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diff --git a/Documentation/cgroups/cpusets.txt b/Documentation/cgroups/cpusets.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fdf7dff3f607..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/cgroups/cpusets.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,839 +0,0 @@ - CPUSETS - ------- - -Copyright (C) 2004 BULL SA. -Written by Simon.Derr@bull.net - -Portions Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc. -Modified by Paul Jackson <pj@sgi.com> -Modified by Christoph Lameter <clameter@sgi.com> -Modified by Paul Menage <menage@google.com> -Modified by Hidetoshi Seto <seto.hidetoshi@jp.fujitsu.com> - -CONTENTS: -========= - -1. Cpusets - 1.1 What are cpusets ? - 1.2 Why are cpusets needed ? - 1.3 How are cpusets implemented ? - 1.4 What are exclusive cpusets ? - 1.5 What is memory_pressure ? - 1.6 What is memory spread ? - 1.7 What is sched_load_balance ? - 1.8 What is sched_relax_domain_level ? - 1.9 How do I use cpusets ? -2. Usage Examples and Syntax - 2.1 Basic Usage - 2.2 Adding/removing cpus - 2.3 Setting flags - 2.4 Attaching processes -3. Questions -4. Contact - -1. Cpusets -========== - -1.1 What are cpusets ? ----------------------- - -Cpusets provide a mechanism for assigning a set of CPUs and Memory -Nodes to a set of tasks. In this document "Memory Node" refers to -an on-line node that contains memory. - -Cpusets constrain the CPU and Memory placement of tasks to only -the resources within a task's current cpuset. They form a nested -hierarchy visible in a virtual file system. These are the essential -hooks, beyond what is already present, required to manage dynamic -job placement on large systems. - -Cpusets use the generic cgroup subsystem described in -Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt. - -Requests by a task, using the sched_setaffinity(2) system call to -include CPUs in its CPU affinity mask, and using the mbind(2) and -set_mempolicy(2) system calls to include Memory Nodes in its memory -policy, are both filtered through that task's cpuset, filtering out any -CPUs or Memory Nodes not in that cpuset. The scheduler will not -schedule a task on a CPU that is not allowed in its cpus_allowed -vector, and the kernel page allocator will not allocate a page on a -node that is not allowed in the requesting task's mems_allowed vector. - -User level code may create and destroy cpusets by name in the cgroup -virtual file system, manage the attributes and permissions of these -cpusets and which CPUs and Memory Nodes are assigned to each cpuset, -specify and query to which cpuset a task is assigned, and list the -task pids assigned to a cpuset. - - -1.2 Why are cpusets needed ? ----------------------------- - -The management of large computer systems, with many processors (CPUs), -complex memory cache hierarchies and multiple Memory Nodes having -non-uniform access times (NUMA) presents additional challenges for -the efficient scheduling and memory placement of processes. - -Frequently more modest sized systems can be operated with adequate -efficiency just by letting the operating system automatically share -the available CPU and Memory resources amongst the requesting tasks. - -But larger systems, which benefit more from careful processor and -memory placement to reduce memory access times and contention, -and which typically represent a larger investment for the customer, -can benefit from explicitly placing jobs on properly sized subsets of -the system. - -This can be especially valuable on: - - * Web Servers running multiple instances of the same web application, - * Servers running different applications (for instance, a web server - and a database), or - * NUMA systems running large HPC applications with demanding - performance characteristics. - -These subsets, or "soft partitions" must be able to be dynamically -adjusted, as the job mix changes, without impacting other concurrently -executing jobs. The location of the running jobs pages may also be moved -when the memory locations are changed. - -The kernel cpuset patch provides the minimum essential kernel -mechanisms required to efficiently implement such subsets. It -leverages existing CPU and Memory Placement facilities in the Linux -kernel to avoid any additional impact on the critical scheduler or -memory allocator code. - - -1.3 How are cpusets implemented ? ---------------------------------- - -Cpusets provide a Linux kernel mechanism to constrain which CPUs and -Memory Nodes are used by a process or set of processes. - -The Linux kernel already has a pair of mechanisms to specify on which -CPUs a task may be scheduled (sched_setaffinity) and on which Memory -Nodes it may obtain memory (mbind, set_mempolicy). - -Cpusets extends these two mechanisms as follows: - - - Cpusets are sets of allowed CPUs and Memory Nodes, known to the - kernel. - - Each task in the system