KERNEL CHANGES:
- The kernel only knows about privileges of kernel tasks and the root system
process (now RS).
- Kernel tasks and the root system process are the only processes that are made
schedulable by the kernel at startup. All the other processes in the boot image
don't get their privileges set at startup and are inhibited from running by the
RTS_NO_PRIV flag.
- Removed the assumption on the ordering of processes in the boot image table.
System processes can now appear in any order in the boot image table.
- Privilege ids can now be assigned both statically or dynamically. The kernel
assigns static privilege ids to kernel tasks and the root system process. Each
id is directly derived from the process number.
- User processes now all share the static privilege id of the root user
process (now INIT).
- sys_privctl split: we have more calls now to let RS set privileges for system
processes. SYS_PRIV_ALLOW / SYS_PRIV_DISALLOW are only used to flip the
RTS_NO_PRIV flag and allow / disallow a process from running. SYS_PRIV_SET_SYS /
SYS_PRIV_SET_USER are used to set privileges for a system / user process.
- boot image table flags split: PROC_FULLVM is the only flag that has been
moved out of the privilege flags and is still maintained in the boot image
table. All the other privilege flags are out of the kernel now.
RS CHANGES:
- RS is the only user-space process who gets to run right after in-kernel
startup.
- RS uses the boot image table from the kernel and three additional boot image
info table (priv table, sys table, dev table) to complete the initialization
of the system.
- RS checks that the entries in the priv table match the entries in the boot
image table to make sure that every process in the boot image gets schedulable.
- RS only uses static privilege ids to set privileges for system services in
the boot image.
- RS includes basic memory management support to allocate the boot image buffer
dynamically during initialization. The buffer shall contain the executable
image of all the system services we would like to restart after a crash.
- First step towards decoupling between resource provisioning and resource
requirements in RS: RS must know what resources it needs to restart a process
and what resources it has currently available. This is useful to tradeoff
reliability and resource consumption. When required resources are missing, the
process cannot be restarted. In that case, in the future, a system flag will
tell RS what to do. For example, if CORE_PROC is set, RS should trigger a
system-wide panic because the system can no longer function correctly without
a core system process.
PM CHANGES:
- The process tree built at initialization time is changed to have INIT as root
with pid 0, RS child of INIT and all the system services children of RS. This
is required to make RS in control of all the system services.
- PM no longer registers labels for system services in the boot image. This is
now part of RS's initialization process.
- the gnu .S are compiled with __ASSEMBLY__ macro set which allows us to
conditionaly remove C stuff from the proc.h file when included in assembly
files
- new proc_is_runnable() macro to test whether process is runnable. All tests
whether p_rts_flags == 0 converted to use this macro
- pick_proc() calls removed from enqueue() and dequeue()
- removed the test for recursive calls from pick_proc() as it certainly cannot
be called recursively now
- PREEMPTED flag to mark processes that were preempted by enqueueuing a higher
priority process in enqueue()
- enqueue_head() to enqueue PREEMPTED processes again at the head of their
current priority queue
- NO_QUANTUM flag to block and dequeue processes preempted by timer tick with
exceeded quantum. They need to be enqueued again in schedcheck()
- next_ptr global variable removed
o Support for ptrace T_ATTACH/T_DETACH and T_SYSCALL
o PM signal handling logic should now work properly, even with debuggers
being present
o Asynchronous PM/VFS protocol, full IPC support for senda(), and
AMF_NOREPLY senda() flag
DETAILS
Process stop and delay call handling of PM:
o Added sys_runctl() kernel call with sys_stop() and sys_resume()
aliases, for PM to stop and resume a process
o Added exception for sending/syscall-traced processes to sys_runctl(),
and matching SIGKREADY pseudo-signal to PM
o Fixed PM signal logic to deal with requests from a process after
stopping it (so-called "delay calls"), using the SIGKREADY facility
o Fixed various PM panics due to race conditions with delay calls versus
VFS calls
o Removed special PRIO_STOP priority value
o Added SYS_LOCK RTS kernel flag, to stop an individual process from
running while modifying its process structure
Signal and debugger handling in PM:
o Fixed debugger signals being dropped if a second signal arrives when
the debugger has not retrieved the first one
o Fixed debugger signals being sent to the debugger more than once
o Fixed debugger signals unpausing process in VFS; removed PM_UNPAUSE_TR
protocol message
o Detached debugger signals from general signal logic and from being
blocked on VFS calls, meaning that even VFS can now be traced
o Fixed debugger being unable to receive more than one pending signal in
one process stop
o Fixed signal delivery being delayed needlessly when multiple signals
are pending
o Fixed wait test for tracer, which was returning for children that were
not waited for
