Re: [patch 0/3] lib/percpu_counter, cpu/hotplug: Cure the cpu_dying_mask woes

[Dennis Zhou <dennis@kernel.org>]

Hello,

On Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 06:30:42PM +0200, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> The cpu_dying_mask is not only undocumented but also to some extent a
> misnomer. It's purpose is to capture the last direction of a cpu_up() or
> cpu_down() operation taking eventual rollback operations into account.
> 
> cpu_dying mask is not really useful for general consumption. The
> cpu_dying_mask bits are sticky even after cpu_up() or cpu_down() completes.
> 
> A recent fix to plug a race in the per CPU counter code picked
> cpu_dying_mask to cure it. Unfortunately this does not work as the author
> probably expected and the behaviour of cpu_dying_mask is not easy to change
> without breaking the only other and initial user, the scheduler.
> 
> This series addresses this by:
> 
>    1) Reworking the per CPU counter hotplug mechanism so the race is fully
>       plugged without using cpu_dying_mask
> 
>    2) Replacing the cpu_dying_mask logic with hotplug core internal state
>       which is exposed to the scheduler with a properly documented
>       function.
> 
> The series is also available from git:
> 
>   git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tglx/devel.git smp/dying_mask
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 	tglx
> ---
>  include/linux/cpuhotplug.h |    2 -
>  include/linux/cpumask.h    |   21 ----------------
>  kernel/cpu.c               |   45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
>  kernel/sched/core.c        |    4 +--
>  kernel/smpboot.h           |    2 +
>  lib/percpu_counter.c       |   57 +++++++++++++++++++--------------------------
>  6 files changed, 67 insertions(+), 64 deletions(-)

This has been on my mind and regretfully it's been a busy year for me.

I know the merge window is around the corner, but I rebased this series
onto percpu#for-6.8 [1]. I had to massage percpu_counter slightly due
to some changes but other than that it largely is intact. I need to do a
little bit of a more thorough pass and re-send it out, but I think it
remains correct to merge. I can then pull it, give it a few days to soak
in for-next and then send it to Linus either in a follow up PR or in the
2nd week of the merge window.

Thomas, how does this sound to you?

[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dennis/percpu.git/log/?h=percpu-hotplug

Thanks,
Dennis