Re: [RFC PATCH v4 2/6] mm/migrate: skip data copy for already-copied folios

From: Huang, Ying

Date: Tue Mar 24 2026 - 04:31:14 EST


Shivank Garg <shivankg@xxxxxxx> writes:

> Add a PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED flag to the dst->private migration state.
> When set, __migrate_folio() skips folio_mc_copy() and performs
> metadata-only migration. All callers currently pass
> already_copied=false. The batch-copy path enables it in a later patch.
>
> Move the dst->private state enum earlier in the file so
> __migrate_folio() and move_to_new_folio() can see PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED.
>
> Signed-off-by: Shivank Garg <shivankg@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> mm/migrate.c | 52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
> 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/migrate.c b/mm/migrate.c
> index 1bf2cf8c44dd..1d8c1fb627c9 100644
> --- a/mm/migrate.c
> +++ b/mm/migrate.c
> @@ -848,6 +848,18 @@ void folio_migrate_flags(struct folio *newfolio, struct folio *folio)
> }
> EXPORT_SYMBOL(folio_migrate_flags);
>
> +/*
> + * To record some information during migration, we use unused private
> + * field of struct folio of the newly allocated destination folio.
> + * This is safe because nobody is using it except us.
> + */
> +enum {
> + PAGE_WAS_MAPPED = BIT(0),
> + PAGE_WAS_MLOCKED = BIT(1),
> + PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED = BIT(2),
> + PAGE_OLD_STATES = PAGE_WAS_MAPPED | PAGE_WAS_MLOCKED | PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED,
> +};
> +
> /************************************************************
> * Migration functions
> ***********************************************************/
> @@ -857,14 +869,20 @@ static int __migrate_folio(struct address_space *mapping, struct folio *dst,
> enum migrate_mode mode)
> {
> int rc, expected_count = folio_expected_ref_count(src) + 1;
> + bool already_copied = ((unsigned long)dst->private & PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED);
> +
> + if (already_copied)
> + dst->private = NULL;
>
> /* Check whether src does not have extra refs before we do more work */
> if (folio_ref_count(src) != expected_count)
> return -EAGAIN;
>
> - rc = folio_mc_copy(dst, src);
> - if (unlikely(rc))
> - return rc;
> + if (!already_copied) {
> + rc = folio_mc_copy(dst, src);
> + if (unlikely(rc))
> + return rc;
> + }
>
> rc = __folio_migrate_mapping(mapping, dst, src, expected_count);
> if (rc)
> @@ -1088,7 +1106,7 @@ static int fallback_migrate_folio(struct address_space *mapping,
> * 0 - success
> */
> static int move_to_new_folio(struct folio *dst, struct folio *src,
> - enum migrate_mode mode)
> + enum migrate_mode mode, bool already_copied)
> {
> struct address_space *mapping = folio_mapping(src);
> int rc = -EAGAIN;
> @@ -1096,6 +1114,9 @@ static int move_to_new_folio(struct folio *dst, struct folio *src,
> VM_BUG_ON_FOLIO(!folio_test_locked(src), src);
> VM_BUG_ON_FOLIO(!folio_test_locked(dst), dst);
>
> + if (already_copied)
> + dst->private = (void *)(unsigned long)PAGE_ALREADY_COPIED;
> +

IMHO, this appears to be an unusual way to pass arguments to a function.
Why not adjust the parameters of migrate_folio()? How about turning enum
migrate_mode into a bitmask (migrate_flags)?

> if (!mapping)
> rc = migrate_folio(mapping, dst, src, mode);
> else if (mapping_inaccessible(mapping))
> @@ -1127,17 +1148,6 @@ static int move_to_new_folio(struct folio *dst, struct folio *src,
> return rc;
> }
>
> -/*
> - * To record some information during migration, we use unused private
> - * field of struct folio of the newly allocated destination folio.
> - * This is safe because nobody is using it except us.
> - */
> -enum {
> - PAGE_WAS_MAPPED = BIT(0),
> - PAGE_WAS_MLOCKED = BIT(1),
> - PAGE_OLD_STATES = PAGE_WAS_MAPPED | PAGE_WAS_MLOCKED,
> -};
> -
> static void __migrate_folio_record(struct folio *dst,
> int old_page_state,
> struct anon_vma *anon_vma)
> @@ -1353,7 +1363,7 @@ static int migrate_folio_unmap(new_folio_t get_new_folio,
> static int migrate_folio_move(free_folio_t put_new_folio, unsigned long private,
> struct folio *src, struct folio *dst,
> enum migrate_mode mode, enum migrate_reason reason,
> - struct list_head *ret)
> + struct list_head *ret, bool already_copied)
> {
> int rc;
> int old_page_state = 0;
> @@ -1371,7 +1381,7 @@ static int migrate_folio_move(free_folio_t put_new_folio, unsigned long private,
> goto out_unlock_both;
> }
>
> - rc = move_to_new_folio(dst, src, mode);
> + rc = move_to_new_folio(dst, src, mode, already_copied);
> if (rc)
> goto out;
>
> @@ -1519,7 +1529,7 @@ static int unmap_and_move_huge_page(new_folio_t get_new_folio,
> }
>
> if (!folio_mapped(src))
> - rc = move_to_new_folio(dst, src, mode);
> + rc = move_to_new_folio(dst, src, mode, false);
>
> if (page_was_mapped)
> remove_migration_ptes(src, !rc ? dst : src, ttu);
> @@ -1703,7 +1713,7 @@ static void migrate_folios_move(struct list_head *src_folios,
> struct list_head *ret_folios,
> struct migrate_pages_stats *stats,
> int *retry, int *thp_retry, int *nr_failed,
> - int *nr_retry_pages)
> + int *nr_retry_pages, bool already_copied)
> {
> struct folio *folio, *folio2, *dst, *dst2;
> bool is_thp;
> @@ -1720,7 +1730,7 @@ static void migrate_folios_move(struct list_head *src_folios,
>
> rc = migrate_folio_move(put_new_folio, private,
> folio, dst, mode,
> - reason, ret_folios);
> + reason, ret_folios, already_copied);
> /*
> * The rules are:
> * 0: folio will be freed
> @@ -1977,7 +1987,7 @@ static int migrate_pages_batch(struct list_head *from,
> migrate_folios_move(&unmap_folios, &dst_folios,
> put_new_folio, private, mode, reason,
> ret_folios, stats, &retry, &thp_retry,
> - &nr_failed, &nr_retry_pages);
> + &nr_failed, &nr_retry_pages, false);
> }
> nr_failed += retry;
> stats->nr_thp_failed += thp_retry;

---
Best Regards,
Huang, Ying