Kernel Memory Management

Purpose

Guide agents through Linux kernel memory allocation: physical page allocator (buddy), SLUB kmalloc caches, vmalloc virtual mappings, zones (DMA/Normal), and safe allocation patterns in drivers — extending skills/kernel/kernel-internals.

When to Use

• Choosing kmalloc vs vmalloc vs get_free_pages
• Debugging kernel OOM or slab corruption
• DMA buffer allocation requirements
• Understanding /proc/meminfo and slab stats

Workflow

1. Allocator decision tree