On Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 08:45:39PM +0000, Rasmus Villemoes wrote:
> The watchdog framework takes care of feeding a hardware watchdog until
> userspace opens /dev/watchdogN. If that never happens for some reason
> (buggy init script, corrupt root filesystem or whatnot) but the kernel
> itself is fine, the machine stays up indefinitely. This patch allows
> setting an upper limit for how long the kernel will take care of the
> watchdog, thus ensuring that the watchdog will eventually reset the
> machine.
>
> A value of 0 (the default) means infinite timeout, preserving the
> current behaviour.
>
> This is particularly useful for embedded devices where some fallback
> logic is implemented in the bootloader (e.g., use a different root
> partition, boot from network, ...).
>
> There is already handle_boot_enabled serving a similar purpose. However,
> such a binary choice is unsuitable if the hardware watchdog cannot be
> programmed by the bootloader to provide a timeout long enough for
> userspace to get up and running. Many of the embedded devices we see use
> external (gpio-triggered) watchdogs with a fixed timeout of the order of
> 1-2 seconds.
>
> The open timeout is also used as a maximum time for an application to
> re-open /dev/watchdogN after closing it. Again, while the kernel already
> has a nowayout mechanism, using that means userspace is at the mercy of
> whatever timeout the hardware has.
>
> Being a module parameter, one can revert to the ordinary behaviour of
> having the kernel maintain the watchdog indefinitely by simply writing 0
> to /sys/... after initially opening /dev/watchdog; conversely, one can
> of course also have the current behaviour of allowing indefinite time
> until the first open, and then set that module parameter.
>
> Signed-off-by: Rasmus Villemoes <rasmus.villemoes@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> .../watchdog/watchdog-parameters.txt | 8 +++++
> drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c | 30 +++++++++++++++++--
> 2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-parameters.txt b/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-parameters.txt
> index 0b88e333f9e1..907c4bb13810 100644
> --- a/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-parameters.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-parameters.txt
> @@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ See Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst for information on
> providing kernel parameters for builtin drivers versus loadable
> modules.
>
> +The watchdog core parameter watchdog.open_timeout is the maximum time,
> +in seconds, for which the watchdog framework will take care of pinging
> +a hardware watchdog until userspace opens the corresponding
> +/dev/watchdogN device. A value of 0 (the default) means an infinite
> +timeout. Setting this to a non-zero value can be useful to ensure that
> +either userspace comes up properly, or the board gets reset and allows
> +fallback logic in the bootloader to try something else.
> +
This is misleading. Unless I am missing something, the above only applies
if the watchdog is already runnning at boot, and after it has been opened
and closed once.
FWIW, I find this operation quite confusing. What is the rationale for not
starting the watchdog at boot time if it is not running and open_timeout
is set, but then refusing to stop it after it has been started once ?
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> acquirewdt:
> diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
> index f6c24b22b37c..ab2ad20f13eb 100644
> --- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
> +++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
> @@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ struct watchdog_core_data {
> struct mutex lock;
> ktime_t last_keepalive;
> ktime_t last_hw_keepalive;
> + ktime_t open_deadline;
> struct hrtimer timer;
> struct kthread_work work;
> unsigned long status; /* Internal status bits */
> @@ -87,6 +88,19 @@ static struct kthread_worker *watchdog_kworker;
> static bool handle_boot_enabled =
> IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_WATCHDOG_HANDLE_BOOT_ENABLED);
>
> +static unsigned open_timeout;
> +
> +static bool watchdog_past_open_deadline(struct watchdog_core_data *data)
> +{
> + return ktime_after(ktime_get(), data->open_deadline);
> +}
> +
> +static void watchdog_set_open_deadline(struct watchdog_core_data *data)
> +{
> + data->open_deadline = open_timeout ?
> + ktime_get() + ktime_set(open_timeout, 0) : KTIME_MAX;
> +}
> +
> static inline bool watchdog_need_worker(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
> {
> /* All variables in milli-seconds */
> @@ -211,7 +225,13 @@ static bool watchdog_worker_should_ping(struct watchdog_core_data *wd_data)
> {
> struct watchdog_device *wdd = wd_data->wdd;
>
> - return wdd && (watchdog_active(wdd) || watchdog_hw_running(wdd));
> + if (!wdd)
> + return false;
> +
> + if (watchdog_active(wdd))
> + return true;
> +
> + return watchdog_hw_running(wdd) && !watchdog_past_open_deadline(wd_data);
> }
>
> static void watchdog_ping_work(struct kthread_work *work)
> @@ -297,7 +317,7 @@ static int watchdog_stop(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
> return -EBUSY;
> }
>
> - if (wdd->ops->stop) {
> + if (wdd->ops->stop && !open_timeout) {
This changes the semantics of WDIOC_SETOPTIONS / WDIOS_DISABLECARD.
"Turn off the watchdog timer" is well defined and doesn't leave
the option of setting a timeout on it.
> clear_bit(WDOG_HW_RUNNING, &wdd->status);
> err = wdd->ops->stop(wdd);
> } else {
> @@ -883,6 +903,7 @@ static int watchdog_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
> watchdog_ping(wdd);
> }
>
> + watchdog_set_open_deadline(wd_data);
> watchdog_update_worker(wdd);
>
> /* make sure that /dev/watchdog can be re-opened */
> @@ -983,6 +1004,7 @@ static int watchdog_cdev_register(struct watchdog_device *wdd, dev_t devno)
>
> /* Record time of most recent heartbeat as 'just before now'. */
> wd_data->last_hw_keepalive = ktime_sub(ktime_get(), 1);
> + watchdog_set_open_deadline(wd_data);
>
> /*
> * If the watchdog is running, prevent its driver from being unloaded,
> @@ -1181,3 +1203,7 @@ module_param(handle_boot_enabled, bool, 0444);
> MODULE_PARM_DESC(handle_boot_enabled,
> "Watchdog core auto-updates boot enabled watchdogs before userspace takes over (default="
> __MODULE_STRING(IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_WATCHDOG_HANDLE_BOOT_ENABLED)) ")");
> +
> +module_param(open_timeout, uint, 0644);
> +MODULE_PARM_DESC(open_timeout,
> + "Maximum time (in seconds, 0 means infinity) for userspace to take over a running watchdog (default=0)");
The description is misleading. After the initial open, a subsequent close no
longer really stops the watchdog.
> --
> 2.20.1
>
