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authorZack Weinberg <zackw@panix.com>2017-09-01 08:04:22 -0400
committerZack Weinberg <zackw@panix.com>2017-09-01 08:04:22 -0400
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+ TUNABLE FRAMEWORK
+ =================
+
+Tunables is a feature in the GNU C Library that allows application authors and
+distribution maintainers to alter the runtime library behaviour to match their
+workload.
+
+The tunable framework allows modules within glibc to register variables that
+may be tweaked through an environment variable. It aims to enforce a strict
+namespace rule to bring consistency to naming of these tunable environment
+variables across the project. This document is a guide for glibc developers to
+add tunables to the framework.
+
+ADDING A NEW TUNABLE
+--------------------
+
+The TOP_NAMESPACE macro is defined by default as 'glibc'. If distributions
+intend to add their own tunables, they should do so in a different top
+namespace by overriding the TOP_NAMESPACE macro for that tunable. Downstream
+implementations are discouraged from using the 'glibc' top namespace for
+tunables they don't already have consensus to push upstream.
+
+There are three steps to adding a tunable:
+
+1. Add a tunable to the list and fully specify its properties:
+
+For each tunable you want to add, make an entry in elf/dl-tunables.list. The
+format of the file is as follows:
+
+TOP_NAMESPACE {
+ NAMESPACE1 {
+ TUNABLE1 {
+ # tunable attributes, one per line
+ }
+ # A tunable with default attributes, i.e. string variable.
+ TUNABLE2
+ TUNABLE3 {
+ # its attributes
+ }
+ }
+ NAMESPACE2 {
+ ...
+ }
+}
+
+The list of allowed attributes are:
+
+- type: Data type. Defaults to STRING. Allowed types are:
+ INT_32, UINT_64, SIZE_T and STRING. Numeric types may
+ be in octal or hexadecimal format too.
+
+- minval: Optional minimum acceptable value. For a string type
+ this is the minimum length of the value.
+
+- maxval: Optional maximum acceptable value. For a string type
+ this is the maximum length of the value.
+
+- default: Specify an optional default value for the tunable.
+
+- env_alias: An alias environment variable
+
+- security_level: Specify security level of the tunable. Valid values:
+
+ SXID_ERASE: (default) Don't read for AT_SECURE binaries and
+ removed so that child processes can't read it.
+ SXID_IGNORE: Don't read for AT_SECURE binaries, but retained for
+ non-AT_SECURE subprocesses.
+ NONE: Read all the time.
+
+2. Use TUNABLE_GET/TUNABLE_SET to get and set tunables.
+
+3. OPTIONAL: If tunables in a namespace are being used multiple times within a
+ specific module, set the TUNABLE_NAMESPACE macro to reduce the amount of
+ typing.
+
+GETTING AND SETTING TUNABLES
+----------------------------
+
+When the TUNABLE_NAMESPACE macro is defined, one may get tunables in that
+module using the TUNABLE_GET macro as follows:
+
+ val = TUNABLE_GET (check, int32_t, TUNABLE_CALLBACK (check_callback))
+
+where 'check' is the tunable name, 'int32_t' is the C type of the tunable and
+'check_callback' is the function to call if the tunable got initialized to a
+non-default value. The macro returns the value as type 'int32_t'.
+
+The callback function should be defined as follows:
+
+ void
+ TUNABLE_CALLBACK (check_callback) (int32_t *valp)
+ {
+ ...
+ }
+
+where it can expect the tunable value to be passed in VALP.
+
+Tunables in the module can be updated using:
+
+ TUNABLE_SET (check, int32_t, val)
+
+where 'check' is the tunable name, 'int32_t' is the C type of the tunable and
+'val' is a value of same type.
+
+To get and set tunables in a different namespace from that module, use the full
+form of the macros as follows:
+
+ val = TUNABLE_GET_FULL (glibc, tune, hwcap_mask, uint64_t, NULL)
+
+ TUNABLE_SET_FULL (glibc, tune, hwcap_mask, uint64_t, val)
+
+where 'glibc' is the top namespace, 'tune' is the tunable namespace and the
+remaining arguments are the same as the short form macros.
+
+When TUNABLE_NAMESPACE is not defined in a module, TUNABLE_GET is equivalent to
+TUNABLE_GET_FULL, so you will need to provide full namespace information for
+both macros. Likewise for TUNABLE_SET and TUNABLE_SET_FULL.
+
+** IMPORTANT NOTE **
+
+The tunable list is set as read-only after the dynamic linker relocates itself,
+so setting tunable values must be limited only to tunables within the dynamic
+linker, that too before relocation.
+
+FUTURE WORK
+-----------
+
+The framework currently only allows a one-time initialization of variables
+through environment variables and in some cases, modification of variables via
+an API call. A future goals for this project include:
+
+- Setting system-wide and user-wide defaults for tunables through some
+ mechanism like a configuration file.
+
+- Allow tweaking of some tunables at runtime