[PATCH RFC v2 0/4] KVM: guest_memfd: folio migration for non-confidential VMs
From: Shivank Garg <hidden>
Date: 2026-07-28 09:07:06
guest_memfd folios are currently always marked unmovable, so the kernel cannot
perform memory compaction, offlining, etc. This is unavoidable for
confidential VMs (SEV-SNP, TDX), since memory is encrypted and copying it
needs firmware assistance. However, for non-confidential VMs (like
Firecracker), we can migrate the folios.
This series enables folio migration for non-confidential guest_memfd and
also lays the groundwork for migrating confidential guest_memfd later.
Once firmware-assisted copying support is available, those VMs can be
made movable, the confidential folio content can be copied separately,
and the destination folio marked with FOLIO_CONTENT_COPIED so
__migrate_folio() skips the host-side folio_mc_copy().
Testing
-------
Host: 7.2-rc5+(62cc902415) + this, 2 NUMA nodes
- KVM selftest: allocate folios on node 0, migrate them to node 1 and
back and verify resulting NUMA node and the folio contents at each
step.
- Firecracker [1]: booted a microVM backed by guest_memfd. While the
guest was running, forced host-side migration of its folios via
migratepages(8) and explicit move_pages(2) of guest_memfd
pages. Verify with /proc/firecracker_pid/numa_maps.
Notes
-----
- Sashiko pointed out a pre-existing ABBA deadlock between
kvm_gmem_error_folio() and truncation. It's being addressed separately
by Hao Zhang. [2][3]
- Sashiko also asked whether selftest should dynamically discover available
NUMA nodes instead of hardcoding nodes 0 and 1? This feels like
over-complication for an artificial scenario. [3] So avoiding it.
[1] https://github.com/firecracker-microvm/firecracker/tree/feature/secret-hiding
In builder.rs, add GUEST_MEMFD_FLAG_MIGRATABLE to bit-2 and pass it instead
of GUEST_MEMFD_FLAG_NO_DIRECT_MAP to vm.create_guest_memfd().
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/all/ambEdSPjerZIVN0b@192.168.1.215/
[3] https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260611-shivank-gmem-migrate-v1-0-2d266bfc6f95%40amd.com
Signed-off-by: Shivank Garg <redacted>
---
Changes in v2:
- Make folio migration opt-in through GUEST_MEMFD_FLAG_MIGRATABLE,
preserving unmovable behavior if userspace don't explictly ask. (Alexandru, David, Sean)
- Add kvm_arch_supports_gmem_migration() so arch can control whether
GUEST_MEMFD_FLAG_MIGRATABLE is advertised.
- Allocate movable folios with GFP_HIGHUSER_MOVABLE. (David)
- Keep guest_memfd unevictable. (David, Sashiko, Sean)
- Split migrate_folio() implementation and enablement as separate patches.
- Update selftest with new flag.
- Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260611-shivank-gmem-migrate-v1-0-2d266bfc6f95@amd.com
---
Shivank Garg (4):
mm: split AS_UNMOVABLE back out of AS_INACCESSIBLE
KVM: guest_memfd: implement folio migration for non-confidential VMs
KVM: guest_memfd: add GUEST_MEMFD_FLAG_MIGRATABLE
KVM: selftests: exercise guest_memfd folio migration
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 9 +++
include/linux/kvm_host.h | 4 ++
include/linux/pagemap.h | 24 ++++++--
include/uapi/linux/kvm.h | 1 +
mm/compaction.c | 12 ++--
mm/migrate.c | 2 +-
tools/include/uapi/linux/kvm.h | 1 +
tools/testing/selftests/kvm/guest_memfd_test.c | 82 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c | 53 +++++++++++++++--
9 files changed, 172 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
---
base-commit: 62cc90241548d5570ee68e01aaba6506964e9811
change-id: 20260611-shivank-gmem-migrate-8c1c519b30a6
Best regards,
--
Shivank Garg [off-list ref]