1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
7 This document describes SCSI midlayer error handling infrastructure.
8 Please refer to Documentation/scsi/scsi_mid_low_api.rst for more
9 information regarding SCSI midlayer.
13 [1] How SCSI commands travel through the midlayer and to EH
14 [1-1] struct scsi_cmnd
15 [1-2] How do scmd's get completed?
16 [1-2-1] Completing a scmd w/ scsi_done
17 [1-2-2] Completing a scmd w/ timeout
18 [1-3] How EH takes over
20 [2-1] EH through fine-grained callbacks
22 [2-1-2] Flow of scmds through EH
23 [2-1-3] Flow of control
24 [2-2] EH through transportt->eh_strategy_handler()
25 [2-2-1] Pre transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions
26 [2-2-2] Post transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions
27 [2-2-3] Things to consider
30 1. How SCSI commands travel through the midlayer and to EH
31 ==========================================================
36 Each SCSI command is represented with struct scsi_cmnd (== scmd). A
37 scmd has two list_head's to link itself into lists. The two are
38 scmd->list and scmd->eh_entry. The former is used for free list or
39 per-device allocated scmd list and not of much interest to this EH
40 discussion. The latter is used for completion and EH lists and unless
41 otherwise stated scmds are always linked using scmd->eh_entry in this
45 1.2 How do scmd's get completed?
46 --------------------------------
48 Once LLDD gets hold of a scmd, either the LLDD will complete the
49 command by calling scsi_done callback passed from midlayer when
50 invoking hostt->queuecommand() or the block layer will time it out.
53 1.2.1 Completing a scmd w/ scsi_done
54 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
56 For all non-EH commands, scsi_done() is the completion callback. It
57 just calls blk_complete_request() to delete the block layer timer and
60 SCSI_SOFTIRQ handler scsi_softirq calls scsi_decide_disposition() to
61 determine what to do with the command. scsi_decide_disposition()
62 looks at the scmd->result value and sense data to determine what to do
67 scsi_finish_command() is invoked for the command. The
68 function does some maintenance chores and then calls
69 scsi_io_completion() to finish the I/O.
70 scsi_io_completion() then notifies the block layer on
71 the completed request by calling blk_end_request and
72 friends or figures out what to do with the remainder
73 of the data in case of an error.
79 scmd is requeued to blk queue.
83 scsi_eh_scmd_add(scmd) is invoked for the command. See
84 [1-3] for details of this function.
87 1.2.2 Completing a scmd w/ timeout
88 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
90 The timeout handler is scsi_times_out(). When a timeout occurs, this
93 1. invokes optional hostt->eh_timed_out() callback. Return value can
97 This indicates that more time is required to finish the
98 command. Timer is restarted. This action is counted as a
99 retry and only allowed scmd->allowed + 1(!) times. Once the
100 limit is reached, action for BLK_EH_DONE is taken instead.
103 eh_timed_out() callback did not handle the command.
106 2. scsi_abort_command() is invoked to schedule an asynchrous abort.
107 Asynchronous abort are not invoked for commands which the
108 SCSI_EH_ABORT_SCHEDULED flag is set (this indicates that the command
109 already had been aborted once, and this is a retry which failed),
110 or when the EH deadline is expired. In these case Step #3 is taken.
112 3. scsi_eh_scmd_add(scmd, SCSI_EH_CANCEL_CMD) is invoked for the
113 command. See [1-4] for more information.
115 1.3 Asynchronous command aborts
116 -------------------------------
118 After a timeout occurs a command abort is scheduled from
119 scsi_abort_command(). If the abort is successful the command
120 will either be retried (if the number of retries is not exhausted)
121 or terminated with DID_TIME_OUT.
123 Otherwise scsi_eh_scmd_add() is invoked for the command.
124 See [1-4] for more information.
126 1.4 How EH takes over
127 ---------------------
129 scmds enter EH via scsi_eh_scmd_add(), which does the following.
