Re: [PATCH v12 1/4] mm/vmalloc: allow to set node and align in vrealloc

Liam R. Howlett
2025-07-09T19:02:12Z

* Vitaly Wool <vitaly.wool@konsulko.se> [250709 13:24]:
> Reimplement vrealloc() to be able to set node and alignment should
> a user need to do so. Rename the function to vrealloc_node_align()
> to better match what it actually does now and introduce macros for
> vrealloc() and friends for backward compatibility.
>
> With that change we also provide the ability for the Rust part of
> the kernel to set node and alignment in its allocations.
>
> Signed-off-by: Vitaly Wool <vitaly.wool@konsulko.se>
> Reviewed-by: Uladzislau Rezki (Sony) <urezki@gmail.com>
> Reviewed-by: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@suse.cz>
> ---
> include/linux/vmalloc.h | 12 +++++++++---
> mm/nommu.c | 3 ++-
> mm/vmalloc.c | 31 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
> 3 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
...

> diff --git a/mm/vmalloc.c b/mm/vmalloc.c
> index 6dbcdceecae1..03dd06097b25 100644
> --- a/mm/vmalloc.c
> +++ b/mm/vmalloc.c
> @@ -4089,19 +4089,31 @@ void *vzalloc_node_noprof(unsigned long size, int node)
> EXPORT_SYMBOL(vzalloc_node_noprof);
>
> /**
> - * vrealloc - reallocate virtually contiguous memory; contents remain unchanged
> + * vrealloc_node_align_noprof - reallocate virtually contiguous memory; contents
> + * remain unchanged
> * @p: object to reallocate memory for
> * @size: the size to reallocate
> + * @align: requested alignment
> * @flags: the flags for the page level allocator
> + * @nid: node number of the target node
> + *
> + * If @p is %NULL, vrealloc_XXX() behaves exactly like vmalloc(). If @size is
> + * 0 and @p is not a %NULL pointer, the object pointed to is freed.
> *
> - * If @p is %NULL, vrealloc() behaves exactly like vmalloc(). If @size is 0 and
> - * @p is not a %NULL pointer, the object pointed to is freed.
> + * if @nid is not NUMA_NO_NODE, this function will try to allocate memory on
> + * the given node. If reallocation is not necessary (e. g. the new size is less
> + * than the current allocated size), the current allocation will be preserved
> + * unless __GFP_THISNODE is set. In the latter case a new allocation on the
> + * requested node will be attempted.

I am having a very hard time understanding what you mean here. What is
the latter case?

If @nis is !NUMA_NO_NODE, the allocation will be attempted on the given
node. Then things sort of get confusing. What is the latter case?

> *
> * If __GFP_ZERO logic is requested, callers must ensure that, starting with the
> * initial memory allocation, every subsequent call to this API for the same
> * memory allocation is flagged with __GFP_ZERO. Otherwise, it is possible that
> * __GFP_ZERO is not fully honored by this API.
> *
> + * If the requested alignment is bigger than the one the *existing* allocation
> + * has, this function will fail.
> + *

It might be better to say something like:
Requesting an alignment that is bigger than the alignment of the
*existing* allocation will fail.

...

Thanks,
Liam