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0001 .. _cpusets:
0002 
0003 =======
0004 CPUSETS
0005 =======
0006 
0007 Copyright (C) 2004 BULL SA.
0008 
0009 Written by Simon.Derr@bull.net
0010 
0011 - Portions Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
0012 - Modified by Paul Jackson <pj@sgi.com>
0013 - Modified by Christoph Lameter <cl@linux.com>
0014 - Modified by Paul Menage <menage@google.com>
0015 - Modified by Hidetoshi Seto <seto.hidetoshi@jp.fujitsu.com>
0016 
0017 .. CONTENTS:
0018 
0019    1. Cpusets
0020      1.1 What are cpusets ?
0021      1.2 Why are cpusets needed ?
0022      1.3 How are cpusets implemented ?
0023      1.4 What are exclusive cpusets ?
0024      1.5 What is memory_pressure ?
0025      1.6 What is memory spread ?
0026      1.7 What is sched_load_balance ?
0027      1.8 What is sched_relax_domain_level ?
0028      1.9 How do I use cpusets ?
0029    2. Usage Examples and Syntax
0030      2.1 Basic Usage
0031      2.2 Adding/removing cpus
0032      2.3 Setting flags
0033      2.4 Attaching processes
0034    3. Questions
0035    4. Contact
0036 
0037 1. Cpusets
0038 ==========
0039 
0040 1.1 What are cpusets ?
0041 ----------------------
0042 
0043 Cpusets provide a mechanism for assigning a set of CPUs and Memory
0044 Nodes to a set of tasks.   In this document "Memory Node" refers to
0045 an on-line node that contains memory.
0046 
0047 Cpusets constrain the CPU and Memory placement of tasks to only
0048 the resources within a task's current cpuset.  They form a nested
0049 hierarchy visible in a virtual file system.  These are the essential
0050 hooks, beyond what is already present, required to manage dynamic
0051 job placement on large systems.
0052 
0053 Cpusets use the generic cgroup subsystem described in
0054 Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v1/cgroups.rst.
0055 
0056 Requests by a task, using the sched_setaffinity(2) system call to
0057 include CPUs in its CPU affinity mask, and using the mbind(2) and
0058 set_mempolicy(2) system calls to include Memory Nodes in its memory
0059 policy, are both filtered through that task's cpuset, filtering out any
0060 CPUs or Memory Nodes not in that cpuset.  The scheduler will not
0061 schedule a task on a CPU that is not allowed in its cpus_allowed
0062 vector, and the kernel page allocator will not allocate a page on a
0063 node that is not allowed in the requesting task's mems_allowed vector.
0064 
0065 User level code may create and destroy cpusets by name in the cgroup
0066 virtual file system, manage the attributes and permissions of these
0067 cpusets and which CPUs and Memory Nodes are assigned to each cpuset,
0068 specify and query to which cpuset a task is assigned, and list the
0069 task pids assigned to a cpuset.
0070 
0071 
0072 1.2 Why are cpusets needed ?
0073 ----------------------------
0074 
0075 The management of large computer systems, with many processors (CPUs),
0076 complex memory cache hierarchies and multiple Memory Nodes having
0077 non-uniform access times (NUMA) presents additional challenges for
0078 the efficient scheduling and memory placement of processes.
0079 
0080 Frequently more modest sized systems can be operated with adequate
0081 efficiency just by letting the operating system automatically share
0082 the available CPU and Memory resources amongst the requesting tasks.
0083 
0084 But larger systems, which benefit more from careful processor and
0085 memory placement to reduce memory access times and contention,
0086 and which typically represent a larger investment for the customer,
0087 can benefit from explicitly placing jobs on properly sized subsets of
0088 the system.
0089 
0090 This can be especially valuable on:
0091 
0092     * Web Servers running multiple instances of the same web application,
0093     * Servers running different applications (for instance, a web server
0094       and a database), or
0095     * NUMA systems running large HPC applications with demanding
0096       performance characteristics.
0097 
0098 These subsets, or "soft partitions" must be able to be dynamically
0099 adjusted, as the job mix changes, without impacting other concurrently
0100 executing jobs. The location of the running jobs pages may also be moved
0101 when the memory locations are changed.
0102 
0103 The kernel cpuset patch provides the minimum essential kernel
0104 mechanisms required to efficiently implement such subsets.  It
0105 leverages existing CPU and Memory Placement facilities in the Linux
0106 kernel to avoid any additional impact on the critical scheduler or
0107 memory allocator code.
0108 
0109 
0110 1.3 How are cpusets implemented ?
0111 ---------------------------------
0112 
0113 Cpusets provide a Linux kernel mechanism to constrain which CPUs and
0114 Memory Nodes are used by a process or set of processes.
0115 
0116 The Linux kernel already has a pair of mechanisms to specify on which
0117 CPUs a task may be scheduled (sched_setaffinity) and on which Memory
0118 Nodes it may obtain memory (mbind, set_mempolicy).
0119 
0120 Cpusets extends these two mechanisms as follows:
0121 
0122  - Cpusets are sets of allowed CPUs and Memory Nodes, known to the
0123    kernel.
