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SCSI EH

======================================

 This document describes SCSI midlayer error handling infrastructure.

Please refer to Documentation/scsi/scsi_mid_low_api.txt for more

information regarding SCSI midlayer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1] How SCSI commands travel through the midlayer and to EH

    [1-1] struct scsi_cmnd

    [1-2] How do scmd's get completed?

        [1-2-1] Completing a scmd w/ scsi_done

        [1-2-2] Completing a scmd w/ timeout

    [1-3] How EH takes over

[2] How SCSI EH works

    [2-1] EH through fine-grained callbacks

        [2-1-1] Overview

        [2-1-2] Flow of scmds through EH

        [2-1-3] Flow of control

    [2-2] EH through transportt->eh_strategy_handler()

        [2-2-1] Pre transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions

        [2-2-2] Post transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions

        [2-2-3] Things to consider

[1] How SCSI commands travel through the midlayer and to EH

[1-1] struct scsi_cmnd

 Each SCSI command is represented with struct scsi_cmnd (== scmd).  A

scmd has two list_head's to link itself into lists.  The two are

scmd->list and scmd->eh_entry.  The former is used for free list or

per-device allocated scmd list and not of much interest to this EH

discussion.  The latter is used for completion and EH lists and unless

otherwise stated scmds are always linked using scmd->eh_entry in this

discussion.

[1-2] How do scmd's get completed?

 Once LLDD gets hold of a scmd, either the LLDD will complete the

command by calling scsi_done callback passed from midlayer when

invoking hostt->queuecommand() or SCSI midlayer will time it out.

[1-2-1] Completing a scmd w/ scsi_done

 For all non-EH commands, scsi_done() is the completion callback.  It

does the following.

 1. Delete timeout timer.  If it fails, it means that timeout timer

    has expired and is going to finish the command.  Just return.

 2. Link scmd to per-cpu scsi_done_q using scmd->en_entry

 3. Raise SCSI_SOFTIRQ

 SCSI_SOFTIRQ handler scsi_softirq calls scsi_decide_disposition() to

determine what to do with the command.  scsi_decide_disposition()

looks at the scmd->result value and sense data to determine what to do

with the command.

 - SUCCESS

        scsi_finish_command() is invoked for the command.  The

        function does some maintenance choirs and notify completion by

        calling scmd->done() callback, which, for fs requests, would

        be HLD completion callback - sd:sd_rw_intr, sr:rw_intr,

        st:st_intr.

 - NEEDS_RETRY

 - ADD_TO_MLQUEUE

        scmd is requeued to blk queue.

 - otherwise

        scsi_eh_scmd_add(scmd, 0) is invoked for the command.  See

        [1-3] for details of this function.

[1-2-2] Completing a scmd w/ timeout

 The timeout handler is scsi_times_out().  When a timeout occurs, this

function

 1. invokes optional hostt->eh_timed_out() callback.  Return value can

    be one of

    - EH_HANDLED

        This indicates that eh_timed_out() dealt with the timeout.  The

        scmd is passed to __scsi_done() and thus linked into per-cpu

        scsi_done_q.  Normal command completion described in [1-2-1]

        follows.

    - EH_RESET_TIMER

        This indicates that more time is required to finish the

        command.  Timer is restarted.  This action is counted as a

        retry and only allowed scmd->allowed + 1(!) times.  Once the

        limit is reached, action for EH_NOT_HANDLED is taken instead.

        *NOTE* This action is racy as the LLDD could finish the scmd

        after the timeout has expired but before it's added back.  In

        such cases, scsi_done() would think that timeout has occurred

        and return without doing anything.  We lose completion and the

        command will time out again.

    - EH_NOT_HANDLED

        This is the same as when eh_timed_out() callback doesn't exist.

        Step #2 is taken.

 2. scsi_eh_scmd_add(scmd, SCSI_EH_CANCEL_CMD) is invoked for the

    command.  See [1-3] for more information.

[1-3] How EH takes over

 scmds enter EH via scsi_eh_scmd_add(), which does the following.

