Linux kernel source tree
Go to file
Baokun Li 31c1d19ead
writeback: use a per-sb counter to drain inode wb switches at umount
Tracking in-flight inode wb switches with a single global counter
(isw_nr_in_flight) plus a synchronize_rcu() based wait in
cgroup_writeback_umount() forces every umount to take a global hit
whenever any other superblock on the system has wb switches in flight,
even if the superblock being unmounted has none of its own.

Replace the global synchronize_rcu()/flush_workqueue() pair with a
per-sb counter, s_isw_nr_in_flight, plus three small helpers:

  - cgroup_writeback_pin(sb)   - increment counter
  - cgroup_writeback_unpin(sb) - decrement and wake drainer if last
  - cgroup_writeback_drain(sb) - wait for counter to reach zero

The wiring is:

  - inode_prepare_wbs_switch() pins before checking SB_ACTIVE and
    grabbing the inode; failure paths unpin before returning.  A
    lockless SB_ACTIVE check at the top of the function lets us skip
    the atomic_inc/smp_mb dance once SB_ACTIVE has been cleared (it
    is monotonic and never set back).
  - process_inode_switch_wbs() unpins after the matching iput().
  - cgroup_writeback_umount() drains the per-sb counter via
    wait_var_event().

The smp_mb() pair between inode_prepare_wbs_switch() and
cgroup_writeback_umount() keeps the SB_ACTIVE / counter ordering:
either the umounter sees a non-zero counter and waits, or the
switcher sees SB_ACTIVE cleared and aborts before grabbing the
inode.

The global isw_nr_in_flight is left in place, since it is still used
to throttle in-flight switches via WB_FRN_MAX_IN_FLIGHT.

The rcu_read_lock() extension in inode_switch_wbs() and
cleanup_offline_cgwb() that the race fix added is no longer needed
and is reverted; the synchronize_rcu() that the race fix added to
cgroup_writeback_umount() is dropped as well.

The following numbers were measured on a 16 vCPU QEMU guest with 4
background superblocks each churning "create memcg -> write 1 MiB ->
rmdir memcg" to keep the global isw_nr_in_flight non-zero.  Latencies
are wall-clock around umount(8); only the target sb's umount is
measured.

Target sb runs its own cgwb churn:

                              p50      p95      p99      max
  global synchronize_rcu()   67.6 ms  88.3 ms  88.3 ms  96.8 ms
  per-sb counter (this)       7.9 ms  10.0 ms  10.0 ms  10.1 ms

Idle target umount latency under cross-sb cgwb-switch pressure:

                              p50      p95      p99      max
  global synchronize_rcu()   62.7 ms  95.4 ms 108.1 ms 108.6 ms
  per-sb counter (this)       5.3 ms   6.9 ms   7.4 ms   7.4 ms
  no-pressure baseline        4.9 ms   5.9 ms   6.3 ms   6.7 ms

8 concurrent umounts of idle sbs under the same pressure:

                              p50      p95      max
  global synchronize_rcu()   61.3 ms  99.5 ms 113.7 ms
  per-sb counter (this)       8.1 ms   9.1 ms   9.5 ms

In-kernel cgroup_writeback_umount() time across the same run
(bpftrace, ~340 calls covering all scenarios):

  global synchronize_rcu()    12371 ms total (~36 ms / call)
  per-sb counter (this)        1.37 ms total ( ~4 us / call)

Suggested-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/177910456953.488929.2169908940676707307.b4-review@b4
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Baokun Li <libaokun@linux.alibaba.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260521095016.2791354-4-libaokun@linux.alibaba.com
Acked-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>
2026-05-22 12:06:35 +02:00
arch ARM development for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-25 07:44:26 -07:00
block block: only restrict bio allocation gfp mask asked to block 2026-04-21 11:42:12 -06:00
certs Clang build fixes for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:29:51 -07:00
crypto This push contains the following changes: 2026-04-21 08:06:43 -07:00
Documentation RTC for 7.1 2026-04-25 16:39:03 -07:00
drivers One more fix for the merge window to avoid a boot hang on 2026-04-26 14:03:20 -07:00
fs writeback: use a per-sb counter to drain inode wb switches at umount 2026-05-22 12:06:35 +02:00
include writeback: use a per-sb counter to drain inode wb switches at umount 2026-05-22 12:06:35 +02:00
init memblock: updates for 7.0-rc1 2026-04-18 11:29:14 -07:00
io_uring io_uring: take page references for NOMMU pbuf_ring mmaps 2026-04-21 20:14:39 -06:00
ipc Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
kernel ring-buffer fix for 7.1: 2026-04-24 15:17:23 -07:00
lib RISC-V updates for v7.1 2026-04-24 10:00:37 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm slab fix for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:39:03 -07:00
net NFS client updates for Linux 7.1 2026-04-24 14:20:03 -07:00
rust Char/Misc/IIO/and others driver updates for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-24 13:23:50 -07:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts First round of Kbuild fixes for 7.1 2026-04-25 17:04:15 -07:00
security + Cleanups 2026-04-24 09:22:21 -07:00
sound sound fixes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-24 11:49:20 -07:00
tools Power Utilities 2026.04.25 2026-04-25 16:58:34 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt Arm: 2026-04-17 07:18:03 -07:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap Char/Misc/IIO/and others driver updates for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-24 13:23:50 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS Delete some obsolete networking code 2026-04-24 09:41:58 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS Char/Misc/IIO/and others driver updates for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-24 13:23:50 -07:00
Makefile Linux 7.1-rc1 2026-04-26 14:19:00 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst