Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:06:26 -0600 (CST) From: Robert Bonomi <bonomi@mail.r-bonomi.com> To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: getting 'load average' info from inside a kernel module Message-ID: <201412172006.sBHK6Q5E031660@host203.r-bonomi.com>
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originally sent to -questions, where it was suggested that -hackers was more likely to produce some useful info. > Subject: getting 'load averages' (or something similar) from inside a _kernel_ > > I'm trying to get the current 'runnable processes' count from inside a > kernel loadable module for BSD 8.4, so I can tweak it's behavior depending > on the current activity level. All I've found so far is what's in 'man 9 > runqueue', and it is *badly* out-of-sync with the 8.4 kernel code. <snarl> > <wry grin> e.g., the external arrays at the beginning of the synopisis > are shown as being of type 'struct rq' -- but there *ISN"T* any defined > struct 'rq'; it seems to be named 'runq', at least in /usr/include/sys/runq.h > > Then the cr*p gets deeper -- trying to make heads or tails out of how to > get a count of runnable processes from the _arrays_ (of unknown size) > described on the 'man 9 runqueue' page info has me defeated. > Looking at '/usr/include/sys/runq.h', it appears that 'struct runq' is > a single item with an array of queues (by 'nice' level), and a bitmap of > which array elements have non-zero length queues. > > I'm perfectly willing to brute-force the data out of the queue lists, *IF* > there's some reasonable, _current_, descriptive info of the format/usage > of those kernel structures. if 'man 9 runqueue' is 'mostly' correct -- reality just being 'runq' instead of 'rq' -- then 'how to find out' how mamy elements are in those 'unknown size' arrays is the missing element. *OR* if those four items are _not_ arrays, but simple structs -- given the array of queueheads in the 'runq' struct, I can probably decipher the rest. > > Alternatively, is there a way to directly access the 'sysctl' MIB data in > kernel memory. sysctl(3) is out -- it's in 'libc', and not available to > kernel modules. Pointers to descriptions of the kernel in-memory data for > that MIB would be a big help. Or 'where to ask', if there's a better place. I'm willing to 'count processes' in the run queues each time I query -- an 'instantenous' value is fine for my purposes, I can derive whatever 'avrage over time' I need. :))
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