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Linux/Documentation/admin-guide/mm/userfaultfd.rst

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Diff markup

Differences between /Documentation/admin-guide/mm/userfaultfd.rst (Version linux-6.12-rc7) and /Documentation/admin-guide/mm/userfaultfd.rst (Version linux-5.10.229)


                                                   >>   1 .. _userfaultfd:
                                                   >>   2 
  1 ===========                                         3 ===========
  2 Userfaultfd                                         4 Userfaultfd
  3 ===========                                         5 ===========
  4                                                     6 
  5 Objective                                           7 Objective
  6 =========                                           8 =========
  7                                                     9 
  8 Userfaults allow the implementation of on-dema     10 Userfaults allow the implementation of on-demand paging from userland
  9 and more generally they allow userland to take     11 and more generally they allow userland to take control of various
 10 memory page faults, something otherwise only t     12 memory page faults, something otherwise only the kernel code could do.
 11                                                    13 
 12 For example userfaults allows a proper and mor     14 For example userfaults allows a proper and more optimal implementation
 13 of the ``PROT_NONE+SIGSEGV`` trick.                15 of the ``PROT_NONE+SIGSEGV`` trick.
 14                                                    16 
 15 Design                                             17 Design
 16 ======                                             18 ======
 17                                                    19 
 18 Userspace creates a new userfaultfd, initializ !!  20 Userfaults are delivered and resolved through the ``userfaultfd`` syscall.
 19 regions of virtual memory with it. Then, any p << 
 20 region(s) result in a message being delivered  << 
 21 userspace of the fault.                        << 
 22                                                    21 
 23 The ``userfaultfd`` (aside from registering an     22 The ``userfaultfd`` (aside from registering and unregistering virtual
 24 memory ranges) provides two primary functional     23 memory ranges) provides two primary functionalities:
 25                                                    24 
 26 1) ``read/POLLIN`` protocol to notify a userla     25 1) ``read/POLLIN`` protocol to notify a userland thread of the faults
 27    happening                                       26    happening
 28                                                    27 
 29 2) various ``UFFDIO_*`` ioctls that can manage     28 2) various ``UFFDIO_*`` ioctls that can manage the virtual memory regions
 30    registered in the ``userfaultfd`` that allo     29    registered in the ``userfaultfd`` that allows userland to efficiently
 31    resolve the userfaults it receives via 1) o     30    resolve the userfaults it receives via 1) or to manage the virtual
 32    memory in the background                        31    memory in the background
 33                                                    32 
 34 The real advantage of userfaults if compared t     33 The real advantage of userfaults if compared to regular virtual memory
 35 management of mremap/mprotect is that the user     34 management of mremap/mprotect is that the userfaults in all their
 36 operations never involve heavyweight structure     35 operations never involve heavyweight structures like vmas (in fact the
 37 ``userfaultfd`` runtime load never takes the m     36 ``userfaultfd`` runtime load never takes the mmap_lock for writing).
                                                   >>  37 
 38 Vmas are not suitable for page- (or hugepage)      38 Vmas are not suitable for page- (or hugepage) granular fault tracking
 39 when dealing with virtual address spaces that      39 when dealing with virtual address spaces that could span
 40 Terabytes. Too many vmas would be needed for t     40 Terabytes. Too many vmas would be needed for that.
 41                                                    41 
 42 The ``userfaultfd``, once created, can also be !!  42 The ``userfaultfd`` once opened by invoking the syscall, can also be
 43 passed using unix domain sockets to a manager      43 passed using unix domain sockets to a manager process, so the same
 44 manager process could handle the userfaults of     44 manager process could handle the userfaults of a multitude of
 45 different processes without them being aware a     45 different processes without them being aware about what is going on
 46 (well of course unless they later try to use t     46 (well of course unless they later try to use the ``userfaultfd``
 47 themselves on the same region the manager is a     47 themselves on the same region the manager is already tracking, which
 48 is a corner case that would currently return `     48 is a corner case that would currently return ``-EBUSY``).
 49                                                    49 
 50 API                                                50 API
 51 ===                                                51 ===
 52                                                    52 
 53 Creating a userfaultfd                         << 
 54 ----------------------                         << 
 55                                                << 
 56 There are two ways to create a new userfaultfd << 
 57 restrict access to this functionality (since h << 
 58 handle kernel page faults have been a useful t << 
 59                                                << 
 60 The first way, supported since userfaultfd was << 
 61 userfaultfd(2) syscall. Access to this is cont << 
 62                                                << 
 63 - Any user can always create a userfaultfd whi << 
 64   only. Such a userfaultfd can be created usin << 
 65   with the flag UFFD_USER_MODE_ONLY.           << 
 66                                                << 
 67 - In order to also trap kernel page faults for << 
 68   process needs the CAP_SYS_PTRACE capability, << 
 69   vm.unprivileged_userfaultfd set to 1. By def << 
 70   is set to 0.                                 << 
 71                                                << 
 72 The second way, added to the kernel more recen << 
 73 /dev/userfaultfd and issuing a USERFAULTFD_IOC << 
 74 yields equivalent userfaultfds to the userfaul << 
 75                                                << 
 76 Unlike userfaultfd(2), access to /dev/userfaul << 
 77 filesystem permissions (user/group/mode), whic << 
 78 userfaultfd specifically, without also grantin << 
 79 the same time (as e.g. granting CAP_SYS_PTRACE << 
 80 to /dev/userfaultfd can always create userfaul << 
 81 vm.unprivileged_userfaultfd is not considered. << 
 82                                                << 
 83 Initializing a userfaultfd                     << 
 84 --------------------------                     << 
 85                                                << 
 86 When first opened the ``userfaultfd`` must be      53 When first opened the ``userfaultfd`` must be enabled invoking the
 87 ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl specifying a ``uffdio_api     54 ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl specifying a ``uffdio_api.api`` value set to ``UFFD_API`` (or
 88 a later API version) which will specify the ``     55 a later API version) which will specify the ``read/POLLIN`` protocol
 89 userland intends to speak on the ``UFFD`` and      56 userland intends to speak on the ``UFFD`` and the ``uffdio_api.features``
 90 userland requires. The ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl if     57 userland requires. The ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl if successful (i.e. if the
 91 requested ``uffdio_api.api`` is spoken also by     58 requested ``uffdio_api.api`` is spoken also by the running kernel and the
 92 requested features are going to be enabled) wi     59 requested features are going to be enabled) will return into
 93 ``uffdio_api.features`` and ``uffdio_api.ioctl     60 ``uffdio_api.features`` and ``uffdio_api.ioctls`` two 64bit bitmasks of
 94 respectively all the available features of the     61 respectively all the available features of the read(2) protocol and
 95 the generic ioctl available.                       62 the generic ioctl available.
 96                                                    63 
 97 The ``uffdio_api.features`` bitmask returned b     64 The ``uffdio_api.features`` bitmask returned by the ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl
 98 defines what memory types are supported by the     65 defines what memory types are supported by the ``userfaultfd`` and what
 99 events, except page fault notifications, may b !!  66 events, except page fault notifications, may be generated.
100                                                    67 
101 - The ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_*`` flags indicate  !!  68 If the kernel supports registering ``userfaultfd`` ranges on hugetlbfs
102   other than page faults are supported. These  !!  69 virtual memory areas, ``UFFD_FEATURE_MISSING_HUGETLBFS`` will be set in
103   detail below in the `Non-cooperative userfau !!  70 ``uffdio_api.features``. Similarly, ``UFFD_FEATURE_MISSING_SHMEM`` will be
104                                                !!  71 set if the kernel supports registering ``userfaultfd`` ranges on shared
105 - ``UFFD_FEATURE_MISSING_HUGETLBFS`` and ``UFF !!  72 memory (covering all shmem APIs, i.e. tmpfs, ``IPCSHM``, ``/dev/zero``,
106   indicate that the kernel supports ``UFFDIO_R !!  73 ``MAP_SHARED``, ``memfd_create``, etc).
