2016-03-04 23:07:19

by Chris Friesen

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: [PATCH] steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return whether
the last jiffy was stolen or not.

Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in units
of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs depending on
CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.

The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to always return
jiffies. If CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN is not enabled then this
is a no-op.

As far as I can tell this bug has been present since commit dee08a72.

Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
---

kernel/sched/cputime.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
index b2ab2ff..e724496 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);

account_steal_time(steal_ct);
- return steal_ct;
+ return cputime_to_jiffies(steal_ct);
}
#endif
return false;


2016-03-05 10:28:37

by Thomas Gleixner

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH] steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

Chris,

On Fri, 4 Mar 2016, Chris Friesen wrote:

First of all the subject line should contain a subsystem prefix,
i.e. "sched/cputime:"

> The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return whether
> the last jiffy was stolen or not.
>
> Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in units
> of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs depending on
> CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.

Sure, but what is the actual problem? The return value is boolean and tells
whether there was stolen time accounted or not.

> The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to always return
> jiffies. If CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN is not enabled then this
> is a no-op.

What does that fix?

> As far as I can tell this bug has been present since commit dee08a72.

Which bug?

> Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
> ---
>
> kernel/sched/cputime.c | 2 +-
> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> index b2ab2ff..e724496 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> @@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
> this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
>
> account_steal_time(steal_ct);
> - return steal_ct;
> + return cputime_to_jiffies(steal_ct);

So if steal time is close to a jiffie, then cputime_to_jiffies will return 0
and you account a full jiffie to user/system/whatever.

Without a proper explanation of the problem and the resulting "bug" I really
cannot figure out why we want that change.

Thanks,

tglx

2016-03-05 13:19:16

by Frederic Weisbecker

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH] steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

On Sat, Mar 05, 2016 at 11:27:01AM +0100, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> Chris,
>
> On Fri, 4 Mar 2016, Chris Friesen wrote:
>
> First of all the subject line should contain a subsystem prefix,
> i.e. "sched/cputime:"
>
> > The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return whether
> > the last jiffy was stolen or not.
> >
> > Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in units
> > of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs depending on
> > CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.
>
> Sure, but what is the actual problem? The return value is boolean and tells
> whether there was stolen time accounted or not.
>
> > The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to always return
> > jiffies. If CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN is not enabled then this
> > is a no-op.
>
> What does that fix?
>
> > As far as I can tell this bug has been present since commit dee08a72.
>
> Which bug?
>
> > Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
> > ---
> >
> > kernel/sched/cputime.c | 2 +-
> > 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> > index b2ab2ff..e724496 100644
> > --- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> > +++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> > @@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
> > this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
> >
> > account_steal_time(steal_ct);
> > - return steal_ct;
> > + return cputime_to_jiffies(steal_ct);
>
> So if steal time is close to a jiffie, then cputime_to_jiffies will return 0
> and you account a full jiffie to user/system/whatever.
>
> Without a proper explanation of the problem and the resulting "bug" I really
> cannot figure out why we want that change.

Indeed the changelog should better explain the problem. So I think the issue is that
if the cputime has nsecs granularity and we have a tiny stolen time to account (lets say
a few nanosecs, in fact anything that is below a jiffy), we are not going to account the
tick on user/system.

But the fix doesn't look right to me because we are still accounting the steal time
if it is lower than a jiffy and that steal time will never be substracted to user/system
time if it never reach a jiffy.

Instead the fix should accumulate the steal time and account it only once it's worth
a jiffy and then substract it from system/user time accordingly. Something like that:

diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
index b2ab2ff..d38e25f 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
if (static_key_false(&paravirt_steal_enabled)) {
u64 steal;
- cputime_t steal_ct;
+ unsigned long steal_jiffies;

steal = paravirt_steal_clock(smp_processor_id());
steal -= this_rq()->prev_steal_time;
@@ -272,11 +272,11 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
* based on jiffies). Lets cast the result to cputime
* granularity and account the rest on the next rounds.
*/
- steal_ct = nsecs_to_cputime(steal);
- this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
+ steal_jiffies = nsecs_to_jiffies(steal);
+ this_rq()->prev_steal_time += jiffies_to_nsecs(steal_jiffies);

account_steal_time(steal_ct);
- return steal_ct;
+ return steal_jiffies;
}
#endif
return false;

