Currently if a user enqueue a work item using schedule_delayed_work() the
used wq is "system_wq" (per-cpu wq) while queue_delayed_work() use
WORK_CPU_UNBOUND (used when a cpu is not specified). The same applies to
schedule_work() that is using system_wq and queue_work(), that makes use
again of WORK_CPU_UNBOUND.
This lack of consistentcy cannot be addressed without refactoring the API.

alloc_workqueue() treats all queues as per-CPU by default, while unbound
workqueues must opt-in via WQ_UNBOUND.

This default is suboptimal: most workloads benefit from unbound queues,
allowing the scheduler to place worker threads where they’re needed and
reducing noise when CPUs are isolated.

This patch continues the effort to refactor worqueue APIs, which has begun
with the change introducing new workqueues and a new alloc_workqueue flag:

commit 128ea9f6ccfb ("workqueue: Add system_percpu_wq and system_dfl_wq")
commit 930c2ea566af ("workqueue: Add new WQ_PERCPU flag")

This change adds a new WQ_PERCPU flag to explicitly request
alloc_workqueue() to be per-cpu when WQ_UNBOUND has not been specified.

With the introduction of the WQ_PERCPU flag (equivalent to !WQ_UNBOUND),
any alloc_workqueue() caller that doesn’t explicitly specify WQ_UNBOUND
must now use WQ_PERCPU.

Once migration is complete, WQ_UNBOUND can be removed and unbound will
become the implicit default.

Suggested-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Marco Crivellari <marco.crivellari@suse.com>
---
 drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c b/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
index 4912087de10d..c8c5dfb3ba9a 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
@@ -2438,7 +2438,7 @@ static int __init fcoe_init(void)
 	unsigned int cpu;
 	int rc = 0;
 
-	fcoe_wq = alloc_workqueue("fcoe", 0, 0);
+	fcoe_wq = alloc_workqueue("fcoe", WQ_PERCPU, 0);
 	if (!fcoe_wq)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-- 
2.51.1

On Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:03:36 +0100, Marco Crivellari wrote:

> Currently if a user enqueue a work item using schedule_delayed_work() the
> used wq is "system_wq" (per-cpu wq) while queue_delayed_work() use
> WORK_CPU_UNBOUND (used when a cpu is not specified). The same applies to
> schedule_work() that is using system_wq and queue_work(), that makes use
> again of WORK_CPU_UNBOUND.
> This lack of consistentcy cannot be addressed without refactoring the API.
> 
> [...]

Applied to 6.19/scsi-queue, thanks!

[1/1] scsi: fcoe: add WQ_PERCPU to alloc_workqueue users
      https://git.kernel.org/mkp/scsi/c/57565f97b0ea

-- 
Martin K. Petersen

Marco,

> Currently if a user enqueue a work item using schedule_delayed_work()
> the used wq is "system_wq" (per-cpu wq) while queue_delayed_work() use
> WORK_CPU_UNBOUND (used when a cpu is not specified). The same applies
> to schedule_work() that is using system_wq and queue_work(), that
> makes use again of WORK_CPU_UNBOUND.

Applied to 6.19/scsi-staging, thanks!

-- 
Martin K. Petersen

On Sat, Nov 8, 2025 at 6:29 PM Martin K. Petersen
<martin.petersen@oracle.com> wrote:
> > Currently if a user enqueue a work item using schedule_delayed_work()
> > the used wq is "system_wq" (per-cpu wq) while queue_delayed_work() use
> > WORK_CPU_UNBOUND (used when a cpu is not specified). The same applies
> > to schedule_work() that is using system_wq and queue_work(), that
> > makes use again of WORK_CPU_UNBOUND.
>
> Applied to 6.19/scsi-staging, thanks!
>

Many thanks, Martin!


-- 

Marco Crivellari

L3 Support Engineer, Technology & Product

On 11/5/25 16:03, Marco Crivellari wrote:
> Currently if a user enqueue a work item using schedule_delayed_work() the
> used wq is "system_wq" (per-cpu wq) while queue_delayed_work() use
> WORK_CPU_UNBOUND (used when a cpu is not specified). The same applies to
> schedule_work() that is using system_wq and queue_work(), that makes use
> again of WORK_CPU_UNBOUND.
> This lack of consistentcy cannot be addressed without refactoring the API.
> 
> alloc_workqueue() treats all queues as per-CPU by default, while unbound
> workqueues must opt-in via WQ_UNBOUND.
> 
> This default is suboptimal: most workloads benefit from unbound queues,
> allowing the scheduler to place worker threads where they’re needed and
> reducing noise when CPUs are isolated.
> 
> This patch continues the effort to refactor worqueue APIs, which has begun
> with the change introducing new workqueues and a new alloc_workqueue flag:
> 
> commit 128ea9f6ccfb ("workqueue: Add system_percpu_wq and system_dfl_wq")
> commit 930c2ea566af ("workqueue: Add new WQ_PERCPU flag")
> 
> This change adds a new WQ_PERCPU flag to explicitly request
> alloc_workqueue() to be per-cpu when WQ_UNBOUND has not been specified.
> 
> With the introduction of the WQ_PERCPU flag (equivalent to !WQ_UNBOUND),
> any alloc_workqueue() caller that doesn’t explicitly specify WQ_UNBOUND
> must now use WQ_PERCPU.
> 
> Once migration is complete, WQ_UNBOUND can be removed and unbound will
> become the implicit default.
> 
> Suggested-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
> Signed-off-by: Marco Crivellari <marco.crivellari@suse.com>
> ---
>   drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c | 2 +-
>   1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c b/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
> index 4912087de10d..c8c5dfb3ba9a 100644
> --- a/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
> +++ b/drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
> @@ -2438,7 +2438,7 @@ static int __init fcoe_init(void)
>   	unsigned int cpu;
>   	int rc = 0;
>   
> -	fcoe_wq = alloc_workqueue("fcoe", 0, 0);
> +	fcoe_wq = alloc_workqueue("fcoe", WQ_PERCPU, 0);
>   	if (!fcoe_wq)
>   		return -ENOMEM;
>   
Reviewed-by: Hannes Reinecke <hare@suse.de>

Cheers,

Hannes
-- 
Dr. Hannes Reinecke                  Kernel Storage Architect
hare@suse.de                                +49 911 74053 688
SUSE Software Solutions GmbH, Frankenstr. 146, 90461 Nürnberg
HRB 36809 (AG Nürnberg), GF: I. Totev, A. McDonald, W. Knoblich