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Sean Christopherson 2abcdf03fd KVM: guest_memfd: Make private exactly what can be mapped on page fault
When calling into arch code to make the underlying memory private, i.e. to
assign memory to the VM in SNP's RMP table, assign/convert *exactly* the
range of memory that can be mapped into the guest for the current page
fault, instead of aggressively converting/assigning the entire folio.  For
SNP, the mapping size in the stage-2 page tables (Nested Page Tables, NPT)
must be at least the size of the corresponding RMP entry, e.g. assigning a
2MiB mapping in the RMP when it can only be mapped at 4KiB granualarity
will ultimate result in another page fault (#NPF for SNP) to "smash" the
RMP down to the correct mapping size.

Assigning the entire folio was necessary back when guest_memfd tracked
preparedness, which was done on a per-folio basis.  At the time, it made
sense to do per-folio tracking/preparation, because tracking per-folio
meant guest_memfd didn't need to add a separate data structure to track
that information, and doing per-folio tracking only works if the entire
folio is prepared (or not).

Now that guest_memfd no longer does preparation tracking (see commit
8622ef0570 ("KVM: guest_memfd: Remove preparation tracking")), in favor
having SNP query the RMP, per-folio preparation, i.e. per-folio conversions
to private, doesn't make any sense.

*If* SNP allowed the RMP size to be greater than the NPT size, then
per-folio conversion could theoretically provide marginal value, as it
would allow KVM to assign a hugepage in the RMP even if it can only be
mapped into the NPT with a smaller page, e.g. because of memslot alignment.
The documentation of that reasoning would be something like this:

  /*
   * If the memory is private from KVM's perspective, and hardware tracks
   * VM-assigned private memory in a dedicated data structure, i.e. not
   * in the stage-2 page tables, then call into arch code to assign the
   * entire folio to the guest.  Assigning the entire folio, e.g. instead
   * of only the memory being mapped into the guest, allows KVM to assign
   * an entire hugepage of memory in the out-of-band structure even if
   * KVM can only map a smaller page size into the MMU, e.g. because the
   * gmem hugepage is spread across multiple memslots.
   */

But even *if* a future SNP implementation supported that behavior, the
value added would be dubious, as having a huge folio that is fully private,
but can only be mapped at a smaller granularity, would be rare.  E.g. maybe
for memory at the top of lower DRAM that has holes for non-RAM assets?

So, convert/assign exactly what guest_memfd allows the caller to map to
simplify the guest_memfd code and provide a (super) minor performance
optimization for SNP.  E.g. once hugepage support comes along, guest_memfd
will only need a single flow to compute "how much memory can be assigned
and at what size".

Reviewed-by: Ackerley Tng <ackerleytng@google.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260723210811.72720-10-seanjc@google.com
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
2026-07-27 09:43:44 -07:00
arch KVM: guest_memfd: Explicitly pass number of pages to make_private() hook 2026-07-27 09:43:19 -07:00
block block-7.1-20260529 2026-05-29 10:41:07 -07:00
certs Clang build fixes for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:29:51 -07:00
crypto crypto/krb5, rxrpc: Fix lack of pre-decrypt/pre-verify length checks 2026-05-20 16:36:45 -07:00
Documentation KVM: s390: Fix S390_USER_OPEREXEC and more gmap fixes 2026-06-24 13:41:41 +02:00
drivers KVM: s390: Fix S390_USER_OPEREXEC and more gmap fixes 2026-06-24 13:41:41 +02:00
fs namespace: restrict OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE/FSMOUNT_NAMESPACE to directories 2026-06-10 07:09:20 -07:00
include KVM: guest_memfd: Explicitly pass number of pages to make_private() hook 2026-07-27 09:43:19 -07:00
init memblock: updates for 7.0-rc1 2026-04-18 11:29:14 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.1-20260611 2026-06-12 10:49:59 -07:00
ipc ipc/shm: serialize orphan cleanup with shm_nattch updates 2026-06-03 16:25:49 -07:00
kernel dma-mapping fixes for Linux 7.1 2026-06-11 14:22:26 -07:00
lib - Fix potential debugobjects deadlock on PREEMPT_RT kernels 2026-06-13 08:23:36 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm 11 hotfixes. 9 are for MM. 8 are cc:stable and the remaining 3 2026-06-09 08:24:25 -07:00
net netfilter pull request 26-06-10 2026-06-11 12:30:00 +02:00
rust rust: i2c: fix I2cAdapter refcount double increment 2026-06-08 09:47:50 +02:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts Rust fixes for v7.1 (2nd) 2026-06-06 09:44:42 -07:00
security security/keys: fix missed RCU read section on lookup 2026-05-28 11:45:41 -07:00
sound ASoC: Fixes for v7.1 2026-06-11 21:29:47 +02:00
tools KVM selftests for 7.3, early edition 2026-06-24 12:01:00 -04:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt KVM: guest_memfd: Make private exactly what can be mapped on page fault 2026-07-27 09:43:44 -07:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap MAINTAINERS: update Baoquan He's email address 2026-06-03 16:25:50 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS Delete some obsolete networking code 2026-04-24 09:41:58 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS KVM: s390: Fix S390_USER_OPEREXEC and more gmap fixes 2026-06-24 13:41:41 +02:00
Makefile Linux 7.1 2026-06-14 15:58:38 +01:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst