Hugepages

Requesting hugepages in C

Example 1

Create the code, mmap.c: 

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#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#define PAGE_SIZE (unsigned int) 1024*1024*1024
#define NUM_PAGES 2

void main() {
    char * buf = mmap(
        NULL, 
        NUM_PAGES * PAGE_SIZE,
        PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, 
        MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_HUGETLB,
        -1, 
        0
    ); 
    if (buf == MAP_FAILED) {
            perror("mmap");
            exit(1);
    }

    char * line = NULL;
    size_t size;

    printf("Memory address %p\n"
               "This will only reserve pages. Execute \n"
           "grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/\n"
               "find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge\n"
           "to verify this.\n\n"
           "When you are done, please hit return\n", buf);
        getline(&line,&size,stdin);
        int i;
    printf("Now, actually writing all 0s into the first hugepage\n");
        for(i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE; i++) {
        buf[i] = '0';
    }
        printf("Now, verify again\n"
           "grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/\n"
               "find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge\n"
           "to verify this.\n\n"
           "When you are done, please hit return\n", buf);
        getline(&line,&size,stdin);

    printf("Now, actually writing one 0 into the second hugepage\n");
    for(; i < PAGE_SIZE + 1; i++) {
                buf[i] = '0';
        }
        printf("Now, verify again\n"
           "grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/\n"
               "find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge\n"
           "to verify this.\n\n"
           "When you are done, please hit return to end the program\n", buf);
        getline(&line,&size,stdin);
}

Compile this: 

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gcc mmap.c  -o mmap

Run the binary and follow the onscreen instructions: 

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[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# ./mmap 
Memory address 0x2aaac0000000
This will only reserve pages. Execute 
grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
to verify this.

When you are done, please hit return
Now, actually writing all 0s into the first hugepage
^C
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# ^C
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# ^C
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# gcc mmap.c  -o mmap
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# ./mmap 
Memory address 0x2aaac0000000
This will only reserve pages. Execute 
grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
to verify this.

When you are done, please hit return

Now, actually writing all 0s into the first hugepage
Now, verify again
grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
to verify this.

When you are done, please hit return

Now, actually writing one 0 into the second hugepage
Now, verify again
grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
to verify this.

When you are done, please hit return to end the program

Verify reserved hugepages and actually allocated hugepages. Also note that writing 1GB to the hugepage actually takes quite some time: 

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[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_overcommit_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages_mempolicy:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/surplus_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/resv_hugepages:2
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/free_hugepages:32
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 AnonHugePages:         0 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Surp:      0
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 AnonHugePages:      6144 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Surp:      0
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_overcommit_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages_mempolicy:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/surplus_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/resv_hugepages:1
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/free_hugepages:31
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 AnonHugePages:         0 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Free:     15
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Surp:      0
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 AnonHugePages:      6144 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Surp:      0
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_overcommit_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/nr_hugepages_mempolicy:32
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/surplus_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/resv_hugepages:0
/sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/free_hugepages:30
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 AnonHugePages:         0 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Free:     14
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Surp:      0
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 AnonHugePages:      6144 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Surp:      0
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 AnonHugePages:         0 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Surp:      0
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 AnonHugePages:      6144 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Surp:      0

Example 2 - Allocating hugepages right away

Instead of having to write to the hugepage to allocate it, we can populate the page right away and it will show up in used pages right away: 

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man mmap
(...)
       MAP_POPULATE (since Linux 2.5.46)
              Populate (prefault) page tables for a mapping.  For a file mapping, this  causes  read-ahead  on  the
              file.   Later  accesses to the mapping will not be blocked by page faults.  MAP_POPULATE is supported
              for private mappings only since Linux 2.6.23.
(...)

The application is mmap2.c: 

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#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#define PAGE_SIZE (unsigned int) 1024*1024*1024
#define NUM_PAGES 2

void main() {
    char * buf = mmap(
        NULL, 
        NUM_PAGES * PAGE_SIZE,
        PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, 
        MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_HUGETLB | MAP_POPULATE,
        -1, 
        0
    ); 
    if (buf == MAP_FAILED) {
            perror("mmap");
            exit(1);
    }

    char * line = NULL;
    size_t size;

    printf("Memory address %p\n"
               "This will only reserve and populate pages. Execute \n"
           "grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/\n"
               "find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge\n"
           "to verify this.\n\n"
           "When you are done, please hit return\n", buf);
        getline(&line,&size,stdin);
}

Testing: 

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[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# gcc mmap2.c -o mmap2
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# ./mmap2 
Memory address 0x2aaac0000000
This will only reserve and populate pages. Execute 
grep -R '' /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-1048576kB/
find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
to verify this.

