Re: [mm] 4e2c82a409: ltp.overcommit_memory01.fail

[Andi Kleen]

>  	ret = proc_dointvec_minmax(table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos);
> -	if (ret == 0 && write)
> +	if (ret == 0 && write) {
> +		if (sysctl_overcommit_memory == OVERCOMMIT_NEVER)
> +			schedule_on_each_cpu(sync_overcommit_as);

The schedule_on_each_cpu is not atomic, so the problem could still happen
in that window.

I think it may be ok if it eventually resolves, but certainly needs
a comment explaining it. Can you do some stress testing toggling the
policy all the time on different CPUs and running the test on
other CPUs and see if the test fails?

The other alternative would be to define some intermediate state
for the sysctl variable and only switch to never once the schedule_on_each_cpu
returned. But that's more complexity.


-Andi