# The `clone()` syscall
This section aims to explain how the `clone()` syscall is executed when the systme is under the NUMA architechture.
### System Call Handler for `clone()`
+ If the call is made by the glibc wrapper `clone()`, the `clone` syscall handler is used
+ If `syscall(SYS_clone3, ...)` is used (no wrapper provided by glibc), the `clone3()` syscall handler is used.
Both path ends in a `kernel_clone()` call.
```c=
#ifdef __ARCH_WANT_SYS_CLONE
#ifdef CONFIG_CLONE_BACKWARDS
SYSCALL_DEFINE5(clone, unsigned long, clone_flags, unsigned long, newsp,
int __user *, parent_tidptr,
unsigned long, tls,
int __user *, child_tidptr)
#elif defined(CONFIG_CLONE_BACKWARDS2)
SYSCALL_DEFINE5(clone, unsigned long, newsp, unsigned long, clone_flags,
int __user *, parent_tidptr,
int __user *, child_tidptr,
unsigned long, tls)
#elif defined(CONFIG_CLONE_BACKWARDS3)
SYSCALL_DEFINE6(clone, unsigned long, clone_flags, unsigned long, newsp,
int, stack_size,
int __user *, parent_tidptr,
int __user *, child_tidptr,
unsigned long, tls)
#else
SYSCALL_DEFINE5(clone, unsigned long, clone_flags, unsigned long, newsp,
int __user *, parent_tidptr,
int __user *, child_tidptr,
unsigned long, tls)
#endif
{
struct kernel_clone_args args = {
.flags = (lower_32_bits(clone_flags) & ~CSIGNAL),
.pidfd = parent_tidptr,
.child_tid = child_tidptr,
.parent_tid = parent_tidptr,
.exit_signal = (lower_32_bits(clone_flags) & CSIGNAL),
.stack = newsp,
.tls = tls,
};
return kernel_clone(&args);
}
#endif
```
```c=
#ifdef __ARCH_WANT_SYS_CLONE3
/**
* sys_clone3 - create a new process with specific properties
* @uargs: argument structure
* @size: size of @uargs
*
* clone3() is the extensible successor to clone()/clone2().
* It takes a struct as argument that is versioned by its size.
*
* Return: On success, a positive PID for the child process.
* On error, a negative errno number.
*/
SYSCALL_DEFINE2(clone3, struct clone_args __user *, uargs, size_t, size)
{
int err;
struct kernel_clone_args kargs;
pid_t set_tid[MAX_PID_NS_LEVEL];
kargs.set_tid = set_tid;
err = copy_clone_args_from_user(&kargs, uargs, size);
if (err)
return err;
if (!clone3_args_valid(&kargs))
return -EINVAL;
return kernel_clone(&kargs);
}
#endif
```
### Create a brand new task
After some initial setup, the function `copy_process(NULL, trace, NUMA_NO_NODE, args);` is called.
```c=
/*
* Ok, this is the main fork-routine.
*
* It copies the process, and if successful kick-starts
* it and waits for it to finish using the VM if required.
*
* args->exit_signal is expected to be checked for sanity by the caller.
*/
pid_t kernel_clone(struct kernel_clone_args *args)
{
u64 clone_flags = args->flags;
struct completion vfork;
struct pid *pid;
struct task_struct *p;
int trace = 0;
pid_t nr;
/*
* For legacy clone() calls, CLONE_PIDFD uses the parent_tid argument
* to return the pidfd. Hence, CLONE_PIDFD and CLONE_PARENT_SETTID are
* mutually exclusive. With clone3() CLONE_PIDFD has grown a separate
* field in struct clone_args and it still doesn't make sense to have
* them both point at the same memory location. Performing this check
* here has the advantage that we don't need to have a separate helper
* to check for legacy clone().
*/
if ((clone_flags & CLONE_PIDFD) &&
(clone_flags & CLONE_PARENT_SETTID) &&
(args->pidfd == args->parent_tid))
return -EINVAL;
/*
* Determine whether and which event to report to ptracer. When
* called from kernel_thread or CLONE_UNTRACED is explicitly
* requested, no event is reported; otherwise, report if the event
* for the type of forking is enabled.
