From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.remote-ip=100.103.45.18 ARC-Seal: i=1; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc20261015; a=rsa-sha256; cv=none; t=1792868861; b=K5QQMImNrBT1HBkxDmPdTxsyJa7aaWSEHcWfLEyshowM4kb27EYD3ENe254gpdXHQQz9 52DsVH6Mxrg7Th7IJXJy0KVQegaz8xzfPmCnUwE820u1ZAB+M+OR9wPCpuRQXToooLXMJ 6t6W8qe5HX87dUpEv7LLrLubLKiqNjZOBNJ2MA+Q5InjzvRcXX+hT5OYvZzFJ8XorCJSY 5APYpQx5HzBnCcqZxRZNFhsQFroTQS+1RvFBU4X8NSXExTFW+MXNBnZyHIHLGin0Wy8eb YulXwK/bx28c1DJFfYC58+rUydUngKGcMUFHZKz0yjcC3S88098xBd5d4aiY3l2u+og== ARC-Message-Signature: i=1; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc20261015; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; t=1792868861; h=Received:DKIM-Signature:From:Date:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type: Content-Transfer-Encoding:Message-Id:References:In-Reply-To:To:Cc: X-Mailer; bh=26zIWuZggzXFxjqRM6LN+qqHl4Ps2joqd/Wn4uHgStQ=; b=4YuQ5Tx9VCGYEqJcVyRNwycdIppzBUQNWGqlpSrogfQNKnsz35tlWe+uoyIANGqfyhmn f6q4W2rAN5rtw9s5awHgkhVvMzqxYJBbrgbg8Kq5f+RrLz6j20j/5ggOmpQmo/IUNj5rJ PJ8U4F65VeEwd9TM5hBEBs2rXB+5Az0JMxtCwgUOwmI4oPmMbQXpiM27kXSOTMotyLgcC aPx44ntBHUl24IXepcNurUcq0OjUYMw27Ex8yPqC4bsQ3yJY8V2nTi8IZs/x+74yT09B0 EDANAv36sthUYlVd8cI6ZLr9WSwNPU3d8Mv/VAhRttes0fwwBJIB4hnZspeefxrtBBw== ARC-Authentication-Results: i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.a=rsa-sha256 header.s=k20260515 header.b=RE4Lm+CA; arc=none smtp.remote-ip=100.103.45.18 Received: from smtp.kernel.org (quasi.space.kernel.org [100.103.45.18]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature ECDSA (prime256v1)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 40622606A321 for ; Sat, 24 Oct 2026 19:07:41 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key, unprotected) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.a=rsa-sha256 header.s=k20260515 header.b=RE4Lm+CA Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id F063B1F031E2; Sat, 24 Oct 2026 19:07:38 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=kernel.org; s=k20260515; t=1792868861; bh=26zIWuZggzXFxjqRM6LN+qqHl4Ps2joqd/Wn4uHgStQ=; h=From:Date:Subject:References:In-Reply-To:To:Cc; b=RE4Lm+CAA+W0sM/Gyh9Zgkeh8XLjZkPxdq76b31QshuIhrOHWvqC4dQcvVQ+feZkN 0TXdnhWR1rNTuF14rUvXW6UMwOv8FBYPOXVedvIG2oLexmEj+LdeCK8iXnl5Rb6TV/ u5afTXnZehtfeAcDhkXeQTkD0YDoc2B467vjmkXfFnqpzPNZ1ZqwvPF/9srAas6nTh BrKREQLBSJOt7XO/5EWzXTKO4bfjApxrJ9tCDB7SWdsUvm6jLgCtrPaa7oLjofYhJR 4VTVRu/zxAIYR8VM0b2EyxqtR5AkAwkikGqD1bqeKTIM+SvssVa2OkcK4Vy2SsCQr+ GlldKWlyUB20w== From: "Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2026 21:07:24 +0200 Subject: [PATCH RFC v2 2/8] mm, slab: introduce slab_debug=N X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: List-Owner: Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <20261024-slub_tiny_rework-v2-2-bf1419ab5ffd@kernel.org> References: <20261024-slub_tiny_rework-v2-0-bf1419ab5ffd@kernel.org> In-Reply-To: <20261024-slub_tiny_rework-v2-0-bf1419ab5ffd@kernel.org> To: Harry Yoo Cc: Hao Li , Christoph Lameter , David Rientjes , Roman Gushchin , Geert Uytterhoeven , Conor Dooley , Damien Le Moal , linux-mm@kvack.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, "Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" X-Mailer: b4 0.16.0 Enabling slab_debug has the side-effect of disabling all percpu caching of objects (now via sheaves), which can be sometimes useful for saving memory for e.g. kdump kernels. To make this possible without the overhead (CPU or memory) of actual debugging options such as poisoning, introduce a No-op debug option that only forces the debugging slow paths and zero sheaf capacity. The new corresponding slab flag is SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP. This will also allow reimplementing CONFIG_SLUB_TINY as a boot-time option. Two details have to be considered, as suggested by