 1. Turns on scmd->eh_eflags as requested.  It's 0 for error

    completions and SCSI_EH_CANCEL_CMD for timeouts.

 2. Links scmd->eh_entry to shost->eh_cmd_q

 3. Sets SHOST_RECOVERY bit in shost->shost_state

 4. Increments shost->host_failed

 5. Wakes up SCSI EH thread if shost->host_busy == shost->host_failed

 As can be seen above, once any scmd is added to shost->eh_cmd_q,

SHOST_RECOVERY shost_state bit is turned on.  This prevents any new

scmd to be issued from blk queue to the host; eventually, all scmds on

the host either complete normally, fail and get added to eh_cmd_q, or

time out and get added to shost->eh_cmd_q.

 If all scmds either complete or fail, the number of in-flight scmds

becomes equal to the number of failed scmds - i.e. shost->host_busy ==

shost->host_failed.  This wakes up SCSI EH thread.  So, once woken up,

SCSI EH thread can expect that all in-flight commands have failed and

are linked on shost->eh_cmd_q.

 Note that this does not mean lower layers are quiescent.  If a LLDD

completed a scmd with error status, the LLDD and lower layers are

assumed to forget about the scmd at that point.  However, if a scmd

has timed out, unless hostt->eh_timed_out() made lower layers forget

about the scmd, which currently no LLDD does, the command is still

active as long as lower layers are concerned and completion could

occur at any time.  Of course, all such completions are ignored as the

timer has already expired.

 We'll talk about how SCSI EH takes actions to abort - make LLDD

forget about - timed out scmds later.

[2] How SCSI EH works

 LLDD's can implement SCSI EH actions in one of the following two

ways.

 - Fine-grained EH callbacks

        LLDD can implement fine-grained EH callbacks and let SCSI

        midlayer drive error handling and call appropriate callbacks.

        This will be discussed further in [2-1].

 - eh_strategy_handler() callback

        This is one big callback which should perform whole error

        handling.  As such, it should do all choirs SCSI midlayer

        performs during recovery.  This will be discussed in [2-2].

 Once recovery is complete, SCSI EH resumes normal operation by

calling scsi_restart_operations(), which

 1. Checks if door locking is needed and locks door.

 2. Clears SHOST_RECOVERY shost_state bit

 3. Wakes up waiters on shost->host_wait.  This occurs if someone

    calls scsi_block_when_processing_errors() on the host.

    (*QUESTION* why is it needed?  All operations will be blocked

    anyway after it reaches blk queue.)

 4. Kicks queues in all devices on the host in the asses

[2-1] EH through fine-grained callbacks

[2-1-1] Overview

 If eh_strategy_handler() is not present, SCSI midlayer takes charge

of driving error handling.  EH's goals are two - make LLDD, host and

device forget about timed out scmds and make them ready for new

commands.  A scmd is said to be recovered if the scmd is forgotten by

lower layers and lower layers are ready to process or fail the scmd

again.

 To achieve these goals, EH performs recovery actions with increasing

severity.  Some actions are performed by issuing SCSI commands and

others are performed by invoking one of the following fine-grained

hostt EH callbacks.  Callbacks may be omitted and omitted ones are

considered to fail always.

int (* eh_abort_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);

int (* eh_device_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);

int (* eh_bus_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);

int (* eh_host_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);

 Higher-severity actions are taken only when lower-severity actions

cannot recover some of failed scmds.  Also, note that failure of the

highest-severity action means EH failure and results in offlining of

all unrecovered devices.

 During recovery, the following rules are followed

 - Recovery actions are performed on failed scmds on the to do list,

   eh_work_q.  If a recovery action succeeds for a scmd, recovered

   scmds are removed from eh_work_q.

   Note that single recovery action on a scmd can recover multiple

   scmds.  e.g. resetting a device recovers all failed scmds on the

   device.

 - Higher severity actions are taken iff eh_work_q is not empty after

   lower severity actions are complete.