131 1. Links scmd->eh_entry to shost->eh_cmd_q
133 2. Sets SHOST_RECOVERY bit in shost->shost_state
135 3. Increments shost->host_failed
137 4. Wakes up SCSI EH thread if shost->host_busy == shost->host_failed
139 As can be seen above, once any scmd is added to shost->eh_cmd_q,
140 SHOST_RECOVERY shost_state bit is turned on. This prevents any new
141 scmd to be issued from blk queue to the host; eventually, all scmds on
142 the host either complete normally, fail and get added to eh_cmd_q, or
143 time out and get added to shost->eh_cmd_q.
145 If all scmds either complete or fail, the number of in-flight scmds
146 becomes equal to the number of failed scmds - i.e. shost->host_busy ==
147 shost->host_failed. This wakes up SCSI EH thread. So, once woken up,
148 SCSI EH thread can expect that all in-flight commands have failed and
149 are linked on shost->eh_cmd_q.
151 Note that this does not mean lower layers are quiescent. If a LLDD
152 completed a scmd with error status, the LLDD and lower layers are
153 assumed to forget about the scmd at that point. However, if a scmd
154 has timed out, unless hostt->eh_timed_out() made lower layers forget
155 about the scmd, which currently no LLDD does, the command is still
156 active as long as lower layers are concerned and completion could
157 occur at any time. Of course, all such completions are ignored as the
158 timer has already expired.
160 We'll talk about how SCSI EH takes actions to abort - make LLDD
161 forget about - timed out scmds later.
167 LLDD's can implement SCSI EH actions in one of the following two
170 - Fine-grained EH callbacks
171 LLDD can implement fine-grained EH callbacks and let SCSI
172 midlayer drive error handling and call appropriate callbacks.
173 This will be discussed further in [2-1].
175 - eh_strategy_handler() callback
176 This is one big callback which should perform whole error
177 handling. As such, it should do all chores the SCSI midlayer
178 performs during recovery. This will be discussed in [2-2].
180 Once recovery is complete, SCSI EH resumes normal operation by
181 calling scsi_restart_operations(), which
183 1. Checks if door locking is needed and locks door.
185 2. Clears SHOST_RECOVERY shost_state bit
187 3. Wakes up waiters on shost->host_wait. This occurs if someone
188 calls scsi_block_when_processing_errors() on the host.
189 (*QUESTION* why is it needed? All operations will be blocked
190 anyway after it reaches blk queue.)
192 4. Kicks queues in all devices on the host in the asses
195 2.1 EH through fine-grained callbacks
196 -------------------------------------
201 If eh_strategy_handler() is not present, SCSI midlayer takes charge
202 of driving error handling. EH's goals are two - make LLDD, host and
203 device forget about timed out scmds and make them ready for new
204 commands. A scmd is said to be recovered if the scmd is forgotten by
205 lower layers and lower layers are ready to process or fail the scmd
208 To achieve these goals, EH performs recovery actions with increasing
209 severity. Some actions are performed by issuing SCSI commands and
210 others are performed by invoking one of the following fine-grained
211 hostt EH callbacks. Callbacks may be omitted and omitted ones are
212 considered to fail always.
216 int (* eh_abort_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);
217 int (* eh_device_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);
218 int (* eh_bus_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);
219 int (* eh_host_reset_handler)(struct scsi_cmnd *);
221 Higher-severity actions are taken only when lower-severity actions
222 cannot recover some of failed scmds. Also, note that failure of the
223 highest-severity action means EH failure and results in offlining of
224 all unrecovered devices.
226 During recovery, the following rules are followed
228 - Recovery actions are performed on failed scmds on the to do list,
229 eh_work_q. If a recovery action succeeds for a scmd, recovered
230 scmds are removed from eh_work_q.
232 Note that single recovery action on a scmd can recover multiple
233 scmds. e.g. resetting a device recovers all failed scmds on the
236 - Higher severity actions are taken iff eh_work_q is not empty after
237 lower severity actions are complete.
239 - EH reuses failed scmds to issue commands for recovery. For
240 timed-out scmds, SCSI EH ensures that LLDD forgets about a scmd
241 before reusing it for EH commands.
