get_user_pages_fast_only(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 get_user_pages_fast_only — pin user pages in memory ✨

okay so bestie, this one lives in the Kernel API Manual (that's the get_user_pages_fast_only(9) corner of the world), and it's honestly kinda iconic. Let's get into it 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int get_user_pages_fast_only (unsigned long start , int nr_pages ,
unsigned int gup_flags , struct page **pages );

like, she takes four things and returns an int. slay 💅

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • start — the starting user address. where the whole thing begins, periodt 📍
  • nr_pages — number of pages from start to pin. yes, that many 🍓
  • gup_flags — flags modifying pin behaviour. the little knobs that change how it acts ✨
  • pages — the array that receives pointers to the pages pinned. should be at least nr_pages long. at least, bestie, don't come in here with a short array 🙈

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So like — it's get_user_pages_fast but the IRQ-safe version, in that it won't fall back to the regular GUP. no backup plan, no fallback era, she stands on business 👑

If the architecture does not support this function, it simply returns with no pages pinned. like, nothing happened, no pages, we move on 🦋

⚠️ Careful, careful! COW breaking can go either way, so a non-write access can get ambiguous page results. If you call this function without

(and yes, the original page literally trails off right there — "If you call this function without" and nothing else. that's not me skipping it, that's just the text, iykyk 😭💀 so watch yourself and read the source.)

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./mm/gup.c — plus this whole friend group:

and that's the whole page, bestie 🌸 this lil entry comes from the source section ./mm and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendar, screenshot it, whatever, it's giving main character energy and it ate 💅💖✨👑

📦 where this page comes from