Re: [PATCH v2] srcu: Improve comments about acceleration leak

[Joel Fernandes]

> On Dec 10, 2023, at 8:57 PM, Joel Fernandes (Google) <joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> The comments added in commit 1ef990c4b36b ("srcu: No need to
> advance/accelerate if no callback enqueued") are a bit confusing to me.
> The comments are describing a scenario for code that was moved and is
> no longer the way it was (snapshot after advancing). Improve the code
> comments to reflect this and also document by acceleration can never
> fail.
> 
> Cc: Frederic Weisbecker <frederic@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Neeraj Upadhyay <neeraj.iitr10@xxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Joel Fernandes (Google) <joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Do we want to quick review and put it in Neeraj PR?

Or next merge window ok with me. Just that then I have to keep track of it ;-)

Thanks,

- Joel 



> ---
> v1->v2: Fix typo in change log.
> 
> kernel/rcu/srcutree.c | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++----
> 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/kernel/rcu/srcutree.c b/kernel/rcu/srcutree.c
> index 0351a4e83529..051e149490d1 100644
> --- a/kernel/rcu/srcutree.c
> +++ b/kernel/rcu/srcutree.c
> @@ -1234,11 +1234,20 @@ static unsigned long srcu_gp_start_if_needed(struct srcu_struct *ssp,
>    if (rhp)
>        rcu_segcblist_enqueue(&sdp->srcu_cblist, rhp);
>    /*
> -     * The snapshot for acceleration must be taken _before_ the read of the
> -     * current gp sequence used for advancing, otherwise advancing may fail
> -     * and acceleration may then fail too.
> +     * It's crucial to capture the snapshot 's' for acceleration before
> +     * reading the current gp_seq that is used for advancing. This is
> +     * essential because if the acceleration snapshot is taken after a
> +     * failed advancement attempt, there's a risk that a grace period may
> +     * conclude and a new one may start in the interim. If the snapshot is
> +     * captured after this sequence of events, the acceleration snapshot 's'
> +     * could be excessively advanced, leading to acceleration failure.
> +     * In such a scenario, an 'acceleration leak' can occur, where new
> +     * callbacks become indefinitely stuck in the RCU_NEXT_TAIL segment.
> +     * Also note that encountering advancing failures is a normal
> +     * occurrence when the grace period for RCU_WAIT_TAIL is in progress.
>     *
> -     * This could happen if:
> +     * To see this, consider the following events which occur if
> +     * rcu_seq_snap() were to be called after advance:
>     *
>     *  1) The RCU_WAIT_TAIL segment has callbacks (gp_num = X + 4) and the
>     *     RCU_NEXT_READY_TAIL also has callbacks (gp_num = X + 8).
> @@ -1264,6 +1273,13 @@ static unsigned long srcu_gp_start_if_needed(struct srcu_struct *ssp,
>    if (rhp) {
>        rcu_segcblist_advance(&sdp->srcu_cblist,
>                      rcu_seq_current(&ssp->srcu_sup->srcu_gp_seq));
> +        /*
> +         * Acceleration can never fail because the state of gp_seq used
> +         * for advancing is <= the state of gp_seq used for
> +         * acceleration. This means that RCU_NEXT_TAIL segment will
> +         * always be able to be emptied by the acceleration into the
> +         * RCU_NEXT_READY_TAIL or RCU_WAIT_TAIL segments.
> +         */
>        WARN_ON_ONCE(!rcu_segcblist_accelerate(&sdp->srcu_cblist, s));
>    }
>    if (ULONG_CMP_LT(sdp->srcu_gp_seq_needed, s)) {
> -- 
> 2.43.0.472.g3155946c3a-goog
>