107   registrations for hugetlbfs and shared memor !!  74 
108   i.e. tmpfs, ``IPCSHM``, ``/dev/zero``, ``MAP !!  75 The userland application that wants to use ``userfaultfd`` with hugetlbfs
109   etc) virtual memory areas, respectively.     !!  76 or shared memory need to set the corresponding flag in
110                                                !!  77 ``uffdio_api.features`` to enable those features.
111 - ``UFFD_FEATURE_MINOR_HUGETLBFS`` indicates t !!  78 
112   ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MINOR`` registration  !!  79 If the userland desires to receive notifications for events other than
113   areas. ``UFFD_FEATURE_MINOR_SHMEM`` is the a !!  80 page faults, it has to verify that ``uffdio_api.features`` has appropriate
114   support for shmem virtual memory areas.      !!  81 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_*`` bits set. These events are described in more
115                                                !!  82 detail below in `Non-cooperative userfaultfd`_ section.
116 - ``UFFD_FEATURE_MOVE`` indicates that the ker !!  83 
117   existing page contents from userspace.       !!  84 Once the ``userfaultfd`` has been enabled the ``UFFDIO_REGISTER`` ioctl should
118                                                !!  85 be invoked (if present in the returned ``uffdio_api.ioctls`` bitmask) to
119 The userland application should set the featur !!  86 register a memory range in the ``userfaultfd`` by setting the
120 when invoking the ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl, to req << 
121 enabled if supported.                          << 
122                                                << 
123 Once the ``userfaultfd`` API has been enabled  << 
124 ioctl should be invoked (if present in the ret << 
125 bitmask) to register a memory range in the ``u << 
126 uffdio_register structure accordingly. The ``u     87 uffdio_register structure accordingly. The ``uffdio_register.mode``
127 bitmask will specify to the kernel which kind      88 bitmask will specify to the kernel which kind of faults to track for
128 the range. The ``UFFDIO_REGISTER`` ioctl will  !!  89 the range (``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` would track missing
                                                   >>  90 pages). The ``UFFDIO_REGISTER`` ioctl will return the
129 ``uffdio_register.ioctls`` bitmask of ioctls t     91 ``uffdio_register.ioctls`` bitmask of ioctls that are suitable to resolve
130 userfaults on the range registered. Not all io     92 userfaults on the range registered. Not all ioctls will necessarily be
131 supported for all memory types (e.g. anonymous !!  93 supported for all memory types depending on the underlying virtual
132 hugetlbfs), or all types of intercepted faults !!  94 memory backend (anonymous memory vs tmpfs vs real filebacked
                                                   >>  95 mappings).
133                                                    96 
134 Userland can use the ``uffdio_register.ioctls`     97 Userland can use the ``uffdio_register.ioctls`` to manage the virtual
135 address space in the background (to add or pot     98 address space in the background (to add or potentially also remove
136 memory from the ``userfaultfd`` registered ran     99 memory from the ``userfaultfd`` registered range). This means a userfault
137 could be triggering just before userland maps     100 could be triggering just before userland maps in the background the
138 user-faulted page.                                101 user-faulted page.
139                                                   102 
140 Resolving Userfaults                           !! 103 The primary ioctl to resolve userfaults is ``UFFDIO_COPY``. That
141 --------------------                           !! 104 atomically copies a page into the userfault registered range and wakes
142                                                !! 105 up the blocked userfaults
143 There are three basic ways to resolve userfaul !! 106 (unless ``uffdio_copy.mode & UFFDIO_COPY_MODE_DONTWAKE`` is set).
144                                                !! 107 Other ioctl works similarly to ``UFFDIO_COPY``. They're atomic as in
145 - ``UFFDIO_COPY`` atomically copies some exist !! 108 guaranteeing that nothing can see an half copied page since it'll
146   userspace.                                   !! 109 keep userfaulting until the copy has finished.
