On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 11:57:19AM -0700, Han Zhou wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 10:40 AM, Ben Pfaff <b...@ovn.org> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 10:17:58AM -0700, Han Zhou wrote:
> > > On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 10:09 AM, Ben Pfaff <b...@ovn.org> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 08:29:28PM -0700, Han Zhou wrote:
> > > > > On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 3:37 PM, Ben Pfaff <b...@ovn.org> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > To make ovn-controller recompute incrementally, we need accurate
> > > > > > dependencies for each function that reads or writes a table. It's
> > > > > > currently difficult to be sure about these dependencies, and
> certainly
> > > > > > difficult to maintain them over time, because there's no way to
> > > actually
> > > > > > enforce them.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This commit experiments with an approach that allows for fairly
> > > > > > fine-grained access control within ovn-controller to tables and
> > > columns.
> > > > > > It's based on generating a new version of the IDL data structures
> for
> > > each
> > > > > > case where we want different access control. All of these data
> > > structures
> > > > > > have the same format, but the columns that a given piece of code
> is
> > > not
> > > > > > supposed to touch are renamed to discourage programmers from using
> > > them,
> > > > > > e.g. they're given names suffixed with "__accessdenied". (This
> means
> > > > > > that there is no runtime overhead to the access control since it
> only
> > > > > > requires a cast to convert between the regular and restricted
> > > versions.)
> > > > > > In addition, when a columns is supposed to be read-only,
> functions for
> > > > > > modifying the column are not supplied.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This commit only tries out this experiment for a single file
> within
> > > > > > ovn-controller, the BFD implementation (mostly because that's
> > > > > > alphabetically first, no other real reason). It would require a
> > > little
> > > > > > more work to apply it everywhere, but it's probably not a huge
> deal.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Comments?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > CC: Han Zhou <zhou...@gmail.com>
> > > > > > Signed-off-by: Ben Pfaff <b...@ovn.org>
> > > > > > ---
> > > > > > ovn/controller/automake.mk | 5 +
> > > > > > ovn/controller/bfd-vswitch-idl.def | 21 ++++
> > > > > > ovn/controller/bfd.c | 20 ++--
> > > > > > ovn/controller/bfd.h | 8 +-
> > > > > > ovn/controller/ovn-controller.c | 13 ++-
> > > > > > ovsdb/ovsdb-idlc.in | 223
> > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > > > > ++++++-
> > > > > > 6 files changed, 268 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
> > > > > > create mode 100644 ovn/controller/bfd-vswitch-idl.def
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I wanted to have a quick test but it didn't pass the compile:
> > > > > In file included from ovn/controller/bfd.c:17:0:
> > > > > ovn/controller/bfd.h:19:44: fatal error:
> > > ovn/controller/bfd-vswitch-idl.h:
> > > > > No such file or directory
> > > >
> > > > Hmm. That's a little puzzling. This file should get automatically
> > > > generated by "make". I assume that I messed up a dependency
> somewhere,
> > > > but at first glance I can't see the problem.
> > > >
> > > > > I didn't debug, but by looking at the code I got the idea. It
> ensures
> > > the
> > > > > purpose is declared through the generated data type and violations
> are
> > > > > captured at compile time.
> > > > > I think this is a brilliant way to achieve the check with such a
> small
> > > > > change, however, I am not sure how is it supposed to help for
> generating
> > > > > the dependency. I think instead of caring about whether it is
> > > read-only, we
> > > > > should care about whether it is write-only.
> > > > >
> > > > > For example, a engine node A reads on Table T1's column C1, reads &
> > > writes
> > > > > on Table T2's column C2, and writes on T3's C3. In this case A
> depends
> > > on
> > > > > T1 and T2, but not depends on T3.
> > > > > So I think what matters to the dependency generation is whether it
> is
> > > > > Write-Only. Read-Only is no different from ReadWrite.
> > > > >
> > > > > If my understanding is correct (that we don't care about the
> difference
> > > > > between RO and RW), for WO columns, we can simply just don't
> monitor its
> > > > > change. Then we don't even need this feature from dependency
> generation
> > > > > point of view.
> > > > > Did I miss something?
> > > >
> > > > It's easy enough to add support for write-only columns here. I'll add
> > > > that in the next version.
> > > >
> > > > > Another thing, however, I think is really important for the
> dependency
> > > > > generation is the columns that reference other tables, e.g.
> bfd_run()
> > > > > doesn't has table "ovsrec_port" as input, but in fact it depends on
> this
> > > > > table by referencing from ovsrec_bridge->ports. We need the table
> being
> > > > > referenced appear in the input parameters.
> > > > > The approach in the patch may not solve that problem directly, but
> > > > > something similar may work: we could declare the usage for a
> referenced
> > > > > column as "direct" or "indirect". "indirect" means the column can be
> > > > > accessed only with "get functions" instead of pointers. The "get
> > > functions"
> > > > > requires an additional parameter that is the instance of the table
> being
> > > > > referenced. To call the "get function" to access the column, the
> caller
> > > > > function needs to have the table being referenced passed in as
> > > parameter,
> > > > > so we will be able to catch the dependency. I am not sure if this
> > > approach
> > > > > is too heavy, or is tricky to implement.
> > > >
> > > > I'd think that the patch solves this problem by declaring that bfd.c
> > > > depends only on the tables and columns that bfd-vswitch-idl.def allows
> > > > it to access.
> > >
> > > The patch can prevent bfd_run() from accessing ovsrec_port data.
> However,
> > > the function do require accessing ovsrec_port data:
> > >
> > > char *port_name = br_int->ports[k]->name;
> > >
> > > So my point was, how to expose this access in the parameter of
> bfd_run().
> > > Sorry if my previous reply was not clear.
> >
> > I guess I regard access to bfd_ovsrec_bridge as also granting access to
> > everything reachable from bfd_ovsrec_bridge. That's a customizable
> > amount of access, since what can be reached from bfd_ovsrec_bridge can
> > be set in a fine-grained way from the .def file.
> >
> > It's not ideal to have the access controls in something that is not C,
> > but I haven't figured out a way to do it in plain C and I'm not sure
> > that it is possible.
>
> Ok, I got your point. So the dependency generator will look at table schema
> for references, and whether a referenced table is regarded as dependency
> depends on whether the access is granted by the .def file for those columns
> in the source table.
>
> I think it is good enough for the purpose and it is simpler than the idea I
> described.
>
> +1 to the RFC.
v2 of the RFC applies this concept to every file:
https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/patch/932541/
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