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Create a new node for tunables documentation and add notes for the malloc tunables. * manual/tunables.texi: New chapter. * manual/Makefile (chapters): Add it. * manual/probes.texi (@node): Point to the Tunables chapter.
193 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
193 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
@node Tunables
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@c @node Tunables, , Internal Probes, Top
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@c %MENU% Tunable switches to alter libc internal behavior
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@chapter Tunables
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@cindex tunables
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@dfn{Tunables} are a feature in @theglibc{} that allows application authors and
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distribution maintainers to alter the runtime library behavior to match
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their workload. These are implemented as a set of switches that may be
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modified in different ways. The current default method to do this is via
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the @env{GLIBC_TUNABLES} environment variable by setting it to a string
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of colon-separated @var{name}=@var{value} pairs. For example, the following
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example enables malloc checking and sets the malloc trim threshold to 128
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bytes:
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@example
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GLIBC_TUNABLES=glibc.malloc.trim_threshold=128:glibc.malloc.check=3
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export GLIBC_TUNABLES
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@end example
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Tunables are not part of the @glibcadj{} stable ABI, and they are
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subject to change or removal across releases. Additionally, the method to
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modify tunable values may change between releases and across distributions.
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It is possible to implement multiple `frontends' for the tunables allowing
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distributions to choose their preferred method at build time.
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Finally, the set of tunables available may vary between distributions as
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the tunables feature allows distributions to add their own tunables under
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their own namespace.
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@menu
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* Tunable names:: The structure of a tunable name
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* Memory Allocation Tunables:: Tunables in the memory allocation subsystem
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@end menu
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@node Tunable names
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@section Tunable names
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@cindex Tunable names
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@cindex Tunable namespaces
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A tunable name is split into three components, a top namespace, a tunable
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namespace and the tunable name. The top namespace for tunables implemented in
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@theglibc{} is @code{glibc}. Distributions that choose to add custom tunables
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in their maintained versions of @theglibc{} may choose to do so under their own
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top namespace.
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The tunable namespace is a logical grouping of tunables in a single
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module. This currently holds no special significance, although that may
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change in the future.
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The tunable name is the actual name of the tunable. It is possible that
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different tunable namespaces may have tunables within them that have the
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same name, likewise for top namespaces. Hence, we only support
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identification of tunables by their full name, i.e. with the top
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namespace, tunable namespace and tunable name, separated by periods.
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@node Memory Allocation Tunables
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@section Memory Allocation Tunables
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@cindex memory allocation tunables
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@cindex malloc tunables
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@cindex tunables, malloc
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@deftp {Tunable namespace} glibc.malloc
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Memory allocation behavior can be modified by setting any of the
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following tunables in the @code{malloc} namespace:
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.check
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_CHECK_} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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Setting this tunable enables a special (less efficient) memory allocator for
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the malloc family of functions that is designed to be tolerant against simple
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errors such as double calls of free with the same argument, or overruns of a
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single byte (off-by-one bugs). Not all such errors can be protected against,
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however, and memory leaks can result. The following list describes the values
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that this tunable can take and the effect they have on malloc functionality:
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@itemize @bullet
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@item @code{0} Ignore all errors. The default allocator continues to be in
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use, but all errors are silently ignored.
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@item @code{1} Report errors. The alternate allocator is selected and heap
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corruption, if detected, is reported as diagnostic messages to @code{stderr}
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and the program continues execution.
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@item @code{2} Abort on errors. The alternate allocator is selected and if
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heap corruption is detected, the program is ended immediately by calling
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@code{abort}.
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@item @code{3} Fully enabled. The alternate allocator is selected and is fully
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functional. That is, if heap corruption is detected, a verbose diagnostic
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message is printed to @code{stderr} and the program is ended by calling
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@code{abort}.
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@end itemize
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Like @env{MALLOC_CHECK_}, @code{glibc.malloc.check} has a problem in that it
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diverges from normal program behavior by writing to @code{stderr}, which could
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by exploited in SUID and SGID binaries. Therefore, @code{glibc.malloc.check}
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is disabled by default for SUID and SGID binaries. This can be enabled again
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by the system administrator by adding a file @file{/etc/suid-debug}; the
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content of the file could be anything or even empty.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.top_pad
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_TOP_PAD_} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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This tunable determines the amount of extra memory in bytes to obtain from the
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system when any of the arenas need to be extended. It also specifies the
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number of bytes to retain when shrinking any of the arenas. This provides the
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necessary hysteresis in heap size such that excessive amounts of system calls
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can be avoided.
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The default value of this tunable is @samp{0}.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.perturb
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_PERTURB_} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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If set to a non-zero value, memory blocks are initialized with values depending
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on some low order bits of this tunable when they are allocated (except when
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allocated by calloc) and freed. This can be used to debug the use of
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uninitialized or freed heap memory. Note that this option does not guarantee
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that the freed block will have any specific values. It only guarantees that the
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content the block had before it was freed will be overwritten.
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The default value of this tunable is @samp{0}.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.mmap_threshold
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_} environment variable
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and is identical in features.
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When this tunable is set, all chunks larger than this value in bytes are
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allocated outside the normal heap, using the @code{mmap} system call. This way
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it is guaranteed that the memory for these chunks can be returned to the system
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on @code{free}. Note that requests smaller than this threshold might still be
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allocated via @code{mmap}.
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If this tunable is not set, the default value is set to @samp{131072} bytes and
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the threshold is adjusted dynamically to suit the allocation patterns of the
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program. If the tunable is set, the dynamic adjustment is disabled and the
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value is set as static.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.trim_threshold
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_TRIM_THRESHOLD_} environment variable
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and is identical in features.
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The value of this tunable is the minimum size (in bytes) of the top-most,
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releasable chunk in an arena that will trigger a system call in order to return
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memory to the system from that arena.
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If this tunable is not set, the default value is set as 128 KB and the
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threshold is adjusted dynamically to suit the allocation patterns of the
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program. If the tunable is set, the dynamic adjustment is disabled and the
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value is set as static.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.mmap_max
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_MMAP_MAX_} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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The value of this tunable is maximum number of chunks to allocate with
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@code{mmap}. Setting this to zero disables all use of @code{mmap}.
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The default value of this tunable is @samp{65536}.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.arena_test
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_ARENA_TEST} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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The @code{glibc.malloc.arena_test} tunable specifies the number of arenas that
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can be created before the test on the limit to the number of arenas is
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conducted. The value is ignored if @code{glibc.malloc.arena_max} is set.
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The default value of this tunable is 2 for 32-bit systems and 8 for 64-bit
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systems.
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@end deftp
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@deftp Tunable glibc.malloc.arena_max
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This tunable supersedes the @env{MALLOC_ARENA_MAX} environment variable and is
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identical in features.
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This tunable sets the number of arenas to use in a process regardless of the
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number of cores in the system.
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The default value of this tunable is @code{0}, meaning that the limit on the
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number of arenas is determined by the number of CPU cores online. For 32-bit
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systems the limit is twice the number of cores online and on 64-bit systems, it
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is 8 times the number of cores online.
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@end deftp
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