2016-03-06 04:17:57

by Chris Friesen

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH] steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

On 03/05/2016 07:19 AM, Frederic Weisbecker wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 05, 2016 at 11:27:01AM +0100, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
>> Chris,
>>
>> On Fri, 4 Mar 2016, Chris Friesen wrote:
>>
>> First of all the subject line should contain a subsystem prefix,
>> i.e. "sched/cputime:"
>>
>>> The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return whether
>>> the last jiffy was stolen or not.
>>>
>>> Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in units
>>> of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs depending on
>>> CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.
>>
>> Sure, but what is the actual problem? The return value is boolean and tells
>> whether there was stolen time accounted or not.

> Indeed the changelog should better explain the problem. So I think the issue is that
> if the cputime has nsecs granularity and we have a tiny stolen time to account (lets say
> a few nanosecs, in fact anything that is below a jiffy), we are not going to account the
> tick on user/system.

Yes, this is exactly it. Because of this, if CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN is
enabled in a guest then the idle/system/user stats in /proc/stat can show odd
values, and "top" shows nothing for user/system even if CPU hogs are running.

> But the fix doesn't look right to me because we are still accounting the steal time
> if it is lower than a jiffy and that steal time will never be substracted to user/system
> time if it never reach a jiffy.
>
> Instead the fix should accumulate the steal time and account it only once it's worth
> a jiffy and then substract it from system/user time accordingly.

Yes, on reflection you are correct, and the patch looks pretty close, except
that account_steal_time() is still expecting units of cputime. I'll send a
followup patch.

> Something like that:
>
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> index b2ab2ff..d38e25f 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
> @@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
> #ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
> if (static_key_false(&paravirt_steal_enabled)) {
> u64 steal;
> - cputime_t steal_ct;
> + unsigned long steal_jiffies;
>
> steal = paravirt_steal_clock(smp_processor_id());
> steal -= this_rq()->prev_steal_time;
> @@ -272,11 +272,11 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
> * based on jiffies). Lets cast the result to cputime
> * granularity and account the rest on the next rounds.
> */
> - steal_ct = nsecs_to_cputime(steal);
> - this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
> + steal_jiffies = nsecs_to_jiffies(steal);
> + this_rq()->prev_steal_time += jiffies_to_nsecs(steal_jiffies);
>
> account_steal_time(steal_ct);
> - return steal_ct;
> + return steal_jiffies;
> }
> #endif
> return false;
>

2016-03-06 05:18:54

by Chris Friesen

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: [PATCH v2] sched/cputime: steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return
whether a jiffy should be considered stolen or not.

Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in
units of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs
depending on CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.

If cputime has nsecs granularity and there is a tiny amount of
stolen time (a few nsecs, say) then we will consider the entire
tick stolen and will not account the tick on user/system/idle,
causing /proc/stats to show invalid data.

The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to accumulate
the stolen time and only account it once it's worth a jiffy.

(Thanks to Frederic Weisbecker for suggestions to fix a bug in my
first version of the patch.)

Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
---
kernel/sched/cputime.c | 14 +++++++-------
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
index b2ab2ff..ab2b5fb 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
@@ -262,21 +262,21 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
if (static_key_false(&paravirt_steal_enabled)) {
u64 steal;
- cputime_t steal_ct;
+ unsigned long steal_jiffies;

steal = paravirt_steal_clock(smp_processor_id());
steal -= this_rq()->prev_steal_time;

/*
- * cputime_t may be less precise than nsecs (eg: if it's
- * based on jiffies). Lets cast the result to cputime
+ * steal is in nsecs but our caller is expecting steal
+ * time in jiffies. Lets cast the result to jiffies
* granularity and account the rest on the next rounds.
*/
- steal_ct = nsecs_to_cputime(steal);
- this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
+ steal_jiffies = nsecs_to_jiffies(steal);
+ this_rq()->prev_steal_time += jiffies_to_nsecs(steal_jiffies);

- account_steal_time(steal_ct);
- return steal_ct;
+ account_steal_time(jiffies_to_cputime(steal_jiffies));
+ return steal_jiffies;
}
#endif
return false;

2016-03-06 11:00:25

by Thomas Gleixner

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] sched/cputime: steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

