REMAP_FILE_PAGES(2)

NAME
remap_file_pages - create a non-linear file mapping

SYNOPSIS
#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <sys/mman.h>

int remap_file_pages(void *start, size_t size, int prot,
                     ssize_t pgoff, int flags);

DESCRIPTION
The remap_file_pages() system call is used to create a non-linear mapping, that is, a mapping in which the pages of the file are mapped into a non-sequential order in memory. The advantage of using remap_file_pages() over using repeated calls to mmap(2) is that the former approach does not require the kernel to create additional VMA (Virtual Memory Area) data structures.

To create a non-linear mapping we perform the following steps:

1.  Use mmap() to create a mapping (which is initially linear). This mapping must be created with the MAP_SHARED flag.

2.  Use one or more calls to remap_file_pages() to rearrange the correspondence between the pages of the mapping and the pages of the file. It is possible to map the same page of a file into multiple locations within the mapped region.

The pgoff and size arguments specify the region of the file that is to be relocated within the mapping: pgoff is a file offset in units of the system page size; size is the length of the region in bytes.

The start argument serves two purposes. First, it identifies the mapping whose pages we want to rearrange. Thus, start must be an address that falls within a region previously mapped by a call to mmap(). Second, start specifies the address at which the file pages identified by pgoff and size will be placed.

The values specified in start and size should be multiples of the system page size. If they are not, then the kernel rounds both values down to the nearest multiple of the page size.

The prot argument must be specified as 0.

The flags argument has the same meaning as for mmap(), but all flags other than MAP_NONBLOCK are ignored.

RETURN VALUE
On success, remap_file_pages() returns 0. On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set appropriately.

NOTES
The remap_file_pages() system call appeared in Linux 2.5.46.

ERRORS

EINVAL
    start does not refer to a valid mapping created with the MAP_SHARED flag.

EINVAL
    start, size, prot, or pgoff is invalid.

CONFORMING TO
The remap_file_pages() system call is Linux specific.

SEE ALSO
getpagesize(2), mmap(2), mmap2(2), mprotect(2), mremap(2), msync(2)