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diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/pin_user_pages.rst b/Documentation/core-api/pin_user_pages.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..1d490155ecd7 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/core-api/pin_user_pages.rst @@ -0,0 +1,232 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +==================================================== +pin_user_pages() and related calls +==================================================== + +.. contents:: :local: + +Overview +======== + +This document describes the following functions:: + + pin_user_pages() + pin_user_pages_fast() + pin_user_pages_remote() + +Basic description of FOLL_PIN +============================= + +FOLL_PIN and FOLL_LONGTERM are flags that can be passed to the get_user_pages*() +("gup") family of functions. FOLL_PIN has significant interactions and +interdependencies with FOLL_LONGTERM, so both are covered here. + +FOLL_PIN is internal to gup, meaning that it should not appear at the gup call +sites. This allows the associated wrapper functions (pin_user_pages*() and +others) to set the correct combination of these flags, and to check for problems +as well. + +FOLL_LONGTERM, on the other hand, *is* allowed to be set at the gup call sites. +This is in order to avoid creating a large number of wrapper functions to cover +all combinations of get*(), pin*(), FOLL_LONGTERM, and more. Also, the +pin_user_pages*() APIs are clearly distinct from the get_user_pages*() APIs, so +that's a natural dividing line, and a good point to make separate wrapper calls. +In other words, use pin_user_pages*() for DMA-pinned pages, and +get_user_pages*() for other cases. There are four cases described later on in +this document, to further clarify that concept. + +FOLL_PIN and FOLL_GET are mutually exclusive for a given gup call. However, +multiple threads and call sites are free to pin the same struct pages, via both +FOLL_PIN and FOLL_GET. It's just the call site that needs to choose one or the +other, not the struct page(s). + +The FOLL_PIN implementation is nearly the same as FOLL_GET, except that FOLL_PIN +uses a different reference counting technique. + +FOLL_PIN is a prerequisite to FOLL_LONGTERM. Another way of saying that is, +FOLL_LONGTERM is a specific case, more restrictive case of FOLL_PIN. + +Which flags are set by each wrapper +=================================== + +For these pin_user_pages*() functions, FOLL_PIN is OR'd in with whatever gup +flags the caller provides. The caller is required to pass in a non-null struct +pages* array, and the function then pin pages by incrementing each by a special +value. For now, that value is +1, just like get_user_pages*().:: + + Function + -------- + pin_user_pages FOLL_PIN is always set internally by this function. + pin_user_pages_fast FOLL_PIN is always set internally by this function. + pin_user_pages_remote FOLL_PIN is always set internally by this function. + +For these get_user_pages*() functions, FOLL_GET might not even be specified. +Behavior is a little more complex than above. If FOLL_GET was *not* specified, +but the caller passed in a non-null struct pages* array, then the function +sets FOLL_GET for you, and proceeds to pin pages by incrementing the refcount +of each page by +1.:: + + Function + -------- + get_user_pages FOLL_GET is sometimes set internally by this function. + get_user_pages_fast FOLL_GET is sometimes set internally by this function. + get_user_pages_remote FOLL_GET is sometimes set internally by this function. + +Tracking dma-pinned pages +========================= + +Some of the key design constraints, and solutions, for tracking dma-pinned +pages: + +* An actual reference count, per struct page, is required. This is because + multiple processes may pin and unpin a page. + +* False positives (reporting that a page is dma-pinned, when in fact it is not) + are acceptable, but false negatives are not. + +* struct page may not be increased in size for this, and all fields are already + used. + +* Given the above, we can overload the page->_refcount field by using, sort of, + the upper bits in that field for a dma-pinned count. "Sort of", means that, + rather than dividing page->_refcount into bit fields, we simple add a medium- + large value (GUP_PIN_COUNTING_BIAS, initially chosen to be 1024: 10 bits) to + page->_refcount. This provides fuzzy behavior: if a page has get_page() called + on it 1024 times, then it will appear to have a single dma-pinned count. + And again, that's acceptable. + +This also leads to limitations: there are only 31-10==21 bits available for a +counter that increments 10 bits at a time. + +TODO: for 1GB and larger huge pages, this is cutting it close. That's because +when pin_user_pages() follows such pages, it increments the head page by "1" +(where "1" used to mean "+1" for get_user_pages(), but now means "+1024" for +pin_user_pages()) for each tail page. So if you have a 1GB huge page: + +* There are 256K (18 bits) worth of 4 KB tail pages. +* There are 21 bits available to count up via GUP_PIN_COUNTING_BIAS (that is, + 10 bits at a time) +* There are 21 - 18 == 3 bits available to count. Except that there aren't, + because you need to allow for a few normal get_page() calls on the head page, + as well. Fortunately, the approach of using addition, rather than "hard" + bitfields, within