# Cpuset (cset) Tutorial

Alex Tsariounov <alext@novell.com>
Copyright (c) 2009-2011 Novell Inc., cset v1.5.6
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.

This tutorial describes basic and advanced usage of the cset command to manipulate cpusets on a Linux system. See also the manpages that come with the cset command: cset(1), cset-shield(1), cset-set(1), and cset-proc(1) for more details. Additionally, the cset command has online help.

## 1. Introduction

In the Linux kernel, the cpuset facility provides a mechanism for creating logical entities called "cpusets" that encompass definitions of CPUs and NUMA Memory Nodes (if NUMA is available). Cpusets constrain the CPU and Memory placement of a task to only the resources defined within that cpuset. These cpusets can then be arranged into a nested hierarchy visible in the "cpuset" virtual filesystem. Sets of tasks can be assigned to these cpusets to constrain the resources that they use. The tasks can be moved from one cpuset to another to utilize other resources defined in those other cpusets.

The cset command is a Python application that provides a command line front end for the Linux cpusets functionality. Working with cpusets directly can be confusing and slightly complex. The cset tool hides that complexity behind an easy-to-use command line interface.

There are two distinct use cases for cset: the basic shielding use case and the "advanced" case of using raw `set` and `proc` subcommands. The basic shielding function is accessed with the `shield` subcommand and described in the next section. Using the raw `set` and `proc` subcommands allows one to set up arbitrarily complex cpusets and is described in the later sections.

Note that in general, one either uses the `shield` subcommand or a combination of the `set` and `proc` subcommands. One rarely, if ever, uses all of these subcommands together. Doing so will likely become too confusing. Additionally, the `shield` subcommand sets up its required cpusets with exclusively marked CPUs. This can interfere with your cpuset strategy. If you find that you need more functionality for your strategy than `shield` provides, go ahead and transition to using `set` and `proc` exclusively. It is straightforward to implement what `shield` does with a few extra `set` and `proc` subcommands.

### 1.1. Obtaining Online Help

For a full list of cset subcommands

  `# cset help`

For in-depth help on individual subcommands

  `# cset help <subcommand>`

For options of individual subcommands

  `# cset <subcommand> (-h | --help)`

## 2. The Basic Shielding Model

Although any set up of cpusets can really be described as "shielding," there is one prevalent shielding model in use that is so common that cset has a subcommand that is dedicated to its use. This subcommand is called `shield`.

The concept behind this model is the use of three cpusets. The root cpuset which is always present in all configurations and contains all CPUs. The system cpuset which contains CPUs which are used for system tasks. These are the normal tasks that are not "important," but which need to run on the system. And finally, the user cpuset which contains CPUs which are used for "important" tasks. The user cpuset is the shield. Only those tasks that are somehow important, usually tasks whose performance determines the overall rating for the machine, are run in the user cpuset.

The `shield` subcommand manages all of these cpusets and lets you define the CPUs and Memory Nodes that are in the shielded and unshielded sets. The subcommand automatically moves all movable tasks on the system into the unshielded cpuset on shield activation, and back into the root cpuset on shield tear down. The subcommand then lets you move tasks into and out of the shield. Additionally, you can move special tasks (kernel threads) which normally run in the root cpuset into the unshielded set so that your shield will have even less disturbance.

The `shield` subcommand abstracts the management of these cpusets away from you and provides options that drive how the shield is set up, which tasks are to be shielded and which tasks are not, and status of the shield. In fact, you need not be bothered with the naming of the required cpusets or even where the cpuset filesystem is mounted. Cset and the `shield` subcommand takes care of all that.

If you find yourself needing to define more cpusets for your application, then it is likely that this simple shielding is not a rich enough model for you. In this case, you should transition to using the `set` and `proc` subcommands described in a later section.

### 2.1. A Simple Shielding Example

Assume that we have a 4-way machine that is not NUMA. This means there are 4 CPUs at our disposal and there is only one Memory Node available. On such machines, we do not need to specify any memory node parameters to cset, it sets up the only available memory node by default.

Usually, one wants to dedicate as many CPUs to the shield as possible and leave a minimal set of CPUs for normal system processing. The reasoning for this is because the performance of the important tasks will rule the performance of the installation as a whole and these important tasks need as many resources available to them as possible, exclusive of other, unimportant tasks that are running on the system.

Note | I use the word "task" to represent either a process or a thread that is running on the system.

#### 2.1.1. Setup and Teardown of the Shield

To set up a shield of 3 CPUs with 1 CPU left for low priority system processing, issue the following command.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -c 1-3
    cset: --> activating shielding:
    cset: moving 176 tasks from root into system cpuset...
    [==================================================]%
    cset: "system" cpuset of CPUSPEC(0) with 176 tasks running
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running

This command does a number of things. First, a user cpuset is created with what’s called a CPUSPEC (CPU specification) from the `-c/--cpu` option. This CPUSPEC specifies to use CPUs 1 through 3 inclusively. Next, the command creates a system cpuset with a CPUSPEC that is the inverse of the `-c` option for the current machine. On this machine that cpuset will only contain the first CPU, CPU0. Next, all userspace processes running in the root cpuset are transfered to the system cpuset. This makes all those processes run only on CPU0. The effect of this is that the shield consists of CPUs 1 through 3 and they are now idling.

