tools/memory-model: Improve litmus-test documentation
The current LKMM documentation says very little about litmus tests, and worse yet directs people to the herd7 documentation for more information. Now, the herd7 documentation is quite voluminous and educational, but it is intended for people creating and modifying memory models, not those attempting to use them. This commit therefore updates README and creates a litmus-tests.txt file that gives an overview of litmus-test format and describes ways of modeling various special cases, illustrated with numerous examples. [ paulmck: Add Alan Stern feedback. ] [ paulmck: Apply Dave Chinner feedback. ] [ paulmck: Apply Andrii Nakryiko feedback. ] [ paulmck: Apply Johannes Weiner feedback. ] Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/827180/ Reported-by: Dave Chinner <david@fromorbit.com> Acked-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org> Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
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@ -63,10 +63,32 @@ BASIC USAGE: HERD7
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==================
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The memory model is used, in conjunction with "herd7", to exhaustively
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explore the state space of small litmus tests.
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explore the state space of small litmus tests. Documentation describing
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the format, features, capabilities and limitations of these litmus
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tests is available in tools/memory-model/Documentation/litmus-tests.txt.
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For example, to run SB+fencembonceonces.litmus against the memory model:
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Example litmus tests may be found in the Linux-kernel source tree:
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tools/memory-model/litmus-tests/
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Documentation/litmus-tests/
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Several thousand more example litmus tests are available here:
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https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus
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https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulmck/perfbook.git/tree/CodeSamples/formal/herd
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https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulmck/perfbook.git/tree/CodeSamples/formal/litmus
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Documentation describing litmus tests and now to use them may be found
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here:
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tools/memory-model/Documentation/litmus-tests.txt
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The remainder of this section uses the SB+fencembonceonces.litmus test
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located in the tools/memory-model directory.
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To run SB+fencembonceonces.litmus against the memory model:
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$ cd $LINUX_SOURCE_TREE/tools/memory-model
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$ herd7 -conf linux-kernel.cfg litmus-tests/SB+fencembonceonces.litmus
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Here is the corresponding output:
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@ -87,7 +109,11 @@ Here is the corresponding output:
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The "Positive: 0 Negative: 3" and the "Never 0 3" each indicate that
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this litmus test's "exists" clause can not be satisfied.
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See "herd7 -help" or "herdtools7/doc/" for more information.
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See "herd7 -help" or "herdtools7/doc/" for more information on running the
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tool itself, but please be aware that this documentation is intended for
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people who work on the memory model itself, that is, people making changes
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to the tools/memory-model/linux-kernel.* files. It is not intended for
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people focusing on writing, understanding, and running LKMM litmus tests.
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=====================
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@ -124,7 +150,11 @@ that during two million trials, the state specified in this litmus
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test's "exists" clause was not reached.
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And, as with "herd7", please see "klitmus7 -help" or "herdtools7/doc/"
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for more information.
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for more information. And again, please be aware that this documentation
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is intended for people who work on the memory model itself, that is,
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people making changes to the tools/memory-model/linux-kernel.* files.
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It is not intended for people focusing on writing, understanding, and
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running LKMM litmus tests.
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====================
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@ -137,6 +167,10 @@ Documentation/cheatsheet.txt
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Documentation/explanation.txt
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Describes the memory model in detail.
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Documentation/litmus-tests.txt
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Describes the format, features, capabilities, and limitations
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of the litmus tests that LKMM can evaluate.
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Documentation/recipes.txt
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Lists common memory-ordering patterns.
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@ -187,116 +221,3 @@ README
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This file.
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scripts Various scripts, see scripts/README.
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===========
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LIMITATIONS
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===========
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The Linux-kernel memory model (LKMM) has the following limitations:
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1. Compiler optimizations are not accurately modeled. Of course,
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the use of READ_ONCE() and WRITE_ONCE() limits the compiler's
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ability to optimize, but under some circumstances it is possible
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for the compiler to undermine the memory model. For more
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information, see Documentation/explanation.txt (in particular,
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the "THE PROGRAM ORDER RELATION: po AND po-loc" and "A WARNING"
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sections).