 - EH reuses failed scmds to issue commands for recovery.  For

   timed-out scmds, SCSI EH ensures that LLDD forgets about a scmd

   before reusing it for EH commands.

 When a scmd is recovered, the scmd is moved from eh_work_q to EH

local eh_done_q using scsi_eh_finish_cmd().  After all scmds are

recovered (eh_work_q is empty), scsi_eh_flush_done_q() is invoked to

either retry or error-finish (notify upper layer of failure) recovered

scmds.

 scmds are retried iff its sdev is still online (not offlined during

EH), REQ_FAILFAST is not set and ++scmd->retries is less than

scmd->allowed.

[2-1-2] Flow of scmds through EH

 1. Error completion / time out

    ACTION: scsi_eh_scmd_add() is invoked for scmd

        - set scmd->eh_eflags

        - add scmd to shost->eh_cmd_q

        - set SHOST_RECOVERY

        - shost->host_failed++

    LOCKING: shost->host_lock

 2. EH starts

    ACTION: move all scmds to EH's local eh_work_q.  shost->eh_cmd_q

            is cleared.

    LOCKING: shost->host_lock (not strictly necessary, just for

             consistency)

 3. scmd recovered

    ACTION: scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked to EH-finish scmd

        - shost->host_failed--

        - clear scmd->eh_eflags

        - scsi_setup_cmd_retry()

        - move from local eh_work_q to local eh_done_q

    LOCKING: none

 4. EH completes

    ACTION: scsi_eh_flush_done_q() retries scmds or notifies upper

            layer of failure.

        - scmd is removed from eh_done_q and scmd->eh_entry is cleared

        - if retry is necessary, scmd is requeued using

          scsi_queue_insert()

        - otherwise, scsi_finish_command() is invoked for scmd

    LOCKING: queue or finish function performs appropriate locking

[2-1-3] Flow of control

 EH through fine-grained callbacks start from scsi_unjam_host().

<>

    1. Lock shost->host_lock, splice_init shost->eh_cmd_q into local

       eh_work_q and unlock host_lock.  Note that shost->eh_cmd_q is

       cleared by this action.

    2. Invoke scsi_eh_get_sense.

    <>

        This action is taken for each error-completed

        (!SCSI_EH_CANCEL_CMD) commands without valid sense data.  Most

        SCSI transports/LLDDs automatically acquire sense data on

        command failures (autosense).  Autosense is recommended for

        performance reasons and as sense information could get out of

        sync inbetween occurrence of CHECK CONDITION and this action.

        Note that if autosense is not supported, scmd->sense_buffer

        contains invalid sense data when error-completing the scmd

        with scsi_done().  scsi_decide_disposition() always returns

        FAILED in such cases thus invoking SCSI EH.  When the scmd

        reaches here, sense data is acquired and

        scsi_decide_disposition() is called again.

        1. Invoke scsi_request_sense() which issues REQUEST_SENSE

           command.  If fails, no action.  Note that taking no action

           causes higher-severity recovery to be taken for the scmd.

        2. Invoke scsi_decide_disposition() on the scmd

           - SUCCESS

                scmd->retries is set to scmd->allowed preventing

                scsi_eh_flush_done_q() from retrying the scmd and

                scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked.

           - NEEDS_RETRY

                scsi_eh_finish_cmd() invoked

           - otherwise

                No action.

    3. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_abort_cmds().

    <>

        This action is taken for each timed out command.

        hostt->eh_abort_handler() is invoked for each scmd.  The

        handler returns SUCCESS if it has succeeded to make LLDD and

        all related hardware forget about the scmd.

        If a timedout scmd is successfully aborted and the sdev is

        either offline or ready, scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked for

        the scmd.  Otherwise, the scmd is left in eh_work_q for

        higher-severity actions.

        Note that both offline and ready status mean that the sdev is

        ready to process new scmds, where processing also implies

        immediate failing; thus, if a sdev is in one of the two

        states, no further recovery action is needed.

        Device readiness is tested using scsi_eh_tur() which issues

        TEST_UNIT_READY command.  Note that the scmd must have been

        aborted successfully before reusing it for TEST_UNIT_READY.

