[PATCH v4 3/3] selftests/mm: restore enable_soft_offline in hugetlb-soft-offline

From: Song Hu

Date: Tue Aug 25 2026 - 05:01:20 EST


hugetlb-soft-offline toggles /proc/sys/vm/enable_soft_offline between 1
and 0 (test_soft_offline_common(1) then (0)) and leaves it at 0 when it
finishes, silently disabling soft offlining for the whole system after
the run.

Save the original value before the test and restore it from an
atexit() handler, as hugepage_restore_settings_atexit() in
hugepage_settings.c already does. Use read_num()/write_num() from
vm_util instead of hand-rolled popen()/fopen() helpers.

The restore handler must not call write_num(): on failure it
re-enters exit() through ksft_exit_fail_msg(), which is undefined
behavior from inside an atexit handler. A non-root run hits it
directly - the restore write fails the same way the write that
triggered the exit did. Restore with plain open()/write(), best
effort.

Signed-off-by: Song Hu <husong@xxxxxxxxxx>

---

Changes since v3: the restore handler no longer uses write_num(),
whose failure path calls exit() from inside an atexit handler -
undefined behavior on a non-root run. Restore with plain
open()/write(), best effort.

.../selftests/mm/hugetlb-soft-offline.c | 49 +++++++++++--------
1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/hugetlb-soft-offline.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/hugetlb-soft-offline.c
index bc202e4ed2bd..4af9d3db7b5b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/hugetlb-soft-offline.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/hugetlb-soft-offline.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@

#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
#include <sys/types.h>

#include "kselftest.h"
+#include "vm_util.h"
#include "hugepage_settings.h"

#ifndef MADV_SOFT_OFFLINE
@@ -31,6 +33,8 @@

#define EPREFIX " !!! "

+#define ENABLE_SOFT_OFFLINE_PATH "/proc/sys/vm/enable_soft_offline"
+
static int do_soft_offline(int fd, size_t len, int expect_errno)
{
char *filemap = NULL;
@@ -77,26 +81,29 @@ static int do_soft_offline(int fd, size_t len, int expect_errno)
return ret;
}

-static int set_enable_soft_offline(int value)
-{
- char cmd[256] = {0};
- FILE *cmdfile = NULL;
-
- if (value != 0 && value != 1)
- return -EINVAL;
+static unsigned long orig_enable_soft_offline = -1UL;

- sprintf(cmd, "echo %d > /proc/sys/vm/enable_soft_offline", value);
- cmdfile = popen(cmd, "r");
+/*
+ * Runs from an atexit handler, so it must not call anything that
+ * exits on failure: write_num() would re-enter exit() through
+ * ksft_exit_fail_msg().
+ */
+static void restore_enable_soft_offline(void)
+{
+ char buf[24];
+ int fd, len;

- if (cmdfile)
- ksft_print_msg("enable_soft_offline => %d\n", value);
- else {
- ksft_perror(EPREFIX "failed to set enable_soft_offline");
- return errno;
- }
+ if (orig_enable_soft_offline == -1UL)
+ return;

- pclose(cmdfile);
- return 0;
+ len = snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%lu", orig_enable_soft_offline);
+ fd = open(ENABLE_SOFT_OFFLINE_PATH, O_WRONLY);
+ if (fd < 0)
+ return;
+ if (write(fd, buf, len) != len)
+ ksft_print_msg("failed to restore enable_soft_offline: %s\n",
+ strerror(errno));
+ close(fd);
}

static int create_hugetlbfs_file(struct statfs *file_stat)
@@ -145,10 +152,7 @@ static void test_soft_offline_common(int enable_soft_offline)
hugepagesize_kb = file_stat.f_bsize / 1024;
ksft_print_msg("Hugepagesize is %ldkB\n", hugepagesize_kb);

- if (set_enable_soft_offline(enable_soft_offline) != 0) {
- close(fd);
- ksft_exit_fail_msg("Failed to set enable_soft_offline\n");
- }
+ write_num(ENABLE_SOFT_OFFLINE_PATH, enable_soft_offline);

nr_hugepages_before = hugetlb_nr_default_pages();

@@ -192,6 +196,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)

ksft_set_plan(2);

+ orig_enable_soft_offline = read_num(ENABLE_SOFT_OFFLINE_PATH);
+ atexit(restore_enable_soft_offline);
+
test_soft_offline_common(1);
test_soft_offline_common(0);

--
2.43.0