Note that the command did not move the kernel threads that are running in the root cpuset to the system cpuset. This is because you may want these kernel threads to use all available CPUs. If you do not, the you can use the `-k/--kthread` option as described below.

The shield setup command above outputs the information of which cpusets were created and how many tasks are running on each. If you want to see the current status of the shield again, issue this command:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield
    cset: --> shielding system active with
    cset: "system" cpuset of CPUSPEC(0) with 176 tasks running
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running

Which shows us that the shield is set up and that 176 tasks are running in the system cpuset—the "unshielded" cpuset.

It is important to move all possible tasks from the root cpuset to the unshielded system cpuset because a task’s cpuset property is inherited by its children. Since we’ve moved all running tasks (including init) to the unshielded system cpuset, that means that any new tasks that are spawned will also run in the unshielded system cpuset.

Some kernel threads can be moved into the unshielded system cpuset as well. These are the threads that are not bound to specific CPUs. If a kernel thread is bound to a specific CPU, then it is generally not a good idea to move that thread to the system set because at worst it may hang the system and at best it will slow the system down significantly. These threads are usually the IRQ threads on a real time Linux kernel, for example, and you may want to not move these kernel threads into system. If you leave them in the root cpuset, then they will have access to all CPUs.

However, if your application demands an even "quieter" shield, then you can move all movable kernel threads into the unshielded system set with the following command.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -k on
    cset: --> activating kthread shielding
    cset: kthread shield activated, moving 70 tasks into system cpuset...
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

You can see that this moved an additional 70 tasks to the unshielded system cpuset. Note that the `-k/--kthread on` parameter can be given at the shield creation time as well and you do not need to perform these two steps separately if you know that you will want kernel thread shielding as well. Executing cset shield again shows us the current state of the shield.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield
    cset: --> shielding system active with
    cset: "system" cpuset of CPUSPEC(0) with 246 tasks running
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running

You can get a detailed listing of what is running in the shield by specifying either `-s/--shield` or `-u/--unshield` to the `shield` subcommand and using the verbose flag. You will get output similar to the following.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield --unshield -v
    cset: "system" cpuset of CPUSPEC(0) with 251 tasks running
       USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
       -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
       root         1     0 Soth init [5]
       root         2     0 Soth [kthreadd]
       root        84     2 Sf50 [IRQ-9]
    ...
       alext    31796 31789 Soth less
       root     32653 25222 Roth python ./cset shield --unshield -v

Note that I abbreviated the listing; we do have 251 tasks running in the system set. The output is self-explanatory; however, the "SPPr" field may need a little explanation. "SPPr" stands for State, Policy and Priority. You can see that the initial two tasks are Stopped and running in timeshare priority, marked as "oth" (for "other"). The [IRQ-9] task is also stopped, but marked at real time FIFO policy with a priority of 50. The last task in the listing is the cset command itself and is marked as running. Also note that adding a second `-v/--verbose` option will not restrict the output to fit into an 80 character screen.

Tear down of the shield, stopping the shield in other words, is done with the `-r/--reset` option to the `shield` subcommand. When this command is issued, both the system and user cpusets are deleted and any tasks that are running in both of those cpusets are moved to the root cpuset. Once so moved, all tasks will have access to all resources on the system. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield --reset
    cset: --> deactivating/reseting shielding
    cset: moving 0 tasks from "/user" user set to root set...
    cset: moving 250 tasks from "/system" system set to root set...
    [==================================================]%
    cset: deleting "/user" and "/system" sets
    cset: done

#### 2.1.2. Moving Interesting Tasks Into and Out of the Shield

Now that we have a shield running, the objective is to run our "important" processes in that shield. These processes can be anything, but usually they are directly related to the purpose of the machine. There are two ways to run tasks in the shield:

1. Exec a process into the shield

2. Move an already running task into the shield

##### Execing a Process into the Shield

Running a new process in the shield can be done with the `-e/--exec` option to the `shield` subcommand. This is the simplest way to get a task to run in the shield. For this example, let’s exec a new bash shell into the shield with the following commands.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -e bash
    cset: --> last message, executed args into cpuset "/user", new pid is: 13300

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s -v
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 2 tasks running
       USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
       -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
       root     13300  8583 Soth bash
       root     13329 13300 Roth python ./cset shield -s -v

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# exit

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running
    cset: done

The first command above lists the status of the shield. We see that the shield is defined as CPUs 1 through 3 inclusive and currently there are no tasks running in it.

The second command execs the bash shell into the shield with the `-e` option. The last message of cset lists the PID of the new process.

Note | cset follows the tradition of separating the tool options from the command to be execed options with a double dash (`--`). This is not shown in this simple example, but if the command you want to exec also takes options, separate them with the double dash like so: `# cset shield -e mycommand -- -v` The `-v` will be passed to `mycommand`, and not to cset.

The next command lists the status of the shield again. You will note that there are actually two tasks running shielded: our new shell and the cset status command itself. Remember that the cpuset property of a task is inherited by its children. Since we ran the new shell in the shield, its child, which is the status command, also ran in the shield.

