diff options
author | Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com> | 2012-10-08 19:33:09 -0400 |
---|---|---|
committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2012-10-09 03:22:54 -0400 |
commit | 1939c557b5c3c0e800328e3589ae3d27fdfea29e (patch) | |
tree | db7e9fd87d2e0746de1b4fce3d0056164c6c90db /Documentation/cgroups | |
parent | 7f1290f2f2a4d2c3f1b7ce8e87256e052ca23125 (diff) |
memcg: trivial fixes for Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt
While reading through Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt, I found a number
of minor wordos and typos. The patch below is a conservative handling of
some of these: it provides just a number of "obviously correct" fixes to
the English that improve the readability of the document somewhat.
Obviously some more significant fixes need to be made to the document, but
some of those may not be in the "obvious correct" category.
Signed-off-by: Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/cgroups')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt | 90 |
1 files changed, 45 insertions, 45 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt b/Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt index 4372e6b8a353..c07f7b4fb88d 100644 --- a/Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt +++ b/Documentation/cgroups/memory.txt | |||
@@ -18,16 +18,16 @@ from the rest of the system. The article on LWN [12] mentions some probable | |||
18 | uses of the memory controller. The memory controller can be used to | 18 | uses of the memory controller. The memory controller can be used to |
19 | 19 | ||
20 | a. Isolate an application or a group of applications | 20 | a. Isolate an application or a group of applications |
21 | Memory hungry applications can be isolated and limited to a smaller | 21 | Memory-hungry applications can be isolated and limited to a smaller |
22 | amount of memory. | 22 | amount of memory. |
23 | b. Create a cgroup with limited amount of memory, this can be used | 23 | b. Create a cgroup with a limited amount of memory; this can be used |
24 | as a good alternative to booting with mem=XXXX. | 24 | as a good alternative to booting with mem=XXXX. |
25 | c. Virtualization solutions can control the amount of memory they want | 25 | c. Virtualization solutions can control the amount of memory they want |
26 | to assign to a virtual machine instance. | 26 | to assign to a virtual machine instance. |
27 | d. A CD/DVD burner could control the amount of memory used by the | 27 | d. A CD/DVD burner could control the amount of memory used by the |
28 | rest of the system to ensure that burning does not fail due to lack | 28 | rest of the system to ensure that burning does not fail due to lack |
29 | of available memory. | 29 | of available memory. |
30 | e. There are several other use cases, find one or use the controller just | 30 | e. There are several other use cases; find one or use the controller just |
31 | for fun (to learn and hack on the VM subsystem). | 31 | for fun (to learn and hack on the VM subsystem). |
32 | 32 | ||
33 | Current Status: linux-2.6.34-mmotm(development version of 2010/April) | 33 | Current Status: linux-2.6.34-mmotm(development version of 2010/April) |
@@ -38,12 +38,12 @@ Features: | |||
38 | - optionally, memory+swap usage can be accounted and limited. | 38 | - optionally, memory+swap usage can be accounted and limited. |
39 | - hierarchical accounting | 39 | - hierarchical accounting |
40 | - soft limit | 40 | - soft limit |
41 | - moving(recharging) account at moving a task is selectable. | 41 | - moving (recharging) account at moving a task is selectable. |
42 | - usage threshold notifier | 42 | - usage threshold notifier |
43 | - oom-killer disable knob and oom-notifier | 43 | - oom-killer disable knob and oom-notifier |
44 | - Root cgroup has no limit controls. | 44 | - Root cgroup has no limit controls. |
45 | 45 | ||
46 | Kernel memory support is work in progress, and the current version provides | 46 | Kernel memory support is a work in progress, and the current version provides |