When you are done, please hit return


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[root@dell-r430-30 ~]# find /sys -name meminfo | xargs grep -i huge
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 AnonHugePages:         0 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Free:     16
/sys/devices/system/node/node0/meminfo:Node 0 HugePages_Surp:      0
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 AnonHugePages:      6144 kB
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Total:    16
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Free:     14
/sys/devices/system/node/node1/meminfo:Node 1 HugePages_Surp:      0
[root@dell-r430-30 ~]#

Sharing hugepages between processes

In vhost_user, OVS-DPDK and qemu-kvm instances share the same hugepages for DMA copies. https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3394851. Let's emulate this with 2 sample applications.

http://nuncaalaprimera.com/2014/using-hugepage-backed-buffers-in-linux-kernel-driver

IPC (Inter Process Communication)

Let's start with IPC (Inter Process Communication) via Linux sockets as we'll have to communicate the location of the shared memory from the server process to the client process.

ipc.c: 

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/*
 *
 * This heavily borrows from examples in 
 * "The Linux Programming Interface"
 *
 */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <sys/un.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>

#define SOCKNAME "/tmp/unix.socket"
#define HUGEPAGE_FILE_NAME "/dev/hugepages/server"
#define NUM_PAGES 2
#define PAGE_SIZE (unsigned long) 1024 * 1024 * 1024

int bind_socket() {
    int sfd;
    struct sockaddr_un addr;
    sfd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (sfd == -1)
        return -1;
    /* Create socket */
    memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un));
    /* Clear structure */
    addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
    /* UNIX domain address */
    strncpy(addr.sun_path, SOCKNAME, sizeof(addr.sun_path) - 1);
    if (bind(sfd, (struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un)) == -1)
        return -1;
    return sfd;
}

int connect_socket() {
    int sfd;
    struct sockaddr_un addr;
    sfd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (sfd == -1)
        return -1;
    /* Create socket */
    memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un));
    /* Clear structure */
    addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
    /* UNIX domain address */
    strncpy(addr.sun_path, SOCKNAME, sizeof(addr.sun_path) - 1);
    if (connect(sfd, (struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un)) == -1)
        return -1;
    return sfd;
}

int share_memory_location(int fd, char * address) {
    if (listen(fd, 1) == -1)
        return -1;
    int cfd;

    // while(!sigint_received) {
        cfd = accept(fd, NULL, NULL);
        printf("Client connected\n");
        if(cfd == -1)
            return -1;
        printf("Sending '%s' to client\n", address);
        dprintf(cfd, address);
        close(cfd);
    // }

    return 0;
}

int close_socket(int fd) {
    close(fd);
    unlink(SOCKNAME);
    return 0;
}

int read_memory_location(int fd, void * memory_location, int buf_size) {
    int bytes_read;
    bytes_read = read(fd, memory_location, 100);

    return 0;
}

int create_shared_hugepage() {
    int fd = open(HUGEPAGE_FILE_NAME, O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0755);
    if (fd < 0)
        return -1;

        char * buf = mmap(
                (void *)(0x0UL),
                NUM_PAGES * PAGE_SIZE,
                PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
                MAP_SHARED | MAP_POPULATE,
                fd,
                0
        );
        if (buf == MAP_FAILED) {
                return -1;
        }
    buf[0] = 'y';

    return fd;
}

int read_from_shared_hugepage(char * page_location, void * return_buf) {
    int fd = open(page_location, O_RDWR, 0755);
    if (fd < 0)
        return -1;

        char * buf = mmap(
                (void *)(0x0UL),
                NUM_PAGES * PAGE_SIZE,
                PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
                MAP_SHARED,
                fd,
                0
        );
        if (buf == MAP_FAILED) {
                return -1;
        }

    ((char *) return_buf)[0] = buf[0];

    return fd;
}

int delete_shared_hugepage(int fd) {
    close(fd);
    unlink(HUGEPAGE_FILE_NAME);
    return 0;
}

int main(int argc , char ** argv) {
    if(argc < 2) {
        printf("Please provide either server or client as an argument\n");
        exit(1);
    }

    bool server_mode = false;

    if(strcmp(argv[1], "server") == 0) {
        printf("Server mode ...\n");
        server_mode = true;
    } else {
        printf("Client mode ...\n");
    }

    int fd;
    if(server_mode) {
        char * memory_location = HUGEPAGE_FILE_NAME;
        int hp_fd = create_shared_hugepage();
        if(hp_fd == -1) {
            perror("Couldn't allocate hugepage");
            exit(1);
        }

        fd = bind_socket();
        if(fd == -1) {
            printf("Error binding socket (does %s exist? Delete it!)\n", SOCKNAME);
            perror("");
            exit(1);
        }
        if(share_memory_location(fd, memory_location) == -1) {
            perror("Error sharing memory location");
            exit(1);
        }
        sleep(5);
        delete_shared_hugepage(hp_fd);
        close_socket(fd);
    } else {
        char mem_loc[100];
        fd = connect_socket();
        if(read_memory_location(fd, &mem_loc, 100) == -1) {
            perror("Error reading memory location");
            exit(1);
        }
        printf("Memory location is '%s'\n", mem_loc);

        char hp_content[100];
        read_from_shared_hugepage(mem_loc, hp_content);
            printf("Content of first byte at page '%s' is '%s'\n", 
        mem_loc,
        hp_content[0]);
    }
}

Resources

https://lwn.net/Articles/374424/

https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/vm/hugetlbpage.txt