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Note that this limitation in turn limits LKMM's ability to
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accurately model address, control, and data dependencies.
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For example, if the compiler can deduce the value of some variable
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carrying a dependency, then the compiler can break that dependency
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by substituting a constant of that value.
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2. Multiple access sizes for a single variable are not supported,
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and neither are misaligned or partially overlapping accesses.
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3. Exceptions and interrupts are not modeled. In some cases,
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this limitation can be overcome by modeling the interrupt or
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exception with an additional process.
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4. I/O such as MMIO or DMA is not supported.
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5. Self-modifying code (such as that found in the kernel's
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alternatives mechanism, function tracer, Berkeley Packet Filter
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JIT compiler, and module loader) is not supported.
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6. Complete modeling of all variants of atomic read-modify-write
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operations, locking primitives, and RCU is not provided.
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For example, call_rcu() and rcu_barrier() are not supported.
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However, a substantial amount of support is provided for these
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operations, as shown in the linux-kernel.def file.
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a. When rcu_assign_pointer() is passed NULL, the Linux
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kernel provides no ordering, but LKMM models this
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case as a store release.
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b. The "unless" RMW operations are not currently modeled:
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atomic_long_add_unless(), atomic_inc_unless_negative(),
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and atomic_dec_unless_positive(). These can be emulated
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in litmus tests, for example, by using atomic_cmpxchg().
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One exception of this limitation is atomic_add_unless(),
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which is provided directly by herd7 (so no corresponding
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definition in linux-kernel.def). atomic_add_unless() is
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modeled by herd7 therefore it can be used in litmus tests.
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c. The call_rcu() function is not modeled. It can be
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emulated in litmus tests by adding another process that
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invokes synchronize_rcu() and the body of the callback
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function, with (for example) a release-acquire from
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the site of the emulated call_rcu() to the beginning
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of the additional process.
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d. The rcu_barrier() function is not modeled. It can be
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emulated in litmus tests emulating call_rcu() via
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(for example) a release-acquire from the end of each
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additional call_rcu() process to the site of the
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emulated rcu-barrier().
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e. Although sleepable RCU (SRCU) is now modeled, there
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are some subtle differences between its semantics and
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those in the Linux kernel. For example, the kernel
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might interpret the following sequence as two partially
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overlapping SRCU read-side critical sections:
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1 r1 = srcu_read_lock(&my_srcu);
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2 do_something_1();
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3 r2 = srcu_read_lock(&my_srcu);
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4 do_something_2();
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5 srcu_read_unlock(&my_srcu, r1);
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6 do_something_3();
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7 srcu_read_unlock(&my_srcu, r2);
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In contrast, LKMM will interpret this as a nested pair of
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SRCU read-side critical sections, with the outer critical
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section spanning lines 1-7 and the inner critical section
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spanning lines 3-5.
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This difference would be more of a concern had anyone
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identified a reasonable use case for partially overlapping
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SRCU read-side critical sections. For more information,
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please see: https://paulmck.livejournal.com/40593.html
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f. Reader-writer locking is not modeled. It can be
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emulated in litmus tests using atomic read-modify-write
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operations.
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The "herd7" tool has some additional limitations of its own, apart from
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the memory model:
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1. Non-trivial data structures such as arrays or structures are
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not supported. However, pointers are supported, allowing trivial
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linked lists to be constructed.
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2. Dynamic memory allocation is not supported, although this can
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be worked around in some cases by supplying multiple statically
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allocated variables.
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Some of these limitations may be overcome in the future, but others are
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more likely to be addressed by incorporating the Linux-kernel memory model
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into other tools.
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Finally, please note that LKMM is subject to change as hardware, use cases,
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and compilers evolve.
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