Tip | Execing a shell into the shield is a useful way to experiment with running tasks in the shield since all children of the shell will also run in the shield.

The last command exits the shell after which we request a shield status again and see that once again, it does not contain any tasks.

You may have noticed in the output above that both the new shell and the status command are running as the root user. This is because cset needs to run as root and so all it’s children will also run as root. If you need to run a process under a different user and or group, you may use the `--user` and `--group` options for `exec` as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield --user=alext --group=users -e bash
    cset: --> last message, executed args into cpuset "/user", new pid is: 14212

    alext@zuul> cset shield -s -v
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 2 tasks running
       USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
       -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
       alext    14212  8583 Soth bash
       alext    14241 14212 Roth python ./cset shield -s -v

##### Moving a Running Task into and out of the Shield

While execing a process into the shield is undoubtably useful, most of the time, you’ll want to move already running tasks into and out of the shield. The cset shield subcommand includes two options for doing this: `-s/--shield` and `-u/--unshield`. These options require what’s called a PIDSPEC (process specification) to also be specified with the `-p/--pid` option. The PIDSPEC defines which tasks get operated on. The PIDSPEC can be a single process ID, a list of process IDs separated by commas, and a list of process ID ranges separated by dashes, groups of which are separated by commas. For example:

`--shield --pid 1234`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that PID 1234 be shielded.

`--shield --pid 1234,42,1934,15000,15001,15002`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that this list of PIDs only be moved into the shield.

`--unshield -p 5000,5100,6010-7000,9232`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that PIDs 5000,5100 and 9232 be unshielded (moved out of the shield) along with any existing PID that is in the range 6010 through 7000 inclusive.

Note | A range in a PIDSPEC does not have to have tasks running for every number in that range. In fact, it is not even an error if there are no tasks running in that range; none will be moved in that case. The range simply specifies to act on any tasks that have a PID or TID that is within that range.

Use of the appropriate PIDSPEC can thus be handy to move tasks and groups of tasks into and out of the shield. Additionally, there is one more option that can help with multi-threaded processes, and that is the `--threads` flag. If this flag is present in a `shield` or `unshield` command with a PIDSPEC and if any of the task IDs in the PIDSPEC belong to a thread in a process container, then all the sibling threads in that process container will get shielded or unshielded as well. This flag provides an easy mechanism to shield/unshield all threads of a process by simply specifying one thread in that process.

In the following example, we move the current shell into the shield with a range PIDSPEC and back out with the bash variable for the current PID.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# echo $$
    22018

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s -p 22010-22020
    cset: --> shielding following pidspec: 22010-22020
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s -v
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 2 tasks running
       USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
       -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
       root      3770 22018 Roth python ./cset shield -s -v
       root     22018  5034 Soth bash
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -u -p $$
    cset: --> unshielding following pidspec: 22018
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset shield -s
    cset: "user" cpuset of CPUSPEC(1-3) with 0 tasks running
    cset: done

Note | Ordinarily, the `shield` option will shield a PIDSPEC only if it is currently running in the system set—the unshielded set. The `unshield` option will unshield a PIDSPEC only if it is currently running in the user set—the shielded set. If you want to `shield/unshield` a process that happens to be running in the root set (not common), then use the `--force` option for these commands.

## 3. Full Featured Cpuset Manipulation Commands

While basic shielding as described above is useful and a common use model for cset, there comes a time when more functionality will be desired to implement your strategy. To implement this, cset provides two subcommands: `set`, which allows you to manipulate cpusets; and `proc`, which allows you to manipulate processes within those cpusets.

### 3.1. The Set Subcommand

In order to do anything with cpusets, you must be able to create, adjust, rename, move and destroy them. The `set` subcommand allows the management of cpusets in such a manner.

#### 3.1.1. Creating and Destroying Cpusets with Set

The basic syntax of `set` for cpuset creation is:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1-3 -s my_cpuset1
    cset: --> created cpuset "my_cpuset1"

This creates a cpuset named "my_cpuset1" with a CPUSPEC of CPU1, CPU2 and CPU3. The CPUSPEC is the same concept as described in the "Setup and Teardown of the Shield" section above. The `set` subcommand also takes a `-m/--mem` option that lets you specify the memory nodes the set will use as well as flags to make the CPUs and MEMs exclusive to the cpuset. If you are on a non-NUMA machine, just leave the `-m` option out and the default memory node 0 will be used.

Just like with `shield`, you can adjust the CPUs and MEMs with subsequent calls to `set`. If, for example, you wish to adjust the "my_cpuset1" cpuset to only use CPUs 1 and 3 (and omit CPU2), then issue the following command.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1,3 -s my_cpuset1
    cset: --> modified cpuset "my_cpuset

cset will then adjust the CPUs that are assigned to the "my_cpuset1" set to only use CPU1 and CPU3.

To rename a cpuset, use the `-n/--newname` option. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -s my_cpuset1 -n super_set
    cset: --> renaming "/cpusets/my_cpuset1" to "super_set"

Renames the cpuset called "my_cpuset1" to "super_set".