0124  - Each task in the system is attached to a cpuset, via a pointer
0125    in the task structure to a reference counted cgroup structure.
0126  - Calls to sched_setaffinity are filtered to just those CPUs
0127    allowed in that task's cpuset.
0128  - Calls to mbind and set_mempolicy are filtered to just
0129    those Memory Nodes allowed in that task's cpuset.
0130  - The root cpuset contains all the systems CPUs and Memory
0131    Nodes.
0132  - For any cpuset, one can define child cpusets containing a subset
0133    of the parents CPU and Memory Node resources.
0134  - The hierarchy of cpusets can be mounted at /dev/cpuset, for
0135    browsing and manipulation from user space.
0136  - A cpuset may be marked exclusive, which ensures that no other
0137    cpuset (except direct ancestors and descendants) may contain
0138    any overlapping CPUs or Memory Nodes.
0139  - You can list all the tasks (by pid) attached to any cpuset.
0140 
0141 The implementation of cpusets requires a few, simple hooks
0142 into the rest of the kernel, none in performance critical paths:
0143 
0144  - in init/main.c, to initialize the root cpuset at system boot.
0145  - in fork and exit, to attach and detach a task from its cpuset.
0146  - in sched_setaffinity, to mask the requested CPUs by what's
0147    allowed in that task's cpuset.
0148  - in sched.c migrate_live_tasks(), to keep migrating tasks within
0149    the CPUs allowed by their cpuset, if possible.
0150  - in the mbind and set_mempolicy system calls, to mask the requested
0151    Memory Nodes by what's allowed in that task's cpuset.
0152  - in page_alloc.c, to restrict memory to allowed nodes.
0153  - in vmscan.c, to restrict page recovery to the current cpuset.
0154 
0155 You should mount the "cgroup" filesystem type in order to enable
0156 browsing and modifying the cpusets presently known to the kernel.  No
0157 new system calls are added for cpusets - all support for querying and
0158 modifying cpusets is via this cpuset file system.
0159 
0160 The /proc/<pid>/status file for each task has four added lines,
0161 displaying the task's cpus_allowed (on which CPUs it may be scheduled)
0162 and mems_allowed (on which Memory Nodes it may obtain memory),
0163 in the two formats seen in the following example::
0164 
0165   Cpus_allowed:   ffffffff,ffffffff,ffffffff,ffffffff
0166   Cpus_allowed_list:      0-127
0167   Mems_allowed:   ffffffff,ffffffff
0168   Mems_allowed_list:      0-63
0169 
0170 Each cpuset is represented by a directory in the cgroup file system
0171 containing (on top of the standard cgroup files) the following
0172 files describing that cpuset:
0173 
0174  - cpuset.cpus: list of CPUs in that cpuset
0175  - cpuset.mems: list of Memory Nodes in that cpuset
0176  - cpuset.memory_migrate flag: if set, move pages to cpusets nodes
0177  - cpuset.cpu_exclusive flag: is cpu placement exclusive?
0178  - cpuset.mem_exclusive flag: is memory placement exclusive?
0179  - cpuset.mem_hardwall flag:  is memory allocation hardwalled
0180  - cpuset.memory_pressure: measure of how much paging pressure in cpuset
0181  - cpuset.memory_spread_page flag: if set, spread page cache evenly on allowed nodes
0182  - cpuset.memory_spread_slab flag: if set, spread slab cache evenly on allowed nodes
0183  - cpuset.sched_load_balance flag: if set, load balance within CPUs on that cpuset
0184  - cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level: the searching range when migrating tasks
0185 
0186 In addition, only the root cpuset has the following file:
0187 
0188  - cpuset.memory_pressure_enabled flag: compute memory_pressure?
0189 
0190 New cpusets are created using the mkdir system call or shell
0191 command.  The properties of a cpuset, such as its flags, allowed
0192 CPUs and Memory Nodes, and attached tasks, are modified by writing
0193 to the appropriate file in that cpusets directory, as listed above.
0194 
0195 The named hierarchical structure of nested cpusets allows partitioning
0196 a large system into nested, dynamically changeable, "soft-partitions".
0197 
0198 The attachment of each task, automatically inherited at fork by any
0199 children of that task, to a cpuset allows organizing the work load
0200 on a system into related sets of tasks such that each set is constrained
0201 to using the CPUs and Memory Nodes of a particular cpuset.  A task
0202 may be re-attached to any other cpuset, if allowed by the permissions
0203 on the necessary cpuset file system directories.
0204 
0205 Such management of a system "in the large" integrates smoothly with
0206 the detailed placement done on individual tasks and memory regions
0207 using the sched_setaffinity, mbind and set_mempolicy system calls.
0208 
0209 The following rules apply to each cpuset:
0210 
0211  - Its CPUs and Memory Nodes must be a subset of its parents.
0212  - It can't be marked exclusive unless its parent is.
0213  - If its cpu or memory is exclusive, they may not overlap any sibling.
