[PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues

Li Chen posted 2 patches 2 months, 1 week ago
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
[PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Li Chen 2 months, 1 week ago
From: Li Chen <chenl311@chinatelecom.cn>

dm-pcache stores metadata (cache_info and segment_info) in 4K-aligned
slots on the cache device, using sequence numbers and CRC to identify
the latest valid copy.

However, the cache_info and segment_info paths were computing their
on-media index using sizeof(struct) instead of the 4K metadata stride.
As a result:

  * cache_info updates (including gc_percent set via a dmsetup message)
    were written to invalid offsets between metadata slots and failed
    to persist across table reloads or reboots.

  * segment_info indexing became desynchronized, so rotation to the
    "next" slot no longer matched the location returned by
    pcache_meta_find_latest().

The issue can be reproduced with:

  dmsetup create pcache_vdb --table \
    "0 $(blockdev --getsz /dev/vdb) pcache /dev/pmem0 /dev/vdb 4 \
     cache_mode writeback data_crc false"

  # Check default gc_percent (70)
  dmsetup status pcache_vdb

  # Change gc_percent to 10
  dmsetup message pcache_vdb 0 "gc_percent 10"

  # Verify change is active in memory
  dmsetup status pcache_vdb

  # Reboot the system...

  # Without patch (gc_percent reverts to 70):
  dmsetup status pcache_vdb

  # With patch (gc_percent persists as 10):
  dmsetup status pcache_vdb

This series fixes the issue by deriving the metadata slot index from
the pointer returned by pcache_meta_find_latest(), using the 4K stride
(CACHE_INFO_SIZE / SEG_INFO_SIZE). This ensures that updates to
cache_info and segment_info are written to valid slots and remain
consistent with the on-media layout.

Li Chen (2):
  dm pcache: fix cache info indexing
  dm pcache: fix segment info indexing

 drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
 drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

-- 
2.51.0
Re: [PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Dongsheng Yang 2 months ago
Hi,

     Thanx for your patches, there are some comments inline.

According to these comments, I propose an update base on your patch as [1].

BTW, I added a test case for this problem in dtg-tests:

https://github.com/DataTravelGuide/dtg-tests/blob/main/pcache.py.data/pcache_misc_tests/case21_gc_percent_persistence_after_recreate.sh

It update gc_percent online and recreate pcache device and check gc_percen


[1]:

diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
index 6d5001548628..4d6db733c9bd 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
@@ -42,12 +42,7 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache 
*cache, struct pcache_cache_optio
         if (IS_ERR(cache_info_addr))
                 return PTR_ERR(cache_info_addr);

-    if (cache_info_addr) {
-               int index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
*)cache->cache_info_addr) /
-                               PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
-
-               cache->info_index = (index + 1) % PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
-
+       if (cache_info_addr) {
                 if (opts->data_crc !=
                                 (cache->cache_info.flags & 
PCACHE_CACHE_FLAGS_DATA_CRC)) {
                         pcache_dev_err(pcache, "invalid option for 
data_crc: %s, expected: %s",
@@ -56,6 +51,8 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache *cache, 
struct pcache_cache_optio
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }

+               cache->info_index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
*)cache->cache_info_addr) / PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
+
                 return 0;
         }

diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c 
b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
index 0b4bb08011ce..0a0016702ce7 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ static int cache_seg_info_load(struct 
pcache_cache_segment *cache_seg)
         cache_seg->info_index =
                 ((char *)cache_seg_info_addr - (char 
*)cache_seg_info_addr_base) /
                 PCACHE_SEG_INFO_SIZE;
-       cache_seg->info_index = (cache_seg->info_index + 1) % 
PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
  out:
         mutex_unlock(&cache_seg->info_lock);


