Re: [PATCH] mm: batch unlink_file_vma calls in free_pgd_range

[Mateusz Guzik <mjguzik@gmail.com>]

On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 12:31:20AM +0100, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> On Sat, May 18, 2024 at 08:20:05AM +0200, Mateusz Guzik wrote:
> > Execs of dynamically linked binaries at 20-ish cores are bottlenecked on
> > the i_mmap_rwsem semaphore, while the biggest singular contributor is
> > free_pgd_range inducing the lock acquire back-to-back for all
> > consecutive mappings of a given file.
> > 
> > diff --git a/include/linux/mm.h b/include/linux/mm.h
> > index b6bdaa18b9e9..443d0c55df80 100644
> > --- a/include/linux/mm.h
> > +++ b/include/linux/mm.h
> 
> I do object to this going into mm.h.  mm/internal.h would be better.
> 

Noted.

> I haven't reviewed the patch in depth, but I don't have a problem with
> the idea.  I think it's only a stopgap and we really do need a better
> data structure than this.
> 

I'll send a v2 after some more reviews pour in.

The above indeed is just a low hanging fruit fixup in an unpleasant
situation.

I think the real fix in the long run would provide the loader with means
to be more efficient about it.

strace /bin/echo shows:
[snip]
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\220\243\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832
pread64(3, "\6\0\0\0\4\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 784, 64) = 784
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=2125328, ...}) = 0
pread64(3, "\6\0\0\0\4\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 784, 64) = 784
mmap(NULL, 2170256, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7dbda8a00000
mmap(0x7dbda8a28000, 1605632, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x28000) = 0x7dbda8a28000
mmap(0x7dbda8bb0000, 323584, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1b0000) = 0x7dbda8bb0000
mmap(0x7dbda8bff000, 24576, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1fe000) = 0x7dbda8bff000
mmap(0x7dbda8c05000, 52624, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7dbda8c05000
[/snip]

Hence the 5 mappings.

Should there be a mechanism to issue all these mmaps at the same time
there would definitely be savings in total work done, not only in terms
of one i_mmap_rwsem lock trip.

The mechanism should be versatile enough to replace other back-to-back mmap
uses. It would be great if on top of it it did not require the size
argument, instead it could return a pair address + size. Then the
typical combo of open + fstat + mmap could be shortened.

As in that was just a quick note, I have no intention of pursuing
anything of the sort. I'll probably submit some other patches to
damage-control the state without altering any design choices.