04 Jun, 2016

1 commit

  • Per the discussion with Joonsoo Kim [1], we need check the return value
    of lookup_page_ext() for all call sites since it might return NULL in
    some cases, although it is unlikely, i.e. memory hotplug.

    Tested with ltp with "page_owner=0".

    [1] http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20160519002809.GA10245@js1304-P5Q-DELUXE

    [akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix build-breaking typos]
    [arnd@arndb.de: fix build problems from lookup_page_ext]
    Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/6285269.2CksypHdYp@wuerfel
    [akpm@linux-foundation.org: coding-style fixes]
    Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/1464023768-31025-1-git-send-email-yang.shi@linaro.org
    Signed-off-by: Yang Shi
    Signed-off-by: Arnd Bergmann
    Cc: Joonsoo Kim
    Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton
    Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds

    Yang Shi
     

11 Sep, 2015

1 commit

  • Knowing the portion of memory that is not used by a certain application or
    memory cgroup (idle memory) can be useful for partitioning the system
    efficiently, e.g. by setting memory cgroup limits appropriately.
    Currently, the only means to estimate the amount of idle memory provided
    by the kernel is /proc/PID/{clear_refs,smaps}: the user can clear the
    access bit for all pages mapped to a particular process by writing 1 to
    clear_refs, wait for some time, and then count smaps:Referenced. However,
    this method has two serious shortcomings:

    - it does not count unmapped file pages
    - it affects the reclaimer logic

    To overcome these drawbacks, this patch introduces two new page flags,
    Idle and Young, and a new sysfs file, /sys/kernel/mm/page_idle/bitmap.
    A page's Idle flag can only be set from userspace by setting bit in
    /sys/kernel/mm/page_idle/bitmap at the offset corresponding to the page,
    and it is cleared whenever the page is accessed either through page tables
    (it is cleared in page_referenced() in this case) or using the read(2)
    system call (mark_page_accessed()). Thus by setting the Idle flag for
    pages of a particular workload, which can be found e.g. by reading
    /proc/PID/pagemap, waiting for some time to let the workload access its
    working set, and then reading the bitmap file, one can estimate the amount
    of pages that are not used by the workload.

    The Young page flag is used to avoid interference with the memory
    reclaimer. A page's Young flag is set whenever the Access bit of a page
    table entry pointing to the page is cleared by writing to the bitmap file.
    If page_referenced() is called on a Young page, it will add 1 to its
    return value, therefore concealing the fact that the Access bit was
    cleared.

    Note, since there is no room for extra page flags on 32 bit, this feature
    uses extended page flags when compiled on 32 bit.

    [akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix build]
    [akpm@linux-foundation.org: kpageidle requires an MMU]
    [akpm@linux-foundation.org: decouple from page-flags rework]
    Signed-off-by: Vladimir Davydov
    Reviewed-by: Andres Lagar-Cavilla
    Cc: Minchan Kim
    Cc: Raghavendra K T
    Cc: Johannes Weiner
    Cc: Michal Hocko
    Cc: Greg Thelen
    Cc: Michel Lespinasse
    Cc: David Rientjes
    Cc: Pavel Emelyanov
    Cc: Cyrill Gorcunov
    Cc: Jonathan Corbet
    Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton
    Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds

    Vladimir Davydov