在 12/2/2025 8:11 PM, Li Chen 写道:
> From: Li Chen <chenl311@chinatelecom.cn>
>
> dm-pcache stores metadata (cache_info and segment_info) in 4K-aligned
> slots on the cache device, using sequence numbers and CRC to identify
> the latest valid copy.
>
> However, the cache_info and segment_info paths were computing their
> on-media index using sizeof(struct) instead of the 4K metadata stride.
> As a result:
>
>    * cache_info updates (including gc_percent set via a dmsetup message)
>      were written to invalid offsets between metadata slots and failed
>      to persist across table reloads or reboots.
>
>    * segment_info indexing became desynchronized, so rotation to the
>      "next" slot no longer matched the location returned by
>      pcache_meta_find_latest().
>
> The issue can be reproduced with:
>
>    dmsetup create pcache_vdb --table \
>      "0 $(blockdev --getsz /dev/vdb) pcache /dev/pmem0 /dev/vdb 4 \
>       cache_mode writeback data_crc false"
>
>    # Check default gc_percent (70)
>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>
>    # Change gc_percent to 10
>    dmsetup message pcache_vdb 0 "gc_percent 10"
>
>    # Verify change is active in memory
>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>
>    # Reboot the system...
>
>    # Without patch (gc_percent reverts to 70):
>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>
>    # With patch (gc_percent persists as 10):
>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>
> This series fixes the issue by deriving the metadata slot index from
> the pointer returned by pcache_meta_find_latest(), using the 4K stride
> (CACHE_INFO_SIZE / SEG_INFO_SIZE). This ensures that updates to
> cache_info and segment_info are written to valid slots and remain
> consistent with the on-media layout.
>
> Li Chen (2):
>    dm pcache: fix cache info indexing
>    dm pcache: fix segment info indexing
>
>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
>   2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>
Re: [PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Dongsheng Yang 2 months ago
在 12/3/2025 1:56 PM, Dongsheng Yang 写道:
> Hi,
>
>     Thanx for your patches, there are some comments inline.
>
> According to these comments, I propose an update base on your patch as 
> [1].
>
> BTW, I added a test case for this problem in dtg-tests:
>
> https://github.com/DataTravelGuide/dtg-tests/blob/main/pcache.py.data/pcache_misc_tests/case21_gc_percent_persistence_after_recreate.sh 
>
>
> It update gc_percent online and recreate pcache device and check 
> gc_percen
>
>
> [1]:


->info_index means next slot to write, so advancing it at init stage is 
correct


Thanx

>
> diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
> index 6d5001548628..4d6db733c9bd 100644
> --- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
> +++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
> @@ -42,12 +42,7 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache 
> *cache, struct pcache_cache_optio
>         if (IS_ERR(cache_info_addr))
>                 return PTR_ERR(cache_info_addr);
>
> -    if (cache_info_addr) {
> -               int index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
> *)cache->cache_info_addr) /
> -                               PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
> -
> -               cache->info_index = (index + 1) % PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
> -
> +       if (cache_info_addr) {
>                 if (opts->data_crc !=
>                                 (cache->cache_info.flags & 
> PCACHE_CACHE_FLAGS_DATA_CRC)) {
>                         pcache_dev_err(pcache, "invalid option for 
> data_crc: %s, expected: %s",
> @@ -56,6 +51,8 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache 
> *cache, struct pcache_cache_optio
>                         return -EINVAL;
>                 }
>
> +               cache->info_index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
> *)cache->cache_info_addr) / PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
> +
>                 return 0;
>         }
>
> diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c 
> b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
> index 0b4bb08011ce..0a0016702ce7 100644
> --- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
> +++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
> @@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ static int cache_seg_info_load(struct 
> pcache_cache_segment *cache_seg)
>         cache_seg->info_index =
>                 ((char *)cache_seg_info_addr - (char 
> *)cache_seg_info_addr_base) /
>                 PCACHE_SEG_INFO_SIZE;
> -       cache_seg->info_index = (cache_seg->info_index + 1) % 
> PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
>  out:
>         mutex_unlock(&cache_seg->info_lock);
>
>
> 在 12/2/2025 8:11 PM, Li Chen 写道:
>> From: Li Chen <chenl311@chinatelecom.cn>
>>
>> dm-pcache stores metadata (cache_info and segment_info) in 4K-aligned
>> slots on the cache device, using sequence numbers and CRC to identify
>> the latest valid copy.
>>
>> However, the cache_info and segment_info paths were computing their
>> on-media index using sizeof(struct) instead of the 4K metadata stride.
>> As a result:
>>
>>    * cache_info updates (including gc_percent set via a dmsetup message)
>>      were written to invalid offsets between metadata slots and failed
>>      to persist across table reloads or reboots.
>>
>>    * segment_info indexing became desynchronized, so rotation to the
>>      "next" slot no longer matched the location returned by
>>      pcache_meta_find_latest().
>>
>> The issue can be reproduced with:
>>
>>    dmsetup create pcache_vdb --table \
>>      "0 $(blockdev --getsz /dev/vdb) pcache /dev/pmem0 /dev/vdb 4 \
>>       cache_mode writeback data_crc false"
>>
>>    # Check default gc_percent (70)
>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>
>>    # Change gc_percent to 10
>>    dmsetup message pcache_vdb 0 "gc_percent 10"
>>
>>    # Verify change is active in memory
>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>
>>    # Reboot the system...
>>
>>    # Without patch (gc_percent reverts to 70):
>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>
>>    # With patch (gc_percent persists as 10):
>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>
>> This series fixes the issue by deriving the metadata slot index from
>> the pointer returned by pcache_meta_find_latest(), using the 4K stride
>> (CACHE_INFO_SIZE / SEG_INFO_SIZE). This ensures that updates to
>> cache_info and segment_info are written to valid slots and remain
>> consistent with the on-media layout.
>>
>> Li Chen (2):
>>    dm pcache: fix cache info indexing
>>    dm pcache: fix segment info indexing
>>
>>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
>>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
>>   2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>>
>
Re: [PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Dongsheng Yang 2 months ago
在 12/4/2025 7:38 AM, Dongsheng Yang 写道:
>
> 在 12/3/2025 1:56 PM, Dongsheng Yang 写道:
>> Hi,
>>
>>     Thanx for your patches, there are some comments inline.
>>
>> According to these comments, I propose an update base on your patch 
>> as [1].
>>
>> BTW, I added a test case for this problem in dtg-tests:
>>
>> https://github.com/DataTravelGuide/dtg-tests/blob/main/pcache.py.data/pcache_misc_tests/case21_gc_percent_persistence_after_recreate.sh 
>>
>>
>> It update gc_percent online and recreate pcache device and check 
>> gc_percen
>>
>>
>> [1]:
>
>
> ->info_index means next slot to write, so advancing it at init stage 
> is correct


