linux-kernel - Re: CONFIG_PT

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Message-ID: <2d73d888-fcb2-4b3b-a9ec-ad9c80d7cbe9@bytedance.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:40:42 +0800
From: Qi Zheng <zhengqi.arch@...edance.com>
To: Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>, peterz@...radead.org
Cc: linux-mm@...ck.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: CONFIG_PT_RECLAIM



On 2/27/25 2:58 PM, Qi Zheng wrote:
> Hi Johannes,
> 
> On 2/27/25 2:08 PM, Johannes Weiner wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 11:04:51AM +0800, Qi Zheng wrote:
>>> Hi Johannes,
>>>
>>> On 2/27/25 2:30 AM, Johannes Weiner wrote:
>>>> Does PT_RECLAIM need to be configurable by the user?
>>>
>>> The PT_RECLAIM will select MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE, but not all archs
>>> support MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE, and even before Rik's a37259732a7dc
>>> ("x86/mm: Make MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE unconditional"), x86 only
>>> supports MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE in the case of PARAVIRT.
>>>
>>> Therefore, PT_RECLAIM also implies the meaning of enabling
>>> MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE, so I made it user-configurable. And I just
>>> thought that as a new feature, it would be better to give users the
>>> ability to turn it on and off.
>>
>> New *features*, yes - something that has a significant enough cost
>> that clearly not all users want to pay for the benefits.
> 
> Got it.
> 
>>
>> But it's hard to imagine anybody would WANT to keep the page tables
>> around if they madvised away all the pages inside of them. It's a
>> great optimization, what would be a reason to opt out?
> 
> OK, now I think it makes sense to change it to 'def_bool y'.
> 
>>
>>>> diff --git a/mm/Kconfig b/mm/Kconfig
>>>> index 2761098dbc1a..99383c93db33 100644
>>>> --- a/mm/Kconfig
>>>> +++ b/mm/Kconfig
>>>> @@ -1309,16 +1309,9 @@ config ARCH_SUPPORTS_PT_RECLAIM
>>>>        def_bool n
>>>>    config PT_RECLAIM
>>>> -    bool "reclaim empty user page table pages"
>>>> -    default y
>>>> +    def_bool y
>>>>        depends on ARCH_SUPPORTS_PT_RECLAIM && MMU && SMP
>>>>        select MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE
>>>> -    help
>>>> -      Try to reclaim empty user page table pages in paths other 
>>>> than munmap
>>>> -      and exit_mmap path.
>>>> -
>>>> -      Note: now only empty user PTE page table pages will be 
>>>> reclaimed.
>>>> -
>>>
>>> Maybe keep the help information?
>>
>> I don't find it very helpful :( Which "other paths?" It doesn't
>> explain any pros and cons, and why anybody might choose to enable or
>> disable it. The Note repeats what's in the sentence before it.
> 
> Sorry about that. :(
> 
>>
>> Maybe I'm missing something. Could this not just be an #ifdef block
>> inside mm/madvise.c, instead of living inside a new file with two new
>> config symbols?
>>
>> #ifdef CONFIG_MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE
>> ...
>> #endif
>>
>> Is there an arch-specific feature that it requires besides
>> MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE such that only x86 supports it now?
> 
> No, it only needs MMU_GATHER_RCU_TABLE_FREE.
> 

And I originally planned to support more architectures. The following 
link has some of my previous plans:

https://lore.kernel.org/all/0ca36b2e-463e-493f-aede-aff9aec3c7fa@bytedance.com/

It would be better if more people could discuss and participate. ;)

Thanks!

>