SET_MEMPOLICY(2)					     Linux Programmer's Manual						  SET_MEMPOLICY(2)

NAME

       set_mempolicy - set default NUMA memory policy for a process and its children

SYNOPSIS

       #include <numaif.h>

       long set_mempolicy(int mode, const unsigned long *nodemask,
			  unsigned long maxnode);

       Link with -lnuma.

DESCRIPTION

       set_mempolicy()	sets  the NUMA memory policy of the calling process, which consists of a policy mode and zero or more nodes, to the values
       specified by the mode, nodemask and maxnode arguments.

       A NUMA machine has different memory controllers with different distances to specific CPUs.  The memory policy defines from which node  mem-
       ory is allocated for the process.

       This system call defines the default policy for the process.  The process policy governs allocation of pages in the process's address space
       outside of memory ranges controlled by a more specific policy set by mbind(2).  The process default policy also controls allocation of  any
       pages  for  memory-mapped files mapped using the mmap(2) call with the MAP_PRIVATE flag and that are only read [loaded] from by the process
       and of memory-mapped files mapped using the mmap(2) call with the MAP_SHARED flag, regardless of the access type.  The  policy  is  applied
       only when a new page is allocated for the process.  For anonymous memory this is when the page is first touched by the application.

       The  mode  argument must specify one of MPOL_DEFAULT, MPOL_BIND, MPOL_INTERLEAVE, or MPOL_PREFERRED.  All modes except MPOL_DEFAULT require
       the caller to specify via the nodemask argument one or more nodes.

       The mode argument may also include an optional mode flag.  The supported mode flags are:

       MPOL_F_STATIC_NODES (since Linux 2.6.26)
	      A nonempty nodemask specifies physical node ids.	Linux will not remap the nodemask when the process moves  to  a  different  cpuset
	      context, nor when the set of nodes allowed by the process's current cpuset context changes.

       MPOL_F_RELATIVE_NODES (since Linux 2.6.26)
	      A nonempty nodemask specifies node ids that are relative to the set of node ids allowed by the process's current cpuset.

       nodemask  points  to  a	bit  mask  of  node  IDs  that	contains up to maxnode bits.  The bit mask size is rounded to the next multiple of
       sizeof(unsigned long), but the kernel will use bits only up to maxnode.	A NULL value of nodemask or a maxnode value of zero specifies  the
       empty set of nodes.  If the value of maxnode is zero, the nodemask argument is ignored.

       Where  a  nodemask is required, it must contain at least one node that is on-line, allowed by the process's current cpuset context, [unless
       the MPOL_F_STATIC_NODES mode flag is specified], and contains memory.  If the MPOL_F_STATIC_NODES is set in mode and  a	required  nodemask
       contains  no  nodes  that  are allowed by the process's current cpuset context, the memory policy reverts to local allocation.  This effec-
       tively overrides the specified policy until the process's cpuset context includes one or more of the nodes specified by nodemask.

       The MPOL_DEFAULT mode specifies that any nondefault process memory policy be removed, so that the memory policy "falls back" to the  system
       default	policy.  The system default policy is "local allocation"--that is, allocate memory on the node of the CPU that triggered the allo-
       cation.	nodemask must be specified as NULL.  If the "local node" contains no free memory, the system will attempt to allocate memory  from
       a "near by" node.

       The MPOL_BIND mode defines a strict policy that restricts memory allocation to the nodes specified in nodemask.	If nodemask specifies more
       than one node, page allocations will come from the node with the lowest numeric node ID first, until that node  contains  no  free  memory.
       Allocations  will  then	come  from  the node with the next highest node ID specified in nodemask and so forth, until none of the specified
       nodes contain free memory.  Pages will not be allocated from any node not specified in the nodemask.

       MPOL_INTERLEAVE interleaves page allocations across the nodes specified in nodemask in numeric node ID order.  This optimizes for bandwidth
       instead	of  latency  by  spreading out pages and memory accesses to those pages across multiple nodes.	However, accesses to a single page
       will still be limited to the memory bandwidth of a single node.

       MPOL_PREFERRED sets the preferred node for allocation.  The kernel will try to allocate pages from this node first and fall back  to  "near
       by"  nodes  if  the  preferred node is low on free memory.  If nodemask specifies more than one node ID, the first node in the mask will be
       selected as the preferred node.	If the nodemask and maxnode arguments specify the empty set, then the policy specifies "local  allocation"
       (like the system default policy discussed above).

       The process memory policy is preserved across an execve(2), and is inherited by child processes created using fork(2) or clone(2).

RETURN VALUE

       On success, set_mempolicy() returns 0; on error, -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       EFAULT Part of all of the memory range specified by nodemask and maxnode points outside your accessible address space.

       EINVAL mode  is invalid.  Or, mode is MPOL_DEFAULT and nodemask is nonempty, or mode is MPOL_BIND or MPOL_INTERLEAVE and nodemask is empty.
	      Or, maxnode specifies more than a page worth of bits.  Or, nodemask specifies one or more node IDs that are greater than the maximum
	      supported  node ID.  Or, none of the node IDs specified by nodemask are on-line and allowed by the process's current cpuset context,
	      or none of the specified nodes contain memory.  Or, the mode argument specified both MPOL_F_STATIC_NODES and MPOL_F_RELATIVE_NODES.

       ENOMEM Insufficient kernel memory was available.

VERSIONS

       The set_mempolicy(), system call was added to the Linux kernel in version 2.6.7.

CONFORMING TO

       This system call is Linux-specific.

NOTES

       Process policy is not remembered if the page is swapped out.  When such a page is paged back in, it will use the policy of the  process	or
       memory range that is in effect at the time the page is allocated.

       For information on library support, see numa(7).

SEE ALSO

       get_mempolicy(2), getcpu(2), mbind(2), mmap(2), numa(3), cpuset(7), numa(7), numactl(8)

Linux								    2014-05-28							  SET_MEMPOLICY(2)