[RFC][PATCH] Add prctl to set sibling thread names (take two)

[john stultz]

Ok. Tried to take in the feedback on the first patch and see what I
could do. The comm is now set via /proc/pid/comm
or /proc/pid/task/tid/comm, per Andi's request.

Also I think the reference issues Andrew pointed out are fixed. 

As for the unlocked self-access of current->comm without the
task_lock(), I've sort of hacked something in here, and I'm curious how
horrible people feel it is.

Basically we just carefully write to the string, so unlocked access see
either the old name, the new name, or an empty string. The empty string
is very transient and would only be visible while the write was
occurring. This avoids the issue of a short name being overwritten by a
long name causing a reader overruns if it reads right as the short
name's null is overwritten but before the long name's null is written. 
Although, I need to figure out if a memory barrier is needed to make
that really correct.

So yea. Its a little gross. But figured I'd throw it out there.

If there's any other issues I've missed, please let me know.

thanks
-john

========================

Setting a thread's comm to be something unique is a very useful ability
and is helpful for debugging complicated threaded applications. However
currently the only way to set a thread name is for the thread to name
itself via the PR_SET_NAME prctl.

However, there may be situations where it would be advantageous for a
thread dispatcher to be naming the threads its managing, rather then
having the threads self-describe themselves. This sort of behavior is
available on other systems via the pthread_setname_np() interface.

This patch exports a task's comm via proc/pid/comm and
proc/pid/task/tid/comm interfaces, and allows thread siblings to write
to these values.


Signed-off-by: John Stultz <johnstul@xxxxxxxxxx>

diff --git a/fs/exec.c b/fs/exec.c
index d49be6b..dc4bc87 100644
--- a/fs/exec.c
+++ b/fs/exec.c
@@ -926,7 +926,17 @@ char *get_task_comm(char *buf, struct task_struct *tsk)
 void set_task_comm(struct task_struct *tsk, char *buf)
 {
 	task_lock(tsk);
-	strlcpy(tsk->comm, buf, sizeof(tsk->comm));
+
+	/*
+	 * Threads may access current->comm without holding
+	 * the task lock, so write the string carefully
+	 * to avoid non-terminating reads. Readers without a lock
+	 * with get the oldname, the newname or an empty string.
+	 */
+	tsk->comm[0] = NULL;
+	/* XXX - Need an mb() here?*/
+	strlcpy(tsk->comm+1, buf+1, sizeof(tsk->comm)-1);
+	tsk->comm[0] = buf[0];
 	task_unlock(tsk);
 	perf_event_comm(tsk);
 }
diff --git a/fs/proc/base.c b/fs/proc/base.c
index 837469a..bc79061 100644
--- a/fs/proc/base.c
+++ b/fs/proc/base.c
@@ -1265,6 +1265,79 @@ static const struct file_operations proc_pid_sched_operations = {
 
 #endif
 
+
+
+static ssize_t
+comm_write(struct file *file, const char __user *buf,
+	    size_t count, loff_t *offset)
+{
+	struct inode *inode = file->f_path.dentry->d_inode;
+	struct task_struct *p;
+	char buffer[TASK_COMM_LEN];
+
+	memset(buffer, 0, sizeof(buffer));
+	if (count > sizeof(buffer) - 1)
+		count = sizeof(buffer) - 1;
+	if (copy_from_user(buffer, buf, count))
+		return -EFAULT;
+
+
+	p = get_proc_task(inode);
+	if (!p)
+		return -ESRCH;
+
+	if (same_thread_group(current, p))
+		set_task_comm(p, buffer);
+	else
+		count = -EINVAL;
+
+	put_task_struct(p);
+
+	return count;
+}
+
+
+static int comm_show(struct seq_file *m, void *v)
+{
+	struct inode *inode = m->private;
+	struct task_struct *p;
+
+	p = get_proc_task(inode);
+	if (!p)
+		return -ESRCH;
+
+	task_lock(p);
+	seq_printf(m, "%s\n", p->comm);
+	task_unlock(p);
+
+	put_task_struct(p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int comm_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = single_open(filp, comm_show, NULL);
+	if (!ret) {
+		struct seq_file *m = filp->private_data;
+
+		m->private = inode;
+	}
+	return ret;
+}
+
+
+static const struct file_operations proc_pid_set_comm_operations = {
+	.open		= comm_open,
+	.read		= seq_read,
+	.write		= comm_write,
+	.llseek		= seq_lseek,
+	.release	= single_release,
+};
+
+
 /*
  * We added or removed a vma mapping the executable. The vmas are only mapped
  * during exec and are not mapped with the mmap system call.
@@ -2504,6 +2577,7 @@ static const struct pid_entry tgid_base_stuff[] = {
 #ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_DEBUG
 	REG("sched",      S_IRUGO|S_IWUSR, proc_pid_sched_operations),
 #endif
+	REG("comm",      S_IRUGO|S_IWUSR, proc_pid_set_comm_operations),
 #ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_TRACEHOOK
 	INF("syscall",    S_IRUSR, proc_pid_syscall),
 #endif
@@ -2839,6 +2913,7 @@ static const struct pid_entry tid_base_stuff[] = {
 #ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_DEBUG
 	REG("sched",     S_IRUGO|S_IWUSR, proc_pid_sched_operations),
 #endif
+	REG("comm",      S_IRUGO|S_IWUSR, proc_pid_set_comm_operations),
 #ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_TRACEHOOK
 	INF("syscall",   S_IRUSR, proc_pid_syscall),
 #endif


--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/