147                                                << 
148 - ``UFFDIO_ZEROPAGE`` atomically zeros the new << 
149                                                << 
150 - ``UFFDIO_CONTINUE`` maps an existing, previo << 
151                                                << 
152 These operations are atomic in the sense that  << 
153 see a half-populated page, since readers will  << 
154 operation has finished.                        << 
155                                                << 
156 By default, these wake up userfaults blocked o << 
157 They support a ``UFFDIO_*_MODE_DONTWAKE`` ``mo << 
158 that waking will be done separately at some la << 
159                                                << 
160 Which ioctl to choose depends on the kind of p << 
161 like to do to resolve it:                      << 
162                                                << 
163 - For ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` faults, << 
164   resolved by either providing a new page (``U << 
165   the zero page (``UFFDIO_ZEROPAGE``). By defa << 
166   the zero page for a missing fault. With user << 
167   decide what content to provide before the fa << 
168                                                << 
169 - For ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MINOR`` faults, t << 
170   the page cache). Userspace has the option of << 
171   contents before resolving the fault. Once th << 
172   (modified or not), userspace asks the kernel << 
173   faulting thread continue with ``UFFDIO_CONTI << 
174                                                   110 
175 Notes:                                            111 Notes:
176                                                   112 
177 - You can tell which kind of fault occurred by !! 113 - If you requested ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` when registering then
178   ``pagefault.flags`` within the ``uffd_msg``, !! 114   you must provide some kind of page in your thread after reading from
179   ``UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_*`` flags.             !! 115   the uffd.  You must provide either ``UFFDIO_COPY`` or ``UFFDIO_ZEROPAGE``.
                                                   >> 116   The normal behavior of the OS automatically providing a zero page on
                                                   >> 117   an annonymous mmaping is not in place.
180                                                   118 
181 - None of the page-delivering ioctls default t    119 - None of the page-delivering ioctls default to the range that you
182   registered with.  You must fill in all field    120   registered with.  You must fill in all fields for the appropriate
183   ioctl struct including the range.               121   ioctl struct including the range.
184                                                   122 
185 - You get the address of the access that trigg    123 - You get the address of the access that triggered the missing page
186   event out of a struct uffd_msg that you read    124   event out of a struct uffd_msg that you read in the thread from the
187   uffd.  You can supply as many pages as you w !! 125   uffd.  You can supply as many pages as you want with ``UFFDIO_COPY`` or
188   Keep in mind that unless you used DONTWAKE t !! 126   ``UFFDIO_ZEROPAGE``.  Keep in mind that unless you used DONTWAKE then
189   those IOCTLs wakes up the faulting thread.   !! 127   the first of any of those IOCTLs wakes up the faulting thread.
190                                                   128 
191 - Be sure to test for all errors including        129 - Be sure to test for all errors including
192   (``pollfd[0].revents & POLLERR``).  This can    130   (``pollfd[0].revents & POLLERR``).  This can happen, e.g. when ranges
193   supplied were incorrect.                        131   supplied were incorrect.
194                                                   132 
195 Write Protect Notifications                       133 Write Protect Notifications
196 ---------------------------                       134 ---------------------------
197                                                   135 
198 This is equivalent to (but faster than) using     136 This is equivalent to (but faster than) using mprotect and a SIGSEGV
199 signal handler.                                   137 signal handler.
200                                                   138 
201 Firstly you need to register a range with ``UF    139 Firstly you need to register a range with ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_WP``.
202 Instead of using mprotect(2) you use              140 Instead of using mprotect(2) you use
203 ``ioctl(uffd, UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT, struct *uff    141 ``ioctl(uffd, UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT, struct *uffdio_writeprotect)``
204 while ``mode = UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT_MODE_WP``      142 while ``mode = UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT_MODE_WP``
205 in the struct passed in.  The range does not d    143 in the struct passed in.  The range does not default to and does not
206 have to be identical to the range you register    144 have to be identical to the range you registered with.  You can write
207 protect as many ranges as you like (inside the    145 protect as many ranges as you like (inside the registered range).
208 Then, in the thread reading from uffd the stru    146 Then, in the thread reading from uffd the struct will have
209 ``msg.arg.pagefault.flags & UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLA    147 ``msg.arg.pagefault.flags & UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_WP`` set. Now you send
210 ``ioctl(uffd, UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT, struct *uff    148 ``ioctl(uffd, UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT, struct *uffdio_writeprotect)``
211 again while ``pagefault.mode`` does not have `    149 again while ``pagefault.mode`` does not have ``UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT_MODE_WP``
212 set. This wakes up the thread which will conti    150 set. This wakes up the thread which will continue to run with writes. This
213 allows you to do the bookkeeping about the wri    151 allows you to do the bookkeeping about the write in the uffd reading
214 thread before the ioctl.                          152 thread before the ioctl.