o Removed second parallel pending call from PM to VFS for any process
o Fixed process becoming runnable between exec() and debugger trap
o Added support for notifying the debugger before the parent when a
debugged child exits
o Fixed debugger death causing child to remain stopped forever
o Fixed consistently incorrect use of _NSIG
Extensions to ptrace():
o Added T_ATTACH and T_DETACH ptrace request, to attach and detach a
debugger to and from a process
o Added T_SYSCALL ptrace request, to trace system calls
o Added T_SETOPT ptrace request, to set trace options
o Added TO_TRACEFORK trace option, to attach automatically to children
of a traced process
o Added TO_ALTEXEC trace option, to send SIGSTOP instead of SIGTRAP upon
a successful exec() of the tracee
o Extended T_GETUSER ptrace support to allow retrieving a process's priv
structure
o Removed T_STOP ptrace request again, as it does not help implementing
debuggers properly
o Added MINIX3-specific ptrace test (test42)
o Added proper manual page for ptrace(2)
Asynchronous PM/VFS interface:
o Fixed asynchronous messages not being checked when receive() is called
with an endpoint other than ANY
o Added AMF_NOREPLY senda() flag, preventing such messages from
satisfying the receive part of a sendrec()
o Added asynsend3() that takes optional flags; asynsend() is now a
#define passing in 0 as third parameter
o Made PM/VFS protocol asynchronous; reintroduced tell_fs()
o Made PM_BASE request/reply number range unique
o Hacked in a horrible temporary workaround into RS to deal with newly
revealed RS-PM-VFS race condition triangle until VFS is asynchronous
System signal handling:
o Fixed shutdown logic of device drivers; removed old SIGKSTOP signal
o Removed is-superuser check from PM's do_procstat() (aka getsigset())
o Added sigset macros to allow system processes to deal with the full
signal set, rather than just the POSIX subset
Miscellaneous PM fixes:
o Split do_getset into do_get and do_set, merging common code and making
structure clearer
o Fixed setpriority() being able to put to sleep processes using an
invalid parameter, or revive zombie processes
o Made find_proc() global; removed obsolete proc_from_pid()
o Cleanup here and there
Also included:
o Fixed false-positive boot order kernel warning
o Removed last traces of old NOTIFY_FROM code
THINGS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST
o It should now be possible to run PM at any priority, even lower than
user processes
o No assumptions are made about communication speed between PM and VFS,
although communication must be FIFO
o A debugger will now receive incoming debuggee signals at kill time
only; the process may not yet be fully stopped
o A first step has been made towards making the SYSTEM task preemptible
- no longer have kernel have its own page table that is loaded
on every kernel entry (trap, interrupt, exception). the primary
purpose is to reduce the number of required reloads.
Result:
- kernel can only access memory of process that was running when
kernel was entered
- kernel must be mapped into every process page table, so traps to
kernel keep working
Problem:
- kernel must often access memory of arbitrary processes (e.g. send
arbitrary processes messages); this can't happen directly any more;
usually because that process' page table isn't loaded at all, sometimes
because that memory isn't mapped in at all, sometimes because it isn't
mapped in read-write.
So:
- kernel must be able to map in memory of any process, in its own
address space.
Implementation:
- VM and kernel share a range of memory in which addresses of
all page tables of all processes are available. This has two purposes:
. Kernel has to know what data to copy in order to map in a range
. Kernel has to know where to write the data in order to map it in
That last point is because kernel has to write in the currently loaded
page table.
- Processes and kernel are separated through segments; kernel segments
haven't changed.
- The kernel keeps the process whose page table is currently loaded
in 'ptproc.'
- If it wants to map in a range of memory, it writes the value of the
page directory entry for that range into the page directory entry
in the currently loaded map. There is a slot reserved for such
purposes. The kernel can then access this memory directly.
- In order to do this, its segment has been increased (and the
segments of processes start where it ends).
- In the pagefault handler, detect if the kernel is doing
'trappable' memory access (i.e. a pagefault isn't a fatal
error) and if so,
- set the saved instruction pointer to phys_copy_fault,
breaking out of phys_copy
- set the saved eax register to the address of the page
fault, both for sanity checking and for checking in
which of the two ranges that phys_copy was called
with the fault occured
- Some boot-time processes do not have their own page table,
and are mapped in with the kernel, and separated with
segments. The kernel detects this using HASPT. If such a
process has to be scheduled, any page table will work and
no page table switch is done.
Major changes in kernel are
- When accessing user processes memory, kernel no longer
explicitly checks before it does so if that memory is OK.
It simply makes the mapping (if necessary), tries to do the
operation, and traps the pagefault if that memory isn't present;
if that happens, the copy function returns EFAULT.
So all of the CHECKRANGE_OR_SUSPEND macros are gone.