0214 
0215 These rules, and the natural hierarchy of cpusets, enable efficient
0216 enforcement of the exclusive guarantee, without having to scan all
0217 cpusets every time any of them change to ensure nothing overlaps a
0218 exclusive cpuset.  Also, the use of a Linux virtual file system (vfs)
0219 to represent the cpuset hierarchy provides for a familiar permission
0220 and name space for cpusets, with a minimum of additional kernel code.
0221 
0222 The cpus and mems files in the root (top_cpuset) cpuset are
0223 read-only.  The cpus file automatically tracks the value of
0224 cpu_online_mask using a CPU hotplug notifier, and the mems file
0225 automatically tracks the value of node_states[N_MEMORY]--i.e.,
0226 nodes with memory--using the cpuset_track_online_nodes() hook.
0227 
0228 The cpuset.effective_cpus and cpuset.effective_mems files are
0229 normally read-only copies of cpuset.cpus and cpuset.mems files
0230 respectively.  If the cpuset cgroup filesystem is mounted with the
0231 special "cpuset_v2_mode" option, the behavior of these files will become
0232 similar to the corresponding files in cpuset v2.  In other words, hotplug
0233 events will not change cpuset.cpus and cpuset.mems.  Those events will
0234 only affect cpuset.effective_cpus and cpuset.effective_mems which show
0235 the actual cpus and memory nodes that are currently used by this cpuset.
0236 See Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v2.rst for more information about
0237 cpuset v2 behavior.
0238 
0239 
0240 1.4 What are exclusive cpusets ?
0241 --------------------------------
0242 
0243 If a cpuset is cpu or mem exclusive, no other cpuset, other than
0244 a direct ancestor or descendant, may share any of the same CPUs or
0245 Memory Nodes.
0246 
0247 A cpuset that is cpuset.mem_exclusive *or* cpuset.mem_hardwall is "hardwalled",
0248 i.e. it restricts kernel allocations for page, buffer and other data
0249 commonly shared by the kernel across multiple users.  All cpusets,
0250 whether hardwalled or not, restrict allocations of memory for user
0251 space.  This enables configuring a system so that several independent
0252 jobs can share common kernel data, such as file system pages, while
0253 isolating each job's user allocation in its own cpuset.  To do this,
0254 construct a large mem_exclusive cpuset to hold all the jobs, and
0255 construct child, non-mem_exclusive cpusets for each individual job.
0256 Only a small amount of typical kernel memory, such as requests from
0257 interrupt handlers, is allowed to be taken outside even a
0258 mem_exclusive cpuset.
0259 
0260 
0261 1.5 What is memory_pressure ?
0262 -----------------------------
0263 The memory_pressure of a cpuset provides a simple per-cpuset metric
0264 of the rate that the tasks in a cpuset are attempting to free up in
0265 use memory on the nodes of the cpuset to satisfy additional memory
0266 requests.
0267 
0268 This enables batch managers monitoring jobs running in dedicated
0269 cpusets to efficiently detect what level of memory pressure that job
0270 is causing.
0271 
0272 This is useful both on tightly managed systems running a wide mix of
0273 submitted jobs, which may choose to terminate or re-prioritize jobs that
0274 are trying to use more memory than allowed on the nodes assigned to them,
0275 and with tightly coupled, long running, massively parallel scientific
0276 computing jobs that will dramatically fail to meet required performance
0277 goals if they start to use more memory than allowed to them.
0278 
0279 This mechanism provides a very economical way for the batch manager
0280 to monitor a cpuset for signs of memory pressure.  It's up to the
0281 batch manager or other user code to decide what to do about it and
0282 take action.
0283 
0284 ==>
0285     Unless this feature is enabled by writing "1" to the special file
0286     /dev/cpuset/memory_pressure_enabled, the hook in the rebalance
0287     code of __alloc_pages() for this metric reduces to simply noticing
0288     that the cpuset_memory_pressure_enabled flag is zero.  So only
0289     systems that enable this feature will compute the metric.
0290 
0291 Why a per-cpuset, running average:
0292 
0293     Because this meter is per-cpuset, rather than per-task or mm,
0294     the system load imposed by a batch scheduler monitoring this
0295     metric is sharply reduced on large systems, because a scan of
0296     the tasklist can be avoided on each set of queries.
0297 
0298     Because this meter is a running average, instead of an accumulating
0299     counter, a batch scheduler can detect memory pressure with a
0300     single read, instead of having to read and accumulate results
0301     for a period of time.
0302 
0303     Because this meter is per-cpuset rather than per-task or mm,
0304     the batch scheduler can obtain the key information, memory
0305     pressure in a cpuset, with a single read, rather than having to
0306     query and accumulate results over all the (dynamically changing)
0307     set of tasks in the cpuset.
0308 
0309 A per-cpuset simple digital filter (requires a spinlock and 3 words
0310 of data per-cpuset) is kept, and updated by any task attached to that
0311 cpuset, if it enters the synchronous (direct) page reclaim code.
0312 
0313 A per-cpuset file provides an integer number representing the recent
0314 (half-life of 10 seconds) rate of direct page reclaims caused by
0315 the tasks in the cpuset, in units of reclaims attempted per second,
0316 times 1000.
0317 
0318 
0319 1.6 What is memory spread ?