is attached to a cpuset, via a pointer - in the task structure to a reference counted cgroup structure. - - Calls to sched_setaffinity are filtered to just those CPUs - allowed in that task's cpuset. - - Calls to mbind and set_mempolicy are filtered to just - those Memory Nodes allowed in that task's cpuset. - - The root cpuset contains all the systems CPUs and Memory - Nodes. - - For any cpuset, one can define child cpusets containing a subset - of the parents CPU and Memory Node resources. - - The hierarchy of cpusets can be mounted at /dev/cpuset, for - browsing and manipulation from user space. - - A cpuset may be marked exclusive, which ensures that no other - cpuset (except direct ancestors and descendants) may contain - any overlapping CPUs or Memory Nodes. - - You can list all the tasks (by pid) attached to any cpuset. - -The implementation of cpusets requires a few, simple hooks -into the rest of the kernel, none in performance critical paths: - - - in init/main.c, to initialize the root cpuset at system boot. - - in fork and exit, to attach and detach a task from its cpuset. - - in sched_setaffinity, to mask the requested CPUs by what's - allowed in that task's cpuset. - - in sched.c migrate_live_tasks(), to keep migrating tasks within - the CPUs allowed by their cpuset, if possible. - - in the mbind and set_mempolicy system calls, to mask the requested - Memory Nodes by what's allowed in that task's cpuset. - - in page_alloc.c, to restrict memory to allowed nodes. - - in vmscan.c, to restrict page recovery to the current cpuset. - -You should mount the "cgroup" filesystem type in order to enable -browsing and modifying the cpusets presently known to the kernel. No -new system calls are added for cpusets - all support for querying and -modifying cpusets is via this cpuset file system. - -The /proc/<pid>/status file for each task has four added lines, -displaying the task's cpus_allowed (on which CPUs it may be scheduled) -and mems_allowed (on which Memory Nodes it may obtain memory), -in the two formats seen in the following example: - - Cpus_allowed: ffffffff,ffffffff,ffffffff,ffffffff - Cpus_allowed_list: 0-127 - Mems_allowed: ffffffff,ffffffff - Mems_allowed_list: 0-63 - -Each cpuset is represented by a directory in the cgroup file system -containing (on top of the standard cgroup files) the following -files describing that cpuset: - - - cpuset.cpus: list of CPUs in that cpuset - - cpuset.mems: list of Memory Nodes in that cpuset - - cpuset.memory_migrate flag: if set, move pages to cpusets nodes - - cpuset.cpu_exclusive flag: is cpu placement exclusive? - - cpuset.mem_exclusive flag: is memory placement exclusive? - - cpuset.mem_hardwall flag: is memory allocation hardwalled - - cpuset.memory_pressure: measure of how much paging pressure in cpuset - - cpuset.memory_spread_page flag: if set, spread page cache evenly on allowed nodes - - cpuset.memory_spread_slab flag: if set, spread slab cache evenly on allowed nodes - - cpuset.sched_load_balance flag: if set, load balance within CPUs on that cpuset - - cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level: the searching range when migrating tasks - -In addition, only the root cpuset has the following file: - - cpuset.memory_pressure_enabled flag: compute memory_pressure? - -New cpusets are created using the mkdir system call or shell -command. The properties of a cpuset, such as its flags, allowed -CPUs and Memory Nodes, and attached tasks, are modified by writing -to the appropriate file in that cpusets directory, as listed above. - -The named hierarchical structure of nested cpusets allows partitioning -a large system into nested, dynamically changeable, "soft-partitions". - -The attachment of each task, automatically inherited at fork by any -children of that task, to a cpuset allows organizing the work load -on a system into related sets of tasks such that each set is constrained -to using the CPUs and Memory Nodes of a particular cpuset. A task -may be re-attached to any other cpuset, if allowed by the permissions -on the necessary cpuset file system directories. - -Such management of a system "in the large" integrates smoothly with -the detailed placement done on individual tasks and memory regions -using the sched_setaffinity, mbind and set_mempolicy system calls. - -The following rules apply to each cpuset: - - - Its CPUs and Memory Nodes must be a subset of its parents. - - It can't be marked exclusive unless its parent is. - - If its cpu or memory is exclusive, they may not overlap any sibling. - -These rules, and the natural hierarchy of cpusets, enable efficient -enforcement of the exclusive guarantee, without having to scan all -cpusets every time any of them change to ensure nothing overlaps a -exclusive cpuset. Also, the use of a Linux virtual file system (vfs) -to represent the cpuset hierarchy provides for a familiar permission -and