Re: [PATCH 02/22] kbuild: add support for Clang LTO

[Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@google.com>]

On Wed, Jun 24, 2020 at 1:32 PM Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@google.com> wrote:
>
> This change adds build system support for Clang's Link Time
> Optimization (LTO). With -flto, instead of ELF object files, Clang
> produces LLVM bitcode, which is compiled into native code at link
> time, allowing the final binary to be optimized globally. For more
> details, see:
>
>   https://llvm.org/docs/LinkTimeOptimization.html
>
> The Kconfig option CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is implemented as a choice,
> which defaults to LTO being disabled. To use LTO, the architecture
> must select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG and support:
>
>   - compiling with Clang,
>   - compiling inline assembly with Clang's integrated assembler,
>   - and linking with LLD.
>
> While using full LTO results in the best runtime performance, the
> compilation is not scalable in time or memory. CONFIG_THINLTO
> enables ThinLTO, which allows parallel optimization and faster
> incremental builds. ThinLTO is used by default if the architecture
> also selects ARCH_SUPPORTS_THINLTO:
>
>   https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThinLTO.html
>
> To enable LTO, LLVM tools must be used to handle bitcode files. The
> easiest way is to pass the LLVM=1 option to make:
>
>   $ make LLVM=1 defconfig
>   $ scripts/config -e LTO_CLANG
>   $ make LLVM=1
>
> Alternatively, at least the following LLVM tools must be used:
>
>   CC=clang LD=ld.lld AR=llvm-ar NM=llvm-nm
>
> To prepare for LTO support with other compilers, common parts are
> gated behind the CONFIG_LTO option, and LTO can be disabled for
> specific files by filtering out CC_FLAGS_LTO.
>
> Note that support for DYNAMIC_FTRACE and MODVERSIONS are added in
> follow-up patches.
>
> Signed-off-by: Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@google.com>
> ---
>  Makefile                          | 16 ++++++++
>  arch/Kconfig                      | 66 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h | 11 ++++--
>  scripts/Makefile.build            |  9 ++++-
>  scripts/Makefile.modfinal         |  9 ++++-
>  scripts/Makefile.modpost          | 24 ++++++++++-
>  scripts/link-vmlinux.sh           | 32 +++++++++++----
>  7 files changed, 151 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
> index ac2c61c37a73..0c7fe6fb2143 100644
> --- a/Makefile
> +++ b/Makefile
> @@ -886,6 +886,22 @@ KBUILD_CFLAGS      += $(CC_FLAGS_SCS)
>  export CC_FLAGS_SCS
>  endif
>
> +ifdef CONFIG_LTO_CLANG
> +ifdef CONFIG_THINLTO
> +CC_FLAGS_LTO_CLANG := -flto=thin $(call cc-option, -fsplit-lto-unit)

The kconfig change gates this on clang-11; do we still need the
cc-option check here, or can we hardcode the use of -fsplit-lto-unit?
Playing with the flag in godbolt, it looks like clang-8 had support
for this flag.

> +KBUILD_LDFLAGS += --thinlto-cache-dir=.thinlto-cache

It might be nice to have `make distclean` or even `make clean` scrub
the .thinlto-cache?  Also, I verified that the `.gitignore` rule for
`.*` properly ignores this dir.

