Re: [PATCH v3 8/9] mm/rmap: batch unmap anonymous swap-backed large folios

From: Dev Jain

Date: Sat Sep 26 2026 - 08:37:22 EST




On 25/09/26 4:55 pm, Dev Jain wrote:
>
>
> On 25/09/26 11:45 am, Barry Song wrote:
>> On Thu, Sep 24, 2026 at 9:12 PM Dev Jain <dev.jain@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> Enable batch clearing of PTEs and batch swap setting of PTEs for anon
>>> swap-backed folio unmapping.
>>>
>>> Processing all PTEs of a large folio in one go helps us batch across
>>> atomics (add_mm_counter() etc), barriers in __folio_try_share_anon_rmap(),
>>> and repeated calls to page_vma_mapped_walk(). In general, batching helps
>>> execute similar code together, making the path more memory and CPU
>>> friendly.
>>>
>>> On arm64-contpte, batching also helps avoid redundant ptep_get() calls
>>> and TLB flushes while breaking the contpte mapping.
>>>
>>> The handling of anon-exclusivity is very similar to commit cac1db8c3aad
>>> ("mm: optimize mprotect() by PTE batching"). Since
>>> folio_unmap_pte_batch() does not look at the bits of the underlying page,
>>> process sub-batches of PTEs pointing to pages with the same exclusivity
>>> state, and batch set only those PTEs to swap PTEs in one go.
>>>
>>> Disable batching for sparc (because of arch_unmap_one), we will batch this
>>> later.
>>>
>>> Rmap accounting and reference accounting must happen when anon folio unmap
>>> succeeds. If a large folio is only partially batched or a later sub-batch
>>> fails, account only the pages that were actually unmapped. Put that
>>> accounting in __ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio() itself instead of using goto
>>> jumps at the try_to_unmap_one() callsite.
>>>
>>> Similarly, do the finish_folio_unmap_batch() in ttu_anon_folio() itself for the
>>> non-swapbacked lazyfree case.
>>>
>>> If the batch length is less than the number of pages in the folio, skip
>>> over this batch. page_vma_mapped_walk() handles this: check_pte() returns
>>> true only if any of [pvmw->pfn, pvmw->pfn + nr_pages) is mapped by the
>>> PTE. Swap PTEs have no underlying PFN, so check_pte() returns false until
>>> the walk reaches the next present PTE to unmap.
>>>
>>> Remove the finish_unmap label since no goto callers are left now.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Dev Jain <dev.jain@xxxxxxx>
>>> ---
>>> mm/rmap.c | 109 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------
>>> 1 file changed, 80 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/mm/rmap.c b/mm/rmap.c
>>> index fa9fc8374fc26..cdda9efd80bc3 100644
>>> --- a/mm/rmap.c
>>> +++ b/mm/rmap.c
>>> @@ -1966,12 +1966,13 @@ static inline unsigned int folio_unmap_pte_batch(struct folio *folio,
>>> end_addr = pmd_addr_end(addr, vma->vm_end);
>>> max_nr = (end_addr - addr) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
>>>
>>> - /* We only support lazyfree or file folios batching for now ... */
>>> - if (folio_test_anon(folio) && folio_test_swapbacked(folio))
>>> + if (pte_unused(pte))
>>> return 1;
>>>
>>> - if (pte_unused(pte))
>>> +#ifdef __HAVE_ARCH_UNMAP_ONE
>>> + if (folio_test_anon(folio) && folio_test_swapbacked(folio))
>>> return 1;
>>> +#endif
>>>
>>> /*
>>> * If unmap fails, we need to restore the ptes. To avoid accidentally
>>> @@ -2141,16 +2142,25 @@ static pte_t swp_pte_prepare(swp_entry_t entry, pte_t old_pte,
>>> return swp_pte;
>>> }
>>>
>>> -static bool ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> +static void finish_folio_unmap_batch(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> + struct folio *folio, struct page *page, unsigned long nr_pages)
>>> +{
>>> + folio_remove_rmap_ptes(folio, page, nr_pages, vma);