    4. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_ready_devs()

    <>

        This function takes four increasingly more severe measures to

        make failed sdevs ready for new commands.

        1. Invoke scsi_eh_stu()

        <>

            For each sdev which has failed scmds with valid sense data

            of which scsi_check_sense()'s verdict is FAILED,

            START_STOP_UNIT command is issued w/ start=1.  Note that

            as we explicitly choose error-completed scmds, it is known

            that lower layers have forgotten about the scmd and we can

            reuse it for STU.

            If STU succeeds and the sdev is either offline or ready,

            all failed scmds on the sdev are EH-finished with

            scsi_eh_finish_cmd().

            *NOTE* If hostt->eh_abort_handler() isn't implemented or

            failed, we may still have timed out scmds at this point

            and STU doesn't make lower layers forget about those

            scmds.  Yet, this function EH-finish all scmds on the sdev

            if STU succeeds leaving lower layers in an inconsistent

            state.  It seems that STU action should be taken only when

            a sdev has no timed out scmd.

        2. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_bus_device_reset().

        <>

            This action is very similar to scsi_eh_stu() except that,

            instead of issuing STU, hostt->eh_device_reset_handler()

            is used.  Also, as we're not issuing SCSI commands and

            resetting clears all scmds on the sdev, there is no need

            to choose error-completed scmds.

        3. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_bus_reset()

        <>

            hostt->eh_bus_reset_handler() is invoked for each channel

            with failed scmds.  If bus reset succeeds, all failed

            scmds on all ready or offline sdevs on the channel are

            EH-finished.

        4. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_host_reset()

        <>

            This is the last resort.  hostt->eh_host_reset_handler()

            is invoked.  If host reset succeeds, all failed scmds on

            all ready or offline sdevs on the host are EH-finished.

        5. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_offline_sdevs()

        <>

            Take all sdevs which still have unrecovered scmds offline

            and EH-finish the scmds.

    5. Invoke scsi_eh_flush_done_q().

        <>

            At this point all scmds are recovered (or given up) and

            put on eh_done_q by scsi_eh_finish_cmd().  This function

            flushes eh_done_q by either retrying or notifying upper

            layer of failure of the scmds.

[2-2] EH through transportt->eh_strategy_handler()

 transportt->eh_strategy_handler() is invoked in the place of

scsi_unjam_host() and it is responsible for whole recovery process.

On completion, the handler should have made lower layers forget about

all failed scmds and either ready for new commands or offline.  Also,

it should perform SCSI EH maintenance choirs to maintain integrity of

SCSI midlayer.  IOW, of the steps described in [2-1-2], all steps

except for #1 must be implemented by eh_strategy_handler().

[2-2-1] Pre transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions

 The following conditions are true on entry to the handler.

 - Each failed scmd's eh_flags field is set appropriately.

 - Each failed scmd is linked on scmd->eh_cmd_q by scmd->eh_entry.

 - SHOST_RECOVERY is set.

 - shost->host_failed == shost->host_busy

[2-2-2] Post transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions

 The following conditions must be true on exit from the handler.

 - shost->host_failed is zero.

 - Each scmd's eh_eflags field is cleared.

 - Each scmd is in such a state that scsi_setup_cmd_retry() on the

   scmd doesn't make any difference.

 - shost->eh_cmd_q is cleared.

 - Each scmd->eh_entry is cleared.

 - Either scsi_queue_insert() or scsi_finish_command() is called on

   each scmd.  Note that the handler is free to use scmd->retries and

   ->allowed to limit the number of retries.

[2-2-3] Things to consider

 - Know that timed out scmds are still active on lower layers.  Make

   lower layers forget about them before doing anything else with

   those scmds.

 - For consistency, when accessing/modifying shost data structure,

   grab shost->host_lock.

 - On completion, each failed sdev must have forgotten about all

   active scmds.

 - On completion, each failed sdev must be ready for new commands or

   offline.

--

Tejun Heo

htejun@gmail.com

11th September 2005