0320 ---------------------------
0321 There are two boolean flag files per cpuset that control where the
0322 kernel allocates pages for the file system buffers and related in
0323 kernel data structures.  They are called 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' and
0324 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab'.
0325 
0326 If the per-cpuset boolean flag file 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' is set, then
0327 the kernel will spread the file system buffers (page cache) evenly
0328 over all the nodes that the faulting task is allowed to use, instead
0329 of preferring to put those pages on the node where the task is running.
0330 
0331 If the per-cpuset boolean flag file 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' is set,
0332 then the kernel will spread some file system related slab caches,
0333 such as for inodes and dentries evenly over all the nodes that the
0334 faulting task is allowed to use, instead of preferring to put those
0335 pages on the node where the task is running.
0336 
0337 The setting of these flags does not affect anonymous data segment or
0338 stack segment pages of a task.
0339 
0340 By default, both kinds of memory spreading are off, and memory
0341 pages are allocated on the node local to where the task is running,
0342 except perhaps as modified by the task's NUMA mempolicy or cpuset
0343 configuration, so long as sufficient free memory pages are available.
0344 
0345 When new cpusets are created, they inherit the memory spread settings
0346 of their parent.
0347 
0348 Setting memory spreading causes allocations for the affected page
0349 or slab caches to ignore the task's NUMA mempolicy and be spread
0350 instead.    Tasks using mbind() or set_mempolicy() calls to set NUMA
0351 mempolicies will not notice any change in these calls as a result of
0352 their containing task's memory spread settings.  If memory spreading
0353 is turned off, then the currently specified NUMA mempolicy once again
0354 applies to memory page allocations.
0355 
0356 Both 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' and 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' are boolean flag
0357 files.  By default they contain "0", meaning that the feature is off
0358 for that cpuset.  If a "1" is written to that file, then that turns
0359 the named feature on.
0360 
0361 The implementation is simple.
0362 
0363 Setting the flag 'cpuset.memory_spread_page' turns on a per-process flag
0364 PFA_SPREAD_PAGE for each task that is in that cpuset or subsequently
0365 joins that cpuset.  The page allocation calls for the page cache
0366 is modified to perform an inline check for this PFA_SPREAD_PAGE task
0367 flag, and if set, a call to a new routine cpuset_mem_spread_node()
0368 returns the node to prefer for the allocation.
0369 
0370 Similarly, setting 'cpuset.memory_spread_slab' turns on the flag
0371 PFA_SPREAD_SLAB, and appropriately marked slab caches will allocate
0372 pages from the node returned by cpuset_mem_spread_node().
0373 
0374 The cpuset_mem_spread_node() routine is also simple.  It uses the
0375 value of a per-task rotor cpuset_mem_spread_rotor to select the next
0376 node in the current task's mems_allowed to prefer for the allocation.
0377 
0378 This memory placement policy is also known (in other contexts) as
0379 round-robin or interleave.
0380 
0381 This policy can provide substantial improvements for jobs that need
0382 to place thread local data on the corresponding node, but that need
0383 to access large file system data sets that need to be spread across
0384 the several nodes in the jobs cpuset in order to fit.  Without this
0385 policy, especially for jobs that might have one thread reading in the
0386 data set, the memory allocation across the nodes in the jobs cpuset
0387 can become very uneven.
0388 
0389 1.7 What is sched_load_balance ?
0390 --------------------------------
0391 
0392 The kernel scheduler (kernel/sched/core.c) automatically load balances
0393 tasks.  If one CPU is underutilized, kernel code running on that
0394 CPU will look for tasks on other more overloaded CPUs and move those
0395 tasks to itself, within the constraints of such placement mechanisms
0396 as cpusets and sched_setaffinity.
0397 
0398 The algorithmic cost of load balancing and its impact on key shared
0399 kernel data structures such as the task list increases more than
0400 linearly with the number of CPUs being balanced.  So the scheduler
0401 has support to partition the systems CPUs into a number of sched
0402 domains such that it only load balances within each sched domain.
0403 Each sched domain covers some subset of the CPUs in the system;
0404 no two sched domains overlap; some CPUs might not be in any sched
0405 domain and hence won't be load balanced.
0406 
0407 Put simply, it costs less to balance between two smaller sched domains
0408 than one big one, but doing so means that overloads in one of the
0409 two domains won't be load balanced to the other one.
0410 
0411 By default, there is one sched domain covering all CPUs, including those
0412 marked isolated using the kernel boot time "isolcpus=" argument. However,
0413 the isolated CPUs will not participate in load balancing, and will not
0414 have tasks running on them unless explicitly assigned.
0415 
0416 This default load balancing across all CPUs is not well suited for
0417 the following two situations:
0418 
0419  1) On large systems, load balancing across many CPUs is expensive.
0420     If the system is managed using cpusets to place independent jobs
0421     on separate sets of CPUs, full load balancing is unnecessary.
0422  2) Systems supporting realtime on some CPUs need to minimize
0423     system overhead on those CPUs, including avoiding task load
0424     balancing if that is not needed.