*/
if (!(clone_flags & CLONE_UNTRACED)) {
if (clone_flags & CLONE_VFORK)
trace = PTRACE_EVENT_VFORK;
else if (args->exit_signal != SIGCHLD)
trace = PTRACE_EVENT_CLONE;
else
trace = PTRACE_EVENT_FORK;
if (likely(!ptrace_event_enabled(current, trace)))
trace = 0;
}
p = copy_process(NULL, trace, NUMA_NO_NODE, args);
add_latent_entropy();
if (IS_ERR(p))
return PTR_ERR(p);
/*
* Do this prior waking up the new thread - the thread pointer
* might get invalid after that point, if the thread exits quickly.
*/
trace_sched_process_fork(current, p);
pid = get_task_pid(p, PIDTYPE_PID);
nr = pid_vnr(pid);
if (clone_flags & CLONE_PARENT_SETTID)
put_user(nr, args->parent_tid);
if (clone_flags & CLONE_VFORK) {
p->vfork_done = &vfork;
init_completion(&vfork);
get_task_struct(p);
}
if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_LRU_GEN_WALKS_MMU) && !(clone_flags & CLONE_VM)) {
/* lock the task to synchronize with memcg migration */
task_lock(p);
lru_gen_add_mm(p->mm);
task_unlock(p);
}
wake_up_new_task(p);
/* forking complete and child started to run, tell ptracer */
if (unlikely(trace))
ptrace_event_pid(trace, pid);
if (clone_flags & CLONE_VFORK) {
if (!wait_for_vfork_done(p, &vfork))
ptrace_event_pid(PTRACE_EVENT_VFORK_DONE, pid);
}
put_pid(pid);
return nr;
}
```
### Copying The Process
```c=
/*
* This creates a new process as a copy of the old one,
* but does not actually start it yet.
*
* It copies the registers, and all the appropriate
* parts of the process environment (as per the clone
* flags). The actual kick-off is left to the caller.
*/
__latent_entropy struct task_struct *copy_process(
struct pid *pid,
int trace,
int node,
struct kernel_clone_args *args)
{
int pidfd = -1, retval;
struct task_struct *p;
struct multiprocess_signals delayed;
struct file *pidfile = NULL;
const u64 clone_flags = args->flags;
struct nsproxy *nsp = current->nsproxy;
/*
* CLONE_* flags processing
*/
// ...
/*
* Force any signals received before this point to be delivered
* before the fork happens. Collect up signals sent to multiple
* processes that happen during the fork and delay them so that
* they appear to happen after the fork.
*/
// ...
retval = -ENOMEM;
p = dup_task_struct(current, node);
if (!p)
goto fork_out;
p->flags &= ~PF_KTHREAD;
if (args->kthread)
p->flags |= PF_KTHREAD;
if (args->user_worker) {
/*
* Mark us a user worker, and block any signal that isn't
* fatal or STOP
*/
p->flags |= PF_USER_WORKER;
siginitsetinv(&p->blocked, sigmask(SIGKILL)|sigmask(SIGSTOP));
}
if (args->io_thread)
p->flags |= PF_IO_WORKER;
if (args->name)
strscpy_pad(p->comm, args->name, sizeof(p->comm));
p->set_child_tid = (clone_flags & CLONE_CHILD_SETTID) ? args->child_tid : NULL;
/*
* Clear TID on mm_release()?
*/
p->clear_child_tid = (clone_flags & CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID) ? args->child_tid : NULL;
ftrace_graph_init_task(p);
rt_mutex_init_task(p);
lockdep_assert_irqs_enabled();
#ifdef CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING
DEBUG_LOCKS_WARN_ON(!p->softirqs_enabled);
#endif
retval = copy_creds(p, clone_flags);
if (retval < 0)
goto bad_fork_free;
retval = -EAGAIN;
if (is_rlimit_overlimit(task_ucounts(p), UCOUNT_RLIMIT_NPROC, rlimit(RLIMIT_NPROC))) {
if (p->real_cred->user != INIT_USER &&
!capable(CAP_SYS_RESOURCE) && !capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN))
goto bad_fork_cleanup_count;
}
current->flags &= ~PF_NPROC_EXCEEDED;
/*
* If multiple threads are within copy_process(), then this check
* triggers too late. This doesn't hurt, the check is only there
* to stop root fork bombs.
