No description
ef2820a735
Implementation of (a)rwnd calculation might lead to severe performance issues
and associations completely stalling. These problems are described and solution
is proposed which improves lksctp's robustness in congestion state.
1) Sudden drop of a_rwnd and incomplete window recovery afterwards
Data accounted in sctp_assoc_rwnd_decrease takes only payload size (sctp data),
but size of sk_buff, which is blamed against receiver buffer, is not accounted
in rwnd. Theoretically, this should not be the problem as actual size of buffer
is double the amount requested on the socket (SO_RECVBUF). Problem here is
that this will have bad scaling for data which is less then sizeof sk_buff.
E.g. in 4G (LTE) networks, link interfacing radio side will have a large portion
of traffic of this size (less then 100B).
An example of sudden drop and incomplete window recovery is given below. Node B
exhibits problematic behavior. Node A initiates association and B is configured
to advertise rwnd of 10000. A sends messages of size 43B (size of typical sctp
message in 4G (LTE) network). On B data is left in buffer by not reading socket
in userspace.
Lets examine when we will hit pressure state and declare rwnd to be 0 for
scenario with above stated parameters (rwnd == 10000, chunk size == 43, each
chunk is sent in separate sctp packet)
Logic is implemented in sctp_assoc_rwnd_decrease:
socket_buffer (see below) is maximum size which can be held in socket buffer
(sk_rcvbuf). current_alloced is amount of data currently allocated (rx_count)
A simple expression is given for which it will be examined after how many
packets for above stated parameters we enter pressure state:
We start by condition which has to be met in order to enter pressure state:
socket_buffer < currently_alloced;
currently_alloced is represented as size of sctp packets received so far and not
yet delivered to userspace. x is the number of chunks/packets (since there is no
bundling, and each chunk is delivered in separate packet, we can observe each
chunk also as sctp packet, and what is important here, having its own sk_buff):
socket_buffer < x*each_sctp_packet;
each_sctp_packet is sctp chunk size + sizeof(struct sk_buff). socket_buffer is
twice the amount of initially requested size of socket buffer, which is in case
of sctp, twice the a_rwnd requested:
2*rwnd < x*(payload+sizeof(struc sk_buff));
sizeof(struct sk_buff) is 190 (3.13.0-rc4+). Above is stated that rwnd is 10000
and each payload size is 43
20000 < x(43+190);
x > 20000/233;
x ~> 84;
After ~84 messages, pressure state is entered and 0 rwnd is advertised while
received 84*43B ~= 3612B sctp data. This is why external observer notices sudden
drop from 6474 to 0, as it will be now shown in example:
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [INIT] [init tag: 1875509148] [rwnd: 81920] [OS: 10] [MIS: 65535] [init TSN: 1096057017]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [INIT ACK] [init tag: 3198966556] [rwnd: 10000] [OS: 10] [MIS: 10] [init TSN: 902132839]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [COOKIE ECHO]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [COOKIE ACK]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057017] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 0] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057017] [a_rwnd 9957] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057018] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 1] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057018] [a_rwnd 9957] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057019] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 2] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057019] [a_rwnd 9914] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
<...>
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057098] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 81] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057098] [a_rwnd 6517] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057099] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 82] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057099] [a_rwnd 6474] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057100] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 83] [PPID 0x18]
--> Sudden drop
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057100] [a_rwnd 0] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
At this point, rwnd_press stores current rwnd value so it can be later restored
in sctp_assoc_rwnd_increase. This however doesn't happen as condition to start
slowly increasing rwnd until rwnd_press is returned to rwnd is never met. This
condition is not met since rwnd, after it hit 0, must first reach rwnd_press by
adding amount which is read from userspace. Let us observe values in above
example. Initial a_rwnd is 10000, pressure was hit when rwnd was ~6500 and the
amount of actual sctp data currently waiting to be delivered to userspace
is ~3500. When userspace starts to read, sctp_assoc_rwnd_increase will be blamed
only for sctp data, which is ~3500. Condition is never met, and when userspace
reads all data, rwnd stays on 3569.
