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1 TUNABLE FRAMEWORK
2 =================
3
4Tunables is a feature in the GNU C Library that allows application authors and
5distribution maintainers to alter the runtime library behaviour to match their
6workload.
7
8The tunable framework allows modules within glibc to register variables that
9may be tweaked through an environment variable. It aims to enforce a strict
10namespace rule to bring consistency to naming of these tunable environment
11variables across the project. This document is a guide for glibc developers to
12add tunables to the framework.
13
14ADDING A NEW TUNABLE
15--------------------
16
17The TOP_NAMESPACE macro is defined by default as 'glibc'. If distributions
18intend to add their own tunables, they should do so in a different top
19namespace by overriding the TOP_NAMESPACE macro for that tunable. Downstream
20implementations are discouraged from using the 'glibc' top namespace for
21tunables they don't already have consensus to push upstream.
22
44330b6d 23There are three steps to adding a tunable:
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44330b6d 251. Add a tunable to the list and fully specify its properties:
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27For each tunable you want to add, make an entry in elf/dl-tunables.list. The
28format of the file is as follows:
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29
30TOP_NAMESPACE {
31 NAMESPACE1 {
32 TUNABLE1 {
33 # tunable attributes, one per line
34 }
35 # A tunable with default attributes, i.e. string variable.
36 TUNABLE2
37 TUNABLE3 {
38 # its attributes
39 }
40 }
41 NAMESPACE2 {
42 ...
43 }
44}
45
46The list of allowed attributes are:
47
48- type: Data type. Defaults to STRING. Allowed types are:
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49 INT_32, UINT_64, SIZE_T and STRING. Numeric types may
50 be in octal or hexadecimal format too.
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51
52- minval: Optional minimum acceptable value. For a string type
53 this is the minimum length of the value.
54
55- maxval: Optional maximum acceptable value. For a string type
56 this is the maximum length of the value.
57
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58- default: Specify an optional default value for the tunable.
59
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60- env_alias: An alias environment variable
61
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62- security_level: Specify security level of the tunable. Valid values:
63
64 SXID_ERASE: (default) Don't read for AT_SECURE binaries and
65 removed so that child processes can't read it.
66 SXID_IGNORE: Don't read for AT_SECURE binaries, but retained for
67 non-AT_SECURE subprocesses.
68 NONE: Read all the time.
67e58f39 69
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702. Use TUNABLE_GET/TUNABLE_SET to get and set tunables.
71
723. OPTIONAL: If tunables in a namespace are being used multiple times within a
73 specific module, set the TUNABLE_NAMESPACE macro to reduce the amount of
74 typing.
75
76GETTING AND SETTING TUNABLES
77----------------------------
78
79When the TUNABLE_NAMESPACE macro is defined, one may get tunables in that
80module using the TUNABLE_GET macro as follows:
81
82 val = TUNABLE_GET (check, int32_t, TUNABLE_CALLBACK (check_callback))
83
84where 'check' is the tunable name, 'int32_t' is the C type of the tunable and
85'check_callback' is the function to call if the tunable got initialized to a
86non-default value. The macro returns the value as type 'int32_t'.
87
88The callback function should be defined as follows:
89
90 void
91 TUNABLE_CALLBACK (check_callback) (int32_t *valp)
92 {
93 ...
94 }
95
96where it can expect the tunable value to be passed in VALP.
97
98Tunables in the module can be updated using:
99
100 TUNABLE_SET (check, int32_t, val)
101
102where 'check' is the tunable name, 'int32_t' is the C type of the tunable and
103'val' is a value of same type.
104
105To get and set tunables in a different namespace from that module, use the full
106form of the macros as follows:
107
108 val = TUNABLE_GET_FULL (glibc, tune, hwcap_mask, uint64_t, NULL)
109
110 TUNABLE_SET_FULL (glibc, tune, hwcap_mask, uint64_t, val)
111
112where 'glibc' is the top namespace, 'tune' is the tunable namespace and the
113remaining arguments are the same as the short form macros.
114
115When TUNABLE_NAMESPACE is not defined in a module, TUNABLE_GET is equivalent to
116TUNABLE_GET_FULL, so you will need to provide full namespace information for
117both macros. Likewise for TUNABLE_SET and TUNABLE_SET_FULL.
118
119** IMPORTANT NOTE **
120
121The tunable list is set as read-only after the dynamic linker relocates itself,
122so setting tunable values must be limited only to tunables within the dynamic
123linker, that too before relocation.
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124
125FUTURE WORK
126-----------
127
128The framework currently only allows a one-time initialization of variables
129through environment variables and in some cases, modification of variables via
130an API call. A future goals for this project include:
131
132- Setting system-wide and user-wide defaults for tunables through some
133 mechanism like a configuration file.
134
135- Allow tweaking of some tunables at runtime