name space for cpusets, with a minimum of additional kernel code. - -The cpus and mems files in the root (top_cpuset) cpuset are -read-only. The cpus file automatically tracks the value of -cpu_online_mask using a CPU hotplug notifier, and the mems file -automatically tracks the value of node_states[N_MEMORY]--i.e., -nodes with memory--using the cpuset_track_online_nodes() hook. - - -1.4 What are exclusive cpusets ? --------------------------------- - -If a cpuset is cpu or mem exclusive, no other cpuset, other than -a direct ancestor or descendant, may share any of the same CPUs or -Memory Nodes. - -A cpuset that is cpuset.mem_exclusive *or* cpuset.mem_hardwall is "hardwalled", -i.e. it restricts kernel allocations for page, buffer and other data -commonly shared by the kernel across multiple users. All cpusets, -whether hardwalled or not, restrict allocations of memory for user -space. This enables configuring a system so that several independent -jobs can share common kernel data, such as file system pages, while -isolating each job's user allocation in its own cpuset. To do this, -construct a large mem_exclusive cpuset to hold all the jobs, and -construct child, non-mem_exclusive cpusets for each individual job. -Only a small amount of typical kernel memory, such as requests from -interrupt handlers, is allowed to be taken outside even a -mem_exclusive cpuset. - - -1.5 What is memory_pressure ? ------------------------------ -The memory_pressure of a cpuset provides a simple per-cpuset metric -of the rate that the tasks in a cpuset are attempting to free up in -use memory on the nodes of the cpuset to satisfy additional memory -requests. - -This enables batch managers monitoring jobs running in dedicated -cpusets to efficiently detect what level of memory pressure that job -is causing. - -This is useful both on tightly managed systems running a wide mix of -submitted jobs, which may choose to terminate or re-prioritize jobs that -are trying to use more memory than allowed on the nodes assigned to them, -and with tightly coupled, long running, massively parallel scientific -computing jobs that will dramatically fail to meet required performance -goals if they start to use more memory than allowed to them. - -This mechanism provides a very economical way for the batch manager -to monitor a cpuset for signs of memory pressure. It's up to the -batch manager or other user code to decide what to do about it and -take action. - -==> Unless this feature is enabled by writing "1" to the special file - /dev/cpuset/memory_pressure_enabled, the hook in the rebalance - code of __alloc_pages() for this metric reduces to simply noticing - that the cpuset_memory_pressure_enabled flag is zero. So only - systems that enable this feature will compute the metric. - -Why a per-cpuset, running average: - - Because this meter is per-cpuset, rather than per-task or mm, - the system load imposed by a batch scheduler monitoring this - metric is sharply reduced on large systems, because a scan of - the tasklist can be avoided on each set of queries. - - Because this meter is a running average, instead of an accumulating - counter, a batch scheduler can detect memory pressure with a - single read, instead of having to read and accumulate results - for a period of time. - - Because this meter is per-cpuset rather than per-task or mm, - the batch scheduler can obtain the key information, memory - pressure in a cpuset, with a single read, rather than having to - query and accumulate results over all the (dynamically changing) - set of tasks in the cpuset. - -A per-cpuset simple digital filter (requires a spinlock and 3 words -of data per-cpuset) is kept, and updated by any task attached to that -cpuset, if it enters the synchronous (direct) page reclaim code. - -A per-cpuset file provides an integer number representing the recent -(half-life of 10 seconds) rate of direct page reclaims caused by -the tasks in the cpuset, in units of reclaims attempted per second, -times 1000. - - -1.6 What is memory spread ? ---------------------------- -There are two boolean flag files per cpuset that control where the -kernel allocates pages for the file system buffers and related in -kernel data structures. They are called 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' and -'cpuset.memory_spread_slab'. - -If the per-cpuset boolean flag file 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' is set, then -the kernel will spread the file system buffers (page cache) evenly -over all the nodes that the faulting task is allowed to use, instead -of preferring to put those pages on the node where the task is running. - -If the per-cpuset boolean flag file 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' is set, -then the kernel will spread some file system related slab caches, -such as for inodes and dentries evenly over all the nodes that the -faulting task