47 | basically functionality. (See Section 2.7) | 47 | basically functionality. (See Section 2.7) |
48 | 48 | ||
49 | Brief summary of control files. | 49 | Brief summary of control files. |
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ Figure 1 shows the important aspects of the controller | |||
144 | 3. Each page has a pointer to the page_cgroup, which in turn knows the | 144 | 3. Each page has a pointer to the page_cgroup, which in turn knows the |
145 | cgroup it belongs to | 145 | cgroup it belongs to |
146 | 146 | ||
147 | The accounting is done as follows: mem_cgroup_charge() is invoked to setup | 147 | The accounting is done as follows: mem_cgroup_charge() is invoked to set up |
148 | the necessary data structures and check if the cgroup that is being charged | 148 | the necessary data structures and check if the cgroup that is being charged |
149 | is over its limit. If it is then reclaim is invoked on the cgroup. | 149 | is over its limit. If it is, then reclaim is invoked on the cgroup. |
150 | More details can be found in the reclaim section of this document. | 150 | More details can be found in the reclaim section of this document. |
151 | If everything goes well, a page meta-data-structure called page_cgroup is | 151 | If everything goes well, a page meta-data-structure called page_cgroup is |
152 | updated. page_cgroup has its own LRU on cgroup. | 152 | updated. page_cgroup has its own LRU on cgroup. |
@@ -163,13 +163,13 @@ for earlier. A file page will be accounted for as Page Cache when it's | |||
163 | inserted into inode (radix-tree). While it's mapped into the page tables of | 163 | inserted into inode (radix-tree). While it's mapped into the page tables of |
164 | processes, duplicate accounting is carefully avoided. | 164 | processes, duplicate accounting is carefully avoided. |
165 | 165 | ||
166 | A RSS page is unaccounted when it's fully unmapped. A PageCache page is | 166 | An RSS page is unaccounted when it's fully unmapped. A PageCache page is |
167 | unaccounted when it's removed from radix-tree. Even if RSS pages are fully | 167 | unaccounted when it's removed from radix-tree. Even if RSS pages are fully |
168 | unmapped (by kswapd), they may exist as SwapCache in the system until they | 168 | unmapped (by kswapd), they may exist as SwapCache in the system until they |
169 | are really freed. Such SwapCaches also also accounted. | 169 | are really freed. Such SwapCaches are also accounted. |
170 | A swapped-in page is not accounted until it's mapped. | 170 | A swapped-in page is not accounted until it's mapped. |
171 | 171 | ||
172 | Note: The kernel does swapin-readahead and read multiple swaps at once. | 172 | Note: The kernel does swapin-readahead and reads multiple swaps at once. |
173 | This means swapped-in pages may contain pages for other tasks than a task | 173 | This means swapped-in pages may contain pages for other tasks than a task |
174 | causing page fault. So, we avoid accounting at swap-in I/O. | 174 | causing page fault. So, we avoid accounting at swap-in I/O. |
175 | 175 | ||
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ memsw.limit_in_bytes. | |||
209 | Example: Assume a system with 4G of swap. A task which allocates 6G of memory | 209 | Example: Assume a system with 4G of swap. A task which allocates 6G of memory |
210 | (by mistake) under 2G memory limitation will use all swap. | 210 | (by mistake) under 2G memory limitation will use all swap. |
211 | In this case, setting memsw.limit_in_bytes=3G will prevent bad use of swap. | 211 | In this case, setting memsw.limit_in_bytes=3G will prevent bad use of swap. |
212 | By using memsw limit, you can avoid system OOM which can be caused by swap | 212 | By using the memsw limit, you can avoid system OOM which can be caused by swap |
213 | shortage. | 213 | shortage. |
214 | 214 | ||
215 | * why 'memory+swap' rather than swap. | 215 | * why 'memory+swap' rather than swap. |
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ The global LRU(kswapd) can swap out arbitrary pages. Swap-out means | |||
