Re: [PATCH 1/6] iomap: replace folio_batch allocation with stack allocation

Darrick J. Wong
2025-11-05T21:41:00Z

On Wed, Nov 05, 2025 at 10:27:52AM -0500, Brian Foster wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 04, 2025 at 04:07:16PM -0800, Darrick J. Wong wrote:
> > On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 03:02:58PM -0400, Brian Foster wrote:
> > > Zhang Yi points out that the dynamic folio_batch allocation in
> > > iomap_fill_dirty_folios() is problematic for the ext4 on iomap work
> > > that is under development because it doesn't sufficiently handle the
> > > allocation failure case (by allowing a retry, for example).
> > >
> > > The dynamic allocation was initially added for simplicity and to
> > > help indicate whether the batch was used or not by the calling fs.
> > > To address this issue, put the batch on the stack of
> > > iomap_zero_range() and use a flag to control whether the batch
> > > should be used in the iomap folio lookup path. This keeps things
> > > simple and eliminates the concern for ext4 on iomap.
> > >
> > > Signed-off-by: Brian Foster <bfoster@redhat.com>
> >
> > Hrmm, so who kmallocs the fbatch array now? Is that left as an exercise
> > to the filesystem? I'm confused because I don't see the kmalloc call
> > reappear elsewhere, at least not in this patch.
> >
>
> It's no longer dynamically allocated. It's allocated on the stack in
> iomap_zero_range(), and a flag is set on the iomap if the pagecache
> lookup occurs. The allocation is a potential problem for the ext4 on
> iomap port, so this elides the need for dealing with alloc failures and
> whatnot.

Oh, silly me. I got mixed up thinking that the deleted kmalloc was
allocating folio_batch::folios whereas in reality the kmalloc was for
the entire struct folio_batch. So yes, it's allocated on the stack.
Sorry about the noise.

