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+.. _admin_guide_memory_hotplug:
+
+==============
+Memory Hotplug
+==============
+
+:Created: Jul 28 2007
+:Updated: Add description of notifier of memory hotplug: Oct 11 2007
+
+This document is about memory hotplug including how-to-use and current status.
+Because Memory Hotplug is still under development, contents of this text will
+be changed often.
+
+.. contents:: :local:
+
+.. note::
+
+ (1) x86_64's has special implementation for memory hotplug.
+ This text does not describe it.
+ (2) This text assumes that sysfs is mounted at ``/sys``.
+
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+Purpose of memory hotplug
+-------------------------
+
+Memory Hotplug allows users to increase/decrease the amount of memory.
+Generally, there are two purposes.
+
+(A) For changing the amount of memory.
+ This is to allow a feature like capacity on demand.
+(B) For installing/removing DIMMs or NUMA-nodes physically.
+ This is to exchange DIMMs/NUMA-nodes, reduce power consumption, etc.
+
+(A) is required by highly virtualized environments and (B) is required by
+hardware which supports memory power management.
+
+Linux memory hotplug is designed for both purpose.
+
+Phases of memory hotplug
+------------------------
+
+There are 2 phases in Memory Hotplug:
+
+ 1) Physical Memory Hotplug phase
+ 2) Logical Memory Hotplug phase.
+
+The First phase is to communicate hardware/firmware and make/erase
+environment for hotplugged memory. Basically, this phase is necessary
+for the purpose (B), but this is good phase for communication between
+highly virtualized environments too.
+
+When memory is hotplugged, the kernel recognizes new memory, makes new memory
+management tables, and makes sysfs files for new memory's operation.
+
+If firmware supports notification of connection of new memory to OS,
+this phase is triggered automatically. ACPI can notify this event. If not,
+"probe" operation by system administration is used instead.
+(see :ref:`memory_hotplug_physical_mem`).
+
+Logical Memory Hotplug phase is to change memory state into
+available/unavailable for users. Amount of memory from user's view is
+changed by this phase. The kernel makes all memory in it as free pages
+when a memory range is available.
+
+In this document, this phase is described as online/offline.
+
+Logical Memory Hotplug phase is triggered by write of sysfs file by system
+administrator. For the hot-add case, it must be executed after Physical Hotplug
+phase by hand.
+(However, if you writes udev's hotplug scripts for memory hotplug, these
+phases can be execute in seamless way.)
+
+Unit of Memory online/offline operation
+---------------------------------------
+
+Memory hotplug uses SPARSEMEM memory model which allows memory to be divided
+into chunks of the same size. These chunks are called "sections". The size of
+a memory section is architecture dependent. For example, power uses 16MiB, ia64
+uses 1GiB.
+
+Memory sections are combined into chunks referred to as "memory blocks". The
+size of a memory block is architecture dependent and represents the logical
+unit upon which memory online/offline operations are to be performed. The
+default size of a memory block is the same as memory section size unless an
+architecture specifies otherwise. (see :ref:`memory_hotplug_sysfs_files`.)
+
+To determine the size (in bytes) of a memory block please read this file::
+
+ /sys/devices/system/memory/block_size_bytes
+
+Kernel Configuration
+====================
+
+To use memory hotplug feature, kernel must be compiled with following
+config options.
+
+- For all memory hotplug:
+ - Memory model -> Sparse Memory (``CONFIG_SPARSEMEM``)
+ - Allow for memory hot-add (``CONFIG_MEMORY_HOTPLUG``)
+
+- To enable memory removal, the following are also necessary:
+ - Allow for memory hot remove (``CONFIG_MEMORY_HOTREMOVE``)
+ - Page Migration (``CONFIG_MIGRATION``)
+
+- For ACPI memory hotplug, the following are also necessary:
+ - Memory hotplug (under ACPI Support menu) (``CONFIG_ACPI_HOTPLUG_MEMORY``)
+ - This option can be kernel module.
+
+- As a related configuration, if your box has a feature of NUMA-node hotplug
+ via ACPI, then this option is necessary too.
+
+ - ACPI0004,PNP0A05 and PNP0A06 Container Driver (under ACPI Support menu)
+ (``CONFIG_ACPI_CONTAINER``).
+
+ This option can be kernel module too.
+
+
+.. _memory_hotplug_sysfs_files:
+
+sysfs files for memory hotplug
+==============================
+
+All memory blocks have their device information in sysfs. Each memory block
+is described under ``/sys/devices/system/memory`` as::
+
+ /sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX
+
+where XXX is the memory block id.
+
+For the memory block covered by the sysfs directory. It is expected that all
+memory sections in this range are present and no memory holes exist in the
+range. Currently there is no way to determine if there is a memory hole, but
+the existence of one should not affect the hotplug capabilities of the memory
+block.