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057100] [a_rwnd 1505] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057100] [a_rwnd 3010] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057101] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 84] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057101] [a_rwnd 3569] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> At this point userspace read everything, rwnd recovered only to 3569
IP A.34340 > B.12345: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 1096057102] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 85] [PPID 0x18]
IP B.12345 > A.34340: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 1096057102] [a_rwnd 3569] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
Reproduction is straight forward, it is enough for sender to send packets of
size less then sizeof(struct sk_buff) and receiver keeping them in its buffers.
2) Minute size window for associations sharing the same socket buffer
In case multiple associations share the same socket, and same socket buffer
(sctp.rcvbuf_policy == 0), different scenarios exist in which congestion on one
of the associations can permanently drop rwnd of other association(s).
Situation will be typically observed as one association suddenly having rwnd
dropped to size of last packet received and never recovering beyond that point.
Different scenarios will lead to it, but all have in common that one of the
associations (let it be association from 1)) nearly depleted socket buffer, and
the other association blames socket buffer just for the amount enough to start
the pressure. This association will enter pressure state, set rwnd_press and
announce 0 rwnd.
When data is read by userspace, similar situation as in 1) will occur, rwnd will
increase just for the size read by userspace but rwnd_press will be high enough
so that association doesn't have enough credit to reach rwnd_press and restore
to previous state. This case is special case of 1), being worse as there is, in
the worst case, only one packet in buffer for which size rwnd will be increased.
Consequence is association which has very low maximum rwnd ('minute size', in
our case down to 43B - size of packet which caused pressure) and as such
unusable.
Scenario happened in the field and labs frequently after congestion state (link
breaks, different probabilities of packet drop, packet reordering) and with
scenario 1) preceding. Here is given a deterministic scenario for reproduction:
>From node A establish two associations on the same socket, with rcvbuf_policy
being set to share one common buffer (sctp.rcvbuf_policy == 0). On association 1
repeat scenario from 1), that is, bring it down to 0 and restore up. Observe
scenario 1). Use small payload size (here we use 43). Once rwnd is 'recovered',
bring it down close to 0, as in just one more packet would close it. This has as
a consequence that association number 2 is able to receive (at least) one more
packet which will bring it in pressure state. E.g. if association 2 had rwnd of
10000, packet received was 43, and we enter at this point into pressure,
rwnd_press will have 9957. Once payload is delivered to userspace, rwnd will
increase for 43, but conditions to restore rwnd to original state, just as in
1), will never be satisfied.
--> Association 1, between A.y and B.12345
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [INIT] [init tag: 836880897] [rwnd: 10000] [OS: 10] [MIS: 65535] [init TSN: 4032536569]
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [INIT ACK] [init tag: 2873310749] [rwnd: 81920] [OS: 10] [MIS: 10] [init TSN: 3799315613]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [COOKIE ECHO]
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [COOKIE ACK]
--> Association 2, between A.z and B.12346
IP A.55915 > B.12346: sctp (1) [INIT] [init tag: 534798321] [rwnd: 10000] [OS: 10] [MIS: 65535] [init TSN: 2099285173]
IP B.12346 > A.55915: sctp (1) [INIT ACK] [init tag: 516668823] [rwnd: 81920] [OS: 10] [MIS: 10] [init TSN: 3676403240]
IP A.55915 > B.12346: sctp (1) [COOKIE ECHO]
IP B.12346 > A.55915: sctp (1) [COOKIE ACK]
--> Deplete socket buffer by sending messages of size 43B over association 1
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315613] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 0] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315613] [a_rwnd 9957] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
<...>
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315696] [a_rwnd 6388] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315697] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 84] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315697] [a_rwnd 6345] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> Sudden drop on 1
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315698] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 85] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315698] [a_rwnd 0] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> Here userspace read, rwnd 'recovered' to 3698, now deplete again using
association 1 so there is place in buffer for only one more packet
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315799] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 186] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315799] [a_rwnd 86] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315800] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 187] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315800] [a_rwnd 43] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> Socket buffer is almost depleted, but there is space for one more packet,
send them over association 2, size 43B
IP B.12346 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3676403240] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 0] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12346: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3676403240] [a_rwnd 0] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> Immediate drop
IP A.60995 > B.12346: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 387491510] [a_rwnd 0] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
--> Read everything from the socket, both association recover up to maximum rwnd
they are capable of reaching, note that association 1 recovered up to 3698,
and association 2 recovered only to 43
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315800] [a_rwnd 1548] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315800] [a_rwnd 3053] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP B.12345 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3799315801] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 188] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12345: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3799315801] [a_rwnd 3698] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
IP B.12346 > A.55915: sctp (1) [DATA] (B)(E) [TSN: 3676403241] [SID: 0] [SSEQ 1] [PPID 0x18]
IP A.55915 > B.12346: sctp (1) [SACK] [cum ack 3676403241] [a_rwnd 43] [#gap acks 0] [#dup tsns 0]
A careful reader might wonder why it is necessary to reproduce 1) prior
reproduction of 2). It is simply easier to observe when to send packet over
association 2 which will push association into the pressure state.
