taskset core numbers question

Question

I have quad core CPU with hyper threading enabled. So I have 8 logical cores. I want to limit my application to use only 4 cores and I want this 4 cores to be different physical cores. Which taskset options (core numbers) should I use? :

taskset -c 0,1,2,3 command or
taskset -c 0,2,4,6 command

Thank you.

Just to be clear on the Linux terminology, you have 8 logical "processors" distributed among 4 physical "cores". You want to pick 4 logical processors that correspond to 4 distinct cores. — Mark Lakata, Jun 19 '18 at 18:25

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 20 '19 at 04:11

6

You can see which cores are on which processors by taking at look at /proc/cpuinfo. For example, you will see on a machine with a dual core cpu:

processor   : 0
(snip)
core id     : 0
cpu cores   : 2

for the first core on the processor and:

processor   : 1
(snip)
core id : 1
cpu cores   : 2

on the second.

So, generally speaking, I think you would want:

taskset -c 0,1,2,3

or:

taskset -c 4,5,6,7

edited Sep 20 '19 at 04:11

axel22

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answered Mar 23 '11 at 00:17

malcolmpdx

2,250
1
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1

Um. just curious. If "processor 0" corresponds to [physical] core 0, and "processor 1" corresponds to [physical] core 1…then doesn't that mean that, to have all 4 cores selected, both 0 and 1 must necessarily be selected? (That is, 0/2/4/6 would only use physical cores 0 and 2?) – JamesTheAwesomeDude Jan 30 '17 at 21:29
1

In your example, `processor:0` is on `core:0` and `process:1` is on `core:1`. Those two processors are on different cores, so assuming that the pattern continues, the argument to `taskset` should be `-c 0,1,2,3`. – Mark Lakata Jun 19 '18 at 18:26

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 23 '11 at 01:05

You may want to take a look at CPU Set (cset) to create a CPU shield group for your application. This way you can ensure that real cores are being used for the important work. I typically disable hyperthreading (on Nehalem systems) for my realtime and low-latency applications.

Here's a tutorial for creating groups of CPUs for specific applications/processes using cset, which is a little more organized than taskset. https://rt.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Cpuset_management_utility/tutorial

As far as determining the core count and location assignments, take a look at: http://dag.wieers.com/blog/is-hyper-threading-enabled-on-a-linux-system

A quick run of the utility linked on a quad-core Nehalem with hyperthreading enabled shows:

[root@XXX ~/hwloc-1.0.3]# ./utils/lstopo 
Machine (7980MB) + Socket #0 + L3 #0 (8192KB)
  L2 #0 (256KB) + L1 #0 (32KB) + Core #0
    PU #0 (phys=0)
    PU #1 (phys=4)
  L2 #1 (256KB) + L1 #1 (32KB) + Core #1
    PU #2 (phys=1)
    PU #3 (phys=5)
  L2 #2 (256KB) + L1 #2 (32KB) + Core #2
    PU #4 (phys=2)
    PU #5 (phys=6)
  L2 #3 (256KB) + L1 #3 (32KB) + Core #3
    PU #6 (phys=3)
    PU #7 (phys=7)

This still does not explain if taskset uses physical or logical indexing. If I run `taskset -c 0,1,2,3` on the system above, will it bind to the first two physical cores (logical PUs 0-3) or to the first logical PU on each physical core? — Jakub Klinkovský, Nov 22 '20 at 09:43

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 27 '12 at 00:49

1

You can use like:

taskset -c -p 0-3 pid

edited Apr 27 '12 at 00:49

jscott

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answered Apr 27 '12 at 00:03

YugiReddy

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taskset core numbers question

3 Answers3