To destroy a cpuset, use the `-d/--destroy` option as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -d super_set
    cset: --> processing cpuset "super_set", moving 0 tasks to parent "/"...
    cset: --> deleting cpuset "/super_set"
    cset: done

This command destroys the newly created cpuset called "super_set". When a cpuset is destroyed, all the tasks running in it are moved to the parent cpuset. The root cpuset, which always exists and always contains all CPUs, can not be destroyed. You may also give the `--destroy` option a list of cpusets to destroy.

Note | The cset subcommand creates the cpusets based on a mounted cpuset filesystem. You do not need to know where that filesystem is mounted, although it is easy to figure out (by default it’s on /cpusets). When you give the `set` subcommand a name for a new cpuset, it is created wherever the cpuset filesystem is mounted at.

If you want to create a cpuset hierarchy, then you must give a path to the cset `set` subcommand. This path will always begin with the root cpuset, for which the path is /. For example.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1,3 -s top_set
    cset: --> created cpuset "top_set"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 3 -s /top_set/sub_set
    cset: --> created cpuset "/top_set/sub_set"

These commands created two cpusets: top_set and sub_set. The top_set uses CPU1 and CPU3. It has a subset of sub_set which only uses CPU3. Once you have created a subset with a path, then if the name is unique, you do not have to specify the path in order to affect it. If the name is not unique, then cset will complain and ask you to use the path. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1,3 -s sub_set
    cset: --> modified cpuset "sub_set

This command adds CPU1 to the sub_set cpuset for it’s use. Note that using the path in this case is optional.

If you attempt to destroy a cpuset which has sub-cpusets, cset will complain and not do it unless you use the `-r/--recurse` and the `--force` options. If you do use `--force`, then all the tasks running in all subsets of the deletion target cpuset will be moved to the target’s parent cpuset and all cpusets.

Moving a cpuset from under a certain cpuset to a different location is currently not implemented and is slated for a later release of cset.

#### 3.1.2. Listing Cpusets with Set

To list cpusets, use the `set` subcommand with the -l/--list option. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   320    1 /
              one          3 n       0 n     0    1 /one

This shows that there is currently one cpuset present called one. (Of course that there is also the root set, which is always present.) The output shows that the one cpuset has no tasks running in it. The root cpuset has 320 tasks running. The "-X" for "CPUs" and "MEMs" fields denotes whether the CPUs and MEMs in the cpusets are marked exclusive to those cpusets. Note that the one cpuset has subsets as indicated by a 1 in the Subs field. You can specify a cpuset to list with the `set` subcommand as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -s one
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              one          3 n       0 n     0    1 /one
              two          3 n       0 n     0    1 /one/two

This output shows that there is a cpuset called two in cpuset one and it also has subset. You can also ask for a recursive listing as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -r
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   320    1 /
              one          3 n       0 n     0    1 /one
              two          3 n       0 n     0    1 /one/two
            three          3 n       0 n     0    0 /one/two/three

This command lists all cpusets existing on the system since it asks for a recursive listing beginning at the root cpuset. Incidentally, should you need to specify the root cpuset you can use either `root` or `/` to specify it explicitely—just remember that the root cpuset cannot be deleted or modified.

### 3.2. The Proc Subcommand

Now that we know how to create, rename and destroy cpusets with the `set` subcommand, the next step is to manage threads and processes in those cpusets. The subcommand to do this is called `proc` and it allows you to exec processes into a cpuset, move existing tasks around existing cpusets, and list tasks running in specified cpusets. For the following examples, let us assume a cpuset setup of two sets as follows:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   309    2 /
              two          2 n       0 n     3    0 /two
            three          3 n       0 n    10    0 /three

#### 3.2.1. Listing Tasks with Proc

Operation of the `proc` subcommand follows the same model as the `set` subcommand. For example, to list tasks in a cpuset, you need to use the `-l/--list` option and specify the cpuset by name or, if the name exists multiple times in the cpuset hierarchy, by path. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 3 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root     16141  4300 Soth bash
     root     16171 16141 Soth bash
     root     16703 16171 Roth python ./cset proc -l two

This output shows us that the cpuset called two has CPU2 only attached to it and is running three tasks: two shells and the python command to list it. Note that cpusets are inherited so that if a process is contained in a cpuset, then any children it spawns also run within that set. In this case, the python command to list set two was run from a shell already running in set two. This can be seen by the PPID (parent process ID) of the python command matching the PID of the shell.

Additionally, the "SPPr" field needs explanation. "SPPr" stands for State, Policy and Priority. You can see that the initial two tasks are Stopped and running in timeshare priority, marked as "oth" (for "other"). The last task is marked as running, "R" and also at timeshare priority, "oth." If any of these tasks would have been at real time priority, then the policy would be shown as "f" for FIFO or "r" for round robin, and the priority would be a number from 1 to 99. See below for an example.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s root | head -7
    cset: "root" cpuset of CPUSPEC(0-3) with 309 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root         1     0 Soth init [5]
     root         2     0 Soth [kthreadd]
     root         3     2 Sf99 [migration/0]
     root         4     2 Sf99 [posix_cpu_timer]

This output shows the first few tasks in the root cpuset. Note that both init and [kthread] are running at timeshare; however, the [migration/0] and [posix_cpu_timer] kernel threads are running at real time policy of FIFO and priority of 99. Incidentally, this output is from a system running the real time Linux kernel which runs some kernel threads at real time priorities. And finally, note that you can of course use cset as any other Linux tool and include it in pipelines as in the example above.

