On Thu 28-08-25 17:23:40, Weilin Tong wrote:

在 2025/8/28 14:45, Michal Hocko 写道:

On Thu 28-08-25 11:06:02, Weilin Tong wrote:

When min_free_kbytes is user-configured, increasing system memory via memory
hotplug may trigger multiple recalculations of min_free_kbytes. This results
in excessive warning messages flooding the kernel log if several memory blocks
are added in a short period.

Sample dmesg output before optimization:
...
[ 1303.897214] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1303.960498] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1303.970116] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1303.979709] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1303.989254] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1303.999122] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1304.008644] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1304.018537] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1304.028054] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
[ 1304.037615] min_free_kbytes is not updated to 126529 because user defined value 1048576 is preferred
...

Replace pr_warn() with pr_warn_once() to ensure only one warning is printed,
preventing large volumes of repeated log entries and improving log readability.

pr_warn_once seems too aggressive as we could miss useful events. On the
other hand I agree that repeating the same message for each memory block
onlining is not really helpful. Would it make sense to only pr_warn when
new_min_free_kbytes differs from the previous one we have warned for?

Thanks for your feedback!

The dmesg output above comes from hotplugging a large amount of memory into
ZONE_MOVABLE, where new_min_free_kbytes does not actually change, resulting
in repeated warnings with identical messages.

Yes, this is clear from the changelog

However, if memory is hotplugged into ZONE_NORMAL (such as pmem-type
memory), new_min_free_kbytes changes on each operation, so we still get a
large number of warnings—even though the value is different each time.

We can check whether the value has changed considerably.

If the concern is missing useful warnings, pr_warn_ratelimited() would be an
acceptable alternative, as it can reduce log spam without completely
suppressing potentially important messages. However I still think that
printing the warning once is sufficient to alert the user about the
overridden configuration, especially since this is not a particularly
critical warning.

The thing is that kernel log buffer can easily overflow and you can lose
those messages over time, especially for system with a large uptime -
which is far from uncommon.

I am not entirely enthusiastic about rate limiting because that is time
rather than even driven. Anyway, if you can make ratelimiting work for
your usecase, then no objection from me but I would rather make the
reporting more useful than hack around it.

I agree with your suggestion.

With respect to your suggestion that “we can check whether the value has changed considerably” I would like to seek your advice on how to define what constitutes a significant change in this context. Do you have any recommended criteria or thresholds for determining when a difference in min_free_kbytes should trigger a warning?