[PATCH] mm: set PF_LESS_THROTTLE when allocating memory for i/o

From: Mikulas Patocka
Date: Tue Jul 03 2018 - 18:49:09 EST


It has been noticed that congestion throttling can slow down allocations
path that participate in the IO and thus help the memory reclaim.
Stalling those allocation is therefore not productive. Moreover mempool
allocator and md variants of the same already implement their own
throttling which has a better way to be feedback driven. Stalling at the
page allocator is therefore even counterproductive.

PF_LESS_THROTTLE is a task flag denoting allocation context that is
participating in the memory reclaim which fits into these IO paths
model, so use the flag and make the page allocator aware they are
special and they do not really want any dirty data throttling.

The throttling causes stalls on Android - it uses the dm-verity driver
that uses dm-bufio. Allocations in dm-bufio were observed to sleep in
wait_iff_congested repeatedly.

Signed-off-by: Mikulas Patocka <mpatocka@xxxxxxxxxx>
Acked-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@xxxxxxxx> # mempool_alloc and bvec_alloc
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

---
block/bio.c | 4 ++++
drivers/md/dm-bufio.c | 14 +++++++++++---
drivers/md/dm-crypt.c | 8 ++++++++
drivers/md/dm-integrity.c | 4 ++++
drivers/md/dm-kcopyd.c | 3 +++
drivers/md/dm-verity-target.c | 4 ++++
drivers/md/dm-writecache.c | 4 ++++
mm/mempool.c | 4 ++++
8 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

Index: linux-2.6/mm/mempool.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/mm/mempool.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/mm/mempool.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.270000000 +0200
@@ -369,6 +369,7 @@ void *mempool_alloc(mempool_t *pool, gfp
unsigned long flags;
wait_queue_entry_t wait;
gfp_t gfp_temp;
+ unsigned old_flags;

VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(gfp_mask & __GFP_ZERO);
might_sleep_if(gfp_mask & __GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM);
@@ -381,7 +382,10 @@ void *mempool_alloc(mempool_t *pool, gfp

repeat_alloc:

+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
element = pool->alloc(gfp_temp, pool->pool_data);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
if (likely(element != NULL))
return element;

Index: linux-2.6/block/bio.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/block/bio.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/block/bio.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.270000000 +0200
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ fallback:
} else {
struct biovec_slab *bvs = bvec_slabs + *idx;
gfp_t __gfp_mask = gfp_mask & ~(__GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM | __GFP_IO);
+ unsigned old_flags;

/*
* Make this allocation restricted and don't dump info on
@@ -229,7 +230,10 @@ fallback:
* Try a slab allocation. If this fails and __GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM
* is set, retry with the 1-entry mempool
*/
+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
bvl = kmem_cache_alloc(bvs->slab, __gfp_mask);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
if (unlikely(!bvl && (gfp_mask & __GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM))) {
*idx = BVEC_POOL_MAX;
goto fallback;
Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-bufio.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-bufio.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-bufio.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.270000000 +0200
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ static void __cache_size_refresh(void)
static void *alloc_buffer_data(struct dm_bufio_client *c, gfp_t gfp_mask,
unsigned char *data_mode)
{
+ void *ptr;
if (unlikely(c->slab_cache != NULL)) {
*data_mode = DATA_MODE_SLAB;
return kmem_cache_alloc(c->slab_cache, gfp_mask);
@@ -363,9 +364,14 @@ static void *alloc_buffer_data(struct dm

if (c->block_size <= KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE &&
gfp_mask & __GFP_NORETRY) {
+ unsigned old_flags;
*data_mode = DATA_MODE_GET_FREE_PAGES;
- return (void *)__get_free_pages(gfp_mask,
+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ ptr = (void *)__get_free_pages(gfp_mask,
c->sectors_per_block_bits - (PAGE_SHIFT - SECTOR_SHIFT));
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
+ return ptr;
}

*data_mode = DATA_MODE_VMALLOC;
@@ -381,8 +387,10 @@ static void *alloc_buffer_data(struct dm
*/
if (gfp_mask & __GFP_NORETRY) {
unsigned noio_flag = memalloc_noio_save();
- void *ptr = __vmalloc(c->block_size, gfp_mask, PAGE_KERNEL);
-
+ unsigned old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ ptr = __vmalloc(c->block_size, gfp_mask, PAGE_KERNEL);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
memalloc_noio_restore(noio_flag);
return ptr;
}
Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-integrity.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-integrity.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-integrity.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.270000000 +0200
@@ -1318,6 +1318,7 @@ static void integrity_metadata(struct wo
int r;

if (ic->internal_hash) {
+ unsigned old_flags;
struct bvec_iter iter;
struct bio_vec bv;
unsigned digest_size = crypto_shash_digestsize(ic->internal_hash);
@@ -1331,8 +1332,11 @@ static void integrity_metadata(struct wo
if (unlikely(ic->mode == 'R'))
goto skip_io;

