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-.. _list_rcu_doc:
-
-Using RCU to Protect Read-Mostly Linked Lists
-=============================================
-
-One of the best applications of RCU is to protect read-mostly linked lists
-("struct list_head" in list.h). One big advantage of this approach
-is that all of the required memory barriers are included for you in
-the list macros. This document describes several applications of RCU,
-with the best fits first.
-
-Example 1: Read-Side Action Taken Outside of Lock, No In-Place Updates
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-The best applications are cases where, if reader-writer locking were
-used, the read-side lock would be dropped before taking any action
-based on the results of the search. The most celebrated example is
-the routing table. Because the routing table is tracking the state of
-equipment outside of the computer, it will at times contain stale data.
-Therefore, once the route has been computed, there is no need to hold
-the routing table static during transmission of the packet. After all,
-you can hold the routing table static all you want, but that won't keep
-the external Internet from changing, and it is the state of the external
-Internet that really matters. In addition, routing entries are typically
-added or deleted, rather than being modified in place.
-
-A straightforward example of this use of RCU may be found in the
-system-call auditing support. For example, a reader-writer locked
-implementation of audit_filter_task() might be as follows::
-
- static enum audit_state audit_filter_task(struct task_struct *tsk)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
- enum audit_state state;
-
- read_lock(&auditsc_lock);
- /* Note: audit_netlink_sem held by caller. */
- list_for_each_entry(e, &audit_tsklist, list) {
- if (audit_filter_rules(tsk, &e->rule, NULL, &state)) {
- read_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return state;
- }
- }
- read_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return AUDIT_BUILD_CONTEXT;
- }
-
-Here the list is searched under the lock, but the lock is dropped before
-the corresponding value is returned. By the time that this value is acted
-on, the list may well have been modified. This makes sense, since if
-you are turning auditing off, it is OK to audit a few extra system calls.
-
-This means that RCU can be easily applied to the read side, as follows::
-
- static enum audit_state audit_filter_task(struct task_struct *tsk)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
- enum audit_state state;
-
- rcu_read_lock();
- /* Note: audit_netlink_sem held by caller. */
- list_for_each_entry_rcu(e, &audit_tsklist, list) {
- if (audit_filter_rules(tsk, &e->rule, NULL, &state)) {
- rcu_read_unlock();
- return state;
- }
- }
- rcu_read_unlock();
- return AUDIT_BUILD_CONTEXT;
- }
-
-The read_lock() and read_unlock() calls have become rcu_read_lock()
-and rcu_read_unlock(), respectively, and the list_for_each_entry() has
-become list_for_each_entry_rcu(). The _rcu() list-traversal primitives
-insert the read-side memory barriers that are required on DEC Alpha CPUs.
-
-The changes to the update side are also straightforward. A reader-writer
-lock might be used as follows for deletion and insertion::
-
- static inline int audit_del_rule(struct audit_rule *rule,
- struct list_head *list)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
-
- write_lock(&auditsc_lock);
- list_for_each_entry(e, list, list) {
- if (!audit_compare_rule(rule, &e->rule)) {
- list_del(&e->list);
- write_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return 0;
- }
- }
- write_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return -EFAULT; /* No matching rule */
- }
-
- static inline int audit_add_rule(struct audit_entry *entry,
- struct list_head *list)
- {
- write_lock(&auditsc_lock);
- if (entry->rule.flags & AUDIT_PREPEND) {
- entry->rule.flags &= ~AUDIT_PREPEND;
- list_add(&entry->list, list);
- } else {
- list_add_tail(&entry->list, list);
- }
- write_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return 0;
- }
-
-Following are the RCU equivalents for these two functions::
-
- static inline int audit_del_rule(struct audit_rule *rule,
- struct list_head *list)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
-
- /* Do not use the _rcu iterator here, since this is the only
- * deletion routine. */
- list_for_each_entry(e, list, list) {
- if (!audit_compare_rule(rule, &e->rule)) {
- list_del_rcu(&e->list);
- call_rcu(&e->rcu, audit_free_rule);
- return 0;
- }
- }
- return -EFAULT; /* No matching rule */
- }
-
- static inline int audit_add_rule(struct audit_entry *entry,
- struct list_head *list)
- {
- if (entry->rule.flags & AUDIT_PREPEND) {
- entry->rule.flags &= ~AUDIT_PREPEND;
- list_add_rcu(&entry->list, list);
- } else {
- list_add_tail_rcu(&entry->list, list);
- }
- return 0;
- }
-
-Normally, the write_lock() and write_unlock() would be replaced by
-a spin_lock() and a spin_unlock(), but in this case, all callers hold
-audit_netlink_sem, so no additional locking is required. The auditsc_lock
-can therefore be eliminated, since use of RCU eliminates the need for
-writers to exclude readers. Normally, the write_lock() calls would
-be converted into spin_lock() calls.
-
-The list_del(), list_add(), and list_add_tail() primitives have been
-replaced by list_del_rcu(), list_add_rcu(), and list_add_tail_rcu().
-The _rcu() list-manipulation primitives add memory barriers that are
-needed on weakly ordered CPUs (most of them!). The list_del_rcu()
-primitive omits the pointer poisoning debug-assist code that would
-otherwise cause concurrent readers to fail spectacularly.
-
-So, when readers can tolerate stale data and when entries are either added
-or deleted, without in-place modification, it is very easy to use RCU!
-
-Example 2: Handling In-Place Updates
-------------------------------------
-
-The system-call auditing code does not update auditing rules in place.