- Kernel no longer has to copy/read and parse page tables.
- A message copying optimisation: when messages are copied, and
the recipient isn't mapped in, they are copied into a buffer
in the kernel. This is done in QueueMess. The next time
the recipient is scheduled, this message is copied into
its memory. This happens in schedcheck().
This eliminates the mapping/copying step for messages, and makes
it easier to deliver messages. This eliminates soft_notify.
- Kernel no longer creates a page table at all, so the vm_setbuf
and pagetable writing in memory.c is gone.
Minor changes in kernel are
- ipc_stats thrown out, wasn't used
- misc flags all renamed to MF_*
- NOREC_* macros to enter and leave functions that should not
be called recursively; just sanity checks really
- code to fully decode segment selectors and descriptors
to print on exceptions
- lots of vmassert()s added, only executed if DEBUG_VMASSERT is 1
- pproc_addr is not neccessary to get the address of a process if we know its
number
- local proc variables in system calls implementation (sys_task) conflicts with
the global proc array of all process, therefore the variable were renamed to
proc_nr as they hold the process number
give every process a full pagetable by default now.
first step to disabling kernel page table code (processes
might not have page tables -> no address translation).
bugfixes:
SYSTEM:
. removed
rc->p_priv->s_flags = 0;
for the priv struct shared by all user processes in get_priv(). this
should only be done once. doing a SYS_PRIV_USER in sys_privctl()
caused the flags of all user processes to be reset, so they were no
longer PREEMPTIBLE. this happened when RS executed a policy script.
(this broke test1 in the test set)
VFS/MFS:
. chown can change the mode of a file, and chmod arguments are only
part of the full file mode so the full filemode is slightly magic.
changed these calls so that the final modes are returned to VFS, so
that the vnode can be kept up-to-date.
(this broke test11 in the test set)
MFS:
. lookup() checked for sizeof(string) instead of sizeof(user_path),
truncating long path names
(caught by test 23)
. truncate functions neglected to update ctime
(this broke test16)
VFS:
. corner case of an empty filename lookup caused fields of a request
not to be filled in in the lookup functions, not making it clear
that the lookup had failed, causing messages to garbage processes,
causing strange failures.
(caught by test 30)
. trust v_size in vnode when doing reads or writes on non-special
files, truncating i/o where necessary; this is necessary for pipes,
as MFS can't tell when a pipe has been truncated without it being
told explicitly each time.
when the last reader/writer on a pipe closes, tell FS about
the new size using truncate_vn().
(this broke test 25, among others)
. permission check for chdir() had disappeared; added a
forbidden() call
(caught by test 23)
new code, shouldn't change anything:
. introduced RTS_SET, RTS_UNSET, and RTS_ISSET macro's, and their
LOCK variants. These macros set and clear the p_rts_flags field,
causing a lot of duplicated logic like
old_flags = rp->p_rts_flags; /* save value of the flags */
rp->p_rts_flags &= ~NO_PRIV;
if (old_flags != 0 && rp->p_rts_flags == 0) lock_enqueue(rp);
to change into the simpler
RTS_LOCK_UNSET(rp, NO_PRIV);
so the macros take care of calling dequeue() and enqueue() (or lock_*()),
as the case may be). This makes the code a bit more readable and a
bit less fragile.
. removed return code from do_clocktick in CLOCK as it currently
never replies
. removed some debug code from VFS
. fixed grant debug message in device.c
preemptive checks, tests, changes:
. added return code checks of receive() to SYSTEM and CLOCK
. O_TRUNC should never arrive at MFS (added sanity check and removed
O_TRUNC code)
. user_path declared with PATH_MAX+1 to let it be null-terminated
. checks in MFS to see if strings passed by VFS are null-terminated
IS:
. static irq name table thrown out
mainly in the kernel and headers. This split based on work by
Ingmar Alting <iaalting@cs.vu.nl> done for his Minix PowerPC architecture
port.
. kernel does not program the interrupt controller directly, do any
other architecture-dependent operations, or contain assembly any more,
but uses architecture-dependent functions in arch/$(ARCH)/.
. architecture-dependent constants and types defined in arch/$(ARCH)/include.
. <ibm/portio.h> moved to <minix/portio.h>, as they have become, for now,
architecture-independent functions.
. int86, sdevio, readbios, and iopenable are now i386-specific kernel calls
and live in arch/i386/do_* now.
. i386 arch now supports even less 86 code; e.g. mpx86.s and klib86.s have
gone, and 'machine.protected' is gone (and always taken to be 1 in i386).
If 86 support is to return, it should be a new architecture.
. prototypes for the architecture-dependent functions defined in
kernel/arch/$(ARCH)/*.c but used in kernel/ are in kernel/proto.h
. /etc/make.conf included in makefiles and shell scripts that need to
know the building architecture; it defines ARCH=<arch>, currently only
i386.