215                                                   153 
216 If you registered with both ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_    154 If you registered with both ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` and
217 ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_WP`` then you need to t    155 ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_WP`` then you need to think about the sequence in
218 which you supply a page and undo write protect    156 which you supply a page and undo write protect.  Note that there is a
219 difference between writes into a WP area and i    157 difference between writes into a WP area and into a !WP area.  The
220 former will have ``UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_WP`` se    158 former will have ``UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_WP`` set, the latter
221 ``UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_WRITE``.  The latter did    159 ``UFFD_PAGEFAULT_FLAG_WRITE``.  The latter did not fail on protection but
222 you still need to supply a page when ``UFFDIO_    160 you still need to supply a page when ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` was
223 used.                                             161 used.
224                                                << 
225 Userfaultfd write-protect mode currently behav << 
226 (when e.g. page is missing) over different typ << 
227                                                << 
228 For anonymous memory, ``ioctl(UFFDIO_WRITEPROT << 
229 (e.g. when pages are missing and not populated << 
230 like shmem and hugetlbfs, none ptes will be wr << 
231 present pte.  In other words, there will be a  << 
232 message generated when writing to a missing pa << 
233 as long as the page range was write-protected  << 
234 not be generated on anonymous memories by defa << 
235                                                << 
236 If the application wants to be able to write p << 
237 memory, one can pre-populate the memory with e << 
238 newer kernels, one can also detect the feature << 
239 and set the feature bit in advance to make sur << 
240 write protected even upon anonymous memory.    << 
241                                                << 
242 When using ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_WP`` in comb << 
243 ``UFFDIO_REGISTER_MODE_MISSING`` or ``UFFDIO_R << 
244 resolving missing / minor faults with ``UFFDIO << 
245 respectively, it may be desirable for the new  << 
246 write-protected (so future writes will also re << 
247 support a mode flag (``UFFDIO_COPY_MODE_WP`` o << 
248 respectively) to configure the mapping this wa << 
249                                                << 
250 If the userfaultfd context has ``UFFD_FEATURE_ << 
251 any vma registered with write-protection will  << 
252 than the default sync mode.                    << 
253                                                << 
254 In async mode, there will be no message genera << 
255 happens, meanwhile the write-protection will b << 
256 the kernel.  It can be seen as a more accurate << 
257 tracking and it can be different in a few ways << 
258                                                << 
259   - The dirty result will not be affected by v << 
260     merging) because the dirty is only tracked << 
261                                                << 
262   - It supports range operations by default, s << 
263     any range of memory as long as page aligne << 
264                                                << 
265   - Dirty information will not get lost if the << 
266     various reasons (e.g. during split of a sh << 
267                                                << 
268   - Due to a reverted meaning of soft-dirty (p << 
269     set; dirty when uffd-wp bit cleared), it h << 
270     some of the memory operations.  For exampl << 
271     anonymous (or ``MADV_REMOVE`` on a file ma << 
272     dirtying of memory by dropping uffd-wp bit << 
273                                                << 
274 The user app can collect the "written/dirty" s << 
275 uffd-wp bit for the pages being interested in  << 
276                                                << 
277 The page will not be under track of uffd-wp as << 
278 explicitly write-protected by ``ioctl(UFFDIO_W << 
279 flag ``UFFDIO_WRITEPROTECT_MODE_WP`` set.  Try << 
280 that was tracked by async mode userfaultfd-wp  << 
281                                                << 
282 When userfaultfd-wp async mode is used alone,  << 
283 kinds of memory.                               << 
284                                                << 
285 Memory Poisioning Emulation                    << 
286 ---------------------------                    << 
287                                                << 
288 In response to a fault (either missing or mino << 
289 take to "resolve" it is to issue a ``UFFDIO_PO << 
290 future faulters to either get a SIGBUS, or in  << 
291 receive an MCE as if there were hardware memor << 
292                                                << 
293 This is used to emulate hardware memory poison << 
294 machine which experiences a real hardware memo << 
295 the VM to another physical machine. Since we w << 
296 transparent to the guest, we want that same ad << 
297 still poisoned, even though it's on a new phys << 
298 doesn't have a memory error in the exact same  << 
299                                                   162 
300 QEMU/KVM                                          163 QEMU/KVM
301 ========                                          164 ========
302                                                   165 
303 QEMU/KVM is using the ``userfaultfd`` syscall     166 QEMU/KVM is using the ``userfaultfd`` syscall to implement postcopy live
304 migration. Postcopy live migration is one form    167 migration. Postcopy live migration is one form of memory
305 externalization consisting of a virtual machin    168 externalization consisting of a virtual machine running with part or
306 all of its memory residing on a different node    169 all of its memory residing on a different node in the cloud. The
307 ``userfaultfd`` abstraction is generic enough     170 ``userfaultfd`` abstraction is generic enough that not a single line of
308 KVM kernel code had to be modified in order to    171 KVM kernel code had to be modified in order to add postcopy live
309 migration to QEMU.                                172 migration to QEMU.
