Add io_direct setting (developer-only).

Provide a way to ask the kernel to use O_DIRECT (or local equivalent)
where available for data and WAL files, to avoid or minimize kernel
caching.  This hurts performance currently and is not intended for end
users yet.  Later proposed work would introduce our own I/O clustering,
read-ahead, etc to replace the facilities the kernel disables with this
option.

The only user-visible change, if the developer-only GUC is not used, is
that this commit also removes the obscure logic that would activate
O_DIRECT for the WAL when wal_sync_method=open_[data]sync and
wal_level=minimal (which also requires max_wal_senders=0).  Those are
non-default and unlikely settings, and this behavior wasn't (correctly)
documented.  The same effect can be achieved with io_direct=wal.

Author: Thomas Munro <thomas.munro@gmail.com>
Author: Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>
Author: Bharath Rupireddy <bharath.rupireddyforpostgres@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: Justin Pryzby <pryzby@telsasoft.com>
Reviewed-by: Bharath Rupireddy <bharath.rupireddyforpostgres@gmail.com>
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CA%2BhUKGK1X532hYqJ_MzFWt0n1zt8trz980D79WbjwnT-yYLZpg%40mail.gmail.com

Author: macdice

doc/src/sgml/config.sgml

@@ -3172,7 +3172,6 @@ include_dir 'conf.d'
         </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
        <para>
-        The <literal>open_</literal>* options also use <literal>O_DIRECT</literal> if available.
         Not all of these choices are available on all platforms.
         The default is the first method in the above list that is supported
         by the platform, except that <literal>fdatasync</literal> is the default on
@@ -11256,6 +11255,38 @@ dynamic_library_path = 'C:\tools\postgresql;H:\my_project\lib;$libdir'
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
 
+     <varlistentry id="guc-io-direct" xreflabel="io_direct">
+      <term><varname>io_direct</varname> (<type>string</type>)
+      <indexterm>
+        <primary><varname>io_direct</varname> configuration parameter</primary>
+      </indexterm>
+      </term>
+      <listitem>
+       <para>
+        Ask the kernel to minimize caching effects for relation data and WAL
+        files using <literal>O_DIRECT</literal> (most Unix-like systems),
+        <literal>F_NOCACHE</literal> (macOS) or
+        <literal>FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING</literal> (Windows).
+       </para>
+       <para>
+        May be set to an empty string (the default) to disable use of direct
+        I/O, or a comma-separated list of operations that should use direct I/O.
+        The valid options are <literal>data</literal> for
+        main data files, <literal>wal</literal> for WAL files, and
+        <literal>wal_init</literal> for WAL files when being initially
+        allocated.
+       </para>
+       <para>
+        Some operating systems and file systems do not support direct I/O, so
+        non-default settings may be rejected at startup or cause errors.
+       </para>
+       <para>
+        Currently this feature reduces performance, and is intended for
+        developer testing only.
+       </para>
+      </listitem>
+     </varlistentry>
+
      <varlistentry id="guc-post-auth-delay" xreflabel="post_auth_delay">
       <term><varname>post_auth_delay</varname> (<type>integer</type>)
       <indexterm>

src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c

@@ -2926,6 +2926,7 @@ XLogFileInitInternal(XLogSegNo logsegno, TimeLineID logtli,
 	XLogSegNo	max_segno;
 	int			fd;
 	int			save_errno;
+	int			open_flags = O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL | PG_BINARY;
 
 	Assert(logtli != 0);
 
@@ -2959,8 +2960,11 @@ XLogFileInitInternal(XLogSegNo logsegno, TimeLineID logtli,
 
 	unlink(tmppath);
 
+	if (io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_WAL_INIT)
+		open_flags |= PG_O_DIRECT;
+
 	/* do not use get_sync_bit() here --- want to fsync only at end of fill */
-	fd = BasicOpenFile(tmppath, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL | PG_BINARY);
+	fd = BasicOpenFile(tmppath, open_flags);
 	if (fd < 0)
 		ereport(ERROR,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
@@ -3354,7 +3358,7 @@ XLogFileClose(void)
 	 * use the cache to read the WAL segment.
 	 */
 #if defined(USE_POSIX_FADVISE) && defined(POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED)
-	if (!XLogIsNeeded())
+	if (!XLogIsNeeded() && (io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_WAL) == 0)
 		(void) posix_fadvise(openLogFile, 0, 0, POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED);
 #endif
 
@@ -4445,7 +4449,6 @@ show_in_hot_standby(void)
 	return RecoveryInProgress() ? "on" : "off";
 }
 
