Re: [PATCH v2] docs: proc.rst: meminfo: briefly describe gaps in memory accounting

[Michal Hocko]

On Tue 20-04-21 20:58:56, Alexey Dobriyan wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 03:57:07PM +0200, Michal Hocko wrote:
> > On Tue 20-04-21 14:24:30, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> > > On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 03:13:54PM +0300, Mike Rapoport wrote:
> > > > Add a paragraph that explains that it may happen that the counters in
> > > > /proc/meminfo do not add up to the overall memory usage.
> > > 
> > > ... that is, the sum may be lower because memory is allocated for other
> > > purposes that is not reported here, right?
> > 
> > yes. Many direct page allocator users are not accounted in any of the
> > existing counters.
> 
> Does virtio_balloon dereserve special mention?

Yes

> From inside VM memory borrowing looks like one giant memory leak resulting
> in support tickets (not that people who file them read internal kernel
> documentation...)

Even if people do not read that documentation it is really good to have
a reference you can send when you are dealing with bug reports.

Thanks!

-- 
Michal Hocko
SUSE Labs