310                                                   173 
311 Guest async page faults, ``FOLL_NOWAIT`` and a    174 Guest async page faults, ``FOLL_NOWAIT`` and all other ``GUP*`` features work
312 just fine in combination with userfaults. User    175 just fine in combination with userfaults. Userfaults trigger async
313 page faults in the guest scheduler so those gu    176 page faults in the guest scheduler so those guest processes that
314 aren't waiting for userfaults (i.e. network bo    177 aren't waiting for userfaults (i.e. network bound) can keep running in
315 the guest vcpus.                                  178 the guest vcpus.
316                                                   179 
317 It is generally beneficial to run one pass of     180 It is generally beneficial to run one pass of precopy live migration
318 just before starting postcopy live migration,     181 just before starting postcopy live migration, in order to avoid
319 generating userfaults for readonly guest regio    182 generating userfaults for readonly guest regions.
320                                                   183 
321 The implementation of postcopy live migration     184 The implementation of postcopy live migration currently uses one
322 single bidirectional socket but in the future     185 single bidirectional socket but in the future two different sockets
323 will be used (to reduce the latency of the use    186 will be used (to reduce the latency of the userfaults to the minimum
324 possible without having to decrease ``/proc/sy    187 possible without having to decrease ``/proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_wmem``).
325                                                   188 
326 The QEMU in the source node writes all pages t    189 The QEMU in the source node writes all pages that it knows are missing
327 in the destination node, into the socket, and     190 in the destination node, into the socket, and the migration thread of
328 the QEMU running in the destination node runs     191 the QEMU running in the destination node runs ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZEROPAGE``
329 ioctls on the ``userfaultfd`` in order to map     192 ioctls on the ``userfaultfd`` in order to map the received pages into the
330 guest (``UFFDIO_ZEROCOPY`` is used if the sour    193 guest (``UFFDIO_ZEROCOPY`` is used if the source page was a zero page).
331                                                   194 
332 A different postcopy thread in the destination    195 A different postcopy thread in the destination node listens with
333 poll() to the ``userfaultfd`` in parallel. Whe    196 poll() to the ``userfaultfd`` in parallel. When a ``POLLIN`` event is
334 generated after a userfault triggers, the post    197 generated after a userfault triggers, the postcopy thread read() from
335 the ``userfaultfd`` and receives the fault add    198 the ``userfaultfd`` and receives the fault address (or ``-EAGAIN`` in case the
336 userfault was already resolved and waken by a     199 userfault was already resolved and waken by a ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZEROPAGE`` run
337 by the parallel QEMU migration thread).           200 by the parallel QEMU migration thread).
