[PATCH kvm-next V11 0/7] Add NUMA mempolicy support for KVM guest-memfd

Shivank Garg
2025-08-27T17:55:13Z

This series introduces NUMA-aware memory placement support for KVM guests
with guest_memfd memory backends. It builds upon Fuad Tabba's work (V17)
that enabled host-mapping for guest_memfd memory [1] and can be applied
directly applied on KVM tree [2] (branch kvm-next, base commit: a6ad5413,
Merge branch 'guest-memfd-mmap' into HEAD)

== Background ==
KVM's guest-memfd memory backend currently lacks support for NUMA policy
enforcement, causing guest memory allocations to be distributed across host
nodes according to kernel's default behavior, irrespective of any policy
specified by the VMM. This limitation arises because conventional userspace
NUMA control mechanisms like mbind(2) don't work since the memory isn't
directly mapped to userspace when allocations occur.
Fuad's work [1] provides the necessary mmap capability, and this series
leverages it to enable mbind(2).

== Implementation ==
This series implements proper NUMA policy support for guest-memfd by:

1. Adding mempolicy-aware allocation APIs to the filemap layer.
2. Introducing custom inodes (via a dedicated slab-allocated inode cache,
kvm_gmem_inode_info) to store NUMA policy and metadata for guest memory.
3. Implementing get/set_policy vm_ops in guest_memfd to support NUMA
policy.

With these changes, VMMs can now control guest memory placement by mapping
guest_memfd file descriptor and using mbind(2) to specify:
- Policy modes: default, bind, interleave, or preferred
- Host NUMA nodes: List of target nodes for memory allocation

These Policies affect only future allocations and do not migrate existing
memory. This matches mbind(2)'s default behavior which affects only new
allocations unless overridden with MPOL_MF_MOVE/MPOL_MF_MOVE_ALL flags (Not
supported for guest_memfd as it is unmovable by design).

== Upstream Plan ==
Phased approach as per David's guest_memfd extension overview [3] and
community calls [4]:

Phase 1 (this series):
1. Focuses on shared guest_memfd support (non-CoCo VMs).
2. Builds on Fuad's host-mapping work [1].

Phase2 (future work):
1. NUMA support for private guest_memfd (CoCo VMs).
2. Depends on SNP in-place conversion support [5].

This series provides a clean integration path for NUMA-aware memory
management for guest_memfd and lays the groundwork for future confidential
computing NUMA capabilities.

Thanks,
Shivank

== Changelog ==

- v1,v2: Extended the KVM_CREATE_GUEST_MEMFD IOCTL to pass mempolicy.
- v3: Introduced fbind() syscall for VMM memory-placement configuration.
- v4-v6: Current approach using shared_policy support and vm_ops (based on
suggestions from David [6] and guest_memfd bi-weekly upstream
call discussion [7]).
- v7: Use inodes to store NUMA policy instead of file [8].
- v8: Rebase on top of Fuad's V12: Host mmaping for guest_memfd memory.
- v9: Rebase on top of Fuad's V13 and incorporate review comments
- V10: Rebase on top of Fuad's V17. Use latest guest_memfd inode patch
from Ackerley (with David's review comments). Use newer kmem_cache_create()
API variant with arg parameter (Vlastimil)
- V11: Rebase on kvm-next, remove RFC tag, use Ackerley's latest patch
and fix a rcu race bug during kvm module unload.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250729225455.670324-1-seanjc@google.com
[2] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/kvm.git/log/?h=next
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/all/c1c9591d-218a-495c-957b-ba356c8f8e09@redhat.com
[4] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M6766BzdY1Lhk7LiR5IqVR8B8mG3cr-cxTxOrAosPOk/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.svcbod20b5ur
[5] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250613005400.3694904-1-michael.roth@amd.com
[6] https://lore.kernel.org/all/6fbef654-36e2-4be5-906e-2a648a845278@redhat.com
[7] https://lore.kernel.org/all/2b77e055-98ac-43a1-a7ad-9f9065d7f38f@amd.com
[8] https://lore.kernel.org/all/diqzbjumm167.fsf@ackerleytng-ctop.c.googlers.com

Ackerley Tng (1):
KVM: guest_memfd: Use guest mem inodes instead of anonymous inodes

Matthew Wilcox (Oracle) (2):
mm/filemap: Add NUMA mempolicy support to filemap_alloc_folio()
mm/filemap: Extend __filemap_get_folio() to support NUMA memory
policies

Shivank Garg (4):
mm/mempolicy: Export memory policy symbols
KVM: guest_memfd: Add slab-allocated inode cache
KVM: guest_memfd: Enforce NUMA mempolicy using shared policy
KVM: guest_memfd: selftests: Add tests for mmap and NUMA policy
support

fs/bcachefs/fs-io-buffered.c | 2 +-
fs/btrfs/compression.c | 4 +-
fs/btrfs/verity.c | 2 +-
fs/erofs/zdata.c | 2 +-
fs/f2fs/compress.c | 2 +-
include/linux/pagemap.h | 18 +-
include/uapi/linux/magic.h | 1 +
mm/filemap.c | 23 +-
mm/mempolicy.c | 6 +
mm/readahead.c | 2 +-
tools/testing/selftests/kvm/Makefile.kvm | 1 +
.../testing/selftests/kvm/guest_memfd_test.c | 121 ++++++++
virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c | 262 ++++++++++++++++--
virt/kvm/kvm_main.c | 7 +-
virt/kvm/kvm_mm.h | 9 +-
15 files changed, 412 insertions(+), 50 deletions(-)

--
2.43.0

---
== Earlier Postings ==
v10: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250811090605.16057-2-shivankg@amd.com
v9: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250713174339.13981-2-shivankg@amd.com
v8: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250618112935.7629-1-shivankg@amd.com
v7: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250408112402.181574-1-shivankg@amd.com
v6: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250226082549.6034-1-shivankg@amd.com
v5: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250219101559.414878-1-shivankg@amd.com
v4: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250210063227.41125-1-shivankg@amd.com
v3: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20241105164549.154700-1-shivankg@amd.com
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20240919094438.10987-1-shivankg@amd.com
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20240916165743.201087-1-shivankg@amd.com