page->_refcount, allows for sharing these bits gracefully. + But we're still looking at about 8 references. + +This, however, is a missing feature more than anything else, because it's easily +solved by addressing an obvious inefficiency in the original get_user_pages() +approach of retrieving pages: stop treating all the pages as if they were +PAGE_SIZE. Retrieve huge pages as huge pages. The callers need to be aware of +this, so some work is required. Once that's in place, this limitation mostly +disappears from view, because there will be ample refcounting range available. + +* Callers must specifically request "dma-pinned tracking of pages". In other + words, just calling get_user_pages() will not suffice; a new set of functions, + pin_user_page() and related, must be used. + +FOLL_PIN, FOLL_GET, FOLL_LONGTERM: when to use which flags +========================================================== + +Thanks to Jan Kara, Vlastimil Babka and several other -mm people, for describing +these categories: + +CASE 1: Direct IO (DIO) +----------------------- +There are GUP references to pages that are serving +as DIO buffers. These buffers are needed for a relatively short time (so they +are not "long term"). No special synchronization with page_mkclean() or +munmap() is provided. Therefore, flags to set at the call site are: :: + + FOLL_PIN + +...but rather than setting FOLL_PIN directly, call sites should use one of +the pin_user_pages*() routines that set FOLL_PIN. + +CASE 2: RDMA +------------ +There are GUP references to pages that are serving as DMA +buffers. These buffers are needed for a long time ("long term"). No special +synchronization with page_mkclean() or munmap() is provided. Therefore, flags +to set at the call site are: :: + + FOLL_PIN | FOLL_LONGTERM + +NOTE: Some pages, such as DAX pages, cannot be pinned with longterm pins. That's +because DAX pages do not have a separate page cache, and so "pinning" implies +locking down file system blocks, which is not (yet) supported in that way. + +CASE 3: Hardware with page faulting support +------------------------------------------- +Here, a well-written driver doesn't normally need to pin pages at all. However, +if the driver does choose to do so, it can register MMU notifiers for the range, +and will be called back upon invalidation. Either way (avoiding page pinning, or +using MMU notifiers to unpin upon request), there is proper synchronization with +both filesystem and mm (page_mkclean(), munmap(), etc). + +Therefore, neither flag needs to be set. + +In this case, ideally, neither get_user_pages() nor pin_user_pages() should be +called. Instead, the software should be written so that it does not pin pages. +This allows mm and filesystems to operate more efficiently and reliably. + +CASE 4: Pinning for struct page manipulation only +------------------------------------------------- +Here, normal GUP calls are sufficient, so neither flag needs to be set. + +page_dma_pinned(): the whole point of pinning +============================================= + +The whole point of marking pages as "DMA-pinned" or "gup-pinned" is to be able +to query, "is this page DMA-pinned?" That allows code such as page_mkclean() +(and file system writeback code in general) to make informed decisions about +what to do when a page cannot be unmapped due to such pins. + +What to do in those cases is the subject of a years-long series of discussions +and debates (see the References at the end of this document). It's a TODO item +here: fill in the details once that's worked out. Meanwhile, it's safe to say +that having this available: :: + + static inline bool page_dma_pinned(struct page *page) + +...is a prerequisite to solving the long-running gup+DMA problem. + +Another way of thinking about FOLL_GET, FOLL_PIN, and FOLL_LONGTERM +=================================================================== + +Another way of thinking about these flags is as a progression of restrictions: +FOLL_GET is for struct page manipulation, without affecting the data that the +struct page refers to. FOLL_PIN is a *replacement* for FOLL_GET, and is for +short term pins on pages whose data *will* get accessed. As such, FOLL_PIN is +a "more severe" form of pinning. And finally, FOLL_LONGTERM is an even more +restrictive case that has FOLL_PIN as a prerequisite: this is for pages that +will be pinned longterm, and whose data will be accessed. + +Unit testing +============ +This file:: + + tools/testing/selftests/vm/gup_benchmark.c + +has the following new calls to exercise the new pin*() wrapper functions: + +* PIN_FAST_BENCHMARK (./gup_benchmark -a) +* PIN_BENCHMARK (./gup_benchmark -b) + +You can monitor how many total dma-pinned pages have been acquired and released +since the system was booted, via two new /proc/vmstat entries: :: + + /proc/vmstat/nr_foll_pin_requested + /proc/vmstat/nr_foll_pin_requested + +Those are both going to show zero, unless CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is set. This is +because there is a noticeable performance drop in unpin_user_page(), when they +are activated. + +References +========== + +* `Some slow progress on get_user_pages() (Apr 2, 2019) <https://lwn.net/Articles/784574/>`_ +* `DMA and get_user_pages() (LPC: Dec 12, 2018) <https://lwn.net/Articles/774411/>`_ +* `The trouble with get_user_pages() (Apr 30, 2018) <https://lwn.net/Articles/753027/>`_ + +John Hubbard, October, 2019 |