338                                                   201 
339 After the QEMU postcopy thread (running in the    202 After the QEMU postcopy thread (running in the destination node) gets
340 the userfault address it writes the informatio    203 the userfault address it writes the information about the missing page
341 into the socket. The QEMU source node receives    204 into the socket. The QEMU source node receives the information and
342 roughly "seeks" to that page address and conti    205 roughly "seeks" to that page address and continues sending all
343 remaining missing pages from that new page off    206 remaining missing pages from that new page offset. Soon after that
344 (just the time to flush the tcp_wmem queue thr    207 (just the time to flush the tcp_wmem queue through the network) the
345 migration thread in the QEMU running in the de    208 migration thread in the QEMU running in the destination node will
346 receive the page that triggered the userfault     209 receive the page that triggered the userfault and it'll map it as
347 usual with the ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZEROPAGE`` (witho    210 usual with the ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZEROPAGE`` (without actually knowing if it
348 was spontaneously sent by the source or if it     211 was spontaneously sent by the source or if it was an urgent page
349 requested through a userfault).                   212 requested through a userfault).
350                                                   213 
351 By the time the userfaults start, the QEMU in     214 By the time the userfaults start, the QEMU in the destination node
352 doesn't need to keep any per-page state bitmap    215 doesn't need to keep any per-page state bitmap relative to the live
353 migration around and a single per-page bitmap     216 migration around and a single per-page bitmap has to be maintained in
354 the QEMU running in the source node to know wh    217 the QEMU running in the source node to know which pages are still
355 missing in the destination node. The bitmap in    218 missing in the destination node. The bitmap in the source node is
356 checked to find which missing pages to send in    219 checked to find which missing pages to send in round robin and we seek
357 over it when receiving incoming userfaults. Af    220 over it when receiving incoming userfaults. After sending each page of
358 course the bitmap is updated accordingly. It's    221 course the bitmap is updated accordingly. It's also useful to avoid
359 sending the same page twice (in case the userf    222 sending the same page twice (in case the userfault is read by the
360 postcopy thread just before ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZERO    223 postcopy thread just before ``UFFDIO_COPY|ZEROPAGE`` runs in the migration
361 thread).                                          224 thread).
362                                                   225 
363 Non-cooperative userfaultfd                       226 Non-cooperative userfaultfd
364 ===========================                       227 ===========================
365                                                   228 
366 When the ``userfaultfd`` is monitored by an ex    229 When the ``userfaultfd`` is monitored by an external manager, the manager
367 must be able to track changes in the process v    230 must be able to track changes in the process virtual memory
368 layout. Userfaultfd can notify the manager abo    231 layout. Userfaultfd can notify the manager about such changes using
369 the same read(2) protocol as for the page faul    232 the same read(2) protocol as for the page fault notifications. The
370 manager has to explicitly enable these events     233 manager has to explicitly enable these events by setting appropriate
371 bits in ``uffdio_api.features`` passed to ``UF    234 bits in ``uffdio_api.features`` passed to ``UFFDIO_API`` ioctl:
372                                                   235 
373 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_FORK``                       236 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_FORK``
374         enable ``userfaultfd`` hooks for fork(    237         enable ``userfaultfd`` hooks for fork(). When this feature is
375         enabled, the ``userfaultfd`` context o    238         enabled, the ``userfaultfd`` context of the parent process is
376         duplicated into the newly created proc    239         duplicated into the newly created process. The manager
377         receives ``UFFD_EVENT_FORK`` with file    240         receives ``UFFD_EVENT_FORK`` with file descriptor of the new
378         ``userfaultfd`` context in the ``uffd_    241         ``userfaultfd`` context in the ``uffd_msg.fork``.
379                                                   242 
380 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMAP``                      243 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMAP``
381         enable notifications about mremap() ca    244         enable notifications about mremap() calls. When the
382         non-cooperative process moves a virtua    245         non-cooperative process moves a virtual memory area to a
383         different location, the manager will r    246         different location, the manager will receive
384         ``UFFD_EVENT_REMAP``. The ``uffd_msg.r    247         ``UFFD_EVENT_REMAP``. The ``uffd_msg.remap`` will contain the old and
385         new addresses of the area and its orig    248         new addresses of the area and its original length.