. some basic per-architecture build support outside of the kernel (lib)
. in clock.c, only dequeue a process if it was ready
. fixes for new include files
files deleted:
. mpx/klib.s - only for choosing between mpx/klib86 and -386
. klib86.s - only for 86
i386-specific files files moved (or arch-dependent stuff moved) to arch/i386/:
. mpx386.s (entry point)
. klib386.s
. sconst.h
. exception.c
. protect.c
. protect.h
. i8269.c
instance numbers, encoded and decoded using macros in <minix/endpoint.h>.
proc number -> endpoint migration
. proc_nr in the interrupt hook is now an endpoint, proc_nr_e.
. m_source for messages and notifies is now an endpoint, instead of
proc number.
. isokendpt() converts an endpoint to a process number, returns
success (but fails if the process number is out of range, the
process slot is not a living process, or the given endpoint
number does not match the endpoint number in the process slot,
indicating an old process).
. okendpt() is the same as isokendpt(), but panic()s if the conversion
fails. This is mainly used for decoding message.m_source endpoints,
and other endpoint numbers in kernel data structures, which should
always be correct.
. if DEBUG_ENABLE_IPC_WARNINGS is enabled, isokendpt() and okendpt()
get passed the __FILE__ and __LINE__ of the calling lines, and
print messages about what is wrong with the endpoint number
(out of range proc, empty proc, or inconsistent endpoint number),
with the caller, making finding where the conversion failed easy
without having to include code for every call to print where things
went wrong. Sometimes this is harmless (wrong arg to a kernel call),
sometimes it's a fatal internal inconsistency (bogus m_source).
. some process table fields have been appended an _e to indicate it's
become and endpoint.
. process endpoint is stored in p_endpoint, without generation number.
it turns out the kernel never needs the generation number, except
when fork()ing, so it's decoded then.
. kernel calls all take endpoints as arguments, not proc numbers.
the one exception is sys_fork(), which needs to know in which slot
to put the child.
- reinstalled priority changing, now in sched() and unready()
- reinstalled check on message buffer in sys_call()
- reinstalled check in send masks in sys_call()
- changed do_fork() to get new privilege structure for SYS_PROCs
- removed some processes from boot image---will be dynamically started later
sys_privctl() call to dynamically start servers and drivers.
- Shutdown sequence slightly adjusted: called as watchdog timer to let the
busy sys_abort() call from the PM return first.
- Changed umap_bios() to have more restrictive check: BIOS memory is now
allowed in BIOS_MEM_BEGIN to END (interrupt vectors) and BASE_MEM_TOP
to UPPER_MEM_END. Hopefully this keeps QEMU and Bochs happy.
- fixed bug that caused IDLE to panic (irq hook inconsistency);
- kprintf() now accepts multiple arguments; moved to utility.c;
- prepare_shutdown() signals system processes with SIGKSTOP;
- phys_fill() renamed to phys_memset(), argument order changed;
- kmemset() removed in favor of phys_kmemset();
- kstrncpy() removed in favor of phys_copy();
- katoi, kstrncmp replaced by normal library procedure again;
- rm_irq_handler() interface changed (simply pass hook pointer);
that passes signal map along. This mechanisms is also used for nonuser signals
like SIGKMESS, SIGKSTOP, SIGKSIG.
Revised comments of many system call handlers. Renamed setpriority to nice.
New configuration header file to include/ exclude functionality.
Extracted privileged features from struct proc and create new struct priv.
Renamed various system calls for readability.
- current and maximum priority per process;
- quantum size and current ticks left per process;
- max number of full quantums in a row allow
(otherwise current priority is decremented)
Removed stop sequence when MINIX is shut down.
Disabled send mask checks --- to be replaced by proper mechanism.
Fixed bug relating to 'shutdown -x'.
Simplified clock accounting of realtime.
Updated Makefiles for mkdept script.
Reduced kernel size by 512KB by moving private buffer into cstart() function.
Replaced assertions with erroneous return values. Removed assertions relating
to isuserp(rp), since all processes should become user processes; system
processes are now treated similar to other processes.
This allowed removing the p_flagarlm timer from the kernel's process table.
Furthermore, I merged p_syncalrm and p_signalrm into p_alarm_timer to save
even more space. Note that processes can no longer have both a signal and
synchronous alarm timer outstanding as of now.
and type) are overwritten with newer flags/ arguments. The interface from
within the kernel is lock_notify(). User processes can make a system call with
notify(). NOTIFY fully replaces the old notification mechanism.
The call works. Permission check, restriction of outstanding notifications
to be added. Low level code to make it work from within interrupt handlers
will be added as well.