We need to think more thoroughly about the usage of the slot index. In 
my original design, all slot indices represent the “current slot”. So at 
initialization it is 0; if loading, we simply point it to the loaded 
slot; and on write we advance afterwards. However, the problem now is 
that in all write functions, they first write to the current slot, then 
advance.

Therefore I believe we should clarify that the meaning of the slot index 
is “the current slot,” and stick to the original design. We only need to 
modify the write functions: first perform the advance, and then write 
into the correct slot.

>
>
> Thanx
>
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
>> index 6d5001548628..4d6db733c9bd 100644
>> --- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
>> +++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
>> @@ -42,12 +42,7 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache 
>> *cache, struct pcache_cache_optio
>>         if (IS_ERR(cache_info_addr))
>>                 return PTR_ERR(cache_info_addr);
>>
>> -    if (cache_info_addr) {
>> -               int index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
>> *)cache->cache_info_addr) /
>> -                               PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
>> -
>> -               cache->info_index = (index + 1) % PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
>> -
>> +       if (cache_info_addr) {
>>                 if (opts->data_crc !=
>>                                 (cache->cache_info.flags & 
>> PCACHE_CACHE_FLAGS_DATA_CRC)) {
>>                         pcache_dev_err(pcache, "invalid option for 
>> data_crc: %s, expected: %s",
>> @@ -56,6 +51,8 @@ static int cache_info_init(struct pcache_cache 
>> *cache, struct pcache_cache_optio
>>                         return -EINVAL;
>>                 }
>>
>> +               cache->info_index = ((char *)cache_info_addr - (char 
>> *)cache->cache_info_addr) / PCACHE_CACHE_INFO_SIZE;
>> +
>>                 return 0;
>>         }
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c 
>> b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
>> index 0b4bb08011ce..0a0016702ce7 100644
>> --- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
>> +++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c
>> @@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ static int cache_seg_info_load(struct 
>> pcache_cache_segment *cache_seg)
>>         cache_seg->info_index =
>>                 ((char *)cache_seg_info_addr - (char 
>> *)cache_seg_info_addr_base) /
>>                 PCACHE_SEG_INFO_SIZE;
>> -       cache_seg->info_index = (cache_seg->info_index + 1) % 
>> PCACHE_META_INDEX_MAX;
>>  out:
>>         mutex_unlock(&cache_seg->info_lock);
>>
>>
>> 在 12/2/2025 8:11 PM, Li Chen 写道:
>>> From: Li Chen <chenl311@chinatelecom.cn>
>>>
>>> dm-pcache stores metadata (cache_info and segment_info) in 4K-aligned
>>> slots on the cache device, using sequence numbers and CRC to identify
>>> the latest valid copy.
>>>
>>> However, the cache_info and segment_info paths were computing their
>>> on-media index using sizeof(struct) instead of the 4K metadata stride.
>>> As a result:
>>>
>>>    * cache_info updates (including gc_percent set via a dmsetup 
>>> message)
>>>      were written to invalid offsets between metadata slots and failed
>>>      to persist across table reloads or reboots.
>>>
>>>    * segment_info indexing became desynchronized, so rotation to the
>>>      "next" slot no longer matched the location returned by
>>>      pcache_meta_find_latest().
>>>
>>> The issue can be reproduced with:
>>>
>>>    dmsetup create pcache_vdb --table \
>>>      "0 $(blockdev --getsz /dev/vdb) pcache /dev/pmem0 /dev/vdb 4 \
>>>       cache_mode writeback data_crc false"
>>>
>>>    # Check default gc_percent (70)
>>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>>
>>>    # Change gc_percent to 10
>>>    dmsetup message pcache_vdb 0 "gc_percent 10"
>>>
>>>    # Verify change is active in memory
>>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>>
>>>    # Reboot the system...
>>>
>>>    # Without patch (gc_percent reverts to 70):
>>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>>
>>>    # With patch (gc_percent persists as 10):
>>>    dmsetup status pcache_vdb
>>>
>>> This series fixes the issue by deriving the metadata slot index from
>>> the pointer returned by pcache_meta_find_latest(), using the 4K stride
>>> (CACHE_INFO_SIZE / SEG_INFO_SIZE). This ensures that updates to
>>> cache_info and segment_info are written to valid slots and remain
>>> consistent with the on-media layout.
>>>
>>> Li Chen (2):
>>>    dm pcache: fix cache info indexing
>>>    dm pcache: fix segment info indexing
>>>
>>>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
>>>   drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
>>>   2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>>>
>>
>
Re: [PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Li Chen 2 months ago
Hi Dongsheng,