-
 /*
  * Read the control file, set respective GUCs.
  *
@@ -8029,35 +8032,27 @@ xlog_redo(XLogReaderState *record)
 }
 
 /*
- * Return the (possible) sync flag used for opening a file, depending on the
- * value of the GUC wal_sync_method.
+ * Return the extra open flags used for opening a file, depending on the
+ * value of the GUCs wal_sync_method, fsync and io_direct.
  */
 static int
 get_sync_bit(int method)
 {
 	int			o_direct_flag = 0;
 
-	/* If fsync is disabled, never open in sync mode */
-	if (!enableFsync)
-		return 0;
-
 	/*
-	 * Optimize writes by bypassing kernel cache with O_DIRECT when using
-	 * O_SYNC and O_DSYNC.  But only if archiving and streaming are disabled,
-	 * otherwise the archive command or walsender process will read the WAL
-	 * soon after writing it, which is guaranteed to cause a physical read if
-	 * we bypassed the kernel cache. We also skip the
-	 * posix_fadvise(POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED) call in XLogFileClose() for the same
-	 * reason.
-	 *
-	 * Never use O_DIRECT in walreceiver process for similar reasons; the WAL
+	 * Use O_DIRECT if requested, except in walreceiver process.  The WAL
 	 * written by walreceiver is normally read by the startup process soon
-	 * after it's written. Also, walreceiver performs unaligned writes, which
+	 * after it's written.  Also, walreceiver performs unaligned writes, which
 	 * don't work with O_DIRECT, so it is required for correctness too.
 	 */
-	if (!XLogIsNeeded() && !AmWalReceiverProcess())
+	if ((io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_WAL) && !AmWalReceiverProcess())
 		o_direct_flag = PG_O_DIRECT;
 
+	/* If fsync is disabled, never open in sync mode */
+	if (!enableFsync)
+		return o_direct_flag;
+
 	switch (method)
 	{
 			/*
@@ -8069,7 +8064,7 @@ get_sync_bit(int method)
 		case SYNC_METHOD_FSYNC:
 		case SYNC_METHOD_FSYNC_WRITETHROUGH:
 		case SYNC_METHOD_FDATASYNC:
-			return 0;
+			return o_direct_flag;
 #ifdef O_SYNC
 		case SYNC_METHOD_OPEN:
 			return O_SYNC | o_direct_flag;

src/backend/access/transam/xlogprefetcher.c

@@ -785,7 +785,7 @@ XLogPrefetcherNextBlock(uintptr_t pgsr_private, XLogRecPtr *lsn)
 				block->prefetch_buffer = InvalidBuffer;
 				return LRQ_NEXT_IO;
 			}
-			else
+			else if ((io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_DATA) == 0)
 			{
 				/*
 				 * This shouldn't be possible, because we already determined

src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c

@@ -541,8 +541,11 @@ PrefetchSharedBuffer(SMgrRelation smgr_reln,
 		 * Try to initiate an asynchronous read.  This returns false in
 		 * recovery if the relation file doesn't exist.
 		 */
-		if (smgrprefetch(smgr_reln, forkNum, blockNum))
+		if ((io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_DATA) == 0 &&
+			smgrprefetch(smgr_reln, forkNum, blockNum))
+		{
 			result.initiated_io = true;
+		}
 #endif							/* USE_PREFETCH */
 	}
 	else
@@ -588,11 +591,11 @@ PrefetchSharedBuffer(SMgrRelation smgr_reln,
  * the kernel and therefore didn't really initiate I/O, and no way to know when
  * the I/O completes other than using synchronous ReadBuffer().
  *
- * 3.  Otherwise, the buffer wasn't already cached by PostgreSQL, and either
+ * 3.  Otherwise, the buffer wasn't already cached by PostgreSQL, and
  * USE_PREFETCH is not defined (this build doesn't support prefetching due to
- * lack of a kernel facility), or the underlying relation file wasn't found and
- * we are in recovery.  (If the relation file wasn't found and we are not in
- * recovery, an error is raised).
+ * lack of a kernel facility), direct I/O is enabled, or the underlying
+ * relation file wasn't found and we are in recovery.  (If the relation file
+ * wasn't found and we are not in recovery, an error is raised).
  */
 PrefetchBufferResult
 PrefetchBuffer(Relation reln, ForkNumber forkNum, BlockNumber blockNum)
@@ -5440,6 +5443,9 @@ ScheduleBufferTagForWriteback(WritebackContext *context, BufferTag *tag)
 {
 	PendingWriteback *pending;
 
+	if (io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_DATA)
+		return;
+
 	/*
 	 * Add buffer to the pending writeback array, unless writeback control is
 	 * disabled.