217 | to move account from memory to swap...there is no change in usage of | 217 | to move account from memory to swap...there is no change in usage of |
218 | memory+swap. In other words, when we want to limit the usage of swap without | 218 | memory+swap. In other words, when we want to limit the usage of swap without |
219 | affecting global LRU, memory+swap limit is better than just limiting swap from | 219 | affecting global LRU, memory+swap limit is better than just limiting swap from |
220 | OS point of view. | 220 | an OS point of view. |
221 | 221 | ||
222 | * What happens when a cgroup hits memory.memsw.limit_in_bytes | 222 | * What happens when a cgroup hits memory.memsw.limit_in_bytes |
223 | When a cgroup hits memory.memsw.limit_in_bytes, it's useless to do swap-out | 223 | When a cgroup hits memory.memsw.limit_in_bytes, it's useless to do swap-out |
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ an OOM routine is invoked to select and kill the bulkiest task in the | |||
236 | cgroup. (See 10. OOM Control below.) | 236 | cgroup. (See 10. OOM Control below.) |
237 | 237 | ||
238 | The reclaim algorithm has not been modified for cgroups, except that | 238 | The reclaim algorithm has not been modified for cgroups, except that |
239 | pages that are selected for reclaiming come from the per cgroup LRU | 239 | pages that are selected for reclaiming come from the per-cgroup LRU |
240 | list. | 240 | list. |
241 | 241 | ||
242 | NOTE: Reclaim does not work for the root cgroup, since we cannot set any | 242 | NOTE: Reclaim does not work for the root cgroup, since we cannot set any |
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ We can check the usage: | |||
316 | # cat /sys/fs/cgroup/memory/0/memory.usage_in_bytes | 316 | # cat /sys/fs/cgroup/memory/0/memory.usage_in_bytes |
317 | 1216512 | 317 | 1216512 |
318 | 318 | ||
319 | A successful write to this file does not guarantee a successful set of | 319 | A successful write to this file does not guarantee a successful setting of |
320 | this limit to the value written into the file. This can be due to a | 320 | this limit to the value written into the file. This can be due to a |
321 | number of factors, such as rounding up to page boundaries or the total | 321 | number of factors, such as rounding up to page boundaries or the total |
322 | availability of memory on the system. The user is required to re-read | 322 | availability of memory on the system. The user is required to re-read |
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ Trying usual test under memory controller is always helpful. | |||
350 | 4.1 Troubleshooting | 350 | 4.1 Troubleshooting |
351 | 351 | ||
352 | Sometimes a user might find that the application under a cgroup is | 352 | Sometimes a user might find that the application under a cgroup is |
353 | terminated by OOM killer. There are several causes for this: | 353 | terminated by the OOM killer. There are several causes for this: |
354 | 354 | ||
355 | 1. The cgroup limit is too low (just too low to do anything useful) | 355 | 1. The cgroup limit is too low (just too low to do anything useful) |
356 | 2. The user is using anonymous memory and swap is turned off or too low | 356 | 2. The user is using anonymous memory and swap is turned off or too low |
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ terminated by OOM killer. There are several causes for this: | |||
358 | A sync followed by echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches will help get rid of | 358 | A sync followed by echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches will help get rid of |
359 | some of the pages cached in the cgroup (page cache pages). | 359 | some of the pages cached in the cgroup (page cache pages). |
360 | 360 | ||
361 | To know what happens, disable OOM_Kill by 10. OOM Control(see below) and | 361 | To know what happens, disabling OOM_Kill as per "10. OOM Control" (below) and |
362 | seeing what happens will be helpful. | 362 | seeing what happens will be helpful. |
363 | 363 | ||
364 | 4.2 Task migration | 364 | 4.2 Task migration |