On Sat, 5 Mar 2016, Chris Friesen wrote:

> The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return
> whether a jiffy should be considered stolen or not.
>
> Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in
> units of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs
> depending on CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.
>
> If cputime has nsecs granularity and there is a tiny amount of
> stolen time (a few nsecs, say) then we will consider the entire
> tick stolen and will not account the tick on user/system/idle,
> causing /proc/stats to show invalid data.
>
> The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to accumulate
> the stolen time and only account it once it's worth a jiffy.
>
> (Thanks to Frederic Weisbecker for suggestions to fix a bug in my
> first version of the patch.)
>
> Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>

Reviewed-by: Thomas Gleixner <[email protected]>

2016-03-08 12:29:57

by Frederic Weisbecker

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] sched/cputime: steal_account_process_tick() should return jiffies

On Sat, Mar 05, 2016 at 11:18:48PM -0600, Chris Friesen wrote:
> The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return
> whether a jiffy should be considered stolen or not.
>
> Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in
> units of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs
> depending on CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.
>
> If cputime has nsecs granularity and there is a tiny amount of
> stolen time (a few nsecs, say) then we will consider the entire
> tick stolen and will not account the tick on user/system/idle,
> causing /proc/stats to show invalid data.
>
> The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to accumulate
> the stolen time and only account it once it's worth a jiffy.
>
> (Thanks to Frederic Weisbecker for suggestions to fix a bug in my
> first version of the patch.)
>
> Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>

Acked-by: Frederic Weisbecker <[email protected]>

Thanks Chris!

Subject: [tip:sched/core] sched/cputime: Fix steal_account_process_tick() to always return jiffies

Commit-ID: f9c904b7613b8b4c85b10cd6b33ad41b2843fa9d
Gitweb: http://git.kernel.org/tip/f9c904b7613b8b4c85b10cd6b33ad41b2843fa9d
Author: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Sat, 5 Mar 2016 23:18:48 -0600
Committer: Ingo Molnar <[email protected]>
CommitDate: Tue, 8 Mar 2016 12:24:56 +0100

sched/cputime: Fix steal_account_process_tick() to always return jiffies

The callers of steal_account_process_tick() expect it to return
whether a jiffy should be considered stolen or not.

Currently the return value of steal_account_process_tick() is in
units of cputime, which vary between either jiffies or nsecs
depending on CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN.

If cputime has nsecs granularity and there is a tiny amount of
stolen time (a few nsecs, say) then we will consider the entire
tick stolen and will not account the tick on user/system/idle,
causing /proc/stats to show invalid data.

The fix is to change steal_account_process_tick() to accumulate
the stolen time and only account it once it's worth a jiffy.

(Thanks to Frederic Weisbecker for suggestions to fix a bug in my
first version of the patch.)

Signed-off-by: Chris Friesen <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <[email protected]>
Reviewed-by: Thomas Gleixner <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Cc: Frederic Weisbecker <[email protected]>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <[email protected]>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <[email protected]>
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/[email protected]
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <[email protected]>
---
kernel/sched/cputime.c | 14 +++++++-------
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/cputime.c b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
index 01d9898..75f98c5 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/cputime.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/cputime.c
@@ -262,21 +262,21 @@ static __always_inline bool steal_account_process_tick(void)
#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
if (static_key_false(&paravirt_steal_enabled)) {
u64 steal;
- cputime_t steal_ct;
+ unsigned long steal_jiffies;

steal = paravirt_steal_clock(smp_processor_id());
steal -= this_rq()->prev_steal_time;

/*
- * cputime_t may be less precise than nsecs (eg: if it's
- * based on jiffies). Lets cast the result to cputime
+ * steal is in nsecs but our caller is expecting steal
+ * time in jiffies. Lets cast the result to jiffies
* granularity and account the rest on the next rounds.
*/
- steal_ct = nsecs_to_cputime(steal);
- this_rq()->prev_steal_time += cputime_to_nsecs(steal_ct);
+ steal_jiffies = nsecs_to_jiffies(steal);
+ this_rq()->prev_steal_time += jiffies_to_nsecs(steal_jiffies);

- account_steal_time(steal_ct);
- return steal_ct;
+ account_steal_time(jiffies_to_cputime(steal_jiffies));
+ return steal_jiffies;
}
#endif
return false;