--D

> This is probably how it should have been done from the start, but when
> the flag related feedback came along it was deep enough in test/review
> cycle that I preferred to do it separately.
>
> Brian
>
> > --D
> >
> > > ---
> > > fs/iomap/buffered-io.c | 45 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------
> > > fs/iomap/iter.c | 6 +++---
> > > fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c | 11 ++++++-----
> > > include/linux/iomap.h | 8 ++++++--
> > > 4 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/fs/iomap/buffered-io.c b/fs/iomap/buffered-io.c
> > > index 51ecb6d48feb..05ff82c5432e 100644
> > > --- a/fs/iomap/buffered-io.c
> > > +++ b/fs/iomap/buffered-io.c
> > > @@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ static struct folio *__iomap_get_folio(struct iomap_iter *iter,
> > > if (!mapping_large_folio_support(iter->inode->i_mapping))
> > > len = min_t(size_t, len, PAGE_SIZE - offset_in_page(pos));
> > >
> > > - if (iter->fbatch) {
> > > + if (iter->iomap.flags & IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH) {
> > > struct folio *folio = folio_batch_next(iter->fbatch);
> > >
> > > if (!folio)
> > > @@ -858,7 +858,7 @@ static int iomap_write_begin(struct iomap_iter *iter,
> > > * process so return and let the caller iterate and refill the batch.
> > > */
> > > if (!folio) {
> > > - WARN_ON_ONCE(!iter->fbatch);
> > > + WARN_ON_ONCE(!(iter->iomap.flags & IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH));
> > > return 0;
> > > }
> > >
> > > @@ -1473,23 +1473,34 @@ static int iomap_zero_iter(struct iomap_iter *iter, bool *did_zero,
> > > return status;
> > > }
> > >
> > > -loff_t
> > > +/**
> > > + * iomap_fill_dirty_folios - fill a folio batch with dirty folios
> > > + * @iter: Iteration structure
> > > + * @start: Start offset of range. Updated based on lookup progress.
> > > + * @end: End offset of range
> > > + *
> > > + * Returns the associated control flag if the folio batch is available and the
> > > + * lookup performed. The caller is responsible to set the flag on the associated
> > > + * iomap.
> > > + */
> > > +unsigned int
> > > iomap_fill_dirty_folios(
> > > struct iomap_iter *iter,
> > > - loff_t offset,
> > > - loff_t length)
> > > + loff_t *start,
> > > + loff_t end)
> > > {
> > > struct address_space *mapping = iter->inode->i_mapping;
> > > - pgoff_t start = offset >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> > > - pgoff_t end = (offset + length - 1) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> > > + pgoff_t pstart = *start >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> > > + pgoff_t pend = (end - 1) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> > >
> > > - iter->fbatch = kmalloc(sizeof(struct folio_batch), GFP_KERNEL);
> > > - if (!iter->fbatch)
> > > - return offset + length;
> > > - folio_batch_init(iter->fbatch);
> > > + if (!iter->fbatch) {
> > > + *start = end;
> > > + return 0;
> > > + }
> > >
> > > - filemap_get_folios_dirty(mapping, &start, end, iter->fbatch);
> > > - return (start << PAGE_SHIFT);
> > > + filemap_get_folios_dirty(mapping, &pstart, pend, iter->fbatch);
> > > + *start = (pstart << PAGE_SHIFT);
> > > + return IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH;
> > > }
> > > EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(iomap_fill_dirty_folios);
> > >
> > > @@ -1498,17 +1509,21 @@ iomap_zero_range(struct inode *inode, loff_t pos, loff_t len, bool *did_zero,
> > > const struct iomap_ops *ops,
> > > const struct iomap_write_ops *write_ops, void *private)
> > > {
> > > + struct folio_batch fbatch;
> > > struct iomap_iter iter = {
> > > .inode = inode,
> > > .pos = pos,
> > > .len = len,
> > > .flags = IOMAP_ZERO,
> > > .private = private,
> > > + .fbatch = &fbatch,
> > > };
> > > struct address_space *mapping = inode->i_mapping;
> > > int ret;
> > > bool range_dirty;
> > >
> > > + folio_batch_init(&fbatch);
> > > +
> > > /*
> > > * To avoid an unconditional flush, check pagecache state and only flush
> > > * if dirty and the fs returns a mapping that might convert on
> > > @@ -1519,11 +1534,11 @@ iomap_zero_range(struct inode *inode, loff_t pos, loff_t len, bool *did_zero,
> > > while ((ret = iomap_iter(&iter, ops)) > 0) {
> > > const struct iomap *srcmap = iomap_iter_srcmap(&iter);
> > >
> > > - if (WARN_ON_ONCE(iter.fbatch &&
> > > + if (WARN_ON_ONCE((iter.iomap.flags & IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH) &&
> > > srcmap->type != IOMAP_UNWRITTEN))
> > > return -EIO;
> > >
> > > - if (!iter.fbatch &&
> > > + if (!(iter.iomap.flags & IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH) &&
> > > (srcmap->type == IOMAP_HOLE ||
> > > srcmap->type == IOMAP_UNWRITTEN)) {
> > > s64 status;
> > > diff --git a/fs/iomap/iter.c b/fs/iomap/iter.c
> > > index 66ca12aac57d..026d85823c76 100644
> > > --- a/fs/iomap/iter.c
> > > +++ b/fs/iomap/iter.c
> > > @@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
> > >
> > > static inline void iomap_iter_reset_iomap(struct iomap_iter *iter)
> > > {
> > > - if (iter->fbatch) {
> > > + if (iter->iomap.flags & IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH) {
> > > folio_batch_release(iter->fbatch);
> > > - kfree(iter->fbatch);
> > > - iter->fbatch = NULL;
> > > + folio_batch_reinit(iter->fbatch);
> > > + iter->iomap.flags &= ~IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH;
> > > }
> > >
> > > iter->status = 0;
> > > diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
> > > index 535bf3b8705d..01833aca37ac 100644
> > > --- a/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
> > > +++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
> > > @@ -1775,7 +1775,6 @@ xfs_buffered_write_iomap_begin(
> > > */
> > > if (flags & IOMAP_ZERO) {
> > > xfs_fileoff_t eof_fsb = XFS_B_TO_FSB(mp, XFS_ISIZE(ip));
> > > - u64 end;
> > >
> > > if (isnullstartblock(imap.br_startblock) &&
> > > offset_fsb >= eof_fsb)
> > > @@ -1795,12 +1794,14 @@ xfs_buffered_write_iomap_begin(
> > > */
> > > if (imap.br_state == XFS_EXT_UNWRITTEN &&
> > > offset_fsb < eof_fsb) {
> > > - loff_t len = min(count,
> > > - XFS_FSB_TO_B(mp, imap.br_blockcount));
> > > + loff_t foffset = offset, fend;
> > >
> > > - end = iomap_fill_dirty_folios(iter, offset, len);
> > > + fend = offset +
> > > + min(count, XFS_FSB_TO_B(mp, imap.br_blockcount));
> > > + iomap_flags |= iomap_fill_dirty_folios(iter, &foffset,
> > > + fend);
> > > end_fsb = min_t(xfs_fileoff_t, end_fsb,
> > > - XFS_B_TO_FSB(mp, end));
> > > + XFS_B_TO_FSB(mp, foffset));
> > > }
> > >
> > > xfs_trim_extent(&imap, offset_fsb, end_fsb - offset_fsb);
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/iomap.h b/include/linux/iomap.h
> > > index cd0f573156d6..79da917ff45e 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/iomap.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/iomap.h
> > > @@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ struct vm_fault;
> > > /*
> > > * Flags set by the core iomap code during operations:
> > > *
> > > + * IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH indicates that the folio batch mechanism is active
> > > + * for this operation, set by iomap_fill_dirty_folios().
> > > + *
> > > * IOMAP_F_SIZE_CHANGED indicates to the iomap_end method that the file size
> > > * has changed as the result of this write operation.
> > > *
> > > @@ -94,6 +97,7 @@ struct vm_fault;
> > > * range it covers needs to be remapped by the high level before the operation
> > > * can proceed.
> > > */
> > > +#define IOMAP_F_FOLIO_BATCH (1U << 13)
> > > #define IOMAP_F_SIZE_CHANGED (1U << 14)
> > > #define IOMAP_F_STALE (1U << 15)
> > >
> > > @@ -351,8 +355,8 @@ bool iomap_dirty_folio(struct address_space *mapping, struct folio *folio);
> > > int iomap_file_unshare(struct inode *inode, loff_t pos, loff_t len,
> > > const struct iomap_ops *ops,
> > > const struct iomap_write_ops *write_ops);
> > > -loff_t iomap_fill_dirty_folios(struct iomap_iter *iter, loff_t offset,
> > > - loff_t length);
> > > +unsigned int iomap_fill_dirty_folios(struct iomap_iter *iter, loff_t *start,
> > > + loff_t end);
> > > int iomap_zero_range(struct inode *inode, loff_t pos, loff_t len,
> > > bool *did_zero, const struct iomap_ops *ops,
> > > const struct iomap_write_ops *write_ops, void *private);
> > > --
> > > 2.51.0
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>