[PATCH 2/2] sched_ext/selftests: Add SCX_KICK_WAIT cycle tests

From: Christian Loehle

Date: Mon Mar 16 2026 - 06:07:23 EST


Add wait_kick_cycle, a test stressing an SCX_KICK_WAIT cycle
between three CPUs by calling SCX_KICK_WAIT between them to
test if sched_ext prevents a deadlock.

Note: hangs on unfixed kernels

Signed-off-by: Christian Loehle <christian.loehle@xxxxxxx>
---
tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/Makefile | 1 +
.../selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.bpf.c | 70 ++++++
.../selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.c | 223 ++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 294 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.bpf.c
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.c

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/Makefile
index 006300ac6dff..0b5b527265f7 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/Makefile
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ auto-test-targets := \
rt_stall \
test_example \
total_bw \
+ wait_kick_cycle \

testcase-targets := $(addsuffix .o,$(addprefix $(SCXOBJ_DIR)/,$(auto-test-targets)))

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.bpf.c b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.bpf.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c53cda86ec75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.bpf.c
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Christian Loehle <christian.loehle@xxxxxxx>
+ *
+ * Stress concurrent SCX_KICK_WAIT calls to validate forward progress.
+ *
+ * Three CPUs are designated from userspace. Every enqueue from one of the
+ * three CPUs kicks the next CPU in the ring with SCX_KICK_WAIT, creating a
+ * persistent A -> B -> C -> A wait cycle pressure.
+ */
+
+#include <scx/common.bpf.h>
+
+char _license[] SEC("license") = "GPL";
+
+const volatile s32 test_cpu_a;
+const volatile s32 test_cpu_b;
+const volatile s32 test_cpu_c;
+
+u64 nr_enqueues;
+u64 nr_wait_kicks;
+
+UEI_DEFINE(uei);
+
+static s32 target_cpu(s32 cpu)
+{
+ if (cpu == test_cpu_a)
+ return test_cpu_b;
+ if (cpu == test_cpu_b)
+ return test_cpu_c;
+ if (cpu == test_cpu_c)
+ return test_cpu_a;
+ return -1;
+}
+
+void BPF_STRUCT_OPS(wait_kick_cycle_enqueue, struct task_struct *p, u64 enq_flags)
+{
+ s32 this_cpu = bpf_get_smp_processor_id();
+ s32 tgt;
+
+ __sync_fetch_and_add(&nr_enqueues, 1);
+
+ if (p->flags & PF_KTHREAD) {
+ scx_bpf_dsq_insert(p, SCX_DSQ_LOCAL, SCX_SLICE_INF,
+ enq_flags | SCX_ENQ_PREEMPT);
+ return;
+ }
+
+ scx_bpf_dsq_insert(p, SCX_DSQ_GLOBAL, SCX_SLICE_DFL, enq_flags);
+
+ tgt = target_cpu(this_cpu);
+ if (tgt < 0 || tgt == this_cpu)
+ return;
+
+ __sync_fetch_and_add(&nr_wait_kicks, 1);
+ scx_bpf_kick_cpu(tgt, SCX_KICK_WAIT);
+}
+
+void BPF_STRUCT_OPS(wait_kick_cycle_exit, struct scx_exit_info *ei)
+{
+ UEI_RECORD(uei, ei);
+}
+
+SEC(".struct_ops.link")
+struct sched_ext_ops wait_kick_cycle_ops = {
+ .enqueue = wait_kick_cycle_enqueue,
+ .exit = wait_kick_cycle_exit,
+ .name = "wait_kick_cycle",
+ .timeout_ms = 1000U,
+};
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.c b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3889e7a9a0a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sched_ext/wait_kick_cycle.c
@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Christian Loehle <christian.loehle@xxxxxxx>
+ */
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
+#ifndef ARRAY_SIZE
+#define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0]))
+#endif
+
+#include <bpf/bpf.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <pthread.h>
+#include <sched.h>
+#include <scx/common.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "scx_test.h"
+#include "wait_kick_cycle.bpf.skel.h"
+
+/*
+ * Multiple workers per test CPU. Packing several runnable threads onto each
+ * CPU causes frequent context switching and back-to-back enqueue() calls, which
+ * maximizes the chance that all three test CPUs fire enqueue() concurrently
+ * and enter the SCX_KICK_WAIT cycle simultaneously.
+ */
+#define WORKERS_PER_CPU 4
+#define NR_TEST_CPUS 3
+#define NR_WORKERS (NR_TEST_CPUS * WORKERS_PER_CPU)
+
+struct worker_ctx {
+ pthread_t tid;
+ int cpu;
+ volatile bool stop;
+ volatile __u64 iters;
+ bool started;
+};
+
+static int pick_test_cpus(int *cpu_a, int *cpu_b, int *cpu_c)
