Re: [PATCH v6 3/6] nfsd: implement server-stats-get netlink handler

From: Jeff Layton

Date: Thu Jul 16 2026 - 10:04:42 EST


On Fri, 2026-06-19 at 16:40 -0400, Chuck Lever wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2026, at 11:26 AM, Jeff Layton wrote:
> > Implement nfsd_nl_server_stats_get_dumpit() which exposes the
> > NFS server statistics currently available via /proc/net/rpc/nfsd
> > through the nfsd generic netlink family.
>
> A couple of questions on the dump design and one on the commit message,
> then some smaller items.
>
> The commit message says:
>
> > - First message: all scalar stats (reply cache, filehandle,
> > IO, network, RPC) plus per-version procedure counts
> > (proc2/3/4-ops) using per-netns vs_count arrays.
> >
> > - Subsequent messages: NFSv4 per-operation counts
> > (proc4ops-ops), one entry per message, using cb->args[0]
> > to track the current operation index across dump calls.
>
> The code does not stream across subsequent messages. The proc4ops-ops
> nests are emitted in the first message, inside the same "if (start == 0)"
> block as the scalars, and cb->args[0] only ever holds 0 or -1, never an
> operation index. The function's own kerneldoc agrees: "The entire
> server-stats object is emitted in a single netlink message on the first
> invocation."
>
> Should the commit message be reworded to match the code, or should the code
> move to the streaming design the message describes? That second option ties
> into the next question.
>
> > diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> > index 601301e34fc7..f0514d8149cd 100644
> > --- a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> > +++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> > @@ -2329,6 +2329,185 @@ int nfsd_nl_cache_flush_doit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
> > return 0;
> > }
> >
> > +static int nfsd_nl_fill_proc_ops(struct sk_buff *skb, int attr,
> > + unsigned long __percpu *counts,
> > + unsigned int nproc)
> > +{
> > + struct nlattr *nest;
> > + unsigned int j;
> > + int k;
> > +
> > + for (j = 0; j < nproc; j++) {
> > + unsigned long count = 0;
> > +
> > + for_each_possible_cpu(k)
> > + count += per_cpu(counts[j], k);
> > +
> > + nest = nla_nest_start(skb, attr);
> > + if (!nest)
> > + return -EMSGSIZE;
> > + if (nla_put_u32(skb, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_OP, j) ||
> > + nla_put_u64_64bit(skb, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_COUNT,
> > + count, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_PAD)) {
> > + nla_nest_cancel(skb, nest);
> > + return -EMSGSIZE;
> > + }
> > + nla_nest_end(skb, nest);
> > + }
> > +
> > + return 0;
> > +}
> > +
> > +/**
> > + * nfsd_nl_server_stats_get_dumpit - dump NFS server statistics
> > + * @skb: reply buffer
> > + * @cb: netlink metadata and command arguments
> > + *
> > + * The entire server-stats object is emitted in a single netlink message on
> > + * the first invocation. cb->args[0] is set to -1 afterwards so that the next
> > + * invocation terminates the dump.
> > + *
> > + * Returns the size of the reply or a negative errno.
> > + */
> > +int nfsd_nl_server_stats_get_dumpit(struct sk_buff *skb,
> > + struct netlink_callback *cb)
> > +{
> > + struct net *net = sock_net(skb->sk);
> > + struct nfsd_net *nn = net_generic(net, nfsd_net_id);
> > + struct svc_stat *statp = &nn->nfsd_svcstats;
> > + struct svc_program *prog = statp->program;
> > + int start = cb->args[0];
> > + void *hdr;
> > +
> > + /*
> > + * cb->args[0] == 0: first call, emit the full server-stats object
> > + * cb->args[0] < 0: dump already complete
> > + */
> > + if (start < 0)
> > + return 0;
> > +
> > + if (start == 0) {
> > + hdr = genlmsg_put(skb, NETLINK_CB(cb->skb).portid,
> > + cb->nlh->nlmsg_seq, &nfsd_nl_family,
> > + NLM_F_MULTI, NFSD_CMD_SERVER_STATS_GET);
> > + if (!hdr)
> > + return -ENOBUFS;
> > +
>
> This handler assembles the entire server-stats object -- all scalars, the