+
+For example, assume 1GiB memory block size. A device for a memory starting at
+0x100000000 is ``/sys/device/system/memory/memory4``::
+
+ (0x100000000 / 1Gib = 4)
+
+This device covers address range [0x100000000 ... 0x140000000)
+
+Under each memory block, you can see 5 files:
+
+- ``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/phys_index``
+- ``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/phys_device``
+- ``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state``
+- ``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/removable``
+- ``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/valid_zones``
+
+=================== ============================================================
+``phys_index`` read-only and contains memory block id, same as XXX.
+``state`` read-write
+
+ - at read: contains online/offline state of memory.
+ - at write: user can specify "online_kernel",
+
+ "online_movable", "online", "offline" command
+ which will be performed on all sections in the block.
+``phys_device`` read-only: designed to show the name of physical memory
+ device. This is not well implemented now.
+``removable`` read-only: contains an integer value indicating
+ whether the memory block is removable or not
+ removable. A value of 1 indicates that the memory
+ block is removable and a value of 0 indicates that
+ it is not removable. A memory block is removable only if
+ every section in the block is removable.
+``valid_zones`` read-only: designed to show which zones this memory block
+ can be onlined to.
+
+ The first column shows it`s default zone.
+
+ "memory6/valid_zones: Normal Movable" shows this memoryblock
+ can be onlined to ZONE_NORMAL by default and to ZONE_MOVABLE
+ by online_movable.
+
+ "memory7/valid_zones: Movable Normal" shows this memoryblock
+ can be onlined to ZONE_MOVABLE by default and to ZONE_NORMAL
+ by online_kernel.
+=================== ============================================================
+
+.. note::
+
+ These directories/files appear after physical memory hotplug phase.
+
+If CONFIG_NUMA is enabled the memoryXXX/ directories can also be accessed
+via symbolic links located in the ``/sys/devices/system/node/node*`` directories.
+
+For example::
+
+ /sys/devices/system/node/node0/memory9 -> ../../memory/memory9
+
+A backlink will also be created::
+
+ /sys/devices/system/memory/memory9/node0 -> ../../node/node0
+
+.. _memory_hotplug_physical_mem:
+
+Physical memory hot-add phase
+=============================
+
+Hardware(Firmware) Support
+--------------------------
+
+On x86_64/ia64 platform, memory hotplug by ACPI is supported.
+
+In general, the firmware (ACPI) which supports memory hotplug defines
+memory class object of _HID "PNP0C80". When a notify is asserted to PNP0C80,
+Linux's ACPI handler does hot-add memory to the system and calls a hotplug udev
+script. This will be done automatically.
+
+But scripts for memory hotplug are not contained in generic udev package(now).
+You may have to write it by yourself or online/offline memory by hand.
+Please see :ref:`memory_hotplug_how_to_online_memory` and
+:ref:`memory_hotplug_how_to_offline_memory`.
+
+If firmware supports NUMA-node hotplug, and defines an object _HID "ACPI0004",
+"PNP0A05", or "PNP0A06", notification is asserted to it, and ACPI handler
+calls hotplug code for all of objects which are defined in it.
+If memory device is found, memory hotplug code will be called.
+
+Notify memory hot-add event by hand
+-----------------------------------
+
+On some architectures, the firmware may not notify the kernel of a memory
+hotplug event. Therefore, the memory "probe" interface is supported to
+explicitly notify the kernel. This interface depends on
+CONFIG_ARCH_MEMORY_PROBE and can be configured on powerpc, sh, and x86
+if hotplug is supported, although for x86 this should be handled by ACPI
+notification.
+
+Probe interface is located at::
+
+ /sys/devices/system/memory/probe
+
+You can tell the physical address of new memory to the kernel by::
+
+ % echo start_address_of_new_memory > /sys/devices/system/memory/probe
+
+Then, [start_address_of_new_memory, start_address_of_new_memory +
+memory_block_size] memory range is hot-added. In this case, hotplug script is
+not called (in current implementation). You'll have to online memory by
+yourself. Please see :ref:`memory_hotplug_how_to_online_memory`.
+
+Logical Memory hot-add phase
+============================
+
+State of memory
+---------------
+
+To see (online/offline) state of a memory block, read 'state' file::
+
+ % cat /sys/device/system/memory/memoryXXX/state
+
+
+- If the memory block is online, you'll read "online".
+- If the memory block is offline, you'll read "offline".
+
+
+.. _memory_hotplug_how_to_online_memory:
+
+How to online memory
+--------------------
+
+When the memory is hot-added, the kernel decides whether or not to "online"
+it according to the policy which can be read from "auto_online_blocks" file::
+
+ % cat /sys/devices/system/memory/auto_online_blocks
+
+The default depends on the CONFIG_MEMORY_HOTPLUG_DEFAULT_ONLINE kernel config
+option. If it is disabled the default is "offline" which means the newly added
+memory is not in a ready-to-use state and you have to "online" the newly added
+memory blocks manually. Automatic onlining can be requested by writing "online"
+to "auto_online_blocks" file::
+
+ % echo online > /sys/devices/system/memory/auto_online_blocks
+
+This sets a global policy and impacts all memory blocks that will subsequently
+be hotplugged. Currently offline blocks keep their state. It is possible, under
+certain circumstances, that some memory blocks will be added but will fail to
+online. User space tools can check their "state" files
+(``/sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state``) and try to online them manually.
