From: Paul Jackson Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 17:07:59 +0000 (-0700) Subject: [PATCH] cpuset release ABBA deadlock fix X-Git-Tag: v2.6.13-rc7~122 X-Git-Url: http://git.openpandora.org/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?a=commitdiff_plain;h=3077a260e9f316b611436b1506eec9cc5c4f8aa6;p=pandora-kernel.git [PATCH] cpuset release ABBA deadlock fix Fix possible cpuset_sem ABBA deadlock if 'notify_on_release' set. For a particular usage pattern, creating and destroying cpusets fairly frequently using notify_on_release, on a very large system, this deadlock can be seen every few days. If you are not using the cpuset notify_on_release feature, you will never see this deadlock. The existing code, on task exit (or cpuset deletion) did: get cpuset_sem if cpuset marked notify_on_release and is ready to release: compute cpuset path relative to /dev/cpuset mount point call_usermodehelper() forks /sbin/cpuset_release_agent with path drop cpuset_sem Unfortunately, the fork in call_usermodehelper can allocate memory, and allocating memory can require cpuset_sem, if the mems_generation values changed in the interim. This results in an ABBA deadlock, trying to obtain cpuset_sem when it is already held by the current task. To fix this, I put the cpuset path (which must be computed while holding cpuset_sem) in a temporary buffer, to be used in the call_usermodehelper call of /sbin/cpuset_release_agent only _after_ dropping cpuset_sem. So the new logic is: get cpuset_sem if cpuset marked notify_on_release and is ready to release: compute cpuset path relative to /dev/cpuset mount point stash path in kmalloc'd buffer drop cpuset_sem call_usermodehelper() forks /sbin/cpuset_release_agent with path free path The sharp eyed reader might notice that this patch does not contain any calls to kmalloc. The existing code in the check_for_release() routine was already kmalloc'ing a buffer to hold the cpuset path. In the old code, it just held the buffer for a few lines, over the cpuset_release_agent() call that in turn invoked call_usermodehelper(). In the new code, with the application of this patch, it returns that buffer via the new char **ppathbuf parameter, for later use and freeing in cpuset_release_agent(), which is called after cpuset_sem is dropped. Whereas the old code has just one call to cpuset_release_agent(), right in the check_for_release() routine, the new code has three calls to cpuset_release_agent(), from the various places that a cpuset can be released. This patch has been build and booted on SN2, and passed a stress test that previously hit the deadlock within a few seconds. Signed-off-by: Paul Jackson Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds --- Reading git-diff-tree failed