Re: [PATCH v4 2/5] x86, traps: Track entry into and exit from IST context

Andy Lutomirski
2014-11-24T21:03:14Z

On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 12:54 PM, Paul E. McKenney
<paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 12:22:13PM -0800, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
>> On Sat, Nov 22, 2014 at 3:41 PM, Paul E. McKenney
>> <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
>> > On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 09:53:29PM -0800, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
>> >> On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 8:20 PM, Paul E. McKenney
>> >> <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
>> >> > On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 06:00:14PM -0800, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
>> >> >> On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 3:38 PM, Paul E. McKenney
>> >> >> <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Returning state sounds like a bad idea, if we can reasonably avoid it.
>>
>> I agree, except that we already do it for exception_enter(), etc. But
>> yes, changing fewer things is nice.
>>
>> >
>> > And I think I finally see what you are pointing out about my code: If
>> > another NMI comes in between the time I increment ->dynticks_nmi_nesting
>> > and the time I atomically increment ->dynticks, the nested NMI handler
>> > will incorrectly believe that RCU is already paying attention to this CPU.
>> > Which would indeed not be at all good, so good catch!!!
>> >
>> >> Otherwise, I think that there may need to be enough state somewhere so
>> >> that the outermost nested rcu_nmi_enter knows whether to increment
>> >> dynticks. For example, dynticks_nmi_nesting could store the nesting
>> >> count * 2 - (1 if the outermost nested user needs to increment
>> >> dynticks). Something like:
>> >>
>> >> void rcu_nmi_enter(void)
>> >> {
>> >> /* Be very careful -- this function may be called reentrently on the
>> >> same CPU. */
>> >> atomically: increment dynticks if it's even.
>> >>
>> >> /* If an rcu_nmi_enter/rcu_nmi_exit pair happens here, then it will not change
>> >> * the state. */
>> >>
>> >> local_inc(&dynticks_nmi_nesting, (we incremented dynticks ? 1 : 2));
>> >>
>> >> WARN_ON(we incremented dynticks and dynticks_nmi_nesting was nonzero);
>> >> }
>> >>
>> >> void rcu_nmi_exit(void)
>> >> {
>> >> WARN_ON(!(dynticks & 1));
>> >> locally atomically: dynticks_nmi_nesting -= 2, unless
>> >> dynticks_nmi_nesting == 1, in which case set it to zero
>> >>
>> >> if (dynticks_nmi_nesting was 1)
>> >> atomic_inc(&dynticks);
>> >> }
>> >>
>> >> The invariant here is that, for a single unnested enter/exit, if
>> >> dynticks_nmi_nesting != 0, then dynticks is odd. As a result, an
>> >> rcu_nmi_enter/rcu_nmi_exit pair at any time when dynticks_nmi_nesting
>> >> != 0 *or* dynticks is odd will have no net effect, so the invariant,
>> >> in fact, holds for all invocations, nested or otherwise.
>> >>
>> >> At least one of those conditions is true at all times during the
>> >> execution of outermost pair, starting with the first atomic operation
>> >> and ending with the final atomic_inc. So they nest properly no matter
>> >> what else happens (unless, of course, someone else pokes dynticks in
>> >> the middle).
>> >>
>> >> Thoughts?
>> >
>> > Let's see... The evenness of ->dynticks should be preserved by nested NMI
>> > handlers, so the check and increment need not be atomic. We don't have
>> > any way (other than atomic operations) to do local atomic modifications
>> > on all architectures, because we cannot mask NMIs. (Yes, it can work
>> > on x86, but this is common code that needs to work everywhere.) On the
>> > other hand, presumably NMIs are rare, so atomic modification of the NMI
>> > nesting counter should be OK, at least if it proves absolutely necessary.
>> > And I am thinking that a mechanical proof will be needed here. :-/
>> >
>> > But first, let me try generating the code and informally evaluating it:
>> >
>> > 1 struct rcu_dynticks {
>> > 2 long long dynticks_nesting;
>> > 3 int dynticks_nmi_nesting;
>> > 4 atomic_t dynticks;
>> > 5 };
>> > 6
>> > 7 void rcu_nmi_enter(void)
>> > 8 {
>> > 9 struct rcu_dynticks *rdtp = this_cpu_ptr(&rcu_dynticks);
>> > 10 int incby = 2;
>> > 11
>> > 12 if (!(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1)) {
>> > 13 smp_mb__before_atomic();
>> > 14 atomic_inc(&rdtp->dynticks);
>> > 15 smp_mb__after_atomic();
>> > 16 WARN_ON_ONCE(!(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1));
>> > 17 incby = 1;
>>
>> WARN_ON_ONCE(rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting < 1) here, perhaps?
>
> That would make sense.
>
>> > 18 }
>> > 19 rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting += incby;
>>
>> Oh, I see why you don't need local_add -- it's because an nmi in the
>> middle of this increment won't have any effect on the interrupted
>> code, so even a software RMW will be okay.
>
> Yep! ;-)
>
>> > 20 barrier();
>> > 21 }
>> > 22
>> > 23 void rcu_nmi_exit(void)
>> > 24 {
>> > 25 struct rcu_dynticks *rdtp = this_cpu_ptr(&rcu_dynticks);
>> > 26
>> > 27 WARN_ON_ONCE(!rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting);
>> > 28 WARN_ON_ONCE(!(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1));
>> > 29 if (rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting != 1) {
>>
>> WARN_ON_ONCE(rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting < 2), perhaps?
>
> This is already implied by the WARN_ON_ONCE() on line 27 and the check
> on line 29.

I was worried about negative numbers. Maybe change line 27 to
WARN_ON_ONCE(rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting <= 0), then? (Or is it
unsigned? If so, let's make to signed to catch this type of error.)

>
>> > 30 rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting -= 2;
>> > 31 return;
>> > 32 }
>> > 33 rdtp->dynticks_nmi_nesting = 0;
>> > 34 smp_mb__before_atomic();
>>
>> This implies barrier(), right?
>
> Yep!
>
>> > 35 atomic_inc(&rdtp->dynticks);
>> > 36 smp_mb__after_atomic();
>> > 37 WARN_ON_ONCE(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1);
>> > 38 }
>> >
>> > Line 9 picks up a pointer to this CPU's rcu_dynticks structure and line 10
>> > assumes that we don't need to increment ->dynticks.
>> >
>> > Line 12 checks to see if ->dynticks is even. Note that this check is
>> > stable: If there are nested NMIs, they will increment ->dynticks twice
>> > or not at all, and either way preserves the evenness (to be proven, of
>> > course, but that is the plan). If ->dynticks is even, lines 13-15
>> > atomically increment it, line 16 complains if still even, and line 17
>> > says we will increment ->dynticks_nmi_nesting by only 1.
>> >
>> > Either way, line 19 increments ->dynticks_nmi_nesting as needed and
>> > line 20 keeps the compiler from getting too cute.
>> >
>> > For rcu_nmi_exit(), line 25 again picks up this CPUs rcu_dynticks
>> > structure. Lines 27 and 28 complain bitterly if invariants are violated.
>> > If line 29 finds that the value of ->dynticks_nmi_nesting is not 1,
>> > then line 30 subtracts 2 from ->dynticks_nmi_nesting and line 31 returns.
>> >
>> > Otherwise, line 33 sets ->dynticks_nmi_nesting to zero, lines 34-36
>> > atomically increment ->dynticks with full ordering, and line 37
>> > complains bitterly if ->dynticks is not even.
>> >
>> > So, if an NMI occurs before rcu_nmi_enter's atomic increment, then the
>> > nested NMI's rcu_nmi_enter() and rcu_nmi_exit() will think that they are
>> > not nested, which is the correct thing for them to think in that case.
>> > They will increment ->dynticks twice and restore ->dynticks_nmi_nesting
>> > to zero (adding and then subtracting 1). If the NMI happens after the
>> > atomic increment, then the nested rcu_nmi_enter() and rcu_nmi_exit()
>> > will leave ->dynticks alone, and will restore ->dynticks_nmi_nesting
>> > to zero (adding and subtracting two again). If the NMI happens after
>> > the increment of ->dynticks_nmi_nesting, the nested NMI's rcu_nmi_enter()
>> > and rcu_nmi_exit() will again restore ->dynticks_nmi_nesting, but this
>> > time to one (again adding and subtracting two).
>> >
>> > In rcu_nmi_exit(), ->dynticks_nmi_nesting of zero had better not happen,
>> > one means we need to atomically increment ->dynticks, and other values
>> > mean that we are partially or fully nested. Reasoning proceeds as for
>> > rcu_nmi_enter(), but in the opposite direction.
>> >
>> > Whew! That might even work.
>>
>> I think I like this, with the warnings above.
>
> OK with dropping the one that I called out as redundant?

Sure, but see about.

>
>> > But how about taking a different approach. Assuming that there can
>> > never be more than (say) 14 nesting NMI-like things, use the lower
>> > four bits of ->dynticks to represent the NMI nesting and the upper
>> > 28 bits as the counter. This of course requires modifying lots of
>> > places in RCU that check the counter, but it is probably time to
>> > abstract the check anyway.
>> >
>> > This would allow my earlier attempted logic to work and (maybe) simplify
>> > the reasoning a bit (and yes, the "magic" constants need macros):
>> >
>> > void rcu_nmi_enter(void)
>> > {
>> > struct rcu_dynticks *rdtp = this_cpu_ptr(&rcu_dynticks);
>> > int nesting = atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0xf;
>> > int incby = 0x01;
>> >
>> > WARN_ON_ONCE(nexting == 0xf);
>> > if (nesting == 0) {
>> > if (atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x10)
>> > return;
>> > incby = 0x11;
>> > }
>> > smp_mb__before_atomic();
>> > atomic_add(&rdtp->dynticks, incby);
>> > smp_mb__after_atomic();
>> > WARN_ON_ONCE(!(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1));
>> > }
>> >
>> > void rcu_nmi_exit(void)
>> > {
>> > struct rcu_dynticks *rdtp = this_cpu_ptr(&rcu_dynticks);
>> > int nesting = atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0xf;
>> > int incby = 0x0f;
>> >
>> > if (nesting == 0)
>> > return;
>> > if (nesting > 1)
>> > incby = -1;
>> > smp_mb__before_atomic();
>> > atomic_add(&rdtp->dynticks, incby);
>> > smp_mb__after_atomic();
>> > WARN_ON_ONCE(atomic_read(&rdtp->dynticks) & 0x1);
>> > }
>> >
>> > Over to you! ;-)
>>
>> This latter one is all you :)
>
> Well, let's see how I feel about it after trying a Promela model of
> the first code sequence. ;-)

:)

Does Promela understand the differences between this type of
reentrancy and real threading?

--Andy