> proc2/3/4-ops nests, and one proc4ops-ops nest per NFSv4 operation -- in one
> message under "if (start == 0)", then sets cb->args[0] = -1 so the next call
> ends the dump.
>
> Does that hold up once the assembled message no longer fits the dump buffer?
> A dump skb is allocated at max(cb->min_dump_alloc, NLMSG_GOODSIZE), and this
> handler sets neither cb->min_dump_alloc nor a .start callback, so the floor
> is NLMSG_GOODSIZE, which is SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(PAGE_SIZE), roughly 3.7k on a
> 4k-page host. A larger skb is allocated only when userspace has previously
> grown its receive buffer.
>
> With LAST_NFS4_OP at 75, the proc4ops-ops loop alone emits 76 nests of about
> 28 bytes each (~2.1k); the proc2 and proc3 nests plus the scalar block bring
> the total to roughly 3.5k -- already within a few hundred bytes of the floor,
> and growing by one nest for every NFSv4 operation added later.
>
> [ ... scalar puts for reply cache, fh, io, net, rpc snipped ... ]
>
> > + /* Per-version procedure counts */
> > + if (statp->vs_count) {
> > + static const int proc_attrs[] = {
> > + [2] = NFSD_A_SERVER_STATS_PROC2_OPS,
> > + [3] = NFSD_A_SERVER_STATS_PROC3_OPS,
> > + [4] = NFSD_A_SERVER_STATS_PROC4_OPS,
> > + };
> > + unsigned int i;
> > +
> > + for (i = 0; i < prog->pg_nvers &&
> > + i < ARRAY_SIZE(proc_attrs); i++) {
> > + if (!prog->pg_vers[i] ||
> > + !statp->vs_count[i])
> > + continue;
> > + if (!proc_attrs[i])
> > + continue;
> > + if (nfsd_nl_fill_proc_ops(skb,
> > + proc_attrs[i],
> > + statp->vs_count[i],
> > + prog->pg_vers[i]->vs_nproc))
> > + goto err_cancel;
> > + }
> > + }
> > +
> > +#ifdef CONFIG_NFSD_V4
> > + /* NFSv4 individual operation counts */
> > + for (int i = 0; i <= LAST_NFS4_OP; i++) {
> > + struct nlattr *nest;
> > + u64 cnt;
> > +
> > + cnt = percpu_counter_sum_positive(
> > + &nn->counter[NFSD_STATS_NFS4_OP(i)]);
> > +
> > + nest = nla_nest_start(skb,
> > + NFSD_A_SERVER_STATS_PROC4OPS_OPS);
> > + if (!nest)
> > + goto err_cancel;
> > + if (nla_put_u32(skb, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_OP, i) ||
> > + nla_put_u64_64bit(skb, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_COUNT,
> > + cnt, NFSD_A_SERVER_PROC_ENTRY_PAD)) {
> > + nla_nest_cancel(skb, nest);
> > + goto err_cancel;
> > + }
> > + nla_nest_end(skb, nest);
> > + }
> > +#endif
>
> This loop open-codes the same nest that nfsd_nl_fill_proc_ops() builds just
> above -- nla_nest_start(), nla_put_u32(PROC_ENTRY_OP),
> nla_put_u64_64bit(PROC_ENTRY_COUNT), nla_nest_end() -- into the same
> NFSD_A_SERVER_STATS_PROC4OPS_OPS attribute. Could the helper be generalized
> to take the per-op counter source so this is not a second copy of the same
> code?
>
> The per-version block above skips empty versions:
>
> if (!prog->pg_vers[i] || !statp->vs_count[i])
> continue;
>
> but this loop emits an entry for every op 0..LAST_NFS4_OP, zero-count ops
> included. Is that difference intentional? Skipping zero counts here would
> also trim the worst-case message size above.
>
> There is also a counter that this dump does not emit. /proc/net/rpc/nfsd
> prints a wdeleg_getattr line after proc4ops:
>
> seq_printf(seq, "\nwdeleg_getattr %lld",
> percpu_counter_sum_positive(&nn->counter[NFSD_STATS_WDELEG_GETATTR]));
>
> incremented by nfsd_stats_wdeleg_getattr_inc(). Since the goal is to expose
> the statistics currently available via /proc/net/rpc/nfsd, should
> wdeleg_getattr get an attribute here too, so nfsstat over netlink does not
> drop it relative to the procfs path?
>

The only thing in this review that is not addressed in my current
series is the above comment, and I think we had agreed in an earlier
email thread that this was approximately the same value as the counter
for CB_GETATTR calls and so it's good enough for this purpose.

Are you still ok with this approach?
--
Jeff Layton <jlayton@xxxxxxxxxx>