diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt | 83 |
1 files changed, 74 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt b/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt index 83ab25660fc9..c831001c45f1 100644 --- a/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt +++ b/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt @@ -77,12 +77,14 @@ show up in /proc/sys/kernel: - shmmax [ sysv ipc ] - shmmni - softlockup_all_cpu_backtrace +- soft_watchdog - stop-a [ SPARC only ] - sysrq ==> Documentation/sysrq.txt - sysctl_writes_strict - tainted - threads-max - unknown_nmi_panic +- watchdog - watchdog_thresh - version @@ -417,16 +419,23 @@ successful IPC object allocation. nmi_watchdog: -Enables/Disables the NMI watchdog on x86 systems. When the value is -non-zero the NMI watchdog is enabled and will continuously test all -online cpus to determine whether or not they are still functioning -properly. Currently, passing "nmi_watchdog=" parameter at boot time is -required for this function to work. +This parameter can be used to control the NMI watchdog +(i.e. the hard lockup detector) on x86 systems. -If LAPIC NMI watchdog method is in use (nmi_watchdog=2 kernel -parameter), the NMI watchdog shares registers with oprofile. By -disabling the NMI watchdog, oprofile may have more registers to -utilize. + 0 - disable the hard lockup detector + 1 - enable the hard lockup detector + +The hard lockup detector monitors each CPU for its ability to respond to +timer interrupts. The mechanism utilizes CPU performance counter registers +that are programmed to generate Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs) periodically +while a CPU is busy. Hence, the alternative name 'NMI watchdog'. + +The NMI watchdog is disabled by default if the kernel is running as a guest +in a KVM virtual machine. This default can be overridden by adding + + nmi_watchdog=1 + +to the guest kernel command line (see Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt). ============================================================== @@ -816,6 +825,22 @@ NMI. ============================================================== +soft_watchdog + +This parameter can be used to control the soft lockup detector. + + 0 - disable the soft lockup detector + 1 - enable the soft lockup detector + +The soft lockup detector monitors CPUs for threads that are hogging the CPUs +without rescheduling voluntarily, and thus prevent the 'watchdog/N' threads +from running. The mechanism depends on the CPUs ability to respond to timer +interrupts which are needed for the 'watchdog/N' threads to be woken up by +the watchdog timer function, otherwise the NMI watchdog - if enabled - can +detect a hard lockup condition. + +============================================================== + tainted: Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted. Numeric values, which @@ -847,6 +872,27 @@ can be ORed together: ============================================================== +threads-max + +This value controls the maximum number of threads that can be created +using fork(). + +During initialization the kernel sets this value such that even if the +maximum number of threads is created, the thread structures occupy only +a part (1/8th) of the available RAM pages. + +The minimum value that can be written to threads-max is 20. +The maximum value that can be written to threads-max is given by the +constant FUTEX_TID_MASK (0x3fffffff). +If a value outside of this range is written to threads-max an error +EINVAL occurs. + +The value written is checked against the available RAM pages. If the +thread structures would occupy too much (more than 1/8th) of the +available RAM pages threads-max is reduced accordingly. + +============================================================== + unknown_nmi_panic: The value in this file affects behavior of handling NMI. When the @@ -858,6 +904,25 @@ example. If a system hangs up, try pressing the NMI switch. ============================================================== +watchdog: + +This parameter can be used to disable or enable the soft lockup detector +_and_ the NMI watchdog (i.e. the hard lockup detector) at the same time. + + 0 - disable both lockup detectors + 1 - enable both lockup detectors + +The soft lockup detector and the NMI watchdog can also be disabled or +enabled individually, using the soft_watchdog and nmi_watchdog parameters. +If the watchdog parameter is read, for example by executing + + cat /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog + +the output of this command (0 or 1) shows the logical OR of soft_watchdog +and nmi_watchdog. + +============================================================== + watchdog_thresh: This value can be used to control the frequency of hrtimer and NMI |