is allowed to use, instead of preferring to put those -pages on the node where the task is running. - -The setting of these flags does not affect anonymous data segment or -stack segment pages of a task. - -By default, both kinds of memory spreading are off, and memory -pages are allocated on the node local to where the task is running, -except perhaps as modified by the task's NUMA mempolicy or cpuset -configuration, so long as sufficient free memory pages are available. - -When new cpusets are created, they inherit the memory spread settings -of their parent. - -Setting memory spreading causes allocations for the affected page -or slab caches to ignore the task's NUMA mempolicy and be spread -instead. Tasks using mbind() or set_mempolicy() calls to set NUMA -mempolicies will not notice any change in these calls as a result of -their containing task's memory spread settings. If memory spreading -is turned off, then the currently specified NUMA mempolicy once again -applies to memory page allocations. - -Both 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' and 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' are boolean flag -files. By default they contain "0", meaning that the feature is off -for that cpuset. If a "1" is written to that file, then that turns -the named feature on. - -The implementation is simple. - -Setting the flag 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' turns on a per-process flag -PFA_SPREAD_PAGE for each task that is in that cpuset or subsequently -joins that cpuset. The page allocation calls for the page cache -is modified to perform an inline check for this PFA_SPREAD_PAGE task -flag, and if set, a call to a new routine cpuset_mem_spread_node() -returns the node to prefer for the allocation. - -Similarly, setting 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' turns on the flag -PFA_SPREAD_SLAB, and appropriately marked slab caches will allocate -pages from the node returned by cpuset_mem_spread_node(). - -The cpuset_mem_spread_node() routine is also simple. It uses the -value of a per-task rotor cpuset_mem_spread_rotor to select the next -node in the current task's mems_allowed to prefer for the allocation. - -This memory placement policy is also known (in other contexts) as -round-robin or interleave. - -This policy can provide substantial improvements for jobs that need -to place thread local data on the corresponding node, but that need -to access large file system data sets that need to be spread across -the several nodes in the jobs cpuset in order to fit. Without this -policy, especially for jobs that might have one thread reading in the -data set, the memory allocation across the nodes in the jobs cpuset -can become very uneven. - -1.7 What is sched_load_balance ? --------------------------------- - -The kernel scheduler (kernel/sched/core.c) automatically load balances -tasks. If one CPU is underutilized, kernel code running on that -CPU will look for tasks on other more overloaded CPUs and move those -tasks to itself, within the constraints of such placement mechanisms -as cpusets and sched_setaffinity. - -The algorithmic cost of load balancing and its impact on key shared -kernel data structures such as the task list increases more than -linearly with the number of CPUs being balanced. So the scheduler -has support to partition the systems CPUs into a number of sched -domains such that it only load balances within each sched domain. -Each sched domain covers some subset of the CPUs in the system; -no two sched domains overlap; some CPUs might not be in any sched -domain and hence won't be load balanced. - -Put simply, it costs less to balance between two smaller sched domains -than one big one, but doing so means that overloads in one of the -two domains won't be load balanced to the other one. - -By default, there is one sched domain covering all CPUs, including those -marked isolated using the kernel boot time "isolcpus=" argument. However, -the isolated CPUs will not participate in load balancing, and will not -have tasks running on them unless explicitly assigned. - -This default load balancing across all CPUs is not well suited for -the following two situations: - 1) On large systems, load balancing across many CPUs is expensive. - If the system is managed using cpusets to place independent jobs - on separate sets of CPUs, full load balancing is unnecessary. - 2) Systems supporting realtime on some CPUs need to minimize - system overhead on those CPUs, including avoiding task load - balancing if that is not needed. - -When the per-cpuset flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" is enabled (the default -setting), it requests that all the CPUs in that cpusets allowed 'cpuset.cpus' -be contained in a single sched domain, ensuring that load balancing -can move a task (not otherwised pinned, as by sched_setaffinity) -from any CPU in that