Harry Yoo [1]. - While SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP is part of SLAB_DEBUG_FLAGS, it should not prevent cache merging as it doesn't affect object metadata, and lack of merging would go against the memory footprint reduction. Thus exclude the flag from SLAB_NEVER_MERGE. - SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP alone should not request disabling printk pointer hashing. Thus rework the call to hash_pointers_finalize() to not rely on the slub_debug static key state. Instead determine whether the global or per-cache slab_debug options include any flags that are not SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP. This does not change the fact that caches created with explicit debug flags (i.e. slub_kunit tests) later in boot have no effect on pointer hashing, which is determined in kmem_cache_init(). While documenting the new N option, remove obsolete SLAB references from the F option description. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/arUx56ee_nkxYP_f@thinkstation/ Signed-off-by: Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) --- Documentation/admin-guide/mm/slab.rst | 13 +++++++++++-- include/linux/slab.h | 5 ++++- mm/slab.h | 2 +- mm/slab_common.c | 6 +++--- mm/slub.c | 21 ++++++++++++++++++++- 5 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/slab.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/slab.rst index 14429ab90611..0beeae71d472 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/slab.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/slab.rst @@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ of the first "select slabs" blocks that matches the slab's name are applied. Possible debug options are:: - F Sanity checks on (enables SLAB_DEBUG_CONSISTENCY_CHECKS - Sorry SLAB legacy issues) + F Sanity (slab consistency) checks on alloc and free Z Red zoning P Poisoning (object and padding) U User tracking (free and alloc) T Trace (please only use on single slabs) + N No-op (force debugging slowpaths without any checks) A Enable failslab filter mark for the cache O Switch debugging off for caches that would have caused higher minimum slab orders @@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ in low memory situations or if there's high fragmentation of memory. To slab_debug=O +The No-op option can be useful to minimize slab memory overhead by forcing slab +debugging slowpaths, which disables percpu object caching. This reduces SMP +scalability significantly, but does not impose the extra cpu or memory overhead +of debugging options that actually perform checks. This can be useful for e.g. +kdump kernels where scalability is not a concern, but memory has to be +pre-reserved from the production kernel. So for a kdump kernel you can use:: + + slab_debug=N + You can apply different options to different list of slab names, using blocks of options. This will enable red zoning for dentry and user tracking for kmalloc. All other slabs will not get any debugging enabled:: diff --git a/include/linux/slab.h b/include/linux/slab.h index cda126def67a..ed949e8522be 100644 --- a/include/linux/slab.h +++ b/include/linux/slab.h @@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ enum _slab_flag_bits { _SLAB_PANIC, _SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, _SLAB_TRACE, + _SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP, #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS _SLAB_DEBUG_OBJECTS, #endif @@ -166,8 +167,10 @@ enum _slab_flag_bits { * Note that SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU was originally named SLAB_DESTROY_BY_RCU. */ #define SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU __SLAB_FLAG_BIT(_SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU) -/* Trace allocations and frees */ +/* DEBUG: Trace allocations and frees */ #define SLAB_TRACE __SLAB_FLAG_BIT(_SLAB_TRACE) +/* DEBUG: Force the debug slowpaths without actually doing anything */ +#define SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP __SLAB_FLAG_BIT(_SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP) /* Flag to prevent checks on free */ #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS diff --git a/mm/slab.h b/mm/slab.h index e94ac63d10dc..79774e2be3bb 100644 --- a/mm/slab.h +++ b/mm/slab.h @@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ void flush_rcu_sheaves_on_cache(struct kmem_cache *s); SLAB_NO_USER_FLAGS | SLAB_KMALLOC | SLAB_NO_MERGE) #define SLAB_DEBUG_FLAGS (SLAB_RED_ZONE | SLAB_POISON | SLAB_STORE_USER | \ - SLAB_TRACE | SLAB_CONSISTENCY_CHECKS) + SLAB_TRACE | SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP | SLAB_CONSISTENCY_CHECKS) #define SLAB_FLAGS_PERMITTED (SLAB_CORE_FLAGS | SLAB_DEBUG_FLAGS) diff --git a/mm/slab_common.c b/mm/slab_common.c index 01c64ef661e7..02dfe4351e8b 100644 --- a/mm/slab_common.c +++ b/mm/slab_common.c @@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ struct kmem_cache *kmem_cache; * Any flag that adds per-object metadata should be included, * since slab merging can update s->inuse that affects the metadata layout. */ -#define SLAB_NEVER_MERGE (SLAB_DEBUG_FLAGS | SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU | \ - SLAB_NOLEAKTRACE | SLAB_FAILSLAB | SLAB_NO_MERGE | \ - SLAB_OBJ_EXT_IN_OBJ) +#define SLAB_NEVER_MERGE ((SLAB_DEBUG_FLAGS & ~SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP) | \ + SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU | SLAB_NOLEAKTRACE | SLAB_FAILSLAB | \ + SLAB_NO_MERGE | SLAB_OBJ_EXT_IN_OBJ) #define SLAB_MERGE_SAME (SLAB_RECLAIM_ACCOUNT | SLAB_CACHE_DMA | \ SLAB_CACHE_DMA32 | SLAB_ACCOUNT | SLAB_MAY_ACCOUNT) diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c index 30714557306d..51daf361c601 100644 --- a/mm/slub.c +++ b/mm/slub.c @@ -1053,6 +1053,19 @@ static slab_flags_t slub_debug; static const char *slub_debug_string __ro_after_init; static int disable_higher_order_debug; +/* Union of all slab debug flags enabled for specific caches only */ +static slab_flags_t slab_debug_per_cache_union __initdata; + +static inline bool __init slab_want_nohash_pointers(void) +{ + /* + * If any debugging is enabled globally or per-cache, we would like + * nohash pointers. The exception is no-op debugging that only forces + * the slowpaths. + */ + return (slub_debug | slab_debug_per_cache_union) & ~SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP; +} + /* * Object debugging */ @@ -1898,6 +1911,9 @@ parse_slub_debug_flags(const char *str, slab_flags_t *flags, const char **slabs, case 't': *flags |= SLAB_TRACE; break; + case 'n': + *flags |= SLAB_DEBUG_NOOP; + break; case 'a': *flags |= SLAB_FAILSLAB; break; @@ -1961,6 +1977,7 @@ static int __init setup_slub_debug(const char *str, const struct kernel_param *k global_slub_debug_changed = true; } else { slab_list_specified = true; + slab_debug_per_cache_union |= flags; if (flags & SLAB_STORE_USER) stack_depot_request_early_init(); } @@ -2069,6 +2086,8 @@ static inline void setup_object_debug(struct kmem_cache *s, void *object) {} static inline void setup_slab_debug(struct kmem_cache *s, struct slab *slab, void *addr) {} +static inline bool __init slab_want_nohash_pointers(void) { return false; } + static inline bool alloc_debug_processing(struct kmem_cache *s, struct slab *slab, void *object, int orig_size) { return true; } @@ -8755,7 +8774,7 @@ void __init kmem_cache_init(void) slab_min_order = slab_max_order; /* Inform pointer hashing choice about slub debugging state. */ - hash_pointers_finalize(__slub_debug_enabled()); + hash_pointers_finalize(slab_want_nohash_pointers()); kmem_cache_node = &boot_kmem_cache_node; kmem_cache = &boot_kmem_cache; -- 2.56.0