Re: [PATCH -next 1/4] cpuset: remove redundant CS_ONLINE flag

From: Waiman Long
Date: Tue Aug 12 2025 - 21:00:50 EST


On 8/12/25 8:54 PM, Chen Ridong wrote:

On 2025/8/12 22:44, Waiman Long wrote:
On 8/8/25 5:25 AM, Chen Ridong wrote:
From: Chen Ridong <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>

The CS_ONLINE flag was introduced prior to the CSS_ONLINE flag in the
cpuset subsystem. Currently, the flag setting sequence is as follows:

1. cpuset_css_online() sets CS_ONLINE
2. css->flags gets CSS_ONLINE set
...
3. cgroup->kill_css sets CSS_DYING
4. cpuset_css_offline() clears CS_ONLINE
5. css->flags clears CSS_ONLINE

The is_cpuset_online() check currently occurs between steps 1 and 3.
However, it would be equally safe to perform this check between steps 2
and 3, as CSS_ONLINE provides the same synchronization guarantee as
CS_ONLINE.

Since CS_ONLINE is redundant with CSS_ONLINE and provides no additional
synchronization benefits, we can safely remove it to simplify the code.

Signed-off-by: Chen Ridong <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
  include/linux/cgroup.h          | 5 +++++
  kernel/cgroup/cpuset-internal.h | 3 +--
  kernel/cgroup/cpuset.c          | 4 +---
  3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup.h b/include/linux/cgroup.h
index b18fb5fcb38e..ae73dbb19165 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup.h
@@ -354,6 +354,11 @@ static inline bool css_is_dying(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css)
      return css->flags & CSS_DYING;
  }
  +static inline bool css_is_online(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css)
+{
+    return css->flags & CSS_ONLINE;
+}
+
  static inline bool css_is_self(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css)
  {
      if (css == &css->cgroup->self) {
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup/cpuset-internal.h b/kernel/cgroup/cpuset-internal.h
index 383963e28ac6..75b3aef39231 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup/cpuset-internal.h
+++ b/kernel/cgroup/cpuset-internal.h
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ enum prs_errcode {
    /* bits in struct cpuset flags field */
  typedef enum {
-    CS_ONLINE,
      CS_CPU_EXCLUSIVE,
      CS_MEM_EXCLUSIVE,
      CS_MEM_HARDWALL,
@@ -202,7 +201,7 @@ static inline struct cpuset *parent_cs(struct cpuset *cs)
  /* convenient tests for these bits */
  static inline bool is_cpuset_online(struct cpuset *cs)
  {
-    return test_bit(CS_ONLINE, &cs->flags) && !css_is_dying(&cs->css);
+    return css_is_online(&cs->css) && !css_is_dying(&cs->css);
  }
    static inline int is_cpu_exclusive(const struct cpuset *cs)
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup/cpuset.c b/kernel/cgroup/cpuset.c
index f74d04429a29..cf7cd2255265 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup/cpuset.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup/cpuset.c
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ static inline void notify_partition_change(struct cpuset *cs, int old_prs)
   * parallel, we may leave an offline CPU in cpu_allowed or some other masks.
   */
  static struct cpuset top_cpuset = {
-    .flags = BIT(CS_ONLINE) | BIT(CS_CPU_EXCLUSIVE) |
+    .flags = BIT(CS_CPU_EXCLUSIVE) |
           BIT(CS_MEM_EXCLUSIVE) | BIT(CS_SCHED_LOAD_BALANCE),
      .partition_root_state = PRS_ROOT,
      .relax_domain_level = -1,
top_cpuset.css is not initialized like the one in the children. If you modify is_cpuset_online() to
test the css.flags, you will probably need to set the CSS_ONLINE flag in top_cpuset.css.flags. I do
doubt that we will apply the is_cpuset_online() test on top_cpuset. To be consistent, we should
support that.

BTW, other statically allocated css'es in the cgroup root may have similar problem. If you make the
css_is_online() helper available to all other controllers, you will have to document that limitation.

Cheers,
Longman
Hi, Longman, thank you for your response.

If I understand correctly, the CSS_ONLINE flag should be set in top_cpuset.css during the following
process:

css_create
css = ss->css_alloc(parent_css); // cgroup root is static, unlike children
online_css(css);
ret = ss->css_online(css); // css root may differ from children
css->flags |= CSS_ONLINE; // css.flags is set with CSS_ONLINE, including the root css

I think css online must be successful, and it's CSS_ONLINE flag must be set. Do I missing anything?

I am talking about just the top_cpuset which is statically allocated. It is not created by the css_create() call and so the CSS_ONLINE will not be set.

Cheers,
Longman