src/backend/storage/buffer/localbuf.c

@@ -92,8 +92,11 @@ PrefetchLocalBuffer(SMgrRelation smgr, ForkNumber forkNum,
 	{
 #ifdef USE_PREFETCH
 		/* Not in buffers, so initiate prefetch */
-		smgrprefetch(smgr, forkNum, blockNum);
-		result.initiated_io = true;
+		if ((io_direct_flags & IO_DIRECT_DATA) == 0 &&
+			smgrprefetch(smgr, forkNum, blockNum))
+		{
+			result.initiated_io = true;
+		}
 #endif							/* USE_PREFETCH */
 	}
 

src/backend/storage/file/fd.c

@@ -98,7 +98,9 @@
 #include "storage/fd.h"
 #include "storage/ipc.h"
 #include "utils/guc.h"
+#include "utils/guc_hooks.h"
 #include "utils/resowner_private.h"
+#include "utils/varlena.h"
 
 /* Define PG_FLUSH_DATA_WORKS if we have an implementation for pg_flush_data */
 #if defined(HAVE_SYNC_FILE_RANGE)
@@ -162,6 +164,9 @@ bool		data_sync_retry = false;
 /* How SyncDataDirectory() should do its job. */
 int			recovery_init_sync_method = RECOVERY_INIT_SYNC_METHOD_FSYNC;
 
+/* Which kinds of files should be opened with PG_O_DIRECT. */
+int			io_direct_flags;
+
 /* Debugging.... */
 
 #ifdef FDDEBUG
@@ -2022,6 +2027,9 @@ FileWriteback(File file, off_t offset, off_t nbytes, uint32 wait_event_info)
 	if (nbytes <= 0)
 		return;
 
+	if (VfdCache[file].fileFlags & PG_O_DIRECT)
+		return;
+
 	returnCode = FileAccess(file);
 	if (returnCode < 0)
 		return;
@@ -3826,3 +3834,93 @@ data_sync_elevel(int elevel)
 {
 	return data_sync_retry ? elevel : PANIC;
 }
+
+bool
+check_io_direct(char **newval, void **extra, GucSource source)
+{
+	bool		result = true;
+	int			flags;
+
+#if PG_O_DIRECT == 0
+	if (strcmp(*newval, "") != 0)
+	{
+		GUC_check_errdetail("io_direct is not supported on this platform.");
+		result = false;
+	}
+	flags = 0;
+#else
+	List	   *elemlist;
+	ListCell   *l;
+	char	   *rawstring;
+
+	/* Need a modifiable copy of string */
+	rawstring = pstrdup(*newval);
+
+	if (!SplitGUCList(rawstring, ',', &elemlist))
+	{
+		GUC_check_errdetail("invalid list syntax in parameter \"%s\"",
+							"io_direct");
+		pfree(rawstring);
+		list_free(elemlist);
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	flags = 0;
+	foreach(l, elemlist)
+	{
+		char	   *item = (char *) lfirst(l);
+
+		if (pg_strcasecmp(item, "data") == 0)
+			flags |= IO_DIRECT_DATA;
+		else if (pg_strcasecmp(item, "wal") == 0)
+			flags |= IO_DIRECT_WAL;
+		else if (pg_strcasecmp(item, "wal_init") == 0)
+			flags |= IO_DIRECT_WAL_INIT;
+		else
+		{
+			GUC_check_errdetail("invalid option \"%s\"", item);
+			result = false;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * It's possible to configure block sizes smaller than our assumed I/O
+	 * alignment size, which could result in invalid I/O requests.
+	 */
+#if XLOG_BLCKSZ < PG_IO_ALIGN_SIZE
+	if (result && (flags & (IO_DIRECT_WAL | IO_DIRECT_WAL_INIT)))
+	{
+		GUC_check_errdetail("io_direct is not supported for WAL because XLOG_BLCKSZ is too small");
+		result = false;
+	}
+#endif
+#if BLCKSZ < PG_IO_ALIGN_SIZE
+	if (result && (flags & IO_DIRECT_DATA))
+	{
+		GUC_check_errdetail("io_direct is not supported for data because BLCKSZ is too small");
+		result = false;
+	}
+#endif
+
+	pfree(rawstring);
+	list_free(elemlist);
+#endif
+
+	if (!result)
+		return result;
+
+	/* Save the flags in *extra, for use by assign_io_direct */
+	*extra = guc_malloc(ERROR, sizeof(int));
+	*((int *) *extra) = flags;
+
+	return result;
+}
+
+extern void
+assign_io_direct(const char *newval, void *extra)
+{
+	int		   *flags = (int *) extra;
+
+	io_direct_flags = *flags;
+}