243 When a scmd is recovered, the scmd is moved from eh_work_q to EH
244 local eh_done_q using scsi_eh_finish_cmd(). After all scmds are
245 recovered (eh_work_q is empty), scsi_eh_flush_done_q() is invoked to
246 either retry or error-finish (notify upper layer of failure) recovered
249 scmds are retried iff its sdev is still online (not offlined during
250 EH), REQ_FAILFAST is not set and ++scmd->retries is less than
254 2.1.2 Flow of scmds through EH
255 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
257 1. Error completion / time out
259 :ACTION: scsi_eh_scmd_add() is invoked for scmd
261 - add scmd to shost->eh_cmd_q
263 - shost->host_failed++
265 :LOCKING: shost->host_lock
269 :ACTION: move all scmds to EH's local eh_work_q. shost->eh_cmd_q
272 :LOCKING: shost->host_lock (not strictly necessary, just for
277 :ACTION: scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked to EH-finish scmd
279 - scsi_setup_cmd_retry()
280 - move from local eh_work_q to local eh_done_q
284 :CONCURRENCY: at most one thread per separate eh_work_q to
285 keep queue manipulation lockless
289 :ACTION: scsi_eh_flush_done_q() retries scmds or notifies upper
290 layer of failure. May be called concurrently but must have
291 a no more than one thread per separate eh_work_q to
292 manipulate the queue locklessly
294 - scmd is removed from eh_done_q and scmd->eh_entry is cleared
295 - if retry is necessary, scmd is requeued using
297 - otherwise, scsi_finish_command() is invoked for scmd
298 - zero shost->host_failed
300 :LOCKING: queue or finish function performs appropriate locking
303 2.1.3 Flow of control
304 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
306 EH through fine-grained callbacks start from scsi_unjam_host().
310 1. Lock shost->host_lock, splice_init shost->eh_cmd_q into local
311 eh_work_q and unlock host_lock. Note that shost->eh_cmd_q is
312 cleared by this action.
314 2. Invoke scsi_eh_get_sense.
316 ``scsi_eh_get_sense``
318 This action is taken for each error-completed
319 (!SCSI_EH_CANCEL_CMD) commands without valid sense data. Most
320 SCSI transports/LLDDs automatically acquire sense data on
321 command failures (autosense). Autosense is recommended for
322 performance reasons and as sense information could get out of
323 sync between occurrence of CHECK CONDITION and this action.
325 Note that if autosense is not supported, scmd->sense_buffer
326 contains invalid sense data when error-completing the scmd
327 with scsi_done(). scsi_decide_disposition() always returns
328 FAILED in such cases thus invoking SCSI EH. When the scmd
329 reaches here, sense data is acquired and
330 scsi_decide_disposition() is called again.
332 1. Invoke scsi_request_sense() which issues REQUEST_SENSE
333 command. If fails, no action. Note that taking no action
334 causes higher-severity recovery to be taken for the scmd.
336 2. Invoke scsi_decide_disposition() on the scmd
339 scmd->retries is set to scmd->allowed preventing
340 scsi_eh_flush_done_q() from retrying the scmd and
341 scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked.
344 scsi_eh_finish_cmd() invoked
349 3. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_abort_cmds().
351 ``scsi_eh_abort_cmds``
353 This action is taken for each timed out command when
354 no_async_abort is enabled in the host template.
355 hostt->eh_abort_handler() is invoked for each scmd. The
356 handler returns SUCCESS if it has succeeded to make LLDD and
357 all related hardware forget about the scmd.
359 If a timedout scmd is successfully aborted and the sdev is
360 either offline or ready, scsi_eh_finish_cmd() is invoked for
361 the scmd. Otherwise, the scmd is left in eh_work_q for
362 higher-severity actions.
364 Note that both offline and ready status mean that the sdev is
365 ready to process new scmds, where processing also implies
366 immediate failing; thus, if a sdev is in one of the two
367 states, no further recovery action is needed.
369 Device readiness is tested using scsi_eh_tur() which issues
370 TEST_UNIT_READY command. Note that the scmd must have been
371 aborted successfully before reusing it for TEST_UNIT_READY.
373 4. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_ready_devs()
375 ``scsi_eh_ready_devs``
377 This function takes four increasingly more severe measures to
378 make failed sdevs ready for new commands.