-However, if it did, reader-writer-locked code to do so might look as
-follows (presumably, the field_count is only permitted to decrease,
-otherwise, the added fields would need to be filled in)::
-
- static inline int audit_upd_rule(struct audit_rule *rule,
- struct list_head *list,
- __u32 newaction,
- __u32 newfield_count)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
- struct audit_newentry *ne;
-
- write_lock(&auditsc_lock);
- /* Note: audit_netlink_sem held by caller. */
- list_for_each_entry(e, list, list) {
- if (!audit_compare_rule(rule, &e->rule)) {
- e->rule.action = newaction;
- e->rule.file_count = newfield_count;
- write_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return 0;
- }
- }
- write_unlock(&auditsc_lock);
- return -EFAULT; /* No matching rule */
- }
-
-The RCU version creates a copy, updates the copy, then replaces the old
-entry with the newly updated entry. This sequence of actions, allowing
-concurrent reads while doing a copy to perform an update, is what gives
-RCU ("read-copy update") its name. The RCU code is as follows::
-
- static inline int audit_upd_rule(struct audit_rule *rule,
- struct list_head *list,
- __u32 newaction,
- __u32 newfield_count)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
- struct audit_newentry *ne;
-
- list_for_each_entry(e, list, list) {
- if (!audit_compare_rule(rule, &e->rule)) {
- ne = kmalloc(sizeof(*entry), GFP_ATOMIC);
- if (ne == NULL)
- return -ENOMEM;
- audit_copy_rule(&ne->rule, &e->rule);
- ne->rule.action = newaction;
- ne->rule.file_count = newfield_count;
- list_replace_rcu(&e->list, &ne->list);
- call_rcu(&e->rcu, audit_free_rule);
- return 0;
- }
- }
- return -EFAULT; /* No matching rule */
- }
-
-Again, this assumes that the caller holds audit_netlink_sem. Normally,
-the reader-writer lock would become a spinlock in this sort of code.
-
-Example 3: Eliminating Stale Data
----------------------------------
-
-The auditing examples above tolerate stale data, as do most algorithms
-that are tracking external state. Because there is a delay from the
-time the external state changes before Linux becomes aware of the change,
-additional RCU-induced staleness is normally not a problem.
-
-However, there are many examples where stale data cannot be tolerated.
-One example in the Linux kernel is the System V IPC (see the ipc_lock()
-function in ipc/util.c). This code checks a "deleted" flag under a
-per-entry spinlock, and, if the "deleted" flag is set, pretends that the
-entry does not exist. For this to be helpful, the search function must
-return holding the per-entry spinlock, as ipc_lock() does in fact do.
-
-Quick Quiz:
- Why does the search function need to return holding the per-entry lock for
- this deleted-flag technique to be helpful?
-
-:ref:`Answer to Quick Quiz <answer_quick_quiz_list>`
-
-If the system-call audit module were to ever need to reject stale data,
-one way to accomplish this would be to add a "deleted" flag and a "lock"
-spinlock to the audit_entry structure, and modify audit_filter_task()
-as follows::
-
- static enum audit_state audit_filter_task(struct task_struct *tsk)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
- enum audit_state state;
-
- rcu_read_lock();
- list_for_each_entry_rcu(e, &audit_tsklist, list) {
- if (audit_filter_rules(tsk, &e->rule, NULL, &state)) {
- spin_lock(&e->lock);
- if (e->deleted) {
- spin_unlock(&e->lock);
- rcu_read_unlock();
- return AUDIT_BUILD_CONTEXT;
- }
- rcu_read_unlock();
- return state;
- }
- }
- rcu_read_unlock();
- return AUDIT_BUILD_CONTEXT;
- }
-
-Note that this example assumes that entries are only added and deleted.
-Additional mechanism is required to deal correctly with the
-update-in-place performed by audit_upd_rule(). For one thing,
-audit_upd_rule() would need additional memory barriers to ensure
-that the list_add_rcu() was really executed before the list_del_rcu().
-
-The audit_del_rule() function would need to set the "deleted"
-flag under the spinlock as follows::
-
- static inline int audit_del_rule(struct audit_rule *rule,
- struct list_head *list)
- {
- struct audit_entry *e;
-
- /* Do not need to use the _rcu iterator here, since this
- * is the only deletion routine. */
- list_for_each_entry(e, list, list) {
- if (!audit_compare_rule(rule, &e->rule)) {
- spin_lock(&e->lock);
- list_del_rcu(&e->list);
- e->deleted = 1;
- spin_unlock(&e->lock);
- call_rcu(&e->rcu, audit_free_rule);
- return 0;
- }
- }
- return -EFAULT; /* No matching rule */
- }
-
-Summary
--------
-
-Read-mostly list-based data structures that can tolerate stale data are
-the most amenable to use of RCU. The simplest case is where entries are
-either added or deleted from the data structure (or atomically modified
-in place), but non-atomic in-place modifications can be handled by making
-a copy, updating the copy, then replacing the original with the copy.
-If stale data cannot be tolerated, then a "deleted" flag may be used
-in conjunction with a per-entry spinlock in order to allow the search
-function to reject newly deleted data.
-
-.. _answer_quick_quiz_list:
-
-Answer to Quick Quiz:
- Why does the search function need to return holding the per-entry
- lock for this deleted-flag technique to be helpful?
-
- If the search function drops the per-entry lock before returning,
- then the caller will be processing stale data in any case. If it
- is really OK to be processing stale data, then you don't need a
- "deleted" flag. If processing stale data really is a problem,
- then you need to hold the per-entry lock across all of the code
- that uses the value that was returned.