Taking a peek into the third cpuset called three, we see:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s three
    cset: "three" cpuset of CPUSPEC(3) with 10 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     alext    16165     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16169     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16170     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16237     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16491     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16492     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16493     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17243     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17244     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17265     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...

This output shows that a lot of beagled tasks are running in this cpuset and it also shows an ellipsis (…) at the end of their listings. If you see this ellipsis, that means that the command was too long to fit onto an 80 character screen. To see the entire commandline, use the `-v/--verbose` flag, as per following.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s three -v | head -4
    cset: "three" cpuset of CPUSPEC(3) with 10 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     alext    16165     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg --autostarted --indexing-delay 300

#### 3.2.2. Execing Tasks with Proc

To exec a task into a cpuset, the `proc` subcommand needs to be employed with the `-e/--exec` option. Let’s exec a shell into the cpuset named two in our set. First we check to see what is running that set:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 0 tasks running

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -s two -e bash
    cset: --> last message, executed args into cpuset "/two", new pid is: 20955

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 2 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root     20955 19253 Soth bash
     root     20981 20955 Roth python ./cset proc -l two

You can see that initially, two had nothing running in it. After the completion of the second command, we list two again and see that there are two tasks running: the shell which we execed and the python cset command that is listing the cpuset. The reason for the second task is that the cpuset property of a running task is inherited by all its children. Since we executed the listing command from the new shell which was bound to cpuset two, the resulting process for the listing is also bound to cpuset two. Let’s test that by just running a new shell with no prefixed cset command.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# bash

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 3 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root     20955 19253 Soth bash
     root     21118 20955 Soth bash
     root     21147 21118 Roth python ./cset proc -l two

Here again we see that the second shell, PID 21118, has a parent PID of 20955 which is the first shell. Both shells as well as the listing command are running in the two cpuset.

Note | cset follows the tradition of separating the tool options from the command to be execed options with a double dash (`--`). This is not shown in this simple example, but if the command you want to exec also takes options, separate them with the double dash like so: `# cset proc -s myset -e mycommand -- -v` The `-v` will be passed to `mycommand`, and not to cset.

Tip | Execing a shell into a cpuset is a useful way to experiment with running tasks in that cpuset since all children of the shell will also run in the same cpuset.

Finally, if you misspell the command to be execed, the result may be puzzling. For example:

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -s two -e blah-blah
    cset: --> last message, executed args into cpuset "/two", new pid is: 21655
    cset: **> [Errno 2] No such file or directory

The result is no new process even though a new PID is output. The reason for the message is of course that the cset process forked in preparation for exec, but the command `blah-blah` was not found in order to exec it.

#### 3.2.3. Moving Tasks with Proc

Although the ability to exec a task into a cpuset is fundamental, you will most likely be moving tasks between cpusets more often. Moving tasks is accomplished with the `-m/--move` and `-p/--pid` options to the `proc` subcommand of cset. The move option tells the `proc` subcommand that a task move is requested. The `-p/--pid` option takes an argument called a PIDSPEC (PID Specification). The PIDSPEC defines which tasks get operated on.

The PIDSPEC can be a single process ID, a list of process IDs separated by commas, and a list of process ID ranges also separated by commas. For example:

`--move --pid 1234`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that task 1234 be moved.

`--move --pid 1234,42,1934,15000,15001,15002`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that this list of tasks only be moved.

`--move --pid 5000,5100,6010-7000,9232`

  This PIDSPEC argument specifies that tasks 5000,5100 and 9232 be moved along with any existing task that is in the range 6010 through 7000 inclusive.

Note | A range in a PIDSPEC does not have to have running tasks for every number in that range. In fact, it is not even an error if there are no tasks running in that range; none will be moved in that case. The range simply specifies to act on any tasks that have a PID or TID that is within that range.

In the following example, we move the current shell into the cpuset named two with a range PIDSPEC and back out to the root cpuset with the bash variable for the current PID.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 0 tasks running

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# echo $$
    19253

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -p 19250-19260 -t two
    cset: moving following pidspec: 19253
    cset: moving 1 userspace tasks to /two
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 2 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root     19253 16447 Roth bash
     root     29456 19253 Roth python ./cset proc -l -s two

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -p $$ -t root
    cset: moving following pidspec: 19253
    cset: moving 1 userspace tasks to /
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 0 tasks running

Use of the appropriate PIDSPEC can thus be handy to move tasks and groups of tasks. Additionally, there is one more option that can help with multi-threaded processes, and that is the `--threads` flag. If this flag is present in a `proc` move command with a PIDSPEC and if any of the task IDs in the PIDSPEC belongs to a thread in a process container, then all the sibling threads in that process container will also get moved. This flag provides an easy mechanism to move all threads of a process by simply specifying one thread in that process. In the following example, we move all the threads running in cpuset three to cpuset two by using the `--threads` flag.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set two three
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              two          2 n       0 n     0    0 /two
            three          3 n       0 n    10    0 /three

