggers a warning
> message and a stack trace is printed.
>
> The list of operations can be extended if the need arises. For now it's
> limited to the requirements of the first user (timers).
>
> The core code enqueues the objects into hash buckets. The hash index
> is generated from the address of the object to simplify the lookup for
> the check on k/vfree. Each bucket has it's own spinlock to avoid
> contention on a global lock.
>
> The debug code can be compiled in without being active. The runtime
> overhead is minimal and could be optimized by asm alternatives. A
> kernel command line option enables the debugging code.
>

hm.

The enabled-via-command-line thing is a bit sad. I guess runtime
switchability would be hard.

The proof of this pudding is "how many subsystems use it". If things like
the fault-injection framework are a guide, the answer is "zero unless
Thomas does it". Call me an experienced cynic.

> +enum debug_obj_op {
> + ODEBUG_INIT,
> + ODEBUG_ADD,
> + ODEBUG_DEL,
> + ODEBUG_FREE,
> + ODEBUG_TEST,
> +};

Interface nit: five different API calls would be preferable to one call
with a mode argument.

> +enum {
> + ODEBUG_TYPE_UNKNOWN,
> + ODEBUG_MAX_TYPES
> +};

The need for each client to patch this table is regrettable.

> --- linux-2.6.orig/include/linux/mm.h
> +++ linux-2.6/include/linux/mm.h
> @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
> #include <linux/rbtree.h>
> #include <linux/prio_tree.h>
> #include <linux/debug_locks.h>
> +#include <linux/debugobjects.h>
> #include <linux/mm_types.h>
>
> struct mempolicy;

I suspect this wasn't supposed to be here.

> Index: linux-2.6/lib/debugobjects.c
> ===================================================================
> --- /dev/null
> +++ linux-2.6/lib/debugobjects.c
> @@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
> +/*
> + * Generic infrastructure for debugging of objects.
> + *
> + * Started by Thomas Gleixner
> + *
> + * Copyright (C) 2008, Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
> + *
> + *
> + * For licencing details see kernel-base/COPYING
> + */
> +
> +#include <linux/debugfs.h>
> +#include <linux/debugobjects.h>
> +#include <linux/seq_file.h>
> +
> +#define ODEBUG_HASH_SIZE 4096

power-of-2 is said to be a very poor size for a hash table.

> +#define ODEBUG_HASH_MASK (ODEBUG_HASH_SIZE - 1)
> +
> +struct odebug {
> + struct list_head list;

hlist?

> + spinlock_t lock;
> +};
> +
> +static struct odebug obj_hash[ODEBUG_HASH_SIZE];
> +
> +static int debug_objects_selftest __read_mostly;
> +static int debug_objects_maxchain __read_mostly;
> +static int debug_objects_fixups __read_mostly;
> +static int debug_objects_enabled __read_mostly;
> +
> +static int __init enable_object_debug(char *str)
> +{
> + debug_objects_enabled = 1;
> + return 0;
> +}
> +
> +early_param("debug_objects", enable_object_debug);

I can never remember whether these things need to return 0 or 1 on success.

<looks at debug_kernel(), quiet_kernel() and loglevel(). Shudders.
Moves on.>