alloc_pages(9)

💖 alloc_pages 💖

okay so this is the Kernel API Manual, and today’s main character is alloc_pages — yes, the page-allocating bestie. let’s get into it. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

alloc_pages — Allocate pages. That’s the whole name, no cap. 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct page * alloc_pages (gfp_t gfp , unsigned int order );

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• gfp — GFP flags. bring the right flags, bestie. 🫶
• order — Power of two of number of pages to allocate. like, the exponent energy for how many pages you want. 🔥

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so alloc_pages allocates 1 << order contiguous pages — yes, contiguous, we love a clean block. 💖

The physical address of the first page is naturally aligned (eg an order-3 allocation will be aligned to a multiple of 8 * PAGE_SIZE bytes). iconic alignment behaviour, honestly. 🎀

The NUMA policy of the current process is honoured when in process context. periodt. 🌈

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💜 CONTEXT 💜

Can be called from any context, providing the appropriate GFP flags are used. that’s the rule, bestie — any context, appropriate GFP flags, okay? ✅

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

The page on success or NULL if allocation fails. if it fails it’s NULL, not a vibe. 😭

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

• Kernel file ./mm/mempolicy.c
• numa_nearest_node(9)
• nearest_node_nodemask(9)
• folio_can_map_prot_numa(9)
• alloc_pages_mpol(9)
• vma_alloc_folio(9)
• mpol_misplaced(9)
• mpol_shared_policy_init(9)
• mpol_parse_str(9)
• mpol_to_str(9)

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Catch you in the ./mm source tree — October 2026 edition, mwah 💋