xref: /linux/samples/workqueue/stall_detector/wq_stall.c (revision 9e83d5104a70d8545bad61a77e166190d9447e1d)
1 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2 /*
3  * wq_stall - Test module for the workqueue stall detector.
4  *
5  * Deliberately creates a workqueue stall so the watchdog fires and
6  * prints diagnostic output.  Useful for verifying that the stall
7  * detector correctly identifies stuck workers and produces useful
8  * backtraces.
9  *
10  * The stall is triggered by clearing PF_WQ_WORKER before sleeping,
11  * which hides the worker from the concurrency manager.  A second
12  * work item queued on the same pool then sits in the worklist with
13  * no worker available to process it.
14  *
15  * After ~30s the workqueue watchdog fires:
16  *   BUG: workqueue lockup - pool cpus=N ...
17  *
18  * Build:
19  *	make -C <kernel tree> M=samples/workqueue/stall_detector modules
20  *
21  * Copyright (c) 2026 Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
22  * Copyright (c) 2026 Breno Leitao <leitao@debian.org>
23  */
24 
25 #include <linux/module.h>
26 #include <linux/workqueue.h>
27 #include <linux/wait.h>
28 #include <linux/atomic.h>
29 #include <linux/sched.h>
30 
31 static DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(stall_wq_head);
32 static atomic_t wake_condition = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
33 static struct work_struct stall_work1;
34 static struct work_struct stall_work2;
35 
36 static void stall_work2_fn(struct work_struct *work)
37 {
38 	pr_info("wq_stall: second work item finally ran\n");
39 }
40 
41 static void stall_work1_fn(struct work_struct *work)
42 {
43 	pr_info("wq_stall: first work item running on cpu %d\n",
44 		raw_smp_processor_id());
45 
46 	/*
47 	 * Queue second item while we're still counted as running
48 	 * (pool->nr_running > 0).  Since schedule_work() on a per-CPU
49 	 * workqueue targets raw_smp_processor_id(), item 2 lands on the
50 	 * same pool.  __queue_work -> kick_pool -> need_more_worker()
51 	 * sees nr_running > 0 and does NOT wake a new worker.
52 	 */
53 	schedule_work(&stall_work2);
54 
55 	/*
56 	 * Hide from the workqueue concurrency manager.  Without
57 	 * PF_WQ_WORKER, schedule() won't call wq_worker_sleeping(),
58 	 * so nr_running is never decremented and no replacement
59 	 * worker is created.  Item 2 stays stuck in pool->worklist.
60 	 */
61 	current->flags &= ~PF_WQ_WORKER;
62 
63 	pr_info("wq_stall: entering wait_event_idle (PF_WQ_WORKER cleared)\n");
64 	pr_info("wq_stall: expect 'BUG: workqueue lockup' in ~30-60s\n");
65 	wait_event_idle(stall_wq_head, atomic_read(&wake_condition) != 0);
66 
67 	/* Restore so process_one_work() cleanup works correctly */
68 	current->flags |= PF_WQ_WORKER;
69 	pr_info("wq_stall: woke up, PF_WQ_WORKER restored\n");
70 }
71 
72 static int __init wq_stall_init(void)
73 {
74 	pr_info("wq_stall: loading\n");
75 
76 	INIT_WORK(&stall_work1, stall_work1_fn);
77 	INIT_WORK(&stall_work2, stall_work2_fn);
78 	schedule_work(&stall_work1);
79 
80 	return 0;
81 }
82 
83 static void __exit wq_stall_exit(void)
84 {
85 	pr_info("wq_stall: unloading\n");
86 	atomic_set(&wake_condition, 1);
87 	wake_up(&stall_wq_head);
88 	flush_work(&stall_work1);
89 	flush_work(&stall_work2);
90 	pr_info("wq_stall: all work flushed, module unloaded\n");
91 }
92 
93 module_init(wq_stall_init);
94 module_exit(wq_stall_exit);
95 
96 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
97 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Reproduce workqueue stall caused by PF_WQ_WORKER misuse");
98 MODULE_AUTHOR("Breno Leitao <leitao@debian.org>");
99