+{
+ cpu_set_t mask;
+ int cpus[4];
+ int nr = 0;
+ int cpu;
+
+ if (sched_getaffinity(0, sizeof(mask), &mask))
+ return -errno;
+
+ for (cpu = 0; cpu < CPU_SETSIZE && nr < ARRAY_SIZE(cpus); cpu++) {
+ if (!CPU_ISSET(cpu, &mask))
+ continue;
+ cpus[nr++] = cpu;
+ }
+
+ if (nr < 3)
+ return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+
+ /* Leave one CPU unused when possible so one CPU remains uncongested. */
+ if (nr >= 4) {
+ *cpu_a = cpus[1];
+ *cpu_b = cpus[2];
+ *cpu_c = cpus[3];
+ } else {
+ *cpu_a = cpus[0];
+ *cpu_b = cpus[1];
+ *cpu_c = cpus[2];
+ }
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void *worker_fn(void *arg)
+{
+ struct worker_ctx *worker = arg;
+ cpu_set_t mask;
+
+ CPU_ZERO(&mask);
+ CPU_SET(worker->cpu, &mask);
+
+ if (sched_setaffinity(0, sizeof(mask), &mask))
+ return (void *)(uintptr_t)errno;
+
+ /*
+ * Tight yield loop — no sleep. Keeping the CPU continuously busy
+ * with rapid context switches ensures enqueue() fires at the highest
+ * possible rate on each test CPU.
+ */
+ while (!worker->stop) {
+ sched_yield();
+ worker->iters++;
+ }
+
+ return NULL;
+}
+
+static int join_worker(struct worker_ctx *worker)
+{
+ void *ret;
+ struct timespec ts;
+ int err;
+
+ if (!worker->started)
+ return 0;
+
+ if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts))
+ return -errno;
+
+ ts.tv_sec += 2;
+ err = pthread_timedjoin_np(worker->tid, &ret, &ts);
+ if (err == ETIMEDOUT)
+ pthread_detach(worker->tid);
+ if (err)
+ return -err;
+
+ if ((uintptr_t)ret)
+ return -(int)(uintptr_t)ret;
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static enum scx_test_status setup(void **ctx)
+{
+ struct wait_kick_cycle *skel;
+
+ skel = wait_kick_cycle__open();
+ SCX_FAIL_IF(!skel, "Failed to open skel");
+ SCX_ENUM_INIT(skel);
+
+ *ctx = skel;
+ return SCX_TEST_PASS;
+}
+
+static enum scx_test_status run(void *ctx)
+{
+ struct wait_kick_cycle *skel = ctx;
+ struct worker_ctx workers[NR_WORKERS] = {};
+ struct bpf_link *link = NULL;
+ enum scx_test_status status = SCX_TEST_PASS;
+ int test_cpus[NR_TEST_CPUS] = { -1, -1, -1 };
+ int ret;
+ int i;
+
+ ret = pick_test_cpus(&test_cpus[0], &test_cpus[1], &test_cpus[2]);
+ if (ret == -EOPNOTSUPP)
+ return SCX_TEST_SKIP;
+ if (ret) {
+ SCX_ERR("Failed to pick test cpus (%d)", ret);
+ return SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ }
+
+ skel->rodata->test_cpu_a = test_cpus[0];
+ skel->rodata->test_cpu_b = test_cpus[1];
+ skel->rodata->test_cpu_c = test_cpus[2];
+
+ if (wait_kick_cycle__load(skel)) {
+ SCX_ERR("Failed to load skel");
+ return SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ }
+
+ link = bpf_map__attach_struct_ops(skel->maps.wait_kick_cycle_ops);
+ if (!link) {
+ SCX_ERR("Failed to attach scheduler");
+ return SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ }
+
+ /* WORKERS_PER_CPU threads per test CPU, all in tight yield loops. */
+ for (i = 0; i < NR_WORKERS; i++)
+ workers[i].cpu = test_cpus[i / WORKERS_PER_CPU];
+
+ for (i = 0; i < NR_WORKERS; i++) {
+ ret = pthread_create(&workers[i].tid, NULL, worker_fn, &workers[i]);
+ if (ret) {
+ SCX_ERR("Failed to create worker thread %d (%d)", i, ret);
+ status = SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ goto out;
+ }
+ workers[i].started = true;
+ }
+
+ sleep(3);
+
+ if (skel->data->uei.kind != EXIT_KIND(SCX_EXIT_NONE)) {
+ SCX_ERR("Scheduler exited unexpectedly (kind=%llu code=%lld)",
+ (unsigned long long)skel->data->uei.kind,
+ (long long)skel->data->uei.exit_code);
+ status = SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ }
+
+out:
+ for (i = 0; i < NR_WORKERS; i++)
+ workers[i].stop = true;
+
+ for (i = 0; i < NR_WORKERS; i++) {
+ ret = join_worker(&workers[i]);
+ if (ret && status == SCX_TEST_PASS) {
+ SCX_ERR("Failed to join worker thread %d (%d)", i, ret);
+ status = SCX_TEST_FAIL;
+ }
+ }
+
+ if (link)
+ bpf_link__destroy(link);
+
+ return status;
+}
+
+static void cleanup(void *ctx)
+{
+ struct wait_kick_cycle *skel = ctx;
+
+ wait_kick_cycle__destroy(skel);
+}
+
+struct scx_test wait_kick_cycle = {
+ .name = "wait_kick_cycle",
+ .description = "Verify SCX_KICK_WAIT forward progress under a 3-CPU wait cycle",
+ .setup = setup,
+ .run = run,
+ .cleanup = cleanup,
+};
+REGISTER_SCX_TEST(&wait_kick_cycle)
--
2.34.1