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Song Liu f5b57e9e9c bpf: Populate mmap-able array map memory lazily
An mmap-able BPF array map (BPF_F_MMAPABLE) has its backing memory
vmalloc'ed up front at map creation time. array_map_mmap() then wired up
the whole mapping eagerly via remap_vmalloc_range(), which calls
vm_insert_page() for every page of the map. For large maps this makes
every mmap() O(number of pages): an 8MiB map inserts 2048 PTEs per
mmap() and tears them all down again on munmap(), even when user space
only touches a few pages (or none at all).

Populate the mapping lazily instead, the same way the arena map already
does. array_map_mmap() now only performs the bounds check and returns,
leaving the PTEs unpopulated; pages are inserted on demand by a new
array_map_mmap_fault() handler. Because the memory is already resident,
the fault handler simply resolves the vmalloc page and hands it to the
fault path. This makes mmap() O(1), and munmap() proportional to the
number of pages that were actually faulted in rather than to the size of
the map.

The handler is reached through a new optional ->map_mmap_fault callback.
Maps that provide it get a vm_operations_struct with a .fault handler;
maps that populate their mapping eagerly keep the one they had. Both
share the same open/close callbacks, so the existing VMA accounting
(VM_MAYWRITE write-active tracking, freeze handling) stays centralized
rather than each map installing its own vm_operations_struct.

Callers that want the pages populated up front can still request that
explicitly with MAP_POPULATE. Kernel-side access to the map (via the
vmalloc address) is unaffected.

Time for one mmap()+munmap() of an 8MiB mmap-able array map:

                                       before     after
  no MAP_POPULATE, no access            226us     1.1us
  no MAP_POPULATE, access all pages     236us    1341us
  MAP_POPULATE, no access               312us     493us
  MAP_POPULATE, access all pages        318us     519us

Mapping without touching the data, which is what this change targets,
gets ~160x cheaper. Faulting in the whole mapping one page at a time is
more expensive than the eager remap_vmalloc_range() loop, so users that
do touch every page should ask for MAP_POPULATE. Note that MAP_POPULATE
is not free before this change either: it adds ~85us (226us => 312us)
for no benefit, as the mapping is already fully populated.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8
Signed-off-by: Song Liu <song@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260814155623.111565-1-song@kernel.org
History 2026-08-14 15:31:30 -07:00
arch riscv, bpf: Fix missing sign-ext for signed 1-byte and 2-byte kfunc args 2026-08-14 18:31:58 +02:00
block block: stop the timeout timer when releasing a never added disk 2026-07-29 05:23:20 -06:00
certs treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
crypto crypto: aes - Fix conditions for selecting MAC dependencies 2026-07-09 11:06:22 -04:00
Documentation bpf, arm64: Convert struct_ops arena arguments in the trampoline 2026-08-14 05:55:02 +02:00
drivers Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf 7.2-rc7 2026-08-07 23:04:17 +02:00
fs BPF fixes: 2026-08-07 08:08:57 -07:00
include bpf: Populate mmap-able array map memory lazily 2026-08-14 15:31:30 -07:00
init rust: allow suspicious_runtime_symbol_definitions lint for Rust >= 1.98 2026-06-29 13:02:15 +02:00
io_uring io_uring: preserve task restrictions across exec 2026-07-30 14:40:22 -06:00
ipc kernel-7.2-rc1.misc 2026-06-15 03:05:50 +05:30
kernel bpf: Populate mmap-able array map memory lazily 2026-08-14 15:31:30 -07:00
lib hardening fixes for v7.2-rc6 2026-07-28 13:36:01 -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 17 hotfixes. 15 are cc:stable. 16 are for MM. 2026-08-06 20:29:38 -07:00
net Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf 7.2-rc7 2026-08-07 23:04:17 +02:00
rust rust: time: fix as_micros_ceil() to round correctly for negative Delta 2026-07-18 19:07:35 +02:00
samples samples/damon/mtier: error out for zero quota goal target values 2026-08-04 20:02:02 -07:00
scripts Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf 7.2-rc7 2026-08-07 23:04:17 +02:00
security selinux/stable-7.2 PR 20260805 2026-08-05 13:40:11 -07:00
sound ALSA: usb-audio: Fix sticky mixer regressions on M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 2026-08-07 10:35:31 +02:00
tools libbpf: Fix ring buffer consumer loop on 32-bit position wrap 2026-08-14 15:21:09 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt KVM/arm64 fixes for 7.2, take #2 2026-07-15 12:13:30 +02:00
.clang-format clang-format: fix formatting of guard() and scoped_guard() statements 2026-05-28 21:24:41 -07:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.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 SPDX patches for 7.2-rc1 2026-06-22 12:06:22 -07:00
.mailmap 17 hotfixes. 15 are cc:stable. 16 are for MM. 2026-08-06 20:29:38 -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 CREDITS: Add Wolfram Sang 2026-07-14 16:34:04 +02:00
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 Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf 7.2-rc7 2026-08-07 23:04:17 +02:00
Makefile Linux 7.2-rc6 2026-08-02 16:24:24 -07:00
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