> +else
> +CC_FLAGS_LTO_CLANG := -flto
> +endif
> +CC_FLAGS_LTO_CLANG += -fvisibility=default
> +endif
> +
> +ifdef CONFIG_LTO
> +CC_FLAGS_LTO   := $(CC_FLAGS_LTO_CLANG)
> +KBUILD_CFLAGS  += $(CC_FLAGS_LTO)
> +export CC_FLAGS_LTO
> +endif
> +
>  # arch Makefile may override CC so keep this after arch Makefile is included
>  NOSTDINC_FLAGS += -nostdinc -isystem $(shell $(CC) -print-file-name=include)
>
> diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
> index 8cc35dc556c7..e00b122293f8 100644
> --- a/arch/Kconfig
> +++ b/arch/Kconfig
> @@ -552,6 +552,72 @@ config SHADOW_CALL_STACK
>           reading and writing arbitrary memory may be able to locate them
>           and hijack control flow by modifying the stacks.
>
> +config LTO
> +       bool
> +
> +config ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG
> +       bool
> +       help
> +         An architecture should select this option if it supports:
> +         - compiling with Clang,
> +         - compiling inline assembly with Clang's integrated assembler,
> +         - and linking with LLD.
> +
> +config ARCH_SUPPORTS_THINLTO
> +       bool
> +       help
> +         An architecture should select this option if it supports Clang's
> +         ThinLTO.
> +
> +config THINLTO
> +       bool "Clang ThinLTO"
> +       depends on LTO_CLANG && ARCH_SUPPORTS_THINLTO
> +       default y
> +       help
> +         This option enables Clang's ThinLTO, which allows for parallel
> +         optimization and faster incremental compiles. More information
> +         can be found from Clang's documentation:
> +
> +           https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThinLTO.html
> +
> +choice
> +       prompt "Link Time Optimization (LTO)"
> +       default LTO_NONE
> +       help
> +         This option enables Link Time Optimization (LTO), which allows the
> +         compiler to optimize binaries globally.
> +
> +         If unsure, select LTO_NONE.
> +
> +config LTO_NONE
> +       bool "None"
> +
> +config LTO_CLANG
> +       bool "Clang's Link Time Optimization (EXPERIMENTAL)"
> +       depends on CC_IS_CLANG && CLANG_VERSION >= 110000 && LD_IS_LLD
> +       depends on $(success,$(NM) --help | head -n 1 | grep -qi llvm)
> +       depends on $(success,$(AR) --help | head -n 1 | grep -qi llvm)
> +       depends on ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG
> +       depends on !FTRACE_MCOUNT_RECORD
> +       depends on !KASAN
> +       depends on !MODVERSIONS
> +       select LTO
> +       help
> +          This option enables Clang's Link Time Optimization (LTO), which
> +          allows the compiler to optimize the kernel globally. If you enable
> +          this option, the compiler generates LLVM bitcode instead of ELF
> +          object files, and the actual compilation from bitcode happens at
> +          the LTO link step, which may take several minutes depending on the
> +          kernel configuration. More information can be found from LLVM's
> +          documentation:
> +
> +           https://llvm.org/docs/LinkTimeOptimization.html
> +
> +         To select this option, you also need to use LLVM tools to handle
> +         the bitcode by passing LLVM=1 to make.
> +
> +endchoice
> +
>  config HAVE_ARCH_WITHIN_STACK_FRAMES
>         bool
>         help
> diff --git a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> index db600ef218d7..78079000c05a 100644
> --- a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> +++ b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> @@ -89,15 +89,18 @@
>   * .data. We don't want to pull in .data..other sections, which Linux
>   * has defined. Same for text and bss.
>   *
> + * With LTO_CLANG, the linker also splits sections by default, so we need
> + * these macros to combine the sections during the final link.
> + *
>   * RODATA_MAIN is not used because existing code already defines .rodata.x
