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-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/controllers/resource_counter.txt | 181 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | include/linux/res_counter.h | 2 |
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diff --git a/Documentation/controllers/resource_counter.txt b/Documentation/controllers/resource_counter.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..f196ac1d7d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/controllers/resource_counter.txt | |||
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1 | |||
2 | The Resource Counter | ||
3 | |||
4 | The resource counter, declared at include/linux/res_counter.h, | ||
5 | is supposed to facilitate the resource management by controllers | ||
6 | by providing common stuff for accounting. | ||
7 | |||
8 | This "stuff" includes the res_counter structure and routines | ||
9 | to work with it. | ||
10 | |||
11 | |||
12 | |||
13 | 1. Crucial parts of the res_counter structure | ||
14 | |||
15 | a. unsigned long long usage | ||
16 | |||
17 | The usage value shows the amount of a resource that is consumed | ||
18 | by a group at a given time. The units of measurement should be | ||
19 | determined by the controller that uses this counter. E.g. it can | ||
20 | be bytes, items or any other unit the controller operates on. | ||
21 | |||
22 | b. unsigned long long max_usage | ||
23 | |||
24 | The maximal value of the usage over time. | ||
25 | |||
26 | This value is useful when gathering statistical information about | ||
27 | the particular group, as it shows the actual resource requirements | ||
28 | for a particular group, not just some usage snapshot. | ||
29 | |||
30 | c. unsigned long long limit | ||
31 | |||
32 | The maximal allowed amount of resource to consume by the group. In | ||
33 | case the group requests for more resources, so that the usage value | ||
34 | would exceed the limit, the resource allocation is rejected (see | ||
35 | the next section). | ||
36 | |||
37 | d. unsigned long long failcnt | ||
38 | |||
39 | The failcnt stands for "failures counter". This is the number of | ||
40 | resource allocation attempts that failed. | ||
41 | |||
42 | c. spinlock_t lock | ||
43 | |||
44 | Protects changes of the above values. | ||
45 | |||
46 | |||
47 | |||
48 | 2. Basic accounting routines | ||
49 | |||
50 | a. void res_counter_init(struct res_counter *rc) | ||
51 | |||
52 | Initializes the resource counter. As usual, should be the first | ||
53 | routine called for a new counter. | ||
54 | |||
55 | b. int res_counter_charge[_locked] | ||
56 | (struct res_counter *rc, unsigned long val) | ||
57 | |||
58 | When a resource is about to be allocated it has to be accounted | ||
59 | with the appropriate resource counter (controller should determine | ||
60 | which one to use on its own). This operation is called "charging". | ||
61 | |||
62 | This is not very important which operation - resource allocation | ||
63 | or charging - is performed first, but | ||
64 | * if the allocation is performed first, this may create a | ||
65 | temporary resource over-usage by the time resource counter is | ||
66 | charged; | ||
67 | * if the charging is performed first, then it should be uncharged | ||
68 | on error path (if the one is called). | ||
69 | |||
70 | c. void res_counter_uncharge[_locked] | ||
71 | (struct res_counter *rc, unsigned long val) | ||
72 | |||
73 | When a resource is released (freed) it should be de-accounted | ||
74 | from the resource counter it was accounted to. This is called | ||
75 | "uncharging". | ||
76 | |||
77 | The _locked routines imply that the res_counter->lock is taken. | ||
78 | |||
79 | |||
80 | 2.1 Other accounting routines | ||
81 | |||
82 | There are more routines that may help you with common needs, like | ||
83 | checking whether the limit is reached or resetting the max_usage | ||
84 | value. They are all declared in include/linux/res_counter.h. | ||
85 | |||
86 | |||
87 | |||
88 | 3. Analyzing the resource counter registrations | ||
89 | |||