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s three
    cset: "three" cpuset of CPUSPEC(3) with 10 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     alext    16165     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16169     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16170     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16237     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16491     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16492     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16493     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17243     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17244     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    27133     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -p 16165 --threads -t two
    cset: moving following pidspec: 16491,16493,16492,16170,16165,16169,27133,17244,17243,16237
    cset: moving 10 userspace tasks to /two
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set two three
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              two          2 n       0 n    10    0 /two
            three          3 n       0 n     0    0 /three

##### Moving All Tasks from one Cpuset to Another

There is a special case for moving all tasks currently running in one cpuset to another. This can be a common use case, and when you need to do it, specifying a PIDSPEC with `-p` is not necessary so long as you use the `-f/--fromset` and the `-t/--toset` options.

In the following example, we move all 10 `beagled` threads back to cpuset three with this method.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l two three
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 10 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     alext    16165     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16169     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16170     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16237     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16491     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16492     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    16493     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17243     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    17244     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
     alext    27133     1 Soth beagled /usr/lib64/beagle/BeagleDaemon.exe --bg -...
    cset: "three" cpuset of CPUSPEC(3) with 0 tasks running

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -f two -t three
    cset: moving all tasks from two to /three
    cset: moving 10 userspace tasks to /three
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set two three
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              two          2 n       0 n     0    0 /two
            three          3 n       0 n    10    0 /three

##### Moving Kernel Threads with Proc

Kernel threads are special and cset detects tasks that are kernel threads and will refuse to move them unless you also add a `-k/--kthread` option to your `proc` move command. Even if you include `-k`, cset will still refuse to move the kernel thread if they are bound to specific CPUs. The reason for this is system protection.

A number of kernel threads, especially on the real time Linux kernel, are bound to specific CPUs and depend on per-CPU kernel variables. If you move these threads to a different CPU than what they are bound to, you risk at best that the system will become horribly slow, and at worst a system hang. If you still insist to move those threads (after all, cset needs to give the knowledgeable user access to the keys), then you need to use the `--force` option additionally.

Warning | Overriding a task move command with `--force` can have dire consequences for the system. Please be sure of the command before you force it.

In the following example, we move all unbound kernel threads running in the root cpuset to the cpuset named two by using the `-k` option.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -k -f root -t two
    cset: moving all kernel threads from / to /two
    cset: moving 70 kernel threads to: /two
    cset: --> not moving 76 threads (not unbound, use --force)
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

You will note that we used the fromset→toset facility of the `proc` subcommand and we only specified the `-k` option (not the `-m` option). This has the effect of moving all kernel threads only.

Note that only 70 actual kernel threads were moved and 76 were not. The reason that 76 kernel threads were not moved was because they are bound to specific CPUs. Now, let’s move those kernel threads back to root.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -k -f two -t root
    cset: moving all kernel threads from /two to /
    cset: ** no task matched move criteria
    cset: **> kernel tasks are bound, use --force if ok

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -s two
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              two          2 n       0 n    70    0 /two

Ah! What’s this? Cset refused to move the kernel threads back to root because it says that they are "bound." Let’s check this with the Linux taskset command.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -l -s two | head -5
    cset: "two" cpuset of CPUSPEC(2) with 70 tasks running
     USER       PID  PPID SPPr TASK NAME
     -------- ----- ----- ---- ---------
     root         2     0 Soth [kthreadd]
     root        55     2 Soth [khelper]

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# taskset -p 2
    pid 2's current affinity mask: 4

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -s two
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
              two          2 n       0 n    70    0 /two

Of course, since the cpuset named two only has CPU2 assigned to it, once we moved the unbound kernel threads from root to two, their affinity masks got automatically changed to only use CPU2. This is evident from the `taskset` output which is a hex value. To really move these threads back to root, we need to force the move as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -k -f two -t root --force
    cset: moving all kernel threads from /two to /
    cset: moving 70 kernel threads to: /
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

#### 3.2.4. Destroying Tasks

There actually is no cset subcommand or option to destroy tasks—it’s not really needed. Tasks exist and are accessible on the system as normal, even if they happen to be running in one cpuset or another. To destroy tasks, use the usual ^C method or by using the kill(1) command.

### 3.3. Implementing "Shielding" with Set and Proc

With the preceding material on the `set` and `proc` subcommands, we now have the background to implement the basic shielding model, just like the `shield` subcommand.

One may pose the question as to why we want to do this, especially since `shield` already does it? The answer is that sometimes one needs more functionality than `shield` has to implement one’s shielding strategy. In those case you need to first stop using `shield` since that subcommand will interfere with the further application of `set` and `proc`; however, you will still need to implement the functionality of `shield` in order to implement successful shielding.

Remember from the above sections describing `shield`, that shielding has at minimum three cpusets: root, which is always present and contains all CPUs; system which is the "non-shielded" set of CPUs and runs unimportant system tasks; and user, which is the "shielded" set of CPUs and runs your important tasks. Remember also that `shield` moves all movable tasks into system and, optionally, moves unbound kernel threads into system as well.

