Re: [PATCH v4] vmstat: Kernel stack usage histogram

From: Kent Overstreet
Date: Thu Jul 18 2024 - 17:44:25 EST


On Thu, Jul 18, 2024 at 08:26:11PM GMT, Pasha Tatashin wrote:
> As part of the dynamic kernel stack project, we need to know the amount
> of data that can be saved by reducing the default kernel stack size [1].
>
> Provide a kernel stack usage histogram to aid in optimizing kernel stack
> sizes and minimizing memory waste in large-scale environments. The
> histogram divides stack usage into power-of-two buckets and reports the
> results in /proc/vmstat. This information is especially valuable in
> environments with millions of machines, where even small optimizations
> can have a significant impact.
>
> The histogram data is presented in /proc/vmstat with entries like
> "kstack_1k", "kstack_2k", and so on, indicating the number of threads
> that exited with stack usage falling within each respective bucket.
>
> Example outputs:
> Intel:
> $ grep kstack /proc/vmstat
> kstack_1k 3
> kstack_2k 188
> kstack_4k 11391
> kstack_8k 243
> kstack_16k 0
>
> ARM with 64K page_size:
> $ grep kstack /proc/vmstat
> kstack_1k 1
> kstack_2k 340
> kstack_4k 25212
> kstack_8k 1659
> kstack_16k 0
> kstack_32k 0
> kstack_64k 0
>
> Note: once the dynamic kernel stack is implemented it will depend on the
> implementation the usability of this feature: On hardware that supports
> faults on kernel stacks, we will have other metrics that show the total
> number of pages allocated for stacks. On hardware where faults are not
> supported, we will most likely have some optimization where only some
> threads are extended, and for those, these metrics will still be very
> useful.
>
> [1] https://lwn.net/Articles/974367

Nice and simple, and this gets us exactly the data we want for dynamic
kernel stacks...