*/
retval = -EAGAIN;
if (data_race(nr_threads >= max_threads))
goto bad_fork_cleanup_count;
delayacct_tsk_init(p); /* Must remain after dup_task_struct() */
p->flags &= ~(PF_SUPERPRIV | PF_WQ_WORKER | PF_IDLE | PF_NO_SETAFFINITY);
p->flags |= PF_FORKNOEXEC;
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&p->children);
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&p->sibling);
rcu_copy_process(p);
p->vfork_done = NULL;
spin_lock_init(&p->alloc_lock);
init_sigpending(&p->pending);
p->utime = p->stime = p->gtime = 0;
#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_SCALED_CPUTIME
p->utimescaled = p->stimescaled = 0;
#endif
prev_cputime_init(&p->prev_cputime);
#ifdef CONFIG_VIRT_CPU_ACCOUNTING_GEN
seqcount_init(&p->vtime.seqcount);
p->vtime.starttime = 0;
p->vtime.state = VTIME_INACTIVE;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_IO_URING
p->io_uring = NULL;
#endif
p->default_timer_slack_ns = current->timer_slack_ns;
#ifdef CONFIG_PSI
p->psi_flags = 0;
#endif
task_io_accounting_init(&p->ioac);
acct_clear_integrals(p);
posix_cputimers_init(&p->posix_cputimers);
p->io_context = NULL;
audit_set_context(p, NULL);
cgroup_fork(p);
if (args->kthread) {
if (!set_kthread_struct(p))
goto bad_fork_cleanup_delayacct;
}
#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
p->mempolicy = mpol_dup(p->mempolicy);
if (IS_ERR(p->mempolicy)) {
retval = PTR_ERR(p->mempolicy);
p->mempolicy = NULL;
goto bad_fork_cleanup_delayacct;
}
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_CPUSETS
p->cpuset_mem_spread_rotor = NUMA_NO_NODE;
p->cpuset_slab_spread_rotor = NUMA_NO_NODE;
seqcount_spinlock_init(&p->mems_allowed_seq, &p->alloc_lock);
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_TRACE_IRQFLAGS
memset(&p->irqtrace, 0, sizeof(p->irqtrace));
p->irqtrace.hardirq_disable_ip = _THIS_IP_;
p->irqtrace.softirq_enable_ip = _THIS_IP_;
p->softirqs_enabled = 1;
p->softirq_context = 0;
#endif
p->pagefault_disabled = 0;
#ifdef CONFIG_LOCKDEP
lockdep_init_task(p);
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES
p->blocked_on = NULL; /* not blocked yet */
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BCACHE
p->sequential_io = 0;
p->sequential_io_avg = 0;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL
RCU_INIT_POINTER(p->bpf_storage, NULL);
p->bpf_ctx = NULL;
#endif
/* Perform scheduler related setup. Assign this task to a CPU. */
retval = sched_fork(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_policy;
retval = perf_event_init_task(p, clone_flags);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_policy;
retval = audit_alloc(p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_perf;
/* copy all the process information */
shm_init_task(p);
retval = security_task_alloc(p, clone_flags);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_audit;
retval = copy_semundo(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_security;
retval = copy_files(clone_flags, p, args->no_files);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_semundo;
retval = copy_fs(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_files;
retval = copy_sighand(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_fs;
retval = copy_signal(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_sighand;
retval = copy_mm(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_signal;
retval = copy_namespaces(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_mm;
retval = copy_io(clone_flags, p);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_namespaces;
retval = copy_thread(p, args);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_cleanup_io;
stackleak_task_init(p);
if (pid != &init_struct_pid) {
pid = alloc_pid(p->nsproxy->pid_ns_for_children, args->set_tid,
args->set_tid_size);
if (IS_ERR(pid)) {
retval = PTR_ERR(pid);
goto bad_fork_cleanup_thread;
}
}
/*
* This has to happen after we've potentially unshared the file
* descriptor table (so that the pidfd doesn't leak into the child
* if the fd table isn't shared).