+
+If the automatic onlining wasn't requested, failed, or some memory block was
+offlined it is possible to change the individual block's state by writing to the
+"state" file::
+
+ % echo online > /sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state
+
+This onlining will not change the ZONE type of the target memory block,
+If the memory block doesn't belong to any zone an appropriate kernel zone
+(usually ZONE_NORMAL) will be used unless movable_node kernel command line
+option is specified when ZONE_MOVABLE will be used.
+
+You can explicitly request to associate it with ZONE_MOVABLE by::
+
+ % echo online_movable > /sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state
+
+.. note:: current limit: this memory block must be adjacent to ZONE_MOVABLE
+
+Or you can explicitly request a kernel zone (usually ZONE_NORMAL) by::
+
+ % echo online_kernel > /sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state
+
+.. note:: current limit: this memory block must be adjacent to ZONE_NORMAL
+
+An explicit zone onlining can fail (e.g. when the range is already within
+and existing and incompatible zone already).
+
+After this, memory block XXX's state will be 'online' and the amount of
+available memory will be increased.
+
+This may be changed in future.
+
+Logical memory remove
+=====================
+
+Memory offline and ZONE_MOVABLE
+-------------------------------
+
+Memory offlining is more complicated than memory online. Because memory offline
+has to make the whole memory block be unused, memory offline can fail if
+the memory block includes memory which cannot be freed.
+
+In general, memory offline can use 2 techniques.
+
+(1) reclaim and free all memory in the memory block.
+(2) migrate all pages in the memory block.
+
+In the current implementation, Linux's memory offline uses method (2), freeing
+all pages in the memory block by page migration. But not all pages are
+migratable. Under current Linux, migratable pages are anonymous pages and
+page caches. For offlining a memory block by migration, the kernel has to
+guarantee that the memory block contains only migratable pages.
+
+Now, a boot option for making a memory block which consists of migratable pages
+is supported. By specifying "kernelcore=" or "movablecore=" boot option, you can
+create ZONE_MOVABLE...a zone which is just used for movable pages.
+(See also Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst)
+
+Assume the system has "TOTAL" amount of memory at boot time, this boot option
+creates ZONE_MOVABLE as following.
+
+1) When kernelcore=YYYY boot option is used,
+ Size of memory not for movable pages (not for offline) is YYYY.
+ Size of memory for movable pages (for offline) is TOTAL-YYYY.
+
+2) When movablecore=ZZZZ boot option is used,
+ Size of memory not for movable pages (not for offline) is TOTAL - ZZZZ.
+ Size of memory for movable pages (for offline) is ZZZZ.
+
+.. note::
+
+ Unfortunately, there is no information to show which memory block belongs
+ to ZONE_MOVABLE. This is TBD.
+
+.. _memory_hotplug_how_to_offline_memory:
+
+How to offline memory
+---------------------
+
+You can offline a memory block by using the same sysfs interface that was used
+in memory onlining::
+
+ % echo offline > /sys/devices/system/memory/memoryXXX/state
+
+If offline succeeds, the state of the memory block is changed to be "offline".
+If it fails, some error core (like -EBUSY) will be returned by the kernel.
+Even if a memory block does not belong to ZONE_MOVABLE, you can try to offline
+it. If it doesn't contain 'unmovable' memory, you'll get success.
+
+A memory block under ZONE_MOVABLE is considered to be able to be offlined
+easily. But under some busy state, it may return -EBUSY. Even if a memory
+block cannot be offlined due to -EBUSY, you can retry offlining it and may be
+able to offline it (or not). (For example, a page is referred to by some kernel
+internal call and released soon.)
+
+Consideration:
+ Memory hotplug's design direction is to make the possibility of memory
+ offlining higher and to guarantee unplugging memory under any situation. But
+ it needs more work. Returning -EBUSY under some situation may be good because
+ the user can decide to retry more or not by himself. Currently, memory
+ offlining code does some amount of retry with 120 seconds timeout.
+
+Physical memory remove
+======================
+
+Need more implementation yet....
+ - Notification completion of remove works by OS to firmware.
+ - Guard from remove if not yet.
+
+Future Work
+===========
+
+ - allowing memory hot-add to ZONE_MOVABLE. maybe we need some switch like
+ sysctl or new control file.
+ - showing memory block and physical device relationship.
+ - test and make it better memory offlining.
+ - support HugeTLB page migration and offlining.
+ - memmap removing at memory offline.
+ - physical remove memory.