0425 
0426 When the per-cpuset flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" is enabled (the default
0427 setting), it requests that all the CPUs in that cpusets allowed 'cpuset.cpus'
0428 be contained in a single sched domain, ensuring that load balancing
0429 can move a task (not otherwised pinned, as by sched_setaffinity)
0430 from any CPU in that cpuset to any other.
0431 
0432 When the per-cpuset flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" is disabled, then the
0433 scheduler will avoid load balancing across the CPUs in that cpuset,
0434 --except-- in so far as is necessary because some overlapping cpuset
0435 has "sched_load_balance" enabled.
0436 
0437 So, for example, if the top cpuset has the flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance"
0438 enabled, then the scheduler will have one sched domain covering all
0439 CPUs, and the setting of the "cpuset.sched_load_balance" flag in any other
0440 cpusets won't matter, as we're already fully load balancing.
0441 
0442 Therefore in the above two situations, the top cpuset flag
0443 "cpuset.sched_load_balance" should be disabled, and only some of the smaller,
0444 child cpusets have this flag enabled.
0445 
0446 When doing this, you don't usually want to leave any unpinned tasks in
0447 the top cpuset that might use non-trivial amounts of CPU, as such tasks
0448 may be artificially constrained to some subset of CPUs, depending on
0449 the particulars of this flag setting in descendant cpusets.  Even if
0450 such a task could use spare CPU cycles in some other CPUs, the kernel
0451 scheduler might not consider the possibility of load balancing that
0452 task to that underused CPU.
0453 
0454 Of course, tasks pinned to a particular CPU can be left in a cpuset
0455 that disables "cpuset.sched_load_balance" as those tasks aren't going anywhere
0456 else anyway.
0457 
0458 There is an impedance mismatch here, between cpusets and sched domains.
0459 Cpusets are hierarchical and nest.  Sched domains are flat; they don't
0460 overlap and each CPU is in at most one sched domain.
0461 
0462 It is necessary for sched domains to be flat because load balancing
0463 across partially overlapping sets of CPUs would risk unstable dynamics
0464 that would be beyond our understanding.  So if each of two partially
0465 overlapping cpusets enables the flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance', then we
0466 form a single sched domain that is a superset of both.  We won't move
0467 a task to a CPU outside its cpuset, but the scheduler load balancing
0468 code might waste some compute cycles considering that possibility.
0469 
0470 This mismatch is why there is not a simple one-to-one relation
0471 between which cpusets have the flag "cpuset.sched_load_balance" enabled,
0472 and the sched domain configuration.  If a cpuset enables the flag, it
0473 will get balancing across all its CPUs, but if it disables the flag,
0474 it will only be assured of no load balancing if no other overlapping
0475 cpuset enables the flag.
0476 
0477 If two cpusets have partially overlapping 'cpuset.cpus' allowed, and only
0478 one of them has this flag enabled, then the other may find its
0479 tasks only partially load balanced, just on the overlapping CPUs.
0480 This is just the general case of the top_cpuset example given a few
0481 paragraphs above.  In the general case, as in the top cpuset case,
0482 don't leave tasks that might use non-trivial amounts of CPU in
0483 such partially load balanced cpusets, as they may be artificially
0484 constrained to some subset of the CPUs allowed to them, for lack of
0485 load balancing to the other CPUs.
0486 
0487 CPUs in "cpuset.isolcpus" were excluded from load balancing by the
0488 isolcpus= kernel boot option, and will never be load balanced regardless
0489 of the value of "cpuset.sched_load_balance" in any cpuset.
0490 
0491 1.7.1 sched_load_balance implementation details.
0492 ------------------------------------------------
0493 
0494 The per-cpuset flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' defaults to enabled (contrary
0495 to most cpuset flags.)  When enabled for a cpuset, the kernel will
0496 ensure that it can load balance across all the CPUs in that cpuset
0497 (makes sure that all the CPUs in the cpus_allowed of that cpuset are
0498 in the same sched domain.)
0499 
0500 If two overlapping cpusets both have 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled,
0501 then they will be (must be) both in the same sched domain.
0502 
0503 If, as is the default, the top cpuset has 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled,
0504 then by the above that means there is a single sched domain covering
0505 the whole system, regardless of any other cpuset settings.
0506 
0507 The kernel commits to user space that it will avoid load balancing
0508 where it can.  It will pick as fine a granularity partition of sched
0509 domains as it can while still providing load balancing for any set
0510 of CPUs allowed to a cpuset having 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' enabled.
0511 
0512 The internal kernel cpuset to scheduler interface passes from the
0513 cpuset code to the scheduler code a partition of the load balanced
0514 CPUs in the system. This partition is a set of subsets (represented
0515 as an array of struct cpumask) of CPUs, pairwise disjoint, that cover
0516 all the CPUs that must be load balanced.
0517 
0518 The cpuset code builds a new such partition and passes it to the
0519 scheduler sched domain setup code, to have the sched domains rebuilt
0520 as necessary, whenever:
0521 
0522  - the 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' flag of a cpuset with non-empty CPUs changes,
0523  - or CPUs come or go from a cpuset with this flag enabled,
0524  - or 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' value of a cpuset with non-empty CPUs
0525    and with this flag enabled changes,
0526  - or a cpuset with non-empty CPUs and with this flag enabled is removed,
0527  - or a cpu is offlined/onlined.