*/
if (clone_flags & CLONE_PIDFD) {
int flags = (clone_flags & CLONE_THREAD) ? PIDFD_THREAD : 0;
/* Note that no task has been attached to @pid yet. */
retval = __pidfd_prepare(pid, flags, &pidfile);
if (retval < 0)
goto bad_fork_free_pid;
pidfd = retval;
retval = put_user(pidfd, args->pidfd);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_put_pidfd;
}
#ifdef CONFIG_BLOCK
p->plug = NULL;
#endif
futex_init_task(p);
/*
* sigaltstack should be cleared when sharing the same VM
*/
if ((clone_flags & (CLONE_VM|CLONE_VFORK)) == CLONE_VM)
sas_ss_reset(p);
/*
* Syscall tracing and stepping should be turned off in the
* child regardless of CLONE_PTRACE.
*/
user_disable_single_step(p);
clear_task_syscall_work(p, SYSCALL_TRACE);
#if defined(CONFIG_GENERIC_ENTRY) || defined(TIF_SYSCALL_EMU)
clear_task_syscall_work(p, SYSCALL_EMU);
#endif
clear_tsk_latency_tracing(p);
/* ok, now we should be set up.. */
p->pid = pid_nr(pid);
if (clone_flags & CLONE_THREAD) {
p->group_leader = current->group_leader;
p->tgid = current->tgid;
} else {
p->group_leader = p;
p->tgid = p->pid;
}
p->nr_dirtied = 0;
p->nr_dirtied_pause = 128 >> (PAGE_SHIFT - 10);
p->dirty_paused_when = 0;
p->pdeath_signal = 0;
p->task_works = NULL;
clear_posix_cputimers_work(p);
#ifdef CONFIG_KRETPROBES
p->kretprobe_instances.first = NULL;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_RETHOOK
p->rethooks.first = NULL;
#endif
/*
* Ensure that the cgroup subsystem policies allow the new process to be
* forked. It should be noted that the new process's css_set can be changed
* between here and cgroup_post_fork() if an organisation operation is in
* progress.
*/
retval = cgroup_can_fork(p, args);
if (retval)
goto bad_fork_put_pidfd;
/*
* Now that the cgroups are pinned, re-clone the parent cgroup and put
* the new task on the correct runqueue. All this *before* the task
* becomes visible.
*
* This isn't part of ->can_fork() because while the re-cloning is
* cgroup specific, it unconditionally needs to place the task on a
* runqueue.
*/
sched_cgroup_fork(p, args);
/*
* From this point on we must avoid any synchronous user-space
* communication until we take the tasklist-lock. In particular, we do
* not want user-space to be able to predict the process start-time by
* stalling fork(2) after we recorded the start_time but before it is
* visible to the system.
*/
p->start_time = ktime_get_ns();
p->start_boottime = ktime_get_boottime_ns();
/*
* Make it visible to the rest of the system, but dont wake it up yet.
* Need tasklist lock for parent etc handling!
*/
write_lock_irq(&tasklist_lock);
/* CLONE_PARENT re-uses the old parent */
if (clone_flags & (CLONE_PARENT|CLONE_THREAD)) {
p->real_parent = current->real_parent;
p->parent_exec_id = current->parent_exec_id;
if (clone_flags & CLONE_THREAD)
p->exit_signal = -1;
else
p->exit_signal = current->group_leader->exit_signal;
} else {
p->real_parent = current;
p->parent_exec_id = current->self_exec_id;
p->exit_signal = args->exit_signal;
}
klp_copy_process(p);
sched_core_fork(p);
spin_lock(¤t->sighand->siglock);
rv_task_fork(p);
rseq_fork(p, clone_flags);
/* Don't start children in a dying pid namespace */
if (unlikely(!(ns_of_pid(pid)->pid_allocated & PIDNS_ADDING))) {
retval = -ENOMEM;
goto bad_fork_cancel_cgroup;
}
/* Let kill terminate clone/fork in the middle */
if (fatal_signal_pending(current)) {
retval = -EINTR;
goto bad_fork_cancel_cgroup;
}
/* No more failure paths after this point. */
/*
* Copy seccomp details explicitly here, in case they were changed
* before holding sighand lock.