90 | a. If the failcnt value constantly grows, this means that the counter's | ||
91 | limit is too tight. Either the group is misbehaving and consumes too | ||
92 | many resources, or the configuration is not suitable for the group | ||
93 | and the limit should be increased. | ||
94 | |||
95 | b. The max_usage value can be used to quickly tune the group. One may | ||
96 | set the limits to maximal values and either load the container with | ||
97 | a common pattern or leave one for a while. After this the max_usage | ||
98 | value shows the amount of memory the container would require during | ||
99 | its common activity. | ||
100 | |||
101 | Setting the limit a bit above this value gives a pretty good | ||
102 | configuration that works in most of the cases. | ||
103 | |||
104 | c. If the max_usage is much less than the limit, but the failcnt value | ||
105 | is growing, then the group tries to allocate a big chunk of resource | ||
106 | at once. | ||
107 | |||
108 | d. If the max_usage is much less than the limit, but the failcnt value | ||
109 | is 0, then this group is given too high limit, that it does not | ||
110 | require. It is better to lower the limit a bit leaving more resource | ||
111 | for other groups. | ||
112 | |||
113 | |||
114 | |||
115 | 4. Communication with the control groups subsystem (cgroups) | ||
116 | |||
117 | All the resource controllers that are using cgroups and resource counters | ||
118 | should provide files (in the cgroup filesystem) to work with the resource | ||
119 | counter fields. They are recommended to adhere to the following rules: | ||
120 | |||
121 | a. File names | ||
122 | |||
123 | Field name File name | ||
124 | --------------------------------------------------- | ||
125 | usage usage_in_<unit_of_measurement> | ||
126 | max_usage max_usage_in_<unit_of_measurement> | ||
127 | limit limit_in_<unit_of_measurement> | ||
128 | failcnt failcnt | ||
129 | lock no file :) | ||
130 | |||
131 | b. Reading from file should show the corresponding field value in the | ||
132 | appropriate format. | ||
133 | |||
134 | c. Writing to file | ||
135 | |||
136 | Field Expected behavior | ||
137 | ---------------------------------- | ||
138 | usage prohibited | ||
139 | max_usage reset to usage | ||
140 | limit set the limit | ||
141 | failcnt reset to zero | ||
142 | |||
143 | |||
144 | |||
145 | 5. Usage example | ||
146 | |||
147 | a. Declare a task group (take a look at cgroups subsystem for this) and | ||
148 | fold a res_counter into it | ||
149 | |||
150 | struct my_group { | ||
151 | struct res_counter res; | ||
152 | |||
153 | <other fields> | ||
154 | } | ||
155 | |||
156 | b. Put hooks in resource allocation/release paths | ||
157 | |||
158 | int alloc_something(...) | ||
159 | { | ||
160 | if (res_counter_charge(res_counter_ptr, amount) < 0) | ||
161 | return -ENOMEM; | ||
162 | |||
163 | <allocate the resource and return to the caller> | ||
164 | } | ||
165 | |||
166 | void release_something(...) | ||
167 | { | ||
168 | res_counter_uncharge(res_counter_ptr, amount); | ||
169 | |||
170 | <release the resource> | ||
171 | } | ||
172 | |||
173 | In order to keep the usage value self-consistent, both the | ||
174 | "res_counter_ptr" and the "amount" in release_something() should be | ||
175 | the same as they were in the alloc_something() when the releasing | ||
176 | resource was allocated. | ||
177 | |||
178 | c. Provide the way to read res_counter values and set them (the cgroups | ||
179 | still can help with it). | ||
180 | |||
181 | c. Compile and run :) | ||
diff --git a/include/linux/res_counter.h b/include/linux/res_counter.h index df8085acba1..629d0ea2d07 100644 --- a/include/linux/res_counter.h +++ b/include/linux/res_counter.h | |||
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ | |||
9 | * | 9 | * |
10 | * Author: Pavel Emelianov <xemul@openvz.org> | 10 | * Author: Pavel Emelianov <xemul@openvz.org> |
11 | * | 11 | * |
12 | * See Documentation/controllers/resource_counter.txt for more | ||
13 | * info about what this counter is. | ||
12 | */ | 14 | */ |
13 | 15 | ||
14 | #include <linux/cgroup.h> | 16 | #include <linux/cgroup.h> |