+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
checksums = kmalloc((PAGE_SIZE >> SECTOR_SHIFT >> ic->sb->log2_sectors_per_block) * ic->tag_size + extra_space,
GFP_NOIO | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOWARN);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
if (!checksums)
checksums = checksums_onstack;

Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-kcopyd.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-kcopyd.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-kcopyd.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.270000000 +0200
@@ -245,7 +245,10 @@ static int kcopyd_get_pages(struct dm_kc
*pages = NULL;

do {
+ unsigned old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
pl = alloc_pl(__GFP_NOWARN | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
if (unlikely(!pl)) {
/* Use reserved pages */
pl = kc->pages;
Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-verity-target.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-verity-target.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-verity-target.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.280000000 +0200
@@ -596,9 +596,13 @@ no_prefetch_cluster:
static void verity_submit_prefetch(struct dm_verity *v, struct dm_verity_io *io)
{
struct dm_verity_prefetch_work *pw;
+ unsigned old_flags;

+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
pw = kmalloc(sizeof(struct dm_verity_prefetch_work),
GFP_NOIO | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOMEMALLOC | __GFP_NOWARN);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);

if (!pw)
return;
Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-writecache.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-writecache.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-writecache.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.280000000 +0200
@@ -1473,6 +1473,7 @@ static void __writecache_writeback_pmem(
unsigned max_pages;

while (wbl->size) {
+ unsigned old_flags;
wbl->size--;
e = container_of(wbl->list.prev, struct wc_entry, lru);
list_del(&e->lru);
@@ -1486,6 +1487,8 @@ static void __writecache_writeback_pmem(
bio_set_dev(&wb->bio, wc->dev->bdev);
wb->bio.bi_iter.bi_sector = read_original_sector(wc, e);
wb->page_offset = PAGE_SIZE;
+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
if (max_pages <= WB_LIST_INLINE ||
unlikely(!(wb->wc_list = kmalloc(max_pages * sizeof(struct wc_entry *),
GFP_NOIO | __GFP_NORETRY |
@@ -1493,6 +1496,7 @@ static void __writecache_writeback_pmem(
wb->wc_list = wb->wc_list_inline;
max_pages = WB_LIST_INLINE;
}
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);

BUG_ON(!wc_add_block(wb, e, GFP_NOIO));

Index: linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-crypt.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.orig/drivers/md/dm-crypt.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.290000000 +0200
+++ linux-2.6/drivers/md/dm-crypt.c 2018-06-29 03:47:16.280000000 +0200
@@ -2181,12 +2181,16 @@ static void *crypt_page_alloc(gfp_t gfp_
{
struct crypt_config *cc = pool_data;
struct page *page;
+ unsigned old_flags;

if (unlikely(percpu_counter_compare(&cc->n_allocated_pages, dm_crypt_pages_per_client) >= 0) &&
likely(gfp_mask & __GFP_NORETRY))
return NULL;

+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
page = alloc_page(gfp_mask);
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
if (likely(page != NULL))
percpu_counter_add(&cc->n_allocated_pages, 1);

@@ -2893,7 +2897,10 @@ static int crypt_map(struct dm_target *t

if (cc->on_disk_tag_size) {
unsigned tag_len = cc->on_disk_tag_size * (bio_sectors(bio) >> cc->sector_shift);
+ unsigned old_flags;

+ old_flags = current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
+ current->flags |= PF_LESS_THROTTLE;
if (unlikely(tag_len > KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE) ||
unlikely(!(io->integrity_metadata = kmalloc(tag_len,
GFP_NOIO | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOMEMALLOC | __GFP_NOWARN)))) {
@@ -2902,6 +2909,7 @@ static int crypt_map(struct dm_target *t
io->integrity_metadata = mempool_alloc(&cc->tag_pool, GFP_NOIO);
io->integrity_metadata_from_pool = true;
}
+ current_restore_flags(old_flags, PF_LESS_THROTTLE);
}

if (crypt_integrity_aead(cc))