386                                                   249 
387 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMOVE``                     250 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMOVE``
388         enable notifications about madvise(MAD    251         enable notifications about madvise(MADV_REMOVE) and
389         madvise(MADV_DONTNEED) calls. The even    252         madvise(MADV_DONTNEED) calls. The event ``UFFD_EVENT_REMOVE`` will
390         be generated upon these calls to madvi    253         be generated upon these calls to madvise(). The ``uffd_msg.remove``
391         will contain start and end addresses o    254         will contain start and end addresses of the removed area.
392                                                   255 
393 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_UNMAP``                      256 ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_UNMAP``
394         enable notifications about memory unma    257         enable notifications about memory unmapping. The manager will
395         get ``UFFD_EVENT_UNMAP`` with ``uffd_m    258         get ``UFFD_EVENT_UNMAP`` with ``uffd_msg.remove`` containing start and
396         end addresses of the unmapped area.       259         end addresses of the unmapped area.
397                                                   260 
398 Although the ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMOVE`` and    261 Although the ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMOVE`` and ``UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_UNMAP``
399 are pretty similar, they quite differ in the a    262 are pretty similar, they quite differ in the action expected from the
400 ``userfaultfd`` manager. In the former case, t    263 ``userfaultfd`` manager. In the former case, the virtual memory is
401 removed, but the area is not, the area remains    264 removed, but the area is not, the area remains monitored by the
402 ``userfaultfd``, and if a page fault occurs in    265 ``userfaultfd``, and if a page fault occurs in that area it will be
403 delivered to the manager. The proper resolutio    266 delivered to the manager. The proper resolution for such page fault is
404 to zeromap the faulting address. However, in t    267 to zeromap the faulting address. However, in the latter case, when an
405 area is unmapped, either explicitly (with munm    268 area is unmapped, either explicitly (with munmap() system call), or
406 implicitly (e.g. during mremap()), the area is    269 implicitly (e.g. during mremap()), the area is removed and in turn the
407 ``userfaultfd`` context for such area disappea    270 ``userfaultfd`` context for such area disappears too and the manager will
408 not get further userland page faults from the     271 not get further userland page faults from the removed area. Still, the
409 notification is required in order to prevent m    272 notification is required in order to prevent manager from using
410 ``UFFDIO_COPY`` on the unmapped area.             273 ``UFFDIO_COPY`` on the unmapped area.
411                                                   274 
412 Unlike userland page faults which have to be s    275 Unlike userland page faults which have to be synchronous and require
413 explicit or implicit wakeup, all the events ar    276 explicit or implicit wakeup, all the events are delivered
414 asynchronously and the non-cooperative process    277 asynchronously and the non-cooperative process resumes execution as
415 soon as manager executes read(). The ``userfau    278 soon as manager executes read(). The ``userfaultfd`` manager should
416 carefully synchronize calls to ``UFFDIO_COPY``    279 carefully synchronize calls to ``UFFDIO_COPY`` with the events
417 processing. To aid the synchronization, the ``    280 processing. To aid the synchronization, the ``UFFDIO_COPY`` ioctl will
418 return ``-ENOSPC`` when the monitored process     281 return ``-ENOSPC`` when the monitored process exits at the time of
419 ``UFFDIO_COPY``, and ``-ENOENT``, when the non    282 ``UFFDIO_COPY``, and ``-ENOENT``, when the non-cooperative process has changed
420 its virtual memory layout simultaneously with     283 its virtual memory layout simultaneously with outstanding ``UFFDIO_COPY``
421 operation.                                        284 operation.
422                                                   285 
423 The current asynchronous model of the event de    286 The current asynchronous model of the event delivery is optimal for
424 single threaded non-cooperative ``userfaultfd`    287 single threaded non-cooperative ``userfaultfd`` manager implementations. A
425 synchronous event delivery model can be added     288 synchronous event delivery model can be added later as a new
426 ``userfaultfd`` feature to facilitate multithr    289 ``userfaultfd`` feature to facilitate multithreading enhancements of the
427 non cooperative manager, for example to allow     290 non cooperative manager, for example to allow ``UFFDIO_COPY`` ioctls to
428 run in parallel to the event reception. Single    291 run in parallel to the event reception. Single threaded
429 implementations should continue to use the cur    292 implementations should continue to use the current async event
430 delivery model instead.                           293 delivery model instead.
                                                      

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