On 03/08/2018 03:49 PM, Luis R. Rodriguez wrote: > On Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 02:57:09PM -0500, Waiman Long wrote: >> On 03/08/2018 01:31 PM, Luis R. Rodriguez wrote: >>> On Thu, Mar 01, 2018 at 12:43:38PM -0500, Waiman Long wrote: >>>> Even with clamped sysctl parameters, it is still not that straight >>>> forward to figure out the exact range of those parameters. One may >>>> try to write extreme parameter values to see if they get clamped. >>>> To make it easier, a warning with the expected range will now be >>>> printed in the kernel ring buffer when a clamped sysctl parameter >>>> receives an out of range value. >>>> >>>> Signed-off-by: Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx> >>>> --- >>>> include/linux/sysctl.h | 3 +++ >>>> kernel/sysctl.c | 52 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------- >>>> 2 files changed, 47 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) >>>> >>>> diff --git a/include/linux/sysctl.h b/include/linux/sysctl.h >>>> index 448aa72..3db57af 100644 >>>> --- a/include/linux/sysctl.h >>>> +++ b/include/linux/sysctl.h >>>> @@ -130,11 +130,14 @@ struct ctl_table >>>> * @CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE: Set to indicate that the entry should be >>>> * flexibly clamped to min/max range in case the user provided >>>> * an incorrect value. >>>> + * @CTL_FLAGS_OOR_WARNED: Set to indicate that an out of range warning >>>> + * had been issued for that entry. >>>> * >>>> * At most 16 different flags will be allowed. >>>> */ >>>> enum ctl_table_flags { >>>> CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE = BIT(0), >>>> + CTL_FLAGS_OOR_WARNED = BIT(1), >>>> }; >>> Ugh, no. Now I see why you had to set this flag later. >>> >>> You are not using this flag to "warn" but rather for an internal >>> status checker if you have warned or not. Internal flags should >>> not be something the user sets. If we want a flag for warning >>> that's one thing. If we need a flag to keep tabs if we have >>> warned or not that needs to be kept separately and internally, >>> nothing the user has to do set or reset. >>> >>> Luis >> What I want to do is a printk_once for each sysctl parameter. So the >> flag is used as a marker that a warning has been printed. >> >> I do understand that it gets somewhat ugly in the case of msgmni and >> shmmni because of the copying back of the flag. Another alternative that >> had been suggested by Kees is to use prink_ratelimited. That we don't >> need that flag at all. > However it is done, a user flag should not be used also for internal > flag settings. That's just gross. Internal state machine stuff should > remain far from what the user is able to modify. > > Also, why can't it just use pr_warn_once() and be done with it? Different sysctl parameters can use the same minmax proc_handler. Using pr_warn_once() means mistake in one will prevent mistakes in other parameters from showing up. Cheers, Longman