>   * sections to be brought in with rodata.
>   */
> -#ifdef CONFIG_LD_DEAD_CODE_DATA_ELIMINATION
> +#if defined(CONFIG_LD_DEAD_CODE_DATA_ELIMINATION) || defined(CONFIG_LTO_CLANG)
>  #define TEXT_MAIN .text .text.[0-9a-zA-Z_]*
> -#define DATA_MAIN .data .data.[0-9a-zA-Z_]* .data..LPBX*
> +#define DATA_MAIN .data .data.[0-9a-zA-Z_]* .data..L* .data..compoundliteral*
>  #define SDATA_MAIN .sdata .sdata.[0-9a-zA-Z_]*
> -#define RODATA_MAIN .rodata .rodata.[0-9a-zA-Z_]*
> -#define BSS_MAIN .bss .bss.[0-9a-zA-Z_]*
> +#define RODATA_MAIN .rodata .rodata.[0-9a-zA-Z_]* .rodata..L*
> +#define BSS_MAIN .bss .bss.[0-9a-zA-Z_]* .bss..compoundliteral*
>  #define SBSS_MAIN .sbss .sbss.[0-9a-zA-Z_]*
>  #else
>  #define TEXT_MAIN .text
> diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.build b/scripts/Makefile.build
> index 2e8810b7e5ed..f307e708a1b7 100644
> --- a/scripts/Makefile.build
> +++ b/scripts/Makefile.build
> @@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ endif
>  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  quiet_cmd_cc_s_c = CC $(quiet_modtag)  $@
> -      cmd_cc_s_c = $(CC) $(filter-out $(DEBUG_CFLAGS), $(c_flags)) $(DISABLE_LTO) -fverbose-asm -S -o $@ $<
> +      cmd_cc_s_c = $(CC) $(filter-out $(DEBUG_CFLAGS) $(CC_FLAGS_LTO), $(c_flags)) -fverbose-asm -S -o $@ $<
>
>  $(obj)/%.s: $(src)/%.c FORCE
>         $(call if_changed_dep,cc_s_c)
> @@ -424,8 +424,15 @@ $(obj)/lib.a: $(lib-y) FORCE
>  # Do not replace $(filter %.o,^) with $(real-prereqs). When a single object
>  # module is turned into a multi object module, $^ will contain header file
>  # dependencies recorded in the .*.cmd file.
> +ifdef CONFIG_LTO_CLANG
> +quiet_cmd_link_multi-m = AR [M]  $@
> +cmd_link_multi-m =                                             \
> +       rm -f $@;                                               \
> +       $(AR) rcsTP$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS) $@ $(filter %.o,$^)
> +else
>  quiet_cmd_link_multi-m = LD [M]  $@
>        cmd_link_multi-m = $(LD) $(ld_flags) -r -o $@ $(filter %.o,$^)
> +endif
>
>  $(multi-used-m): FORCE
>         $(call if_changed,link_multi-m)
> diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.modfinal b/scripts/Makefile.modfinal
> index 411c1e600e7d..1005b147abd0 100644
> --- a/scripts/Makefile.modfinal
> +++ b/scripts/Makefile.modfinal
> @@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
>  PHONY := __modfinal
>  __modfinal:
>
> +include $(objtree)/include/config/auto.conf
>  include $(srctree)/scripts/Kbuild.include
>
>  # for c_flags
> @@ -29,6 +30,12 @@ quiet_cmd_cc_o_c = CC [M]  $@
>
>  ARCH_POSTLINK := $(wildcard $(srctree)/arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile.postlink)
>
> +ifdef CONFIG_LTO_CLANG
> +# With CONFIG_LTO_CLANG, reuse the object file we compiled for modpost to
> +# avoid a second slow LTO link
> +prelink-ext := .lto
> +endif
> +
>  quiet_cmd_ld_ko_o = LD [M]  $@
>        cmd_ld_ko_o =                                                     \
>         $(LD) -r $(KBUILD_LDFLAGS)                                      \
> @@ -37,7 +44,7 @@ quiet_cmd_ld_ko_o = LD [M]  $@
>                 -o $@ $(filter %.o, $^);                                \
>         $(if $(ARCH_POSTLINK), $(MAKE) -f $(ARCH_POSTLINK) $@, true)
>
> -$(modules): %.ko: %.o %.mod.o $(KBUILD_LDS_MODULE) FORCE
> +$(modules): %.ko: %$(prelink-ext).o %.mod.o $(KBUILD_LDS_MODULE) FORCE
>         +$(call if_changed,ld_ko_o)
>
>  targets += $(modules) $(modules:.ko=.mod.o)
> diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.modpost b/scripts/Makefile.modpost
> index 3651cbf6ad49..9ced8aecd579 100644
> --- a/scripts/Makefile.modpost
> +++ b/scripts/Makefile.modpost
> @@ -102,12 +102,32 @@ $(input-symdump):
>         @echo >&2 'WARNING: Symbol version dump "$@" is missing.'
>         @echo >&2 '         Modules may not have dependencies or modversions.'