Proposed solution:
Both problems share the same root cause, and that is improper scaling of socket
buffer with rwnd. Solution in which sizeof(sk_buff) is taken into concern while
calculating rwnd is not possible due to fact that there is no linear
relationship between amount of data blamed in increase/decrease with IP packet
in which payload arrived. Even in case such solution would be followed,
complexity of the code would increase. Due to nature of current rwnd handling,
slow increase (in sctp_assoc_rwnd_increase) of rwnd after pressure state is
entered is rationale, but it gives false representation to the sender of current
buffer space. Furthermore, it implements additional congestion control mechanism
which is defined on implementation, and not on standard basis.
Proposed solution simplifies whole algorithm having on mind definition from rfc:
o Receiver Window (rwnd): This gives the sender an indication of the space
available in the receiver's inbound buffer.
Core of the proposed solution is given with these lines:
sctp_assoc_rwnd_update:
if ((asoc->base.sk->sk_rcvbuf - rx_count) > 0)
asoc->rwnd = (asoc->base.sk->sk_rcvbuf - rx_count) >> 1;
else
asoc->rwnd = 0;
We advertise to sender (half of) actual space we have. Half is in the braces
depending whether you would like to observe size of socket buffer as SO_RECVBUF
or twice the amount, i.e. size is the one visible from userspace, that is,
from kernelspace.
In this way sender is given with good approximation of our buffer space,
regardless of the buffer policy - we always advertise what we have. Proposed
solution fixes described problems and removes necessity for rwnd restoration
algorithm. Finally, as proposed solution is simplification, some lines of code,
along with some bytes in struct sctp_association are saved.
Version 2 of the patch addressed comments from Vlad. Name of the function is set
to be more descriptive, and two parts of code are changed, in one removing the
superfluous call to sctp_assoc_rwnd_update since call would not result in update
of rwnd, and the other being reordering of the code in a way that call to
sctp_assoc_rwnd_update updates rwnd. Version 3 corrected change introduced in v2
in a way that existing function is not reordered/copied in line, but it is
correctly called. Thanks Vlad for suggesting.
Signed-off-by: Matija Glavinic Pecotic <matija.glavinic-pecotic.ext@nsn.com>
Reviewed-by: Alexander Sverdlin <alexander.sverdlin@nsn.com>
Acked-by: Vlad Yasevich <vyasevich@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>
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|---|---|---|
| arch | ||
| block | ||
| crypto | ||
| Documentation | ||
| drivers | ||
| firmware | ||
| fs | ||
| include | ||
| init | ||
| ipc | ||
| kernel | ||
| lib | ||
| mm | ||
| net | ||
| samples | ||
| scripts | ||
| security | ||
| sound | ||
| tools | ||
| usr | ||
| virt/kvm | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| .mailmap | ||
| COPYING | ||
| CREDITS | ||
| Kbuild | ||
| Kconfig | ||
| MAINTAINERS | ||
| Makefile | ||
| README | ||
| REPORTING-BUGS | ||
Linux kernel release 3.x <http://kernel.org/>
These are the release notes for Linux version 3. Read them carefully,
as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong.
WHAT IS LINUX?
Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by
Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across
the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.
It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,
including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand
loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,
and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.
It is distributed under the GNU General Public License - see the
accompanying COPYING file for more details.
ON WHAT HARDWARE DOES IT RUN?
Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),
today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and
UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,
IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS,
Xtensa, Tilera TILE, AVR32 and Renesas M32R architectures.
Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures
as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the
GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has
also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although
functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.
Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a
userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).
