[mpiwg-tools] PMPI and sessions init

[Joachim Protze]

Am 09.11.20 um 11:00 schrieb Marc-André Hermanns via mpiwg-tools:
> Hi Joachim,
> 
>> if I understood the discussion about MPI_Session_init and PMPI right, I
>> don't think there exists an issue.
>> By ld-preloading the PMPI tool, the tool can also intercept a call to
>> MPI_Session_init, which might come from a library constructor before
>> main. Even a function called from the library constructor of a static
>> library can be intercepted by a ld-preloaded tool.
>>
>> For libraries, which are explicitly loaded by the MPI runtime during
>> initialization, this would also work. For others, it depends on the
>> ordering of calling the library constructor (might work by chance :).
> 
> Wasn't the problem the fact not necessarily that the tools can not
> intercept MPI_Session_init in time, but our current decision to
> disallow tool *registration* after MPI was initialized, a library
> using session init inside a constructor would cut off registration for
> any tool not registered at the time.
> 
> Maybe I am missing something here or misunderstood something in the
> discussion?
> 

If a tool calls session init in the constructor, the MPI library would
load all tools by an implementation defined mechanism (env variable),
allowing them to register before finishing initialization.
A challenge for the MPI library might be that it must be prepared for
possible re-entrance of session init by different tools:

Tool A - constructor
-> MPI session init
  -> load tool B
     Tool B - constructor
     -> MPI register tool
     -> MPI session init (re-entering in nesting)
        -> load tool C
...



>> This was one of my main motivation of having such an environmental
>> variable.
> 
> I think the environment variable is separate (or orthogonal) to the
> problem above. It's not so much that MPI won't eventually know all the
> tools and their order, but that a "rogue" library would just use (and
> with that initialize) MPI at a time out of control of the tool
> registration process.
> 
> At least that was my understanding of the discussion.

The env variable works like a barrier: MPI initialitation cannot
complete until all tools are loaded and registered.

- Joachim


> 
> Cheers,
> Marc-Andre
> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> mpiwg-tools mailing list
>> mpiwg-tools at lists.mpi-forum.org
>> https://lists.mpi-forum.org/mailman/listinfo/mpiwg-tools
>>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> mpiwg-tools mailing list
> mpiwg-tools at lists.mpi-forum.org
> https://lists.mpi-forum.org/mailman/listinfo/mpiwg-tools
> 


-- 
Dipl.-Inf. Joachim Protze

IT Center
Group: High Performance Computing
Division: Computational Science and Engineering
RWTH Aachen University
Seffenter Weg 23
D 52074  Aachen (Germany)
Tel: +49 241 80- 24765
Fax: +49 241 80-624765
protze at itc.rwth-aachen.de
www.itc.rwth-aachen.de

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 5327 bytes
Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
URL: <http://lists.mpi-forum.org/pipermail/mpiwg-tools/attachments/20201109/b5ca4958/attachment-0001.p7s>