Re: [PATCH v4 01/17] x86/virt/tdx: Enhance tdx_pamt_get/put() to support huge pages

["Edgecombe, Rick P" <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>]

On Mon, 2026-10-19 at 14:35 +0800, Yan Zhao wrote:
> > Then the contract is simply:
> > 
> >     There are only two possible mapping levels: 2MB and 4KB. There is a
> > refcount
> >     for each 2MB aligned range. The mapping level will be 4KB when there is
> > any
> >     refcount for 2MB aligned range.
> >     
> >     tdx_pamt_get() increments the refcount
> >     tdx_pamt_put() decrements the refcount
> I think refcounts should not appear in the contract. What is meaningful to KVM
> is not the refcount adjustment, but preparing and unpreparing PAMT pages for
> the physical page KVM wants to install/uninstall.

Well get and put are already refcount associated terms...

> 
> Whenever KVM invokes tdx_pamt_get(), it wants to ensure DPAMT pages are
> installed before installing a physical page; when KVM invokes tdx_pamt_put(),
> it wants to ensure DPAMT pages can be torn down correctly after uninstalling a
> physical page. So, perhaps a more accurate naming for
> tdx_pamt_get()/tdx_pamt_put() would be
> tdx_pamt_prepare()/tdx_pamt_unprepare()?

I don't see a reason to change the just settled pattern. It went through many
rounds of reviews and no one ever objected to the get/put pattern. AFAICT the
only scenario where it doesn't fit for huge pages if it is changed to accept
args for other levels. But as before there is nothing to do for those other
levels. And the callers already know this because they have to top up the cache
appropriately. So there is no benefit that I can see. And following from that...
no need to rename the functions already.

> 
> The refcounts are internal implementation details of tdx_pamt_{get/put}() and
> are hidden from KVM. It is tdx_pamt_{get/put}() that decides to use per-2MB
> refcounts to track the invocation count, and ensures that PAMT pages are
> (un)installed only once for each 2MB range.
> 
> The contract is therefore simple for KVM:
> whenever KVM installs/uninstalls a physical page, invoke tdx_pamt_{get/put}()
> and specify the physical range by providing the level.
> 
> >     tdh_mem_page_demote() increments the refcount for each 4KB page
> Since tdh_mem_page_demote() only splits the mapping level of an already
> installed physical page (without removing any physical page), KVM does not
> need
> to invoke tdx_pamt_{get/put}() for the guest private page. As refcounts are
> hidden from KVM, KVM is unaware of the underlying refcount adjustment for the
> split huge page.
> 
> On the other hand, since tdh_mem_page_demote() will install a new page table
> page, KVM needs to invoke tdx_pamt_get() at level 4KB to prepare for the new
> page table page (which is 4KB) before invoking tdh_mem_page_demote().
> 
> >     The mapping level will be determined by the refcount after each
> > operation is
> >     complete.
> > 
> > If you want to pass the level, somehow it has to be clear how the refcount
> > and
> > mapping level will be adjusted for each combination of operations.
> When a level is passed to tdx_pamt_{get/put}(), it indicates that KVM wants to
> prepare/unprepare PAMT pages for a physical page at the specified level.

As already discussed, there is only one level where we would need to do
anything.