DOCUMENTATION:
- There is a lot of documentation available both in electronic form on
the Internet and in books, both Linux-specific and pertaining to
general UNIX questions. I'd recommend looking into the documentation
subdirectories on any Linux FTP site for the LDP (Linux Documentation
Project) books. This README is not meant to be documentation on the
system: there are much better sources available.
- There are various README files in the Documentation/ subdirectory:
these typically contain kernel-specific installation notes for some
drivers for example. See Documentation/00-INDEX for a list of what
is contained in each file. Please read the Changes file, as it
contains information about the problems, which may result by upgrading
your kernel.
- The Documentation/DocBook/ subdirectory contains several guides for
kernel developers and users. These guides can be rendered in a
number of formats: PostScript (.ps), PDF, HTML, & man-pages, among others.
After installation, "make psdocs", "make pdfdocs", "make htmldocs",
or "make mandocs" will render the documentation in the requested format.
INSTALLING the kernel source:
- If you install the full sources, put the kernel tarball in a
directory where you have permissions (eg. your home directory) and
unpack it:
gzip -cd linux-3.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -
or
bzip2 -dc linux-3.X.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
Replace "X" with the version number of the latest kernel.
Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually
incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header
files. They should match the library, and not get messed up by
whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be.
- You can also upgrade between 3.x releases by patching. Patches are
distributed in the traditional gzip and the newer bzip2 format. To
install by patching, get all the newer patch files, enter the
top level directory of the kernel source (linux-3.X) and execute:
gzip -cd ../patch-3.x.gz | patch -p1
or
bzip2 -dc ../patch-3.x.bz2 | patch -p1
Replace "x" for all versions bigger than the version "X" of your current
source tree, _in_order_, and you should be ok. You may want to remove
the backup files (some-file-name~ or some-file-name.orig), and make sure
that there are no failed patches (some-file-name# or some-file-name.rej).
If there are, either you or I have made a mistake.
Unlike patches for the 3.x kernels, patches for the 3.x.y kernels
(also known as the -stable kernels) are not incremental but instead apply
directly to the base 3.x kernel. For example, if your base kernel is 3.0
and you want to apply the 3.0.3 patch, you must not first apply the 3.0.1
and 3.0.2 patches. Similarly, if you are running kernel version 3.0.2 and
want to jump to 3.0.3, you must first reverse the 3.0.2 patch (that is,
patch -R) _before_ applying the 3.0.3 patch. You can read more on this in
Documentation/applying-patches.txt
Alternatively, the script patch-kernel can be used to automate this
process. It determines the current kernel version and applies any
patches found.
linux/scripts/patch-kernel linux
The first argument in the command above is the location of the
kernel source. Patches are applied from the current directory, but
an alternative directory can be specified as the second argument.
- Make sure you have no stale .o files and dependencies lying around:
cd linux
make mrproper
You should now have the sources correctly installed.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
Compiling and running the 3.x kernels requires up-to-date
versions of various software packages. Consult
Documentation/Changes for the minimum version numbers required
and how to get updates for these packages. Beware that using
excessively old versions of these packages can cause indirect
errors that are very difficult to track down, so don't assume that
you can just update packages when obvious problems arise during
build or operation.
BUILD directory for the kernel:
When compiling the kernel, all output files will per default be
stored together with the kernel source code.
Using the option "make O=output/dir" allow you to specify an alternate
place for the output files (including .config).
Example:
kernel source code: /usr/src/linux-3.X
build directory: /home/name/build/kernel
To configure and build the kernel, use:
cd /usr/src/linux-3.X
make O=/home/name/build/kernel menuconfig
make O=/home/name/build/kernel
sudo make O=/home/name/build/kernel modules_install install
Please note: If the 'O=output/dir' option is used, then it must be
used for all invocations of make.
CONFIGURING the kernel:
Do not skip this step even if you are only upgrading one minor
version. New configuration options are added in each release, and
odd problems will turn up if the configuration files are not set up
as expected. If you want to carry your existing configuration to a
new version with minimal work, use "make oldconfig", which will
only ask you for the answers to new questions.
- Alternative configuration commands are:
"make config" Plain text interface.
"make menuconfig" Text based color menus, radiolists & dialogs.
"make nconfig" Enhanced text based color menus.
"make xconfig" X windows (Qt) based configuration tool.
"make gconfig" X windows (Gtk) based configuration tool.
