From 0ec9dc9bcba0a62b0844e54c1caf6b8b0bf6b5b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Guilherme G. Piccoli" Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2020 21:40:45 -0700 Subject: kernel/hung_task.c: introduce sysctl to print all traces when a hung task is detected Commit 401c636a0eeb ("kernel/hung_task.c: show all hung tasks before panic") introduced a change in that we started to show all CPUs backtraces when a hung task is detected _and_ the sysctl/kernel parameter "hung_task_panic" is set. The idea is good, because usually when observing deadlocks (that may lead to hung tasks), the culprit is another task holding a lock and not necessarily the task detected as hung. The problem with this approach is that dumping backtraces is a slightly expensive task, specially printing that on console (and specially in many CPU machines, as servers commonly found nowadays). So, users that plan to collect a kdump to investigate the hung tasks and narrow down the deadlock definitely don't need the CPUs backtrace on dmesg/console, which will delay the panic and pollute the log (crash tool would easily grab all CPUs traces with 'bt -a' command). Also, there's the reciprocal scenario: some users may be interested in seeing the CPUs backtraces but not have the system panic when a hung task is detected. The current approach hence is almost as embedding a policy in the kernel, by forcing the CPUs backtraces' dump (only) on hung_task_panic. This patch decouples the panic event on hung task from the CPUs backtraces dump, by creating (and documenting) a new sysctl called "hung_task_all_cpu_backtrace", analog to the approach taken on soft/hard lockups, that have both a panic and an "all_cpu_backtrace" sysctl to allow individual control. The new mechanism for dumping the CPUs backtraces on hung task detection respects "hung_task_warnings" by not dumping the traces in case there's no warnings left. Signed-off-by: Guilherme G. Piccoli Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton Reviewed-by: Kees Cook Cc: Tetsuo Handa Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20200327223646.20779-1-gpiccoli@canonical.com Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds --- Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst | 14 ++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+) (limited to 'Documentation') diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst index 3b00b9223157..861820d27c19 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst @@ -335,6 +335,20 @@ Path for the hotplug policy agent. Default value is "``/sbin/hotplug``". +hung_task_all_cpu_backtrace: +================ + +If this option is set, the kernel will send an NMI to all CPUs to dump +their backtraces when a hung task is detected. This file shows up if +CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK and CONFIG_SMP are enabled. + +0: Won't show all CPUs backtraces when a hung task is detected. +This is the default behavior. + +1: Will non-maskably interrupt all CPUs and dump their backtraces when +a hung task is detected. + + hung_task_panic =============== -- cgit v1.2.3