Re: [PATCH] selftests/bpf: Page out as late a possible in file_reader

[Jiri Olsa <olsajiri@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 03:46:37PM +0200, Jerome Marchand wrote:
> The file_reader/on_open_expect_fault fails consistently on my system.
> It expects a page fault on first dynptr read of some range the exe
> file of the current process because it has paged out that page range
> earlier. However a lot can happen to that range (which depending on
> the actual memory layout could contain text section, data section,
> sections )related to dynamic linking...) between the moment it was
> paged out and the moment the bpf program expected to hit a pagefault
> actually run.
> 
> A bit of instrumentation with mincore() shows that pages from that
> range were accessed several times before the program is run. In
> particular the call of file_reader__load() seems to fault all the
> range in.
> 
> Move the call to madvise(MADV_PAGEOUT) to just before attaching the
> program to minimize the risk of having those page pulled back in from
> under our feet.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Jerome Marchand <jmarchan@redhat.com>

nit typo in the subject a -> as

Acked-by: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>

jirka


> ---
>  .../selftests/bpf/prog_tests/file_reader.c    | 22 +++++++++----------
>  1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/file_reader.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/file_reader.c
> index 5cde32b35da44..48aae7ea0e4bb 100644
> --- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/file_reader.c
> +++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/file_reader.c
> @@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
>  
>  const char *user_ptr = "hello world";
>  char file_contents[256000];
> +void *addr;
>  
>  void *get_executable_base_addr(void)
>  {
> @@ -26,8 +27,7 @@ void *get_executable_base_addr(void)
>  static int initialize_file_contents(void)
>  {
>  	int fd, page_sz = sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE);
> -	ssize_t n = 0, cur, off;
> -	void *addr;
> +	ssize_t n = 0, cur;
>  
>  	fd = open("/proc/self/exe", O_RDONLY);
>  	if (!ASSERT_OK_FD(fd, "Open /proc/self/exe\n"))
> @@ -52,16 +52,6 @@ static int initialize_file_contents(void)
>  	/* page-align base file address */
>  	addr = (void *)((unsigned long)addr & ~(page_sz - 1));
>  
> -	/*
> -	 * Page out range 0..512K, use 0..256K for positive tests and
> -	 * 256K..512K for negative tests expecting page faults
> -	 */
> -	for (off = 0; off < sizeof(file_contents) * 2; off += page_sz) {
> -		if (!ASSERT_OK(madvise(addr + off, page_sz, MADV_PAGEOUT),
> -			       "madvise pageout"))
> -			return errno;
> -	}
> -
>  	return 0;
>  }
>  
> @@ -90,6 +80,14 @@ static void run_test(const char *prog_name)
>  	if (!ASSERT_OK(err, "file_reader__load"))
>  		goto cleanup;
>  
> +	/*
> +	 * Page out range 0..512K, use 0..256K for positive tests and
> +	 * 256K..512K for negative tests expecting page faults
> +	 */
> +	if (!ASSERT_OK(madvise(addr, sizeof(file_contents) * 2, MADV_PAGEOUT),
> +		       "madvise pageout"))
> +		goto cleanup;
> +
>  	err = file_reader__attach(skel);
>  	if (!ASSERT_OK(err, "file_reader__attach"))
>  		goto cleanup;
> -- 
> 2.53.0
>