cpuset to any other. - -When the per-cpuset flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" is disabled, then the -scheduler will avoid load balancing across the CPUs in that cpuset, ---except-- in so far as is necessary because some overlapping cpuset -has "sched_load_balance" enabled. - -So, for example, if the top cpuset has the flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" -enabled, then the scheduler will have one sched domain covering all -CPUs, and the setting of the "cpuset.sched_load_balance" flag in any other -cpusets won't matter, as we're already fully load balancing. - -Therefore in the above two situations, the top cpuset flag -"cpuset.sched_load_balance" should be disabled, and only some of the smaller, -child cpusets have this flag enabled. - -When doing this, you don't usually want to leave any unpinned tasks in -the top cpuset that might use non-trivial amounts of CPU, as such tasks -may be artificially constrained to some subset of CPUs, depending on -the particulars of this flag setting in descendant cpusets. Even if -such a task could use spare CPU cycles in some other CPUs, the kernel -scheduler might not consider the possibility of load balancing that -task to that underused CPU. - -Of course, tasks pinned to a particular CPU can be left in a cpuset -that disables "cpuset.sched_load_balance" as those tasks aren't going anywhere -else anyway. - -There is an impedance mismatch here, between cpusets and sched domains. -Cpusets are hierarchical and nest. Sched domains are flat; they don't -overlap and each CPU is in at most one sched domain. - -It is necessary for sched domains to be flat because load balancing -across partially overlapping sets of CPUs would risk unstable dynamics -that would be beyond our understanding. So if each of two partially -overlapping cpusets enables the flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance', then we -form a single sched domain that is a superset of both. We won't move -a task to a CPU outside its cpuset, but the scheduler load balancing -code might waste some compute cycles considering that possibility. - -This mismatch is why there is not a simple one-to-one relation -between which cpusets have the flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" enabled, -and the sched domain configuration. If a cpuset enables the flag, it -will get balancing across all its CPUs, but if it disables the flag, -it will only be assured of no load balancing if no other overlapping -cpuset enables the flag. - -If two cpusets have partially overlapping 'cpuset.cpus' allowed, and only -one of them has this flag enabled, then the other may find its -tasks only partially load balanced, just on the overlapping CPUs. -This is just the general case of the top_cpuset example given a few -paragraphs above. In the general case, as in the top cpuset case, -don't leave tasks that might use non-trivial amounts of CPU in -such partially load balanced cpusets, as they may be artificially -constrained to some subset of the CPUs allowed to them, for lack of -load balancing to the other CPUs. - -CPUs in "cpuset.isolcpus" were excluded from load balancing by the -isolcpus= kernel boot option, and will never be load balanced regardless -of the value of "cpuset.sched_load_balance" in any cpuset. - -1.7.1 sched_load_balance implementation details. ------------------------------------------------- - -The per-cpuset flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' defaults to enabled (contrary -to most cpuset flags.) When enabled for a cpuset, the kernel will -ensure that it can load balance across all the CPUs in that cpuset -(makes sure that all the CPUs in the cpus_allowed of that cpuset are -in the same sched domain.) - -If two overlapping cpusets both have 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled, -then they will be (must be) both in the same sched domain. - -If, as is the default, the top cpuset has 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled, -then by the above that means there is a single sched domain covering -the whole system, regardless of any other cpuset settings. - -The kernel commits to user space that it will avoid load balancing -where it can. It will pick as fine a granularity partition of sched -domains as it can while still providing load balancing for any set -of CPUs allowed to a cpuset having 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled. - -The internal kernel cpuset to scheduler interface passes from the -cpuset code to the scheduler code a partition of the load balanced -CPUs in the system. This partition is a set of subsets (represented -as an array of struct cpumask) of CPUs, pairwise disjoint, that cover -all the CPUs that must be load balanced. - -The cpuset code builds a new such partition and passes it to the -scheduler sched domain setup code, to have the sched domains rebuilt -as necessary, whenever: - - the 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' flag of a cpuset with non-empty CPUs changes, - - or CPUs come or go from a cpuset with this flag enabled, - - or 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' value of a cpuset with non-empty CPUs - and with this flag enabled changes, - - or a cpuset with non-empty CPUs and with this flag enabled is removed, - - or a cpu is offlined/onlined. - -This partition exactly defines what sched domains the scheduler should -setup - one sched domain for each element (struct cpumask) in the -partition. - -The scheduler remembers the currently active sched domain partitions. -When the scheduler routine partition_sched_domains() is invoked from -the cpuset code to update these sched domains, it compares the new -partition requested with the current, and updates its sched domains, -removing the old and adding the new, for each change. - - -1.8 What is sched_relax_domain_level ? --------------------------------------- - -In sched domain, the scheduler migrates tasks in 2 ways; periodic load -balance on tick, and at time of some schedule events. - -When a task is woken up, scheduler try to move the task on idle CPU. -For example, if a task A running on CPU X activates another task B -on the same CPU X, and if CPU Y is X's sibling and performing idle, -then scheduler migrate task B to CPU Y so that task B can start on -CPU Y without waiting task A on CPU X. - -And if a CPU run out of tasks in its runqueue, the CPU try to pull -extra tasks from other busy CPUs to help them before it is going to -be idle. - -Of course it takes some searching cost to find movable tasks and/or -idle CPUs, the scheduler might not search all CPUs in the domain -every time. In fact, in some architectures, the searching ranges on -events are limited in the same socket or node where the CPU locates, -while the load balance on tick searches all. - -For example, assume CPU Z is relatively far from CPU X. Even if CPU Z -is idle while CPU X and the siblings are busy, scheduler can't migrate -woken task B from X to Z since it is out of its searching range. -As the result, task B on CPU X need to wait task A or wait load balance -on the next tick. For some applications in special situation, waiting -1 tick may be too long. - -The 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' file allows you to request changing -this searching range as you like. This file takes int value which -indicates size of searching range in levels ideally as follows, -otherwise initial value -1 that indicates the cpuset has no request. - - -1 : no request. use system default or follow request of others. - 0 : no search. - 1 : search siblings (hyperthreads in a core). - 2 : search cores in a package. - 3 : search cpus in a node [= system wide on non-NUMA system] - 4 : search nodes in a chunk of node [on NUMA system] - 5 : search system wide [on NUMA system] - -The system default is architecture dependent. The system default -can be changed using the relax_domain_level= boot parameter. - -This file is per-cpuset and affect the sched domain where the cpuset -belongs to. Therefore if the flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' of a cpuset -is disabled, then 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' have no effect since -there is no sched domain belonging the cpuset. - -If multiple cpusets are overlapping and hence they form a single sched -domain, the largest value among those is used. Be careful, if one -requests 0 and others are -1 then 0 is used. - -Note that modifying this file will have both good and bad effects, -and whether it is acceptable or not depends on your situation. -Don't modify this file if you are not sure. - -If your situation is: - - The migration costs between each cpu can be assumed considerably - small(for you) due to your special application's behavior or - special hardware support for CPU cache etc. - - The searching cost doesn't have impact(for you) or you can make - the searching cost enough small by managing cpuset to compact etc. - - The latency is required even it sacrifices cache hit rate etc. -then increasing 'sched_relax_domain_level' would benefit you. - - -1.9 How do I use cpusets ? --------------------------- - -In order to minimize the impact of cpusets on critical kernel -code, such as the scheduler, and due to the fact that the kernel -does not support one task updating the memory placement of another -task directly, the impact on a task of changing its cpuset CPU -or Memory Node placement, or of changing to which cpuset a task -is attached, is subtle. - -If a cpuset has its Memory Nodes modified, then for each task attached -to that cpuset, the next time that the kernel attempts to allocate -a page of memory for that task, the kernel will notice the change -in the task's cpuset, and update its per-task memory placement to -remain within the new cpusets memory placement. If the task was using -mempolicy MPOL_BIND, and the nodes to which it was bound overlap with -its new cpuset, then the task will continue to use whatever subset -of MPOL_BIND nodes are still allowed in the new cpuset. If the task -was using MPOL_BIND and now none of its MPOL_BIND nodes are allowed -in the new cpuset, then the task will be essentially treated as if it -was MPOL_BIND bound to the new cpuset (even though its NUMA placement, -as queried by get_mempolicy(), doesn't change). If a task is moved -from one cpuset to another, then the kernel will adjust the task's -memory placement, as above, the next time that the kernel attempts -to allocate a page of memory for that task. - -If a cpuset has its 'cpuset.cpus' modified, then each task in that cpuset -will have its allowed CPU placement changed immediately. Similarly, -if a task's pid is written to another cpusets 'cpuset.tasks' file, then its -allowed CPU placement is changed immediately. If such a task had been -bound to some subset of its cpuset using the sched_setaffinity() call, -the task will be allowed to run on any CPU allowed in its new cpuset, -negating the effect of the prior sched_setaffinity() call. - -In summary, the memory placement of a task whose cpuset is changed is -updated by the kernel, on the next allocation of a page for that task, -and the processor placement is updated immediately. - -Normally, once a page is allocated (given a physical page -of main memory) then that page stays on whatever node it -was allocated, so long as it remains allocated, even if the -cpusets memory placement policy 'cpuset.mems' subsequently changes. -If the cpuset flag file 'cpuset.memory_migrate' is set true, then when -tasks are attached to that cpuset, any pages that task had -allocated to it on nodes in its previous cpuset are migrated -to the task's new cpuset. The relative placement of the page within -the cpuset is preserved during these migration operations if possible. -For example if the page was on the second valid node of the prior cpuset -then the page will be placed on the second valid node of the new cpuset. - -Also if 'cpuset.memory_migrate' is set true, then if that cpuset's -'cpuset.mems' file is modified, pages allocated to tasks in that -cpuset, that were on nodes in the previous setting of 'cpuset.mems', -will be moved to nodes in the new setting of 'mems.' -Pages that were not in the task's prior cpuset, or in the cpuset's -prior 'cpuset.mems' setting, will not be moved. - -There is an exception to the above. If hotplug functionality is used -to remove all the CPUs that are currently assigned to a cpuset, -then all the tasks in that cpuset will be moved to the nearest ancestor -with non-empty cpus. But the moving of some (or all) tasks might fail if -cpuset is bound with another cgroup subsystem which has some restrictions -on task attaching. In this failing case, those tasks will stay -in the original cpuset, and the kernel will automatically update -their cpus_allowed to allow all online CPUs. When memory hotplug -functionality for removing Memory Nodes is available, a similar exception -is expected to apply there as well. In general, the kernel prefers to -violate cpuset placement, over starving a task that has had all -its allowed CPUs or Memory Nodes taken offline. - -There is a second exception to the above. GFP_ATOMIC requests are -kernel internal allocations that must be satisfied, immediately. -The kernel may drop some request, in rare cases even panic, if a -GFP_ATOMIC alloc fails. If the request cannot be satisfied within -the current task's cpuset, then we relax the cpuset, and look for -memory anywhere we can find it. It's better to violate the cpuset -than stress the kernel. - -To start a new job that is to be contained within a cpuset, the steps are: - - 1) mkdir /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - 2) mount -t cgroup -ocpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - 3) Create the new cpuset by doing mkdir's and write's (or echo's) in - the /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset virtual file system. - 4) Start a task that will be the "founding father" of the new job. - 5) Attach that task to the new cpuset by writing its pid to the - /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset tasks file for that cpuset. - 6) fork, exec or clone the job tasks from this founding father task. - -For example, the following sequence of commands will setup a cpuset -named "Charlie", containing just CPUs 2 and 3, and Memory Node 1, -and then start a subshell 'sh' in that cpuset: - - mount -t cgroup -ocpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - cd /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - mkdir Charlie - cd Charlie - /bin/echo 2-3 > cpuset.cpus - /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.mems - /bin/echo $$ > tasks - sh - # The