*/
copy_seccomp(p);
init_task_pid_links(p);
if (likely(p->pid)) {
ptrace_init_task(p, (clone_flags & CLONE_PTRACE) || trace);
init_task_pid(p, PIDTYPE_PID, pid);
if (thread_group_leader(p)) {
init_task_pid(p, PIDTYPE_TGID, pid);
init_task_pid(p, PIDTYPE_PGID, task_pgrp(current));
init_task_pid(p, PIDTYPE_SID, task_session(current));
if (is_child_reaper(pid)) {
ns_of_pid(pid)->child_reaper = p;
p->signal->flags |= SIGNAL_UNKILLABLE;
}
p->signal->shared_pending.signal = delayed.signal;
p->signal->tty = tty_kref_get(current->signal->tty);
/*
* Inherit has_child_subreaper flag under the same
* tasklist_lock with adding child to the process tree
* for propagate_has_child_subreaper optimization.
*/
p->signal->has_child_subreaper = p->real_parent->signal->has_child_subreaper ||
p->real_parent->signal->is_child_subreaper;
list_add_tail(&p->sibling, &p->real_parent->children);
list_add_tail_rcu(&p->tasks, &init_task.tasks);
attach_pid(p, PIDTYPE_TGID);
attach_pid(p, PIDTYPE_PGID);
attach_pid(p, PIDTYPE_SID);
__this_cpu_inc(process_counts);
} else {
current->signal->nr_threads++;
current->signal->quick_threads++;
atomic_inc(¤t->signal->live);
refcount_inc(¤t->signal->sigcnt);
task_join_group_stop(p);
list_add_tail_rcu(&p->thread_node,
&p->signal->thread_head);
}
attach_pid(p, PIDTYPE_PID);
nr_threads++;
}
total_forks++;
hlist_del_init(&delayed.node);
spin_unlock(¤t->sighand->siglock);
syscall_tracepoint_update(p);
write_unlock_irq(&tasklist_lock);
if (pidfile)
fd_install(pidfd, pidfile);
proc_fork_connector(p);
sched_post_fork(p);
cgroup_post_fork(p, args);
perf_event_fork(p);
trace_task_newtask(p, clone_flags);
uprobe_copy_process(p, clone_flags);
user_events_fork(p, clone_flags);
copy_oom_score_adj(clone_flags, p);
return p;
/*
* Tons of bad fork exiting failure paths, reached via goto's.
*/
// ...
return ERR_PTR(retval);
}
```
The main part. At line 139 of this snippet, the function also sets up the memory policy for the newly forked task, which happens at line 39 of this snippet (`dup_task_struct(current, node)`, with `node = NUMA_NO_NODE`, and `orig` pointed to the task issued the system call, `current`).
:::spoiler `dup_task_struct()`:
```c=
static struct task_struct *dup_task_struct(struct task_struct *orig, int node)
{
struct task_struct *tsk;
int err;
if (node == NUMA_NO_NODE)
node = tsk_fork_get_node(orig);
tsk = alloc_task_struct_node(node);
if (!tsk)
return NULL;
err = arch_dup_task_struct(tsk, orig);
if (err)
goto free_tsk;
err = alloc_thread_stack_node(tsk, node);
if (err)
goto free_tsk;
#ifdef CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK
refcount_set(&tsk->stack_refcount, 1);
#endif
account_kernel_stack(tsk, 1);
err = scs_prepare(tsk, node);
if (err)
goto free_stack;
#ifdef CONFIG_SECCOMP
/*
* We must handle setting up seccomp filters once we're under
* the sighand lock in case orig has changed between now and
* then. Until then, filter must be NULL to avoid messing up
* the usage counts on the error path calling free_task.
*/
tsk->seccomp.filter = NULL;
#endif
setup_thread_stack(tsk, orig);
clear_user_return_notifier(tsk);
clear_tsk_need_resched(tsk);
set_task_stack_end_magic(tsk);
clear_syscall_work_syscall_user_dispatch(tsk);
#ifdef CONFIG_STACKPROTECTOR
tsk->stack_canary = get_random_canary();
#endif
if (orig->cpus_ptr == &orig->cpus_mask)
tsk->cpus_ptr = &tsk->cpus_mask;
dup_user_cpus_ptr(tsk, orig, node);
/*
* One for the user space visible state that goes away when reaped.