We start first by creating the system and user cpusets as follows. We assume that the machine is a four-CPU machine without NUMA memory features. The system cpuset should hold only CPU0 while the user cpuset should hold the rest of the CPUs.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 0 -s system
    cset: --> created cpuset "system"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1-3 -s user
    cset: --> created cpuset "user"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   333    2 /
             user        1-3 n       0 n     0    0 /user
           system          0 n       0 n     0    0 /system

Now, we need to move all running user processes into the system cpuset.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -f root -t system
    cset: moving all tasks from root to /system
    cset: moving 188 userspace tasks to /system
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   146    2 /
             user        1-3 n       0 n     0    0 /user
           system          0 n       0 n   187    0 /system

We now have the basic shielding set up. Since all userspace tasks are running in system, anything that is spawned from them will also run in system. The user cpuset has nothing running in it unless you put tasks there with the `proc` subcommand as described above. If you also want to move movable kernel threads from root to system (in order to achieve a form of "interrupt shielding" on a real time Linux kernel for example), you would execute the following command as well.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -k -f root -t system
    cset: moving all kernel threads from / to /system
    cset: moving 70 kernel threads to: /system
    cset: --> not moving 76 threads (not unbound, use --force)
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y    76    2 /
             user        1-3 n       0 n     0    0 /user
           system          0 n       0 n   257    0 /system

At this point, you have achieved the simple shielding model that the `shield` subcommand provides. You can now add other cpuset definitions to expand your shielding strategy beyond that simple model.

### 3.4. Implementing Hierarchy with Set and Proc

One popular extended "shielding" model is based on hierarchical cpusets, each with diminishing numbers of CPUs. This model is used to create "priority cpusets" that allow assignment of CPU resources to tasks based on some arbitrary priority definition. The idea being that a higher priority task will get access to more CPU resources than a lower priority task.

The example provided here once again assumes a machine with four CPUs and no NUMA memory features. This base serves to illustrate the point well; however, note that if your machine has (many) more CPUs, then strategies such as this and others get more interesting.

We define a shielding set up as in the previous section where we have a system cpuset with just CPU0 that takes care of "unimportant" system tasks. One usually requires this type of cpuset since it forms the basis of shielding. We modify the strategy to not use a user cpuset, instead we create a number of new cpusets each holding one more CPU than the other. These cpusets will be called prio_low with one CPU, prio_med with two CPUs, prio_high with three CPUs, and prio_all with all CPUs.

Note

One may ask, why create a prio_all with all CPUs when that is substantially the definition of the root cpuset? The answer is that it is best to keep a separation between the root cpuset and everything else, even if a particular cpuset duplicates root exactly. Usually, one builds automation on top of a cpuset strategy. In these cases, it is best to avoid using invariant names of cpusets, such as root for example, in this automation.

All of these prio_* cpusets can be created under root, in a flat way; however, it is advantageous to create them as a hierarchy. The reasoning for this is twofold: first, if a cpuset is destroyed, all its tasks are moved to its parent; second, one can use exclusive CPUs in a hierarchy.

There is a planned addition to the `proc` subcommand that will allow moving a specified PIDSPEC of tasks running in a specified cpuset to its parent. This addition will ease the automation burden.

If a cpuset has CPUs that are exclusive to it, then other cpusets may not make use of those CPUs unless they are children of that cpuset. This has more relevance to machines with many CPUs and more complex strategies.

Now, we start with a clean slate and build the appropriate cpusets as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -r
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   344    0 /

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 0-3 prio_all
    cset: --> created cpuset "prio_all"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 1-3 /prio_all/prio_high
    cset: --> created cpuset "/prio_all/prio_high"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 2-3 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med
    cset: --> created cpuset "/prio_all/prio_high/prio_med"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 3 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med/prio_low
    cset: --> created cpuset "/prio_all/prio_high/prio_med/prio_low"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -c 0 system
    cset: --> created cpuset "system"

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -r
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y   344    2 /
           system          0 n       0 n     0    0 /system
         prio_all        0-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all
        prio_high        1-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high
         prio_med        2-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med
         prio_low          3 n       0 n     0    0 /prio_all/pr...rio_med/prio_low

Note | We used the `-r/--recurse` switch to list all the sets in the last command above. If we had not, then the prio_med and prio_low cpusets would not have been listed.

The strategy is now implemented and we now move all userspace tasks as well as all movable kernel threads into the system cpuset to activate the shield.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset proc -m -k -f root -t system
    cset: moving all tasks from root to /system
    cset: moving 198 userspace tasks to /system
    cset: moving 70 kernel threads to: /system
    cset: --> not moving 76 threads (not unbound, use --force)
    [==================================================]%
    cset: done

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -r
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y    76    2 /
           system          0 n       0 n   268    0 /system
         prio_all        0-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all
        prio_high        1-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high
         prio_med        2-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med
         prio_low          3 n       0 n     0    0 /prio_all/pr...rio_med/prio_low

The shield is now active. Since the prio_* cpuset names are unique, one can assign tasks to them either via either their simple name, or their full path (as described in the `proc` section above).

You may have noted that there is an ellipsis in the path of the prio_low cpuset in the listing above. This is done in order to fit the output onto an 80 character screen. If you want to see the entire line, then you need to use the `-v/--verbose` flag as follows.

