I've found a much simpler way of fixing this, by using down_read_trylock(). In the very unlikely case where s_umount is contended, we can just skip kicking the writeback thread. - Ted >From 51ad3407a91ab090d1772b63329bd3b7f2210eb0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Theodore Ts'o <tytso@xxxxxxx> Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:12:48 -0400 Subject: [PATCH v2] ext4: fix potential deadlock in ext4_nonda_switch() In ext4_nonda_switch(), if the file system is getting full we used to call writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(). The problem is that we can be holding i_mutex already, and this causes a potential deadlock when writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle() when it tries to take s_umount. (See lockdep output below). As it turns out we don't need need to hold s_umount; the fact that we are in the middle of the write(2) system call will keep the superblock pinned. Unfortunately writeback_inodes_sb() checks to make sure s_umount is taken, and the VFS uses a different mechanism for making sure the file system doesn't get unmounted out from under us. The simplest way of dealing with this is to just simply grab s_umount using a trylock, and skip kicking the writeback flusher thread in the very unlikely case that we can't take a read lock on s_umount without blocking. Also, we now check the cirteria for kicking the writeback thread before we decide to whether to fall back to non-delayed writeback, so if there are any outstanding delayed allocation writes, we try to get them resolved as soon as possible. [ INFO: possible circular locking dependency detected ] 3.6.0-rc1-00042-gce894ca #367 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------- dd/8298 is trying to acquire lock: (&type->s_umount_key#18){++++..}, at: [<c02277d4>] writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle+0x28/0x46 but task is already holding lock: (&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8){+.+...}, at: [<c01ddcce>] generic_file_aio_write+0x5f/0xd3 which lock already depends on the new lock. 2 locks held by dd/8298: #0: (sb_writers#2){.+.+.+}, at: [<c01ddcc5>] generic_file_aio_write+0x56/0xd3 #1: (&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8){+.+...}, at: [<c01ddcce>] generic_file_aio_write+0x5f/0xd3 stack backtrace: Pid: 8298, comm: dd Not tainted 3.6.0-rc1-00042-gce894ca #367 Call Trace: [<c015b79c>] ? console_unlock+0x345/0x372 [<c06d62a1>] print_circular_bug+0x190/0x19d [<c019906c>] __lock_acquire+0x86d/0xb6c [<c01999db>] ? mark_held_locks+0x5c/0x7b [<c0199724>] lock_acquire+0x66/0xb9 [<c02277d4>] ? writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle+0x28/0x46 [<c06db935>] down_read+0x28/0x58 [<c02277d4>] ? writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle+0x28/0x46 [<c02277d4>] writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle+0x28/0x46 [<c026f3b2>] ext4_nonda_switch+0xe1/0xf4 [<c0271ece>] ext4_da_write_begin+0x27/0x193 [<c01dcdb0>] generic_file_buffered_write+0xc8/0x1bb [<c01ddc47>] __generic_file_aio_write+0x1dd/0x205 [<c01ddce7>] generic_file_aio_write+0x78/0xd3 [<c026d336>] ext4_file_write+0x480/0x4a6 [<c0198c1d>] ? __lock_acquire+0x41e/0xb6c [<c0180944>] ? sched_clock_cpu+0x11a/0x13e [<c01967e9>] ? trace_hardirqs_off+0xb/0xd [<c018099f>] ? local_clock+0x37/0x4e [<c0209f2c>] do_sync_write+0x67/0x9d [<c0209ec5>] ? wait_on_retry_sync_kiocb+0x44/0x44 [<c020a7b9>] vfs_write+0x7b/0xe6 [<c020a9a6>] sys_write+0x3b/0x64 [<c06dd4bd>] syscall_call+0x7/0xb Signed-off-by: "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@xxxxxxx> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --- fs/ext4/inode.c | 17 ++++++++++------- fs/fs-writeback.c | 1 + 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c index 0a9a89e..4ea396f 100644 --- a/fs/ext4/inode.c +++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c @@ -2437,6 +2437,16 @@ static int ext4_nonda_switch(struct super_block *sb) free_blocks = EXT4_C2B(sbi, percpu_counter_read_positive(&sbi->s_freeclusters_counter)); dirty_blocks = percpu_counter_read_positive(&sbi->s_dirtyclusters_counter); + /* + * Start pushing delalloc when 1/2 of free blocks are dirty. + */ + if (dirty_blocks && (free_blocks < 2 * dirty_blocks) && + !writeback_in_progress(sb->s_bdi) && + down_read_trylock(&sb->s_umount)) { + writeback_inodes_sb(sb, WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE); + up_read(&sb->s_umount); + } + if (2 * free_blocks < 3 * dirty_blocks || free_blocks < (dirty_blocks + EXT4_FREECLUSTERS_WATERMARK)) { /* @@ -2445,13 +2455,6 @@ static int ext4_nonda_switch(struct super_block *sb) */ return 1; } - /* - * Even if we don't switch but are nearing capacity, - * start pushing delalloc when 1/2 of free blocks are dirty. - */ - if (free_blocks < 2 * dirty_blocks) - writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(sb, WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE); - return 0; } diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c index be3efc4..5602d73 100644 --- a/fs/fs-writeback.c +++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c @@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ int writeback_in_progress(struct backing_dev_info *bdi) { return test_bit(BDI_writeback_running, &bdi->state); } +EXPORT_SYMBOL(writeback_in_progress); static inline struct backing_dev_info *inode_to_bdi(struct inode *inode) { -- 1.7.12.rc0.22.gcdd159b -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-ext4" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html