 ---- On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 09:38:17 +0800  Dongsheng Yang <dongsheng.yang@linux.dev> wrote --- 
 > 
 > 在 12/4/2025 7:38 AM, Dongsheng Yang 写道:
 > >
 > > 在 12/3/2025 1:56 PM, Dongsheng Yang 写道:
 > >> Hi,
 > >>
 > >>     Thanx for your patches, there are some comments inline.
 > >>
 > >> According to these comments, I propose an update base on your patch 
 > >> as [1].
 > >>
 > >> BTW, I added a test case for this problem in dtg-tests:
 > >>
 > >> https://github.com/DataTravelGuide/dtg-tests/blob/main/pcache.py.data/pcache_misc_tests/case21_gc_percent_persistence_after_recreate.sh 
 > >>
 > >>
 > >> It update gc_percent online and recreate pcache device and check 
 > >> gc_percen
 > >>
 > >>
 > >> [1]:
 > >
 > >
 > > ->info_index means next slot to write, so advancing it at init stage 
 > > is correct
 > 
 > 
 > We need to think more thoroughly about the usage of the slot index. In 
 > my original design, all slot indices represent the “current slot”. So at 
 > initialization it is 0; if loading, we simply point it to the loaded 
 > slot; and on write we advance afterwards. However, the problem now is 
 > that in all write functions, they first write to the current slot, then 
 > advance.
 > 
 > Therefore I believe we should clarify that the meaning of the slot index 
 > is “the current slot,” and stick to the original design. We only need to 
 > modify the write functions: first perform the advance, and then write 
 > into the correct slot.
 
Sounds good, thanks.

Regards,

Li​
Re: [PATCH 0/2] dm-pcache: fix metadata indexing and persistence issues
Posted by Mikulas Patocka 2 months ago
Both patches accepted, thanks.

Mikulas



On Tue, 2 Dec 2025, Li Chen wrote:

> From: Li Chen <chenl311@chinatelecom.cn>
> 
> dm-pcache stores metadata (cache_info and segment_info) in 4K-aligned
> slots on the cache device, using sequence numbers and CRC to identify
> the latest valid copy.
> 
> However, the cache_info and segment_info paths were computing their
> on-media index using sizeof(struct) instead of the 4K metadata stride.
> As a result:
> 
>   * cache_info updates (including gc_percent set via a dmsetup message)
>     were written to invalid offsets between metadata slots and failed
>     to persist across table reloads or reboots.
> 
>   * segment_info indexing became desynchronized, so rotation to the
>     "next" slot no longer matched the location returned by
>     pcache_meta_find_latest().
> 
> The issue can be reproduced with:
> 
>   dmsetup create pcache_vdb --table \
>     "0 $(blockdev --getsz /dev/vdb) pcache /dev/pmem0 /dev/vdb 4 \
>      cache_mode writeback data_crc false"
> 
>   # Check default gc_percent (70)
>   dmsetup status pcache_vdb
> 
>   # Change gc_percent to 10
>   dmsetup message pcache_vdb 0 "gc_percent 10"
> 
>   # Verify change is active in memory
>   dmsetup status pcache_vdb
> 
>   # Reboot the system...
> 
>   # Without patch (gc_percent reverts to 70):
>   dmsetup status pcache_vdb
> 
>   # With patch (gc_percent persists as 10):
>   dmsetup status pcache_vdb
> 
> This series fixes the issue by deriving the metadata slot index from
> the pointer returned by pcache_meta_find_latest(), using the 4K stride
> (CACHE_INFO_SIZE / SEG_INFO_SIZE). This ensures that updates to
> cache_info and segment_info are written to valid slots and remain
> consistent with the on-media layout.
> 
> Li Chen (2):
>   dm pcache: fix cache info indexing
>   dm pcache: fix segment info indexing
> 
>  drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c         | 13 ++++++++++---
>  drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_segment.c |  6 +++++-
>  2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> -- 
> 2.51.0
> 
>