Re: [PATCH 5/5] mm: memcg: separate slab stat accounting from objcg charge cache

[Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@linux.dev>]

On Mon, Mar 02, 2026 at 02:50:18PM -0500, Johannes Weiner wrote:
> Cgroup slab metrics are cached per-cpu the same way as the sub-page
> charge cache. However, the intertwined code to manage those dependent
> caches right now is quite difficult to follow.
> 
> Specifically, cached slab stat updates occur in consume() if there was
> enough charge cache to satisfy the new object. If that fails, whole
> pages are reserved, and slab stats are updated when the remainder of
> those pages, after subtracting the size of the new slab object, are
> put into the charge cache. This already juggles a delicate mix of the
> object size, the page charge size, and the remainder to put into the
> byte cache. Doing slab accounting in this path as well is fragile, and
> has recently caused a bug where the input parameters between the two
> caches were mixed up.
> 
> Refactor the consume() and refill() paths into unlocked and locked
> variants that only do charge caching. Then let the slab path manage
> its own lock section and open-code charging and accounting.
> 
> This makes the slab stat cache subordinate to the charge cache:
> __refill_obj_stock() is called first to prepare it;
> __account_obj_stock() follows to hitch a ride.
> 
> This results in a minor behavioral change: previously, a mismatching
> percpu stock would always be drained for the purpose of setting up
> slab account caching, even if there was no byte remainder to put into
> the charge cache. Now, the stock is left alone, and slab accounting
> takes the uncached path if there is a mismatch. This is exceedingly
> rare, and it was probably never worth draining the whole stock just to
> cache the slab stat update.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Johannes Weiner <hannes@cmpxchg.org>

Thanks, this looks much better.

Acked-by: Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@linux.dev>