>
> +ifdef CONFIG_LTO_CLANG
> +# With CONFIG_LTO_CLANG, .o files might be LLVM bitcode, so we need to run
> +# LTO to compile them into native code before running modpost
> +prelink-ext = .lto
> +
> +quiet_cmd_cc_lto_link_modules = LTO [M] $@
> +cmd_cc_lto_link_modules =                                              \
> +       $(LD) $(ld_flags) -r -o $@                                      \
> +               --whole-archive $(filter-out FORCE,$^)
> +
> +%.lto.o: %.o FORCE
> +       $(call if_changed,cc_lto_link_modules)
> +
> +PHONY += FORCE
> +FORCE:
> +
> +endif
> +
> +modules := $(sort $(shell cat $(MODORDER)))
> +
>  # Read out modules.order to pass in modpost.
>  # Otherwise, allmodconfig would fail with "Argument list too long".
>  quiet_cmd_modpost = MODPOST $@
> -      cmd_modpost = sed 's/ko$$/o/' $< | $(MODPOST) -T -
> +      cmd_modpost = sed 's/\.ko$$/$(prelink-ext)\.o/' $< | $(MODPOST) -T -
>
> -$(output-symdump): $(MODORDER) $(input-symdump) FORCE
> +$(output-symdump): $(MODORDER) $(input-symdump) $(modules:.ko=$(prelink-ext).o) FORCE
>         $(call if_changed,modpost)
>
>  targets += $(output-symdump)
> diff --git a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
> index 92dd745906f4..a681b3b6722e 100755
> --- a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
> +++ b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
> @@ -52,6 +52,14 @@ modpost_link()
>                 ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS}                          \
>                 --end-group"
>
> +       if [ -n "${CONFIG_LTO_CLANG}" ]; then
> +               # This might take a while, so indicate that we're doing
> +               # an LTO link
> +               info LTO ${1}
> +       else
> +               info LD ${1}
> +       fi
> +
>         ${LD} ${KBUILD_LDFLAGS} -r -o ${1} ${objects}
>  }
>
> @@ -99,13 +107,22 @@ vmlinux_link()
>         fi
>
>         if [ "${SRCARCH}" != "um" ]; then
> -               objects="--whole-archive                        \
> -                       ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS}                  \
> -                       --no-whole-archive                      \
> -                       --start-group                           \
> -                       ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS}                  \
> -                       --end-group                             \
> -                       ${@}"
> +               if [ -n "${CONFIG_LTO_CLANG}" ]; then
> +                       # Use vmlinux.o instead of performing the slow LTO
> +                       # link again.
> +                       objects="--whole-archive                \
> +                               vmlinux.o                       \
> +                               --no-whole-archive              \
> +                               ${@}"
> +               else
> +                       objects="--whole-archive                \
> +                               ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_OBJS}          \
> +                               --no-whole-archive              \
> +                               --start-group                   \
> +                               ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_LIBS}          \
> +                               --end-group                     \
> +                               ${@}"
> +               fi
>
>                 ${LD} ${KBUILD_LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_vmlinux}      \
>                         ${strip_debug#-Wl,}                     \
> @@ -270,7 +287,6 @@ fi;
>  ${MAKE} -f "${srctree}/scripts/Makefile.build" obj=init need-builtin=1
>
>  #link vmlinux.o
> -info LD vmlinux.o
>  modpost_link vmlinux.o
>  objtool_link vmlinux.o
>
> --
> 2.27.0.212.ge8ba1cc988-goog
>


-- 
Thanks,
~Nick Desaulniers