subshell 'sh' is now running in cpuset Charlie - # The next line should display '/Charlie' - cat /proc/self/cpuset - -There are ways to query or modify cpusets: - - via the cpuset file system directly, using the various cd, mkdir, echo, - cat, rmdir commands from the shell, or their equivalent from C. - - via the C library libcpuset. - - via the C library libcgroup. - (http://sourceforge.net/projects/libcg/) - - via the python application cset. - (http://code.google.com/p/cpuset/) - -The sched_setaffinity calls can also be done at the shell prompt using -SGI's runon or Robert Love's taskset. The mbind and set_mempolicy -calls can be done at the shell prompt using the numactl command -(part of Andi Kleen's numa package). - -2. Usage Examples and Syntax -============================ - -2.1 Basic Usage ---------------- - -Creating, modifying, using the cpusets can be done through the cpuset -virtual filesystem. - -To mount it, type: -# mount -t cgroup -o cpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - -Then under /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset you can find a tree that corresponds to the -tree of the cpusets in the system. For instance, /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset -is the cpuset that holds the whole system. - -If you want to create a new cpuset under /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset: -# cd /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset -# mkdir my_cpuset - -Now you want to do something with this cpuset. -# cd my_cpuset - -In this directory you can find several files: -# ls -cgroup.clone_children cpuset.memory_pressure -cgroup.event_control cpuset.memory_spread_page -cgroup.procs cpuset.memory_spread_slab -cpuset.cpu_exclusive cpuset.mems -cpuset.cpus cpuset.sched_load_balance -cpuset.mem_exclusive cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level -cpuset.mem_hardwall notify_on_release -cpuset.memory_migrate tasks - -Reading them will give you information about the state of this cpuset: -the CPUs and Memory Nodes it can use, the processes that are using -it, its properties. By writing to these files you can manipulate -the cpuset. - -Set some flags: -# /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive - -Add some cpus: -# /bin/echo 0-7 > cpuset.cpus - -Add some mems: -# /bin/echo 0-7 > cpuset.mems - -Now attach your shell to this cpuset: -# /bin/echo $$ > tasks - -You can also create cpusets inside your cpuset by using mkdir in this -directory. -# mkdir my_sub_cs - -To remove a cpuset, just use rmdir: -# rmdir my_sub_cs -This will fail if the cpuset is in use (has cpusets inside, or has -processes attached). - -Note that for legacy reasons, the "cpuset" filesystem exists as a -wrapper around the cgroup filesystem. - -The command - -mount -t cpuset X /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset - -is equivalent to - -mount -t cgroup -ocpuset,noprefix X /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset -echo "/sbin/cpuset_release_agent" > /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset/release_agent - -2.2 Adding/removing cpus ------------------------- - -This is the syntax to use when writing in the cpus or mems files -in cpuset directories: - -# /bin/echo 1-4 > cpuset.cpus -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4 -# /bin/echo 1,2,3,4 > cpuset.cpus -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4 - -To add a CPU to a cpuset, write the new list of CPUs including the -CPU to be added. To add 6 to the above cpuset: - -# /bin/echo 1-4,6 > cpuset.cpus -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4,6 - -Similarly to remove a CPU from a cpuset, write the new list of CPUs -without the CPU to be removed. - -To remove all the CPUs: - -# /bin/echo "" > cpuset.cpus -> clear cpus list - -2.3 Setting flags ------------------ - -The syntax is very simple: - -# /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive -> set flag 'cpuset.cpu_exclusive' -# /bin/echo 0 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive -> unset flag 'cpuset.cpu_exclusive' - -2.4 Attaching processes ------------------------ - -# /bin/echo PID > tasks - -Note that it is PID, not PIDs. You can only attach ONE task at a time. -If you have several tasks to attach, you have to do it one after another: - -# /bin/echo PID1 > tasks -# /bin/echo PID2 > tasks - ... -# /bin/echo PIDn > tasks - - -3. Questions -============ - -Q: what's up with this '/bin/echo' ? -A: bash's builtin 'echo' command does not check calls to write() against - errors. If you use it in the cpuset file system, you won't be - able to tell whether a command succeeded or failed. - -Q: When I attach processes, only the first of the line gets really attached ! -A: We can only return one error code per call to write(). So you should also - put only ONE pid. - -4. Contact -========== - -Web: http://www.bullopensource.org/cpuset |