@@ -399,10 +399,10 @@ About use_hierarchy, see Section 6. | |||
399 | 399 | ||
400 | Almost all pages tracked by this memory cgroup will be unmapped and freed. | 400 | Almost all pages tracked by this memory cgroup will be unmapped and freed. |
401 | Some pages cannot be freed because they are locked or in-use. Such pages are | 401 | Some pages cannot be freed because they are locked or in-use. Such pages are |
402 | moved to parent(if use_hierarchy==1) or root (if use_hierarchy==0) and this | 402 | moved to parent (if use_hierarchy==1) or root (if use_hierarchy==0) and this |
403 | cgroup will be empty. | 403 | cgroup will be empty. |
404 | 404 | ||
405 | Typical use case of this interface is that calling this before rmdir(). | 405 | The typical use case for this interface is before calling rmdir(). |
406 | Because rmdir() moves all pages to parent, some out-of-use page caches can be | 406 | Because rmdir() moves all pages to parent, some out-of-use page caches can be |
407 | moved to the parent. If you want to avoid that, force_empty will be useful. | 407 | moved to the parent. If you want to avoid that, force_empty will be useful. |
408 | 408 | ||
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ You can reset failcnt by writing 0 to failcnt file. | |||
486 | 486 | ||
487 | For efficiency, as other kernel components, memory cgroup uses some optimization | 487 | For efficiency, as other kernel components, memory cgroup uses some optimization |
488 | to avoid unnecessary cacheline false sharing. usage_in_bytes is affected by the | 488 | to avoid unnecessary cacheline false sharing. usage_in_bytes is affected by the |
489 | method and doesn't show 'exact' value of memory(and swap) usage, it's an fuzz | 489 | method and doesn't show 'exact' value of memory (and swap) usage, it's a fuzz |
490 | value for efficient access. (Of course, when necessary, it's synchronized.) | 490 | value for efficient access. (Of course, when necessary, it's synchronized.) |
491 | If you want to know more exact memory usage, you should use RSS+CACHE(+SWAP) | 491 | If you want to know more exact memory usage, you should use RSS+CACHE(+SWAP) |
492 | value in memory.stat(see 5.2). | 492 | value in memory.stat(see 5.2). |
@@ -496,8 +496,8 @@ value in memory.stat(see 5.2). | |||
496 | This is similar to numa_maps but operates on a per-memcg basis. This is | 496 | This is similar to numa_maps but operates on a per-memcg basis. This is |
497 | useful for providing visibility into the numa locality information within | 497 | useful for providing visibility into the numa locality information within |
498 | an memcg since the pages are allowed to be allocated from any physical | 498 | an memcg since the pages are allowed to be allocated from any physical |
499 | node. One of the usecases is evaluating application performance by | 499 | node. One of the use cases is evaluating application performance by |
500 | combining this information with the application's cpu allocation. | 500 | combining this information with the application's CPU allocation. |
501 | 501 | ||
502 | We export "total", "file", "anon" and "unevictable" pages per-node for | 502 | We export "total", "file", "anon" and "unevictable" pages per-node for |
503 | each memcg. The ouput format of memory.numa_stat is: | 503 | each memcg. The ouput format of memory.numa_stat is: |
@@ -561,10 +561,10 @@ are pushed back to their soft limits. If the soft limit of each control | |||
561 | group is very high, they are pushed back as much as possible to make | 561 | group is very high, they are pushed back as much as possible to make |
562 | sure that one control group does not starve the others of memory. | 562 | sure that one control group does not starve the others of memory. |
563 | 563 | ||
564 | Please note that soft limits is a best effort feature, it comes with | 564 | Please note that soft limits is a best-effort feature; it comes with |
565 | no guarantees, but it does its best to make sure that when memory is | 565 | no guarantees, but it does its best to make sure that when memory is |