0528 
0529 This partition exactly defines what sched domains the scheduler should
0530 setup - one sched domain for each element (struct cpumask) in the
0531 partition.
0532 
0533 The scheduler remembers the currently active sched domain partitions.
0534 When the scheduler routine partition_sched_domains() is invoked from
0535 the cpuset code to update these sched domains, it compares the new
0536 partition requested with the current, and updates its sched domains,
0537 removing the old and adding the new, for each change.
0538 
0539 
0540 1.8 What is sched_relax_domain_level ?
0541 --------------------------------------
0542 
0543 In sched domain, the scheduler migrates tasks in 2 ways; periodic load
0544 balance on tick, and at time of some schedule events.
0545 
0546 When a task is woken up, scheduler try to move the task on idle CPU.
0547 For example, if a task A running on CPU X activates another task B
0548 on the same CPU X, and if CPU Y is X's sibling and performing idle,
0549 then scheduler migrate task B to CPU Y so that task B can start on
0550 CPU Y without waiting task A on CPU X.
0551 
0552 And if a CPU run out of tasks in its runqueue, the CPU try to pull
0553 extra tasks from other busy CPUs to help them before it is going to
0554 be idle.
0555 
0556 Of course it takes some searching cost to find movable tasks and/or
0557 idle CPUs, the scheduler might not search all CPUs in the domain
0558 every time.  In fact, in some architectures, the searching ranges on
0559 events are limited in the same socket or node where the CPU locates,
0560 while the load balance on tick searches all.
0561 
0562 For example, assume CPU Z is relatively far from CPU X.  Even if CPU Z
0563 is idle while CPU X and the siblings are busy, scheduler can't migrate
0564 woken task B from X to Z since it is out of its searching range.
0565 As the result, task B on CPU X need to wait task A or wait load balance
0566 on the next tick.  For some applications in special situation, waiting
0567 1 tick may be too long.
0568 
0569 The 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' file allows you to request changing
0570 this searching range as you like.  This file takes int value which
0571 indicates size of searching range in levels ideally as follows,
0572 otherwise initial value -1 that indicates the cpuset has no request.
0573 
0574 ====== ===========================================================
0575   -1   no request. use system default or follow request of others.
0576    0   no search.
0577    1   search siblings (hyperthreads in a core).
0578    2   search cores in a package.
0579    3   search cpus in a node [= system wide on non-NUMA system]
0580    4   search nodes in a chunk of node [on NUMA system]
0581    5   search system wide [on NUMA system]
0582 ====== ===========================================================
0583 
0584 The system default is architecture dependent.  The system default
0585 can be changed using the relax_domain_level= boot parameter.
0586 
0587 This file is per-cpuset and affect the sched domain where the cpuset
0588 belongs to.  Therefore if the flag 'cpuset.sched_load_balance' of a cpuset
0589 is disabled, then 'cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level' have no effect since
0590 there is no sched domain belonging the cpuset.
0591 
0592 If multiple cpusets are overlapping and hence they form a single sched
0593 domain, the largest value among those is used.  Be careful, if one
0594 requests 0 and others are -1 then 0 is used.
0595 
0596 Note that modifying this file will have both good and bad effects,
0597 and whether it is acceptable or not depends on your situation.
0598 Don't modify this file if you are not sure.
0599 
0600 If your situation is:
0601 
0602  - The migration costs between each cpu can be assumed considerably
0603    small(for you) due to your special application's behavior or
0604    special hardware support for CPU cache etc.
0605  - The searching cost doesn't have impact(for you) or you can make
0606    the searching cost enough small by managing cpuset to compact etc.
0607  - The latency is required even it sacrifices cache hit rate etc.
0608    then increasing 'sched_relax_domain_level' would benefit you.
0609 
0610 
0611 1.9 How do I use cpusets ?
0612 --------------------------
0613 
0614 In order to minimize the impact of cpusets on critical kernel
0615 code, such as the scheduler, and due to the fact that the kernel
0616 does not support one task updating the memory placement of another
0617 task directly, the impact on a task of changing its cpuset CPU
0618 or Memory Node placement, or of changing to which cpuset a task
0619 is attached, is subtle.
0620 
0621 If a cpuset has its Memory Nodes modified, then for each task attached
0622 to that cpuset, the next time that the kernel attempts to allocate
0623 a page of memory for that task, the kernel will notice the change
0624 in the task's cpuset, and update its per-task memory placement to
0625 remain within the new cpusets memory placement.  If the task was using
0626 mempolicy MPOL_BIND, and the nodes to which it was bound overlap with
0627 its new cpuset, then the task will continue to use whatever subset
0628 of MPOL_BIND nodes are still allowed in the new cpuset.  If the task
0629 was using MPOL_BIND and now none of its MPOL_BIND nodes are allowed
0630 in the new cpuset, then the task will be essentially treated as if it
0631 was MPOL_BIND bound to the new cpuset (even though its NUMA placement,
0632 as queried by get_mempolicy(), doesn't change).  If a task is moved
0633 from one cpuset to another, then the kernel will adjust the task's
0634 memory placement, as above, the next time that the kernel attempts
0635 to allocate a page of memory for that task.