"make oldconfig" Default all questions based on the contents of
your existing ./.config file and asking about
new config symbols.
"make silentoldconfig"
Like above, but avoids cluttering the screen
with questions already answered.
Additionally updates the dependencies.
"make olddefconfig"
Like above, but sets new symbols to their default
values without prompting.
"make defconfig" Create a ./.config file by using the default
symbol values from either arch/$ARCH/defconfig
or arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig,
depending on the architecture.
"make ${PLATFORM}_defconfig"
Create a ./.config file by using the default
symbol values from
arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig.
Use "make help" to get a list of all available
platforms of your architecture.
"make allyesconfig"
Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
values to 'y' as much as possible.
"make allmodconfig"
Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
values to 'm' as much as possible.
"make allnoconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
values to 'n' as much as possible.
"make randconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
values to random values.
"make localmodconfig" Create a config based on current config and
loaded modules (lsmod). Disables any module
option that is not needed for the loaded modules.
To create a localmodconfig for another machine,
store the lsmod of that machine into a file
and pass it in as a LSMOD parameter.
target$ lsmod > /tmp/mylsmod
target$ scp /tmp/mylsmod host:/tmp
host$ make LSMOD=/tmp/mylsmod localmodconfig
The above also works when cross compiling.
"make localyesconfig" Similar to localmodconfig, except it will convert
all module options to built in (=y) options.
You can find more information on using the Linux kernel config tools
in Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt.
- NOTES on "make config":
- Having unnecessary drivers will make the kernel bigger, and can
under some circumstances lead to problems: probing for a
nonexistent controller card may confuse your other controllers
- Compiling the kernel with "Processor type" set higher than 386
will result in a kernel that does NOT work on a 386. The
kernel will detect this on bootup, and give up.
- A kernel with math-emulation compiled in will still use the
coprocessor if one is present: the math emulation will just
never get used in that case. The kernel will be slightly larger,
but will work on different machines regardless of whether they
have a math coprocessor or not.
- The "kernel hacking" configuration details usually result in a
bigger or slower kernel (or both), and can even make the kernel
less stable by configuring some routines to actively try to
break bad code to find kernel problems (kmalloc()). Thus you
should probably answer 'n' to the questions for "development",
"experimental", or "debugging" features.
COMPILING the kernel:
- Make sure you have at least gcc 3.2 available.
For more information, refer to Documentation/Changes.
Please note that you can still run a.out user programs with this kernel.
- Do a "make" to create a compressed kernel image. It is also
possible to do "make install" if you have lilo installed to suit the
kernel makefiles, but you may want to check your particular lilo setup first.
To do the actual install, you have to be root, but none of the normal
build should require that. Don't take the name of root in vain.
- If you configured any of the parts of the kernel as `modules', you
will also have to do "make modules_install".
- Verbose kernel compile/build output:
Normally, the kernel build system runs in a fairly quiet mode (but not
totally silent). However, sometimes you or other kernel developers need
to see compile, link, or other commands exactly as they are executed.
For this, use "verbose" build mode. This is done by inserting
"V=1" in the "make" command. E.g.:
make V=1 all
To have the build system also tell the reason for the rebuild of each
target, use "V=2". The default is "V=0".
- Keep a backup kernel handy in case something goes wrong. This is
especially true for the development releases, since each new release
contains new code which has not been debugged. Make sure you keep a
backup of the modules corresponding to that kernel, as well. If you
are installing a new kernel with the same version number as your
working kernel, make a backup of your modules directory before you
do a "make modules_install".
Alternatively, before compiling, use the kernel config option
"LOCALVERSION" to append a unique suffix to the regular kernel version.
LOCALVERSION can be set in the "General Setup" menu.
- In order to boot your new kernel, you'll need to copy the kernel
image (e.g. .../linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage after compilation)
to the place where your regular bootable kernel is found.
- Booting a kernel directly from a floppy without the assistance of a
bootloader such as LILO, is no longer supported.
If you boot Linux from the hard drive, chances are you use LILO, which
uses the kernel image as specified in the file /etc/lilo.conf. The
kernel image file is usually /vmlinuz, /boot/vmlinuz, /bzImage or
/boot/bzImage. To use the new kernel, save a copy of the old image
and copy the new image over the old one. Then, you MUST RERUN LILO
to update the loading map!! If you don't, you won't be able to boot
the new kernel image.