566 | heavily contended for, memory is allocated based on the soft limit | 566 | heavily contended for, memory is allocated based on the soft limit |
567 | hints/setup. Currently soft limit based reclaim is setup such that | 567 | hints/setup. Currently soft limit based reclaim is set up such that |
568 | it gets invoked from balance_pgdat (kswapd). | 568 | it gets invoked from balance_pgdat (kswapd). |
569 | 569 | ||
570 | 7.1 Interface | 570 | 7.1 Interface |
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ page tables. | |||
592 | 592 | ||
593 | 8.1 Interface | 593 | 8.1 Interface |
594 | 594 | ||
595 | This feature is disabled by default. It can be enabled(and disabled again) by | 595 | This feature is disabled by default. It can be enabledi (and disabled again) by |
596 | writing to memory.move_charge_at_immigrate of the destination cgroup. | 596 | writing to memory.move_charge_at_immigrate of the destination cgroup. |
597 | 597 | ||
598 | If you want to enable it: | 598 | If you want to enable it: |
@@ -601,8 +601,8 @@ If you want to enable it: | |||
601 | 601 | ||
602 | Note: Each bits of move_charge_at_immigrate has its own meaning about what type | 602 | Note: Each bits of move_charge_at_immigrate has its own meaning about what type |
603 | of charges should be moved. See 8.2 for details. | 603 | of charges should be moved. See 8.2 for details. |
604 | Note: Charges are moved only when you move mm->owner, IOW, a leader of a thread | 604 | Note: Charges are moved only when you move mm->owner, in other words, |
605 | group. | 605 | a leader of a thread group. |
606 | Note: If we cannot find enough space for the task in the destination cgroup, we | 606 | Note: If we cannot find enough space for the task in the destination cgroup, we |
607 | try to make space by reclaiming memory. Task migration may fail if we | 607 | try to make space by reclaiming memory. Task migration may fail if we |
608 | cannot make enough space. | 608 | cannot make enough space. |
@@ -612,25 +612,25 @@ And if you want disable it again: | |||
612 | 612 | ||
613 | # echo 0 > memory.move_charge_at_immigrate | 613 | # echo 0 > memory.move_charge_at_immigrate |
614 | 614 | ||
615 | 8.2 Type of charges which can be move | 615 | 8.2 Type of charges which can be moved |
616 | 616 | ||
617 | Each bits of move_charge_at_immigrate has its own meaning about what type of | 617 | Each bit in move_charge_at_immigrate has its own meaning about what type of |
618 | charges should be moved. But in any cases, it must be noted that an account of | 618 | charges should be moved. But in any case, it must be noted that an account of |
619 | a page or a swap can be moved only when it is charged to the task's current(old) | 619 | a page or a swap can be moved only when it is charged to the task's current |
620 | memory cgroup. | 620 | (old) memory cgroup. |
621 | 621 | ||
622 | bit | what type of charges would be moved ? | 622 | bit | what type of charges would be moved ? |
623 | -----+------------------------------------------------------------------------ | 623 | -----+------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
624 | 0 | A charge of an anonymous page(or swap of it) used by the target task. | 624 | 0 | A charge of an anonymous page (or swap of it) used by the target task. |
625 | | You must enable Swap Extension(see 2.4) to enable move of swap charges. | 625 | | You must enable Swap Extension (see 2.4) to enable move of swap charges. |
626 | -----+------------------------------------------------------------------------ | 626 | -----+------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
627 | 1 | A charge of file pages(normal file, tmpfs file(e.g. ipc shared memory) | 627 | 1 | A charge of file pages (normal file, tmpfs file (e.g. ipc shared memory) |
628 | | and swaps of tmpfs file) mmapped by the target task. Unlike the case of | 628 | | and swaps of tmpfs file) mmapped by the target task. Unlike the case of |
629 | | anonymous pages, file pages(and swaps) in the range mmapped by the task | 629 | | anonymous pages, file pages (and swaps) in the range mmapped by the task |