    [zuul:cpuset-trunk]# cset set -l -r -v
    cset:
             Name       CPUs-X    MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
     ------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
             root        0-3 y       0 y    76    2 /
           system          0 n       0 n   268    0 /system
         prio_all        0-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all
        prio_high        1-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high
         prio_med        2-3 n       0 n     0    1 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med
         prio_low          3 n       0 n     0    0 /prio_all/prio_high/prio_med/prio_low

## 4. Using Shortcuts

The commands listed in the previous sections always used all the required options. Cset however does have a shortcut facility that will execute certain commands without specifying all options. An effort has been made to do this with the "principle of least surprise." This means that if you do not specify options, but do specify parameters, then the outcome of the command should be intuitive. As much as possible.

Using shortcuts is of course not necessary. In fact, you can not only not use shortcuts, but you can use long options instead of short, in case you really enjoy typing… All kidding aside, using long options and not using shortcuts does have a use case: when you write a script intended to be self-documenting, or perhaps when you generate cset documentation.

To begin, the subcommands `shield`, `set` and `proc` can themselves be shortened to the fewest number of characters that are unambiguous. For example, the following commands are identical:

    # cset shield -s -p 1234         <-->    # cset sh -s -p 1234
    # cset set -c 1,3 -s newset      <-->    # cset se -c 1,3 -s newset
    # cset proc -s newset -e bash    <-->    # cset p -s newset -e bash

Note that `proc` can be shortened to just `p`, while `shield` and `set` need two letters to disambiguate.

### 4.1. Shield Subcommand Shortcuts

The `shield` subcommand supports two areas with shortcuts: the case when there is no options given where to shield is the common use case, and making the `-p/--pid` option optional for the `-s/--shield` and `-u/--unshield` options.

For the common use case of actually shielding either a PIDSPEC or execing a command into the shield, the following cset commands are equivalent.

    # cset shield -s -p 1234,500-649   <-->    # cset sh 1234,500-649
    # cset shield -s -e bash           <-->    # cset sh bash

When using the `-s` or `-u` shield/unshield options, it is optional to use the `-p` option to specify a PIDSPEC. For example:

    # cset shield -s -p 1234     <-->    # cset sh -s 1234
    # cset shield -u -p 1234     <-->    # cset sh -u 1234

### 4.2. Set Subcommand Shortcuts

The `set` subcommand has a limited number of shortcuts. Basically, the `-s/--set` option is optional in most cases and the `-l/--list` option is also optional if you want to list sets. For example, these commands are equivalent.

    # cset set -l -s myset           <-->  # cset se -l myset
    # cset se -l myset               <-->  # cset se myset

    # cset set -c 1,2,3 -s newset    <-->  # cset se -c 1,2,3 newset
    # cset set -d -s newset          <-->  # cset se -d newset

    # cset set -n newname -s oldname <-->  # cset se -n newname oldname

In fact, if you want to apply either the list or the destroy options to multiple cpusets with one cset command, you’ll need to not use the `-s` option. For example:

    # cset se -d myset yourset ourset
       --> destroys cpusets: myset, yourset and ourset

    # cset se -l prio_high prio_med prio_low
       --> lists only cpusets prio_high, prio_med and prio_low
       --> the -l is optional in this case since list is default

### 4.3. Proc Subcommand Shortcuts

For the `proc` subcommand, the `-s`, `-t` and `-f` options to specify the cpuset, the origination cpuset and the destination cpuset, can sometimes be optional. For example, the following commands are equivalent.

    To list tasks in cpusets:
    # cset proc -l -s myset        \
    # cset proc -l -f myset         -->  # cset p -l myset
    # cset proc -l -t myset        /

    # cset p -l myset              <-->  # cset p myset

    # cset proc -l -s one two      <-->  # cset p -l one two
    # cset p -l one two            <--> # cset p one two

    To exec a process into a cpuset:
    # cset proc -s myset -e bash   <-->  # cset p myset -e bash

Movement of tasks into and out of cpusets have the following shortcuts.

    To move a PIDSPEC into a cpuset:
    # cset proc -m -p 4242,4243 -s myset <--> # cset p -m 4242,4243 myset
    # cset proc -m -p 12 -t myset        <--> # cset p -m 12 myset

    To move all tasks from one cpuset to another:
    # cset proc -m -f set1 -t set2      \
    # cset proc -m -s set1 -t set2       --> # cset p -m set1 set2
    # cset proc -m -f set1 -s set2      /

## 5. What To Do if There are Problems

If you encounter problems with the cset application, the best option is to log a bug with the cset bugzilla instance found here:

    https://github.com/lpechacek/cpuset/issues

If you are using cset on a supported operating system such as SLES or SLERT from Novell, then please use that bugzilla instead at:

    https://bugzilla.suse.com

If the problem is repeatable, there is an excellent chance that it will get fixed quickly. Also, cset contains a logging facility that is invaluable for the developers to diagnose problems. To create a log of a run, use the `-l/--log` option with a filename as an argument to the main cset application. For example.

    # cset -l logfile.txt set -n newname oldname

That command saves a lot of debugging information in the logfile.txt file. Please attach this file to the bug.