>>> + if (vma->vm_flags & VM_LOCKED)
>>> + mlock_drain_local();
>>> + folio_put_refs(folio, nr_pages);
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +static bool __ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> struct folio *folio, struct page *page, unsigned long address,
>>> - pte_t *ptep, pte_t pteval)
>>> + pte_t *ptep, pte_t pteval, unsigned long nr_pages,
>>> + bool anon_exclusive)
>>> {
>>> - const bool anon_exclusive = folio_test_anon(folio) &&
>>> - PageAnonExclusive(page);
>>> swp_entry_t entry = folio_page_swap_entry(folio, page);
>>> struct mm_struct *mm = vma->vm_mm;
>>> + pte_t swp_pte;
>>>
>>> - if (folio_dup_swap_pages(folio, page, 1) < 0)
>>> + if (folio_dup_swap_pages(folio, page, nr_pages) < 0)
>>> return false;
>>>
>>> /*
>>> @@ -2159,21 +2169,57 @@ static bool ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> * so we'll not check/care.
>>> */
>>> if (arch_unmap_one(mm, vma, address, pteval) < 0) {
>>> - folio_put_swap_pages(folio, page, 1);
>>> + VM_WARN_ON(nr_pages != 1);
>>> + folio_put_swap_pages(folio, page, nr_pages);
>>> return false;
>>> }
>>>
>>> /* See folio_try_share_anon_rmap(): clear PTE first. */
>>> - if (anon_exclusive && folio_try_share_anon_rmap_pte(folio, page)) {
>>> - folio_put_swap_pages(folio, page, 1);
>>> + if (anon_exclusive &&
>>> + folio_try_share_anon_rmap_ptes(folio, page, nr_pages)) {
>>> + folio_put_swap_pages(folio, page, nr_pages);
>>> return false;
>>> }
>>>
>>> mm_prepare_for_swap_entries(mm);
>>> - dec_mm_counter(mm, MM_ANONPAGES);
>>> - inc_mm_counter(mm, MM_SWAPENTS);
>>> - set_pte_at(mm, address, ptep,
>>> - swp_pte_prepare(entry, pteval, anon_exclusive));
>>> + add_mm_counter(mm, MM_ANONPAGES, -nr_pages);
>>> + add_mm_counter(mm, MM_SWAPENTS, nr_pages);
>>> + swp_pte = swp_pte_prepare(entry, pteval, anon_exclusive);
>>> + set_softleaf_ptes(mm, address, ptep, swp_pte, nr_pages);
>>> + finish_folio_unmap_batch(vma, folio, page, nr_pages);
>>> + return true;
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +static bool ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> + struct folio *folio, struct page *first_page,
>>> + unsigned long address, pte_t *ptep, pte_t pteval,
>>> + unsigned long nr_pages)
>>> +{
>>> + unsigned long batch_idx = 0;
>>> +
>>> + while (nr_pages) {
>>> + bool anon_exclusive = PageAnonExclusive(first_page + batch_idx);
>>> + unsigned long len = page_anon_exclusive_batch(batch_idx,
>>> + nr_pages, first_page, anon_exclusive);
>>> +
>>> + if (!__ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(vma, folio,
>>> + first_page + batch_idx, address, ptep, pteval,
>>> + len, anon_exclusive)) {
>>> + /* Restore the remaining PTEs that were cleared. */
>>> + set_ptes(vma->vm_mm, address, ptep, pteval, nr_pages);
>>> + return false;
>>> + }
>>> +
>>> + nr_pages -= len;
>>> + if (!nr_pages)
>>> + break;
>>> +
>>> + pteval = pte_advance_pfn(pteval, len);
>>> + address += len * PAGE_SIZE;
>>> + batch_idx += len;
>>> + ptep += len;
>>> + }
>>> +
>>> return true;
>>> }
>>>
>>> @@ -2186,15 +2232,22 @@ static bool ttu_anon_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct folio *folio,
>>> * See handle_pte_fault() ...
>>> */
>>> if (WARN_ON_ONCE(folio_test_swapbacked(folio) !=
>>> - folio_test_swapcache(folio)))
>>> + folio_test_swapcache(folio))) {
>>> + set_ptes(vma->vm_mm, address, ptep, pteval, nr_pages);
>>> return false;
>>> + }
>>>
>>> - if (!folio_test_swapbacked(folio))
>>> - return ttu_anon_lazyfree_folio(vma, folio, nr_pages);
>>> + if (!folio_test_swapbacked(folio)) {
>>> + if (!ttu_anon_lazyfree_folio(vma, folio, nr_pages)) {
>>> + set_ptes(vma->vm_mm, address, ptep, pteval, nr_pages);
>>> + return false;
>>> + }
