[PATCH v4 4/7] sched/numa: separate VMA placement from scan continuation
From: Gregory Price
Date: Wed Sep 30 2026 - 07:23:24 EST
From: "Gregory Price (Meta)" <gourry@xxxxxxxxxx>
vma_is_accessed() returns true both when a VMA needs placement
(east-west) sampling and when a VMA is already mid-scan across
multiple scan windows.
Callers cannot distinguish placement eligibility from scan progress.
Rename the helper to vma_needs_placement_scan() and handle continuation
state in task_numa_work(). Record whether an in-progress VMA scan is
promotion-only so a scan resumed in a later scan window finishes with
the policy it started with. The zeroed initial state places no
restriction, so a resumed scan that finds freshly allocated NUMAB state
falls back to the default policy.
This separation allows PID-inactive VMAs to be scanned for promotion
without treating scan continuation as evidence of placement eligibility.
It is a prerequisite for the following fix and must accompany it when
backported.
Fixes: fc137c0ddab2 ("sched/numa: enhance vma scanning logic")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Gregory Price (Meta) <gourry@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/mm_types.h | 6 ++++++
kernel/sched/fair.c | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------
2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/mm_types.h b/include/linux/mm_types.h
index 1bd3ca7bfff2..d0ac21d02c47 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm_types.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm_types.h
@@ -803,6 +803,12 @@ struct vma_numab_state {
* A VMA is not eligible for scanning if prev_scan_seq == numa_scan_seq
*/
int prev_scan_seq;
+
+ /*
+ * The in-progress scan of this VMA is promotion-only.
+ * Resumed scans finish with the policy they started with.
+ */
+ bool promo_only;
};
#ifdef __HAVE_PFNMAP_TRACKING
diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index ab9afd3ad49b..3b30786ded3b 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -4082,7 +4082,8 @@ static void reset_ptenuma_scan(struct task_struct *p)
p->mm->numa_scan_offset = 0;
}
-static bool vma_is_accessed(struct mm_struct *mm, struct vm_area_struct *vma)
+static bool vma_needs_placement_scan(struct mm_struct *mm,
+ struct vm_area_struct *vma)
{
unsigned long pids;
/*
@@ -4098,15 +4099,6 @@ static bool vma_is_accessed(struct mm_struct *mm, struct vm_area_struct *vma)
if (test_bit(hash_32(current->pid, ilog2(BITS_PER_LONG)), &pids))
return true;
- /*
- * Complete a scan that has already started regardless of PID access, or
- * some VMAs may never be scanned in multi-threaded applications:
- */
- if (mm->numa_scan_offset > vma->vm_start) {
- trace_sched_skip_vma_numa(mm, vma, NUMAB_SKIP_IGNORE_PID);
- return true;
- }
-
/*
* This vma has not been accessed for a while, and if the number
* the threads in the same process is low, which means no other
@@ -4130,6 +4122,7 @@ static void task_numa_work(struct callback_head *work)
const unsigned int numab_mode = READ_ONCE(sysctl_numa_balancing_mode);
const bool tiering = numab_mode & NUMA_BALANCING_MEMORY_TIERING;
const bool balancing = numab_mode & NUMA_BALANCING_NORMAL;
+ bool pid_scan_allowed, placement_due, scan_started;
unsigned long migrate, next_scan, now = jiffies;
struct task_struct *p = current;
struct mm_struct *mm = p->mm;
@@ -4316,15 +4309,29 @@ static void task_numa_work(struct callback_head *work)
}
/*
- * Do not scan the VMA if task has not accessed it, unless no other
- * VMA candidate exists.
+ * Do not scan the VMA if a task has not accessed it, unless no other
+ * VMA candidate exists. If a scan is already in-progress, finish it,
+ * but track continuation separately from starting a new one.
*/
- if (!vma_pids_forced && !vma_is_accessed(mm, vma)) {
- vma_pids_skipped = true;
- trace_sched_skip_vma_numa(mm, vma, NUMAB_SKIP_PID_INACTIVE);
- continue;
+ placement_due = vma_needs_placement_scan(mm, vma);
+ scan_started = mm->numa_scan_offset > vma->vm_start;
+ pid_scan_allowed = vma_pids_forced || placement_due;
+
+ if (!pid_scan_allowed) {
+ if (scan_started) {
+ trace_sched_skip_vma_numa(mm, vma, NUMAB_SKIP_IGNORE_PID);
+ } else {
+ vma_pids_skipped = true;
+ trace_sched_skip_vma_numa(mm, vma, NUMAB_SKIP_PID_INACTIVE);
+ continue;
+ }
}
+ /* Keep scan policy stable while processing a VMA in chunks. */
+ if (scan_started && vma->numab_state->promo_only)
+ placement_scan = false;
+
+ vma->numab_state->promo_only = !placement_scan;
cp_flags = MM_CP_PROT_NUMA;
if (!placement_scan)
cp_flags |= MM_CP_PROT_NUMA_PROMO_ONLY;
@@ -4357,6 +4364,7 @@ static void task_numa_work(struct callback_head *work)
/* VMA scan is complete, do not scan until next sequence. */
vma->numab_state->prev_scan_seq = mm->numa_scan_seq;
+ vma->numab_state->promo_only = false;
/*
* Only force scan within one VMA at a time, to limit the
--
2.55.0