* One for the scheduler.
*/
refcount_set(&tsk->rcu_users, 2);
/* One for the rcu users */
refcount_set(&tsk->usage, 1);
#ifdef CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IO_TRACE
tsk->btrace_seq = 0;
#endif
tsk->splice_pipe = NULL;
tsk->task_frag.page = NULL;
tsk->wake_q.next = NULL;
tsk->worker_private = NULL;
kcov_task_init(tsk);
kmsan_task_create(tsk);
kmap_local_fork(tsk);
#ifdef CONFIG_FAULT_INJECTION
tsk->fail_nth = 0;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP
tsk->throttle_disk = NULL;
tsk->use_memdelay = 0;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_CPU_PASID
tsk->pasid_activated = 0;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_MEMCG
tsk->active_memcg = NULL;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_CPU_SUP_INTEL
tsk->reported_split_lock = 0;
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_MM_CID
tsk->mm_cid = -1;
tsk->last_mm_cid = -1;
tsk->mm_cid_active = 0;
tsk->migrate_from_cpu = -1;
#endif
return tsk;
free_stack:
exit_task_stack_account(tsk);
free_thread_stack(tsk);
free_tsk:
free_task_struct(tsk);
return NULL;
}
```
:::
Since called with `node == NUMA_NO_NODE`, `node = tak_for_get_node(orig)` would definetely get called thus, decides the node where the `task_struct` of the newly created task would be allocated.
```c=
int tsk_fork_get_node(struct task_struct *tsk)
{
#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
if (tsk == kthreadd_task)
return tsk->pref_node_fork;
#endif
return NUMA_NO_NODE;
}
```
The `kthreadd_task` is the task of the kthread daemon, which is the ultimate parent of all kernel threads. However, since `tsk` here refers to the user space process issued the clone call, `node` remains set to `NUMA_NO_NODE`.
```c=
static inline struct task_struct *alloc_task_struct_node(int node)
{
return kmem_cache_alloc_node(task_struct_cachep, GFP_KERNEL, node);
}
```
```c=
#define kmem_cache_alloc_node(...) \
alloc_hooks(kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof(__VA_ARGS__))
```
```c=
void *kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof(struct kmem_cache *s, gfp_t gfpflags, int node)
{
void *ret = slab_alloc_node(s, NULL, gfpflags, node, _RET_IP_, s->object_size);
trace_kmem_cache_alloc(_RET_IP_, ret, s, gfpflags, node);
return ret;
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof);
```
Since `task_struct` is sort of a core data structure, there exists a slap cache managing the alloation of it, whose pointer is stored within `task_struct_cachep`.
With the existing slab cache pointer, the `slab_alloc_node()` function allocates the neccessary memory for the `task_struct` on the specified node, `node` (A.k.a., the same node as the CPU the task is running on, since `node` is set to `NUMA_NO_NODES`).
The call path goes as:
+ `slab_alloc_node()` **➡** `__slab_alloc_node()`
At here, the slab allocator attempts to allocate the memory via the previous `task_struct_cachep`. If the obtained slab do not exist on the specified `node`, the check `node_match(slab, node)` will not be passed, thus the slow path is entered
::: info
Many other checks are performed to determine if the slow path is taken, but NUMA related info are focused here. The whole path is contained in :link:[linux/mm/slub.c](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/mm/slub.c).
:::
+ `...` **➡** `__slab_alloc()` **➡** `___slab_alloc()`
----
Back to the `copy_process()` function with `CONFIG_NUMA=y`, memory policy are also setup for the newly created task:
```c=139
#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
p->mempolicy = mpol_dup(p->mempolicy);
if (IS_ERR(p->mempolicy)) {
retval = PTR_ERR(p->mempolicy);
p->mempolicy = NULL;
goto bad_fork_cleanup_delayacct;
}
#endif
```
# Memory Policy