From: Joel Granados <j.granados@xxxxxxxxxxx>
What?
These commits remove the sentinel element (last empty element) from the
sysctl arrays of all the files under the "mm/", "security/", "ipc/",
"init/", "io_uring/", "drivers/perf/" and "crypto/" directories that
register a sysctl array. The inclusion of [4] to mainline allows the
removal of sentinel elements without behavioral change. This is safe
because the sysctl registration code (register_sysctl() and friends) use
the array size in addition to checking for a sentinel [1].
Why?
By removing the sysctl sentinel elements we avoid kernel bloat as
ctl_table arrays get moved out of kernel/sysctl.c into their own
respective subsystems. This move was started long ago to avoid merge
conflicts; the sentinel removal bit came after Mathew Wilcox suggested
it to avoid bloating the kernel by one element as arrays moved out. This
patchset will reduce the overall build time size of the kernel and run
time memory bloat by about ~64 bytes per declared ctl_table array (more
info here [5]).
When are we done?
There are 4 patchest (25 commits [2]) that are still outstanding to
completely remove the sentinels: files under "net/", files under
"kernel/" dir, misc dirs (this patchset) and the final set that removes
the unneeded check for ->procname == NULL.
Testing:
* Ran sysctl selftests (./tools/testing/selftests/sysctl/sysctl.sh)
* Ran this through 0-day with no errors or warnings
Savings in vmlinux:
A total of 64 bytes per sentinel is saved after removal; I measured in
x86_64 to give an idea of the aggregated savings. The actual savings
will depend on individual kernel configuration.
* bloat-o-meter
- The "yesall" config saves 963 bytes (bloat-o-meter output [6])
- A reduced config [3] saves 452 bytes (bloat-o-meter output [7])
Savings in allocated memory:
None in this set but will occur when the superfluous allocations are
removed from proc_sysctl.c. I include it here for context. The
estimated savings during boot for config [3] are 6272 bytes. See [8]
for how to measure it.
Comments/feedback greatly appreciated
Best
Joel
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230809105006.1198165-1-j.granados@xxxxxxxxxxx/
[2] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/joel.granados/linux.git/tag/?h=sysctl_remove_empty_elem_v5
[3] https://gist.github.com/Joelgranados/feaca7af5537156ca9b73aeaec093171
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/all/ZO5Yx5JFogGi%2FcBo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
[5]
Links Related to the ctl_table sentinel removal:
* Good summaries from Luis:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/ZO5Yx5JFogGi%2FcBo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
https://lore.kernel.org/all/ZMFizKFkVxUFtSqa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
* Patches adjusting sysctl register calls:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230302204612.782387-1-mcgrof@xxxxxxxxxx/
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230302202826.776286-1-mcgrof@xxxxxxxxxx/
* Discussions about expectations and approach
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230321130908.6972-1-frank.li@xxxxxxxx
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20220220060626.15885-1-tangmeng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[6]
add/remove: 0/0 grow/shrink: 0/16 up/down: 0/-963 (-963)
Function old new delta
setup_mq_sysctls 502 499 -3
yama_sysctl_table 128 64 -64
vm_page_writeback_sysctls 512 448 -64
vm_oom_kill_table 256 192 -64
vm_compaction 320 256 -64
page_alloc_sysctl_table 576 512 -64
mq_sysctls 384 320 -64
memory_failure_table 192 128 -64
loadpin_sysctl_table 128 64 -64
key_sysctls 448 384 -64
kernel_io_uring_disabled_table 192 128 -64
kern_do_mounts_initrd_table 128 64 -64
ipc_sysctls 832 768 -64
hugetlb_vmemmap_sysctls 128 64 -64
hugetlb_table 320 256 -64
apparmor_sysctl_table 256 192 -64
Total: Before=440605433, After=440604470, chg -0.00%
[7]
add/remove: 0/0 grow/shrink: 0/8 up/down: 0/-452 (-452)
Function old new delta
setup_ipc_sysctls 306 302 -4
vm_page_writeback_sysctls 512 448 -64
vm_oom_kill_table 256 192 -64
page_alloc_sysctl_table 384 320 -64
key_sysctls 384 320 -64
kernel_io_uring_disabled_table 192 128 -64
ipc_sysctls 640 576 -64
hugetlb_table 256 192 -64
Total: Before=8523801, After=8523349, chg -0.01%
[8]
To measure the in memory savings apply this on top of this patchset.
"
diff --git i/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c w/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
index 37cde0efee57..896c498600e8 100644
--- i/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
+++ w/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
@@ -966,6 +966,7 @@ static struct ctl_dir *new_dir(struct ctl_table_set *set,
table[0].procname = new_name;
table[0].mode = S_IFDIR|S_IRUGO|S_IXUGO;
init_header(&new->header, set->dir.header.root, set, node, table, 1);
+ printk("%ld sysctl saved mem kzalloc\n", sizeof(struct ctl_table));
return new;
}
@@ -1189,6 +1190,7 @@ static struct ctl_table_header *new_links(struct ctl_dir *dir, s>
link_name += len;
link++;
}
+ printk("%ld sysctl saved mem kzalloc\n", sizeof(struct ctl_table));
init_header(links, dir->header.root, dir->header.set, node, link_table,
head->ctl_table_size);
links->nreg = nr_entries;
"
and then run the following bash script in the kernel:
accum=0
for n in $(dmesg | grep kzalloc | awk '{print $3}') ; do
accum=$(calc "$accum + $n")
done
echo $accum
Signed-off-by: Joel Granados <j.granados@xxxxxxxxxxx>
--
---
Joel Granados (7):
memory: Remove the now superfluous sentinel element from ctl_table array
security: Remove the now superfluous sentinel element from ctl_table array
crypto: Remove the now superfluous sentinel element from ctl_table array
initrd: Remove the now superfluous sentinel element from ctl_table array
ipc: Remove the now superfluous sentinel element from ctl_table array
io_uring: Remove the now superfluous sentinel elements from ctl_table array
drivers: perf: Remove the now superfluous sentinel elements from ctl_table array
crypto/fips.c | 1 -
drivers/perf/riscv_pmu_sbi.c | 1 -
init/do_mounts_initrd.c | 1 -
io_uring/io_uring.c | 1 -
ipc/ipc_sysctl.c | 1 -
ipc/mq_sysctl.c | 1 -
mm/compaction.c | 1 -
mm/hugetlb.c | 1 -
mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c | 1 -
mm/memory-failure.c | 1 -
mm/oom_kill.c | 1 -
mm/page-writeback.c | 1 -
mm/page_alloc.c | 1 -
security/apparmor/lsm.c | 1 -
security/keys/sysctl.c | 1 -
security/loadpin/loadpin.c | 1 -
security/yama/yama_lsm.c | 1 -
17 files changed, 17 deletions(-)
---
base-commit: 4cece764965020c22cff7665b18a012006359095
change-id: 20240320-jag-sysctl_remset_misc-a261f5a7ddea
Best regards,
--
Joel Granados <j.granados@xxxxxxxxxxx>