>>> + finish_folio_unmap_batch(vma, folio, page, nr_pages);
>>> + return true;
>>> + }
>>
>> Hi Dev,
>>
>> if we look at the whole `ttu_anon_folio()` code:
>>
>> static bool ttu_anon_folio(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct folio *folio,
>> struct page *page, unsigned long address, pte_t *ptep,
>> pte_t pteval, unsigned long nr_pages)
>> {
>> /*
>> * Store the swap location in the pte.
>> * See handle_pte_fault() ...
>> */
>> if (WARN_ON_ONCE(folio_test_swapbacked(folio) !=
>> folio_test_swapcache(folio))) {
>> set_ptes(vma->vm_mm, address, ptep, pteval, nr_pages);
>> return false;
>> }
>>
>> if (!folio_test_swapbacked(folio)) {
>> if (!ttu_anon_lazyfree_folio(vma, folio, nr_pages)) {
>> set_ptes(vma->vm_mm, address, ptep, pteval, nr_pages);
>> return false;
>> }
>> finish_folio_unmap_batch(vma, folio, page, nr_pages);
>> return true;
>> }
>>
>> return ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(vma, folio, page, address, ptep,
>> pteval, nr_pages);
>> }
>>
>> The comment "Store the swap location in the pte" is really out of
>> place. Since we are already here, can we move it to the right place?
>
> I am not sure what is the "right place" you are referring to : ) More
> than that, this comments feels very out of date - it is well-know that
> the "swap location" is stored in the pte.
>
> In fact, this comment starts on top of the wrong block, which is a
> debug assertion for "when we are here, swapbacked if and only if swapcache".
> So I'd rather just remove it.
>
>>
>>>
>>> - /* nr_pages > 1 not supported yet */
>>> return ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio(vma, folio, page, address, ptep,
>>> - pteval);
>>> + pteval, nr_pages);
>>> }
>>>
>>> /*
>>> @@ -2374,13 +2427,14 @@ static bool try_to_unmap_one(struct folio *folio, struct vm_area_struct *vma,
>>> */
>>> dec_mm_counter(mm, mm_counter(folio));
>>> } else if (folio_test_anon(folio)) {
>>> + /* finish_folio_unmap_batch handled internally */
>>
>>
>> let me paste the final code here:
>>
>> } else if (folio_test_anon(folio)) {
>> /* finish_folio_unmap_batch handled internally */
>> if (!ttu_anon_folio(vma, folio, page, address,
>> pvmw.pte, pteval, nr_pages))
>> goto walk_abort;
>>
>> if (nr_pages == folio_nr_pages(folio))
>> goto walk_done;
>> continue;
>> } else {
>> ...
>> }
>>
>> finish_folio_unmap_batch(vma, folio, page, nr_pages);
>>
>> /*
>> * If we are sure that we batched the entire folio and cleared
>> * all PTEs, we can just optimize and stop right here.
>> */
>> if (nr_pages == folio_nr_pages(folio))
>> goto walk_done;
>> continue;
>>
>> I am really struggling to read the code here. For anon folios, we
>> handle `finish_folio_unmap_batch()` internally, while for other folios
>> we still do it outside. This feels a bit inconsistent.
>>
>> Also, we are duplicating the code below twice:
>>
>> if (nr_pages == folio_nr_pages(folio))
>> goto walk_done;
>>
>> Can't we just do `finish_folio_unmap_batch()` like the other cases?
>
> The core problem is that we may succeed on a partial range.
>
> ttu_anon_swapbacked_folio can succeed on x < nr_pages. So for x, we
> should call finish_folio_unmap_batch. Either we do it my way, or,
> ttu_anon_folio returns the number of pages successfully unmapped = x,
> and then even in case of "failure" (we should now jump to
> walk_abort since we failed to unmap 'nr_pages - x' pages) we call
> finish_folio_unmap_batch for x pages.
>
> IMHO that is uglier. I wanted to avoid this label jumping. I would
> be interested in hearing a better alternate : )

I did try this and it looks nicer actually. Will shift to this in v4,
thanks!


>>
>> That would also avoid the duplication.
>>
>> Best Regards
>> Barry
>