Re: [PATCH v9 07/13] KVM: guest_memfd: Add flag to remove from direct map

[Ackerley Tng]

Nikita Kalyazin <kalyazin@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> On 22/01/2026 18:37, Ackerley Tng wrote:
>> Nikita Kalyazin <kalyazin@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>
>>> On 16/01/2026 00:00, Edgecombe, Rick P wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 2026-01-14 at 13:46 +0000, Kalyazin, Nikita wrote:
>>>>> +static void kvm_gmem_folio_restore_direct_map(struct folio *folio)
>>>>> +{
>>>>> +     /*
>>>>> +      * Direct map restoration cannot fail, as the only error condition
>>>>> +      * for direct map manipulation is failure to allocate page tables
>>>>> +      * when splitting huge pages, but this split would have already
>>>>> +      * happened in folio_zap_direct_map() in kvm_gmem_folio_zap_direct_map().
>>
>> Do you know if folio_restore_direct_map() will also end up merging page
>> table entries to a higher level?
>>
>>>>> +      * Thus folio_restore_direct_map() here only updates prot bits.
>>>>> +      */
>>>>> +     if (kvm_gmem_folio_no_direct_map(folio)) {
>>>>> +             WARN_ON_ONCE(folio_restore_direct_map(folio));
>>>>> +             folio->private = (void *)((u64)folio->private & ~KVM_GMEM_FOLIO_NO_DIRECT_MAP);
>>>>> +     }
>>>>> +}
>>>>> +
>>>>
>>>> Does this assume the folio would not have been split after it was zapped? As in,
>>>> if it was zapped at 2MB granularity (no 4KB direct map split required) but then
>>>> restored at 4KB (split required)? Or it gets merged somehow before this?
>>
>> I agree with the rest of the discussion that this will probably land
>> before huge page support, so I will have to figure out the intersection
>> of the two later.
>>
>>>
>>> AFAIK it can't be zapped at 2MB granularity as the zapping code will
>>> inevitably cause splitting because guest_memfd faults occur at the base
>>> page granularity as of now.
>>
>> Here's what I'm thinking for now:
>>
>> [HugeTLB, no conversions]
>> With initial HugeTLB support (no conversions), host userspace
>> guest_memfd faults will be:
>>
>> + For guest_memfd with PUD-sized pages
>>      + At PUD level or PTE level
>> + For guest_memfd with PMD-sized pages
>>      + At PMD level or PTE level
>>
>> Since this guest_memfd doesn't support conversions, the folio is never
>> split/merged, so the direct map is restored at whatever level it was
>> zapped. I think this works out well.
>>
>> [HugeTLB + conversions]
>> For a guest_memfd with HugeTLB support and conversions, host userspace
>> guest_memfd faults will always be at PTE level, so the direct map will
>> be split and the faulted pages have the direct map zapped in 4K chunks
>> as they are faulted.
>>
>> On conversion back to private, put those back into the direct map
>> (putting aside whether to merge the direct map PTEs for now).
>
> Makes sense to me.
>
>>
>>
>> Unfortunately there's no unmapping callback for guest_memfd to use, so
>> perhaps the principle should be to put the folios back into the direct
>> map ASAP - at unmapping if guest_memfd is doing the unmapping, otherwise
>> at freeing time?
>
> I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean here.  What would be the
> purpose for hooking up to unmapping?  Why would making sure we put
> folios back into the direct map whenever they are freed or converted to
> private not be sufficient?

I think putting the folios back into the direct map when the folios are
freed or converted to private should cover all cases.

I was just thinking that being able to hook up to unmapping is nice
since unmapping is the counterpart to mapping when the folios are
removed from the direct map.