630 | | will be moved even if the task hasn't done page fault, i.e. they might | 630 | | will be moved even if the task hasn't done page fault, i.e. they might |
631 | | not be the task's "RSS", but other task's "RSS" that maps the same file. | 631 | | not be the task's "RSS", but other task's "RSS" that maps the same file. |
632 | | And mapcount of the page is ignored(the page can be moved even if | 632 | | And mapcount of the page is ignored (the page can be moved even if |
633 | | page_mapcount(page) > 1). You must enable Swap Extension(see 2.4) to | 633 | | page_mapcount(page) > 1). You must enable Swap Extension (see 2.4) to |
634 | | enable move of swap charges. | 634 | | enable move of swap charges. |
635 | 635 | ||
636 | 8.3 TODO | 636 | 8.3 TODO |
@@ -640,11 +640,11 @@ memory cgroup. | |||
640 | 640 | ||
641 | 9. Memory thresholds | 641 | 9. Memory thresholds |
642 | 642 | ||
643 | Memory cgroup implements memory thresholds using cgroups notification | 643 | Memory cgroup implements memory thresholds using the cgroups notification |
644 | API (see cgroups.txt). It allows to register multiple memory and memsw | 644 | API (see cgroups.txt). It allows to register multiple memory and memsw |
645 | thresholds and gets notifications when it crosses. | 645 | thresholds and gets notifications when it crosses. |
646 | 646 | ||
647 | To register a threshold application need: | 647 | To register a threshold, an application must: |
648 | - create an eventfd using eventfd(2); | 648 | - create an eventfd using eventfd(2); |
649 | - open memory.usage_in_bytes or memory.memsw.usage_in_bytes; | 649 | - open memory.usage_in_bytes or memory.memsw.usage_in_bytes; |
650 | - write string like "<event_fd> <fd of memory.usage_in_bytes> <threshold>" to | 650 | - write string like "<event_fd> <fd of memory.usage_in_bytes> <threshold>" to |
@@ -659,24 +659,24 @@ It's applicable for root and non-root cgroup. | |||
659 | 659 | ||
660 | memory.oom_control file is for OOM notification and other controls. | 660 | memory.oom_control file is for OOM notification and other controls. |
661 | 661 | ||
662 | Memory cgroup implements OOM notifier using cgroup notification | 662 | Memory cgroup implements OOM notifier using the cgroup notification |
663 | API (See cgroups.txt). It allows to register multiple OOM notification | 663 | API (See cgroups.txt). It allows to register multiple OOM notification |
664 | delivery and gets notification when OOM happens. | 664 | delivery and gets notification when OOM happens. |
665 | 665 | ||
666 | To register a notifier, application need: | 666 | To register a notifier, an application must: |
667 | - create an eventfd using eventfd(2) | 667 | - create an eventfd using eventfd(2) |
668 | - open memory.oom_control file | 668 | - open memory.oom_control file |
669 | - write string like "<event_fd> <fd of memory.oom_control>" to | 669 | - write string like "<event_fd> <fd of memory.oom_control>" to |
670 | cgroup.event_control | 670 | cgroup.event_control |
671 | 671 | ||
672 | Application will be notified through eventfd when OOM happens. | 672 | The application will be notified through eventfd when OOM happens. |
673 | OOM notification doesn't work for root cgroup. | 673 | OOM notification doesn't work for the root cgroup. |
674 | 674 | ||
675 | You can disable OOM-killer by writing "1" to memory.oom_control file, as: | 675 | You can disable the OOM-killer by writing "1" to memory.oom_control file, as: |
676 | 676 | ||
677 | #echo 1 > memory.oom_control | 677 | #echo 1 > memory.oom_control |
678 | 678 | ||
679 | This operation is only allowed to the top cgroup of sub-hierarchy. | 679 | This operation is only allowed to the top cgroup of a sub-hierarchy. |
680 | If OOM-killer is disabled, tasks under cgroup will hang/sleep | 680 | If OOM-killer is disabled, tasks under cgroup will hang/sleep |
681 | in memory cgroup's OOM-waitqueue when they request accountable memory. | 681 | in memory cgroup's OOM-waitqueue when they request accountable memory. |
682 | 682 | ||