0636 
0637 If a cpuset has its 'cpuset.cpus' modified, then each task in that cpuset
0638 will have its allowed CPU placement changed immediately.  Similarly,
0639 if a task's pid is written to another cpuset's 'tasks' file, then its
0640 allowed CPU placement is changed immediately.  If such a task had been
0641 bound to some subset of its cpuset using the sched_setaffinity() call,
0642 the task will be allowed to run on any CPU allowed in its new cpuset,
0643 negating the effect of the prior sched_setaffinity() call.
0644 
0645 In summary, the memory placement of a task whose cpuset is changed is
0646 updated by the kernel, on the next allocation of a page for that task,
0647 and the processor placement is updated immediately.
0648 
0649 Normally, once a page is allocated (given a physical page
0650 of main memory) then that page stays on whatever node it
0651 was allocated, so long as it remains allocated, even if the
0652 cpusets memory placement policy 'cpuset.mems' subsequently changes.
0653 If the cpuset flag file 'cpuset.memory_migrate' is set true, then when
0654 tasks are attached to that cpuset, any pages that task had
0655 allocated to it on nodes in its previous cpuset are migrated
0656 to the task's new cpuset. The relative placement of the page within
0657 the cpuset is preserved during these migration operations if possible.
0658 For example if the page was on the second valid node of the prior cpuset
0659 then the page will be placed on the second valid node of the new cpuset.
0660 
0661 Also if 'cpuset.memory_migrate' is set true, then if that cpuset's
0662 'cpuset.mems' file is modified, pages allocated to tasks in that
0663 cpuset, that were on nodes in the previous setting of 'cpuset.mems',
0664 will be moved to nodes in the new setting of 'mems.'
0665 Pages that were not in the task's prior cpuset, or in the cpuset's
0666 prior 'cpuset.mems' setting, will not be moved.
0667 
0668 There is an exception to the above.  If hotplug functionality is used
0669 to remove all the CPUs that are currently assigned to a cpuset,
0670 then all the tasks in that cpuset will be moved to the nearest ancestor
0671 with non-empty cpus.  But the moving of some (or all) tasks might fail if
0672 cpuset is bound with another cgroup subsystem which has some restrictions
0673 on task attaching.  In this failing case, those tasks will stay
0674 in the original cpuset, and the kernel will automatically update
0675 their cpus_allowed to allow all online CPUs.  When memory hotplug
0676 functionality for removing Memory Nodes is available, a similar exception
0677 is expected to apply there as well.  In general, the kernel prefers to
0678 violate cpuset placement, over starving a task that has had all
0679 its allowed CPUs or Memory Nodes taken offline.
0680 
0681 There is a second exception to the above.  GFP_ATOMIC requests are
0682 kernel internal allocations that must be satisfied, immediately.
0683 The kernel may drop some request, in rare cases even panic, if a
0684 GFP_ATOMIC alloc fails.  If the request cannot be satisfied within
0685 the current task's cpuset, then we relax the cpuset, and look for
0686 memory anywhere we can find it.  It's better to violate the cpuset
0687 than stress the kernel.
0688 
0689 To start a new job that is to be contained within a cpuset, the steps are:
0690 
0691  1) mkdir /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0692  2) mount -t cgroup -ocpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0693  3) Create the new cpuset by doing mkdir's and write's (or echo's) in
0694     the /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset virtual file system.
0695  4) Start a task that will be the "founding father" of the new job.
0696  5) Attach that task to the new cpuset by writing its pid to the
0697     /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset tasks file for that cpuset.
0698  6) fork, exec or clone the job tasks from this founding father task.
0699 
0700 For example, the following sequence of commands will setup a cpuset
0701 named "Charlie", containing just CPUs 2 and 3, and Memory Node 1,
0702 and then start a subshell 'sh' in that cpuset::
0703 
0704   mount -t cgroup -ocpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0705   cd /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0706   mkdir Charlie
0707   cd Charlie
0708   /bin/echo 2-3 > cpuset.cpus
0709   /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.mems
0710   /bin/echo $$ > tasks
0711   sh
0712   # The subshell 'sh' is now running in cpuset Charlie
0713   # The next line should display '/Charlie'
0714   cat /proc/self/cpuset
0715 
0716 There are ways to query or modify cpusets:
0717 
0718  - via the cpuset file system directly, using the various cd, mkdir, echo,
0719    cat, rmdir commands from the shell, or their equivalent from C.
0720  - via the C library libcpuset.
0721  - via the C library libcgroup.
0722    (http://sourceforge.net/projects/libcg/)
0723  - via the python application cset.
0724    (http://code.google.com/p/cpuset/)
0725 
0726 The sched_setaffinity calls can also be done at the shell prompt using
0727 SGI's runon or Robert Love's taskset.  The mbind and set_mempolicy
0728 calls can be done at the shell prompt using the numactl command
0729 (part of Andi Kleen's numa package).