Reviewed-by: Kent Overstreet <kent.overstreet@xxxxxxxxx>

>
> Signed-off-by: Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>
> Changelog:
> v4:
> - Expanded the commit message as requested by Andrew Morton.
>
> include/linux/sched/task_stack.h | 49 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
> include/linux/vm_event_item.h | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> include/linux/vmstat.h | 16 -----------
> mm/vmstat.c | 24 ++++++++++++++++
> 4 files changed, 113 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/sched/task_stack.h b/include/linux/sched/task_stack.h
> index ccd72b978e1f..65e8c9fb7f9b 100644
> --- a/include/linux/sched/task_stack.h
> +++ b/include/linux/sched/task_stack.h
> @@ -95,9 +95,51 @@ static inline int object_is_on_stack(const void *obj)
> extern void thread_stack_cache_init(void);
>
> #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE
> +#ifdef CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS
> +#include <linux/vm_event_item.h>
> +
> +/* Count the maximum pages reached in kernel stacks */
> +static inline void kstack_histogram(unsigned long used_stack)
> +{
> + if (used_stack <= 1024)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_1K]);
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 1024
> + else if (used_stack <= 2048)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_2K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 2048
> + else if (used_stack <= 4096)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_4K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 4096
> + else if (used_stack <= 8192)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_8K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 8192
> + else if (used_stack <= 16384)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_16K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 16384
> + else if (used_stack <= 32768)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_32K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 32768
> + else if (used_stack <= 65536)
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_64K]);
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 65536
> + else
> + this_cpu_inc(vm_event_states.event[KSTACK_REST]);
> +#endif
> +}
> +#else /* !CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS */
> +static inline void kstack_histogram(unsigned long used_stack) {}
> +#endif /* CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS */
> +
> static inline unsigned long stack_not_used(struct task_struct *p)
> {
> unsigned long *n = end_of_stack(p);
> + unsigned long unused_stack;
>
> do { /* Skip over canary */
> # ifdef CONFIG_STACK_GROWSUP
> @@ -108,10 +150,13 @@ static inline unsigned long stack_not_used(struct task_struct *p)
> } while (!*n);
>
> # ifdef CONFIG_STACK_GROWSUP
> - return (unsigned long)end_of_stack(p) - (unsigned long)n;
> + unused_stack = (unsigned long)end_of_stack(p) - (unsigned long)n;
> # else
> - return (unsigned long)n - (unsigned long)end_of_stack(p);
> + unused_stack = (unsigned long)n - (unsigned long)end_of_stack(p);
> # endif
> + kstack_histogram(THREAD_SIZE - unused_stack);
> +
> + return unused_stack;
> }
> #endif
> extern void set_task_stack_end_magic(struct task_struct *tsk);
> diff --git a/include/linux/vm_event_item.h b/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
> index 747943bc8cc2..73fa5fbf33a3 100644
> --- a/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
> +++ b/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
> @@ -154,9 +154,51 @@ enum vm_event_item { PGPGIN, PGPGOUT, PSWPIN, PSWPOUT,
> VMA_LOCK_RETRY,
> VMA_LOCK_MISS,
> #endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE
> + KSTACK_1K,
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 1024
> + KSTACK_2K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 2048
> + KSTACK_4K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 4096
> + KSTACK_8K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 8192
> + KSTACK_16K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 16384
> + KSTACK_32K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 32768
> + KSTACK_64K,
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 65536
> + KSTACK_REST,
> +#endif
> +#endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE */
> NR_VM_EVENT_ITEMS
> };
>
> +#ifdef CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS
> +/*
> + * Light weight per cpu counter implementation.
> + *
> + * Counters should only be incremented and no critical kernel component
> + * should rely on the counter values.
> + *
> + * Counters are handled completely inline. On many platforms the code
> + * generated will simply be the increment of a global address.
> + */
> +
> +struct vm_event_state {
> + unsigned long event[NR_VM_EVENT_ITEMS];
> +};
> +
> +DECLARE_PER_CPU(struct vm_event_state, vm_event_states);
> +#endif
> +
> #ifndef CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE
> #define THP_FILE_ALLOC ({ BUILD_BUG(); 0; })
> #define THP_FILE_FALLBACK ({ BUILD_BUG(); 0; })
> diff --git a/include/linux/vmstat.h b/include/linux/vmstat.h
> index 735eae6e272c..131966a4af78 100644
> --- a/include/linux/vmstat.h
> +++ b/include/linux/vmstat.h
> @@ -41,22 +41,6 @@ enum writeback_stat_item {
> };
>
> #ifdef CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS
> -/*
> - * Light weight per cpu counter implementation.
> - *
> - * Counters should only be incremented and no critical kernel component
> - * should rely on the counter values.
> - *
> - * Counters are handled completely inline. On many platforms the code
> - * generated will simply be the increment of a global address.
> - */
> -
> -struct vm_event_state {
> - unsigned long event[NR_VM_EVENT_ITEMS];
> -};
> -
> -DECLARE_PER_CPU(struct vm_event_state, vm_event_states);
> -
> /*
> * vm counters are allowed to be racy. Use raw_cpu_ops to avoid the
> * local_irq_disable overhead.
> diff --git a/mm/vmstat.c b/mm/vmstat.c
> index 8507c497218b..642d761b557b 100644
> --- a/mm/vmstat.c
> +++ b/mm/vmstat.c
> @@ -1416,6 +1416,30 @@ const char * const vmstat_text[] = {
> "vma_lock_retry",
> "vma_lock_miss",
> #endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE
> + "kstack_1k",
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 1024
> + "kstack_2k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 2048
> + "kstack_4k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 4096
> + "kstack_8k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 8192
> + "kstack_16k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 16384
> + "kstack_32k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 32768
> + "kstack_64k",
> +#endif
> +#if THREAD_SIZE > 65536
> + "kstack_rest",
> +#endif
> +#endif
> #endif /* CONFIG_VM_EVENT_COUNTERS || CONFIG_MEMCG */
> };
> #endif /* CONFIG_PROC_FS || CONFIG_SYSFS || CONFIG_NUMA || CONFIG_MEMCG */
> --
> 2.45.2.1089.g2a221341d9-goog
>