380 1. Invoke scsi_eh_stu()
384 For each sdev which has failed scmds with valid sense data
385 of which scsi_check_sense()'s verdict is FAILED,
386 START_STOP_UNIT command is issued w/ start=1. Note that
387 as we explicitly choose error-completed scmds, it is known
388 that lower layers have forgotten about the scmd and we can
391 If STU succeeds and the sdev is either offline or ready,
392 all failed scmds on the sdev are EH-finished with
393 scsi_eh_finish_cmd().
395 *NOTE* If hostt->eh_abort_handler() isn't implemented or
396 failed, we may still have timed out scmds at this point
397 and STU doesn't make lower layers forget about those
398 scmds. Yet, this function EH-finish all scmds on the sdev
399 if STU succeeds leaving lower layers in an inconsistent
400 state. It seems that STU action should be taken only when
401 a sdev has no timed out scmd.
403 2. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_bus_device_reset().
405 ``scsi_eh_bus_device_reset``
407 This action is very similar to scsi_eh_stu() except that,
408 instead of issuing STU, hostt->eh_device_reset_handler()
409 is used. Also, as we're not issuing SCSI commands and
410 resetting clears all scmds on the sdev, there is no need
411 to choose error-completed scmds.
413 3. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_bus_reset()
415 ``scsi_eh_bus_reset``
417 hostt->eh_bus_reset_handler() is invoked for each channel
418 with failed scmds. If bus reset succeeds, all failed
419 scmds on all ready or offline sdevs on the channel are
422 4. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_host_reset()
424 ``scsi_eh_host_reset``
426 This is the last resort. hostt->eh_host_reset_handler()
427 is invoked. If host reset succeeds, all failed scmds on
428 all ready or offline sdevs on the host are EH-finished.
430 5. If !list_empty(&eh_work_q), invoke scsi_eh_offline_sdevs()
432 ``scsi_eh_offline_sdevs``
434 Take all sdevs which still have unrecovered scmds offline
435 and EH-finish the scmds.
437 5. Invoke scsi_eh_flush_done_q().
439 ``scsi_eh_flush_done_q``
441 At this point all scmds are recovered (or given up) and
442 put on eh_done_q by scsi_eh_finish_cmd(). This function
443 flushes eh_done_q by either retrying or notifying upper
444 layer of failure of the scmds.
447 2.2 EH through transportt->eh_strategy_handler()
448 ------------------------------------------------
450 transportt->eh_strategy_handler() is invoked in the place of
451 scsi_unjam_host() and it is responsible for whole recovery process.
452 On completion, the handler should have made lower layers forget about
453 all failed scmds and either ready for new commands or offline. Also,
454 it should perform SCSI EH maintenance chores to maintain integrity of
455 SCSI midlayer. IOW, of the steps described in [2-1-2], all steps
456 except for #1 must be implemented by eh_strategy_handler().
459 2.2.1 Pre transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions
460 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
462 The following conditions are true on entry to the handler.
464 - Each failed scmd's eh_flags field is set appropriately.
466 - Each failed scmd is linked on scmd->eh_cmd_q by scmd->eh_entry.
468 - SHOST_RECOVERY is set.
470 - shost->host_failed == shost->host_busy
473 2.2.2 Post transportt->eh_strategy_handler() SCSI midlayer conditions
474 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
476 The following conditions must be true on exit from the handler.
478 - shost->host_failed is zero.
480 - Each scmd is in such a state that scsi_setup_cmd_retry() on the
481 scmd doesn't make any difference.
483 - shost->eh_cmd_q is cleared.
485 - Each scmd->eh_entry is cleared.
487 - Either scsi_queue_insert() or scsi_finish_command() is called on
488 each scmd. Note that the handler is free to use scmd->retries and
489 ->allowed to limit the number of retries.
492 2.2.3 Things to consider
493 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
495 - Know that timed out scmds are still active on lower layers. Make
496 lower layers forget about them before doing anything else with
499 - For consistency, when accessing/modifying shost data structure,
500 grab shost->host_lock.
502 - On completion, each failed sdev must have forgotten about all
505 - On completion, each failed sdev must be ready for new commands or