0730 
0731 2. Usage Examples and Syntax
0732 ============================
0733 
0734 2.1 Basic Usage
0735 ---------------
0736 
0737 Creating, modifying, using the cpusets can be done through the cpuset
0738 virtual filesystem.
0739 
0740 To mount it, type:
0741 # mount -t cgroup -o cpuset cpuset /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0742 
0743 Then under /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset you can find a tree that corresponds to the
0744 tree of the cpusets in the system. For instance, /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0745 is the cpuset that holds the whole system.
0746 
0747 If you want to create a new cpuset under /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset::
0748 
0749   # cd /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0750   # mkdir my_cpuset
0751 
0752 Now you want to do something with this cpuset::
0753 
0754   # cd my_cpuset
0755 
0756 In this directory you can find several files::
0757 
0758   # ls
0759   cgroup.clone_children  cpuset.memory_pressure
0760   cgroup.event_control   cpuset.memory_spread_page
0761   cgroup.procs           cpuset.memory_spread_slab
0762   cpuset.cpu_exclusive   cpuset.mems
0763   cpuset.cpus            cpuset.sched_load_balance
0764   cpuset.mem_exclusive   cpuset.sched_relax_domain_level
0765   cpuset.mem_hardwall    notify_on_release
0766   cpuset.memory_migrate  tasks
0767 
0768 Reading them will give you information about the state of this cpuset:
0769 the CPUs and Memory Nodes it can use, the processes that are using
0770 it, its properties.  By writing to these files you can manipulate
0771 the cpuset.
0772 
0773 Set some flags::
0774 
0775   # /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive
0776 
0777 Add some cpus::
0778 
0779   # /bin/echo 0-7 > cpuset.cpus
0780 
0781 Add some mems::
0782 
0783   # /bin/echo 0-7 > cpuset.mems
0784 
0785 Now attach your shell to this cpuset::
0786 
0787   # /bin/echo $$ > tasks
0788 
0789 You can also create cpusets inside your cpuset by using mkdir in this
0790 directory::
0791 
0792   # mkdir my_sub_cs
0793 
0794 To remove a cpuset, just use rmdir::
0795 
0796   # rmdir my_sub_cs
0797 
0798 This will fail if the cpuset is in use (has cpusets inside, or has
0799 processes attached).
0800 
0801 Note that for legacy reasons, the "cpuset" filesystem exists as a
0802 wrapper around the cgroup filesystem.
0803 
0804 The command::
0805 
0806   mount -t cpuset X /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0807 
0808 is equivalent to::
0809 
0810   mount -t cgroup -ocpuset,noprefix X /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset
0811   echo "/sbin/cpuset_release_agent" > /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset/release_agent
0812 
0813 2.2 Adding/removing cpus
0814 ------------------------
0815 
0816 This is the syntax to use when writing in the cpus or mems files
0817 in cpuset directories::
0818 
0819   # /bin/echo 1-4 > cpuset.cpus         -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4
0820   # /bin/echo 1,2,3,4 > cpuset.cpus     -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4
0821 
0822 To add a CPU to a cpuset, write the new list of CPUs including the
0823 CPU to be added. To add 6 to the above cpuset::
0824 
0825   # /bin/echo 1-4,6 > cpuset.cpus       -> set cpus list to cpus 1,2,3,4,6
0826 
0827 Similarly to remove a CPU from a cpuset, write the new list of CPUs
0828 without the CPU to be removed.
0829 
0830 To remove all the CPUs::
0831 
0832   # /bin/echo "" > cpuset.cpus          -> clear cpus list
0833 
0834 2.3 Setting flags
0835 -----------------
0836 
0837 The syntax is very simple::
0838 
0839   # /bin/echo 1 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive  -> set flag 'cpuset.cpu_exclusive'
0840   # /bin/echo 0 > cpuset.cpu_exclusive  -> unset flag 'cpuset.cpu_exclusive'
0841 
0842 2.4 Attaching processes
0843 -----------------------
0844 
0845 ::
0846 
0847   # /bin/echo PID > tasks
0848 
0849 Note that it is PID, not PIDs. You can only attach ONE task at a time.
0850 If you have several tasks to attach, you have to do it one after another::
0851 
0852   # /bin/echo PID1 > tasks
0853   # /bin/echo PID2 > tasks
0854         ...
0855   # /bin/echo PIDn > tasks
0856 
0857 
0858 3. Questions
0859 ============
0860 
0861 Q:
0862    what's up with this '/bin/echo' ?
0863 
0864 A:
0865    bash's builtin 'echo' command does not check calls to write() against
0866    errors. If you use it in the cpuset file system, you won't be
0867    able to tell whether a command succeeded or failed.
0868 
0869 Q:
0870    When I attach processes, only the first of the line gets really attached !
0871 
0872 A:
0873    We can only return one error code per call to write(). So you should also
0874    put only ONE pid.
0875 
0876 4. Contact
0877 ==========
0878 
0879 Web: http://www.bullopensource.org/cpuset