Reinstalling LILO is usually a matter of running /sbin/lilo.
You may wish to edit /etc/lilo.conf to specify an entry for your
old kernel image (say, /vmlinux.old) in case the new one does not
work. See the LILO docs for more information.
After reinstalling LILO, you should be all set. Shutdown the system,
reboot, and enjoy!
If you ever need to change the default root device, video mode,
ramdisk size, etc. in the kernel image, use the 'rdev' program (or
alternatively the LILO boot options when appropriate). No need to
recompile the kernel to change these parameters.
- Reboot with the new kernel and enjoy.
IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG:
- If you have problems that seem to be due to kernel bugs, please check
the file MAINTAINERS to see if there is a particular person associated
with the part of the kernel that you are having trouble with. If there
isn't anyone listed there, then the second best thing is to mail
them to me (torvalds@linux-foundation.org), and possibly to any other
relevant mailing-list or to the newsgroup.
- In all bug-reports, *please* tell what kernel you are talking about,
how to duplicate the problem, and what your setup is (use your common
sense). If the problem is new, tell me so, and if the problem is
old, please try to tell me when you first noticed it.
- If the bug results in a message like
unable to handle kernel paging request at address C0000010
Oops: 0002
EIP: 0010:XXXXXXXX
eax: xxxxxxxx ebx: xxxxxxxx ecx: xxxxxxxx edx: xxxxxxxx
esi: xxxxxxxx edi: xxxxxxxx ebp: xxxxxxxx
ds: xxxx es: xxxx fs: xxxx gs: xxxx
Pid: xx, process nr: xx
xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
or similar kernel debugging information on your screen or in your
system log, please duplicate it *exactly*. The dump may look
incomprehensible to you, but it does contain information that may
help debugging the problem. The text above the dump is also
important: it tells something about why the kernel dumped code (in
the above example, it's due to a bad kernel pointer). More information
on making sense of the dump is in Documentation/oops-tracing.txt
- If you compiled the kernel with CONFIG_KALLSYMS you can send the dump
as is, otherwise you will have to use the "ksymoops" program to make
sense of the dump (but compiling with CONFIG_KALLSYMS is usually preferred).
This utility can be downloaded from
ftp://ftp.<country>.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/ .
Alternatively, you can do the dump lookup by hand:
- In debugging dumps like the above, it helps enormously if you can
look up what the EIP value means. The hex value as such doesn't help
me or anybody else very much: it will depend on your particular
kernel setup. What you should do is take the hex value from the EIP
line (ignore the "0010:"), and look it up in the kernel namelist to
see which kernel function contains the offending address.
To find out the kernel function name, you'll need to find the system
binary associated with the kernel that exhibited the symptom. This is
the file 'linux/vmlinux'. To extract the namelist and match it against
the EIP from the kernel crash, do:
nm vmlinux | sort | less
This will give you a list of kernel addresses sorted in ascending
order, from which it is simple to find the function that contains the
offending address. Note that the address given by the kernel
debugging messages will not necessarily match exactly with the
function addresses (in fact, that is very unlikely), so you can't
just 'grep' the list: the list will, however, give you the starting
point of each kernel function, so by looking for the function that
has a starting address lower than the one you are searching for but
is followed by a function with a higher address you will find the one
you want. In fact, it may be a good idea to include a bit of
"context" in your problem report, giving a few lines around the
interesting one.
If you for some reason cannot do the above (you have a pre-compiled
kernel image or similar), telling me as much about your setup as
possible will help. Please read the REPORTING-BUGS document for details.
- Alternatively, you can use gdb on a running kernel. (read-only; i.e. you
cannot change values or set break points.) To do this, first compile the
kernel with -g; edit arch/i386/Makefile appropriately, then do a "make
clean". You'll also need to enable CONFIG_PROC_FS (via "make config").
After you've rebooted with the new kernel, do "gdb vmlinux /proc/kcore".
You can now use all the usual gdb commands. The command to look up the
point where your system crashed is "l *0xXXXXXXXX". (Replace the XXXes
with the EIP value.)
gdb'ing a non-running kernel currently fails because gdb (wrongly)
disregards the starting offset for which the kernel is compiled.