[PATCH V2] nvme: Add module reference counting for multipath devices
Nares Bannoth
nbannoth at linux.ibm.com
Wed Aug 19 21:19:14 PDT 2026
On 13/08/26 4:02 am, wenxiong at linux.ibm.com wrote:
> From: Wen Xiong <wenxiong at linux.ibm.com>
>
> Add proper module reference counting to prevent premature unloading of
> NVMe transport modules while multipath namespaces are still active.
>
> When a namespace is added to a multipath device via nvme_mpath_add_disk(),
> the underlying transport module (PCIe, FC, RDMA, TCP, etc.) must remain
> loaded as long as the multipath device references that namespace. Without
> proper reference counting, the transport module could be unloaded while
> the multipath device is still using resources from that module, leading
> to the potential system crashes.
>
> This ensures the transport module remains loaded for the entire lifetime
> of the multipath namespace association.
>
> Signed-off-by: Wen Xiong <wenxiong at linux.ibm.com>
> ---
Hi Wen,
I tested this patch and it is working as expected.
Patch Validation Results
--------------------------------
# lsmod | grep -i nvme
nvme_tcp 262144 0
nvme 262144 9
nvme_fabrics 262144 1 nvme_tcp
nvme_core 458752 8 nvme_tcp,nvme,nvme_fabrics
nvme_keyring 262144 3 nvme_tcp,nvme_core,nvme_fabrics
nvme_auth 262144 1 nvme_core
# rmmod nvme
rmmod: ERROR: Module nvme is in use.
#
# rmmod nvme_tcp
#
# lsmod | grep -i nvme
nvme 262144 9
nvme_fabrics 262144 0
nvme_core 458752 7 nvme,nvme_fabrics
nvme_keyring 262144 2 nvme_core,nvme_fabrics
nvme_auth 262144 1 nvme_core
# rmmod nvme_core
rmmod: ERROR: Module nvme_core is in use by: nvme nvme_fabrics
#
# rmmod nvme_fabrics
#
# rmmod nvme_core
rmmod: ERROR: Module nvme_core is in use by: nvme
#
# lsmod | grep -i nvme
nvme 262144 9
nvme_core 458752 6 nvme
nvme_keyring 262144 1 nvme_core
nvme_auth 262144 1 nvme_core
#
Please add below tag :
Tested-by: Naresh Bannoth <nbannoth at linux.ibm.com>
Thanks and Regards,
Naresh.
> drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c | 5 +++++
> 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c b/drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c
> index 9b9a657fa330..707b8f95727d 100644
> --- a/drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c
> +++ b/drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c
> @@ -1348,6 +1348,8 @@ void nvme_mpath_remove_sysfs_link(struct nvme_ns *ns)
> sysfs_remove_link_from_group(kobj, nvme_ns_mpath_attr_group.name,
> dev_name(target));
> clear_bit(NVME_NS_SYSFS_ATTR_LINK, &ns->flags);
> +
> + module_put(ns->ctrl->ops->module);
> }
>
> void nvme_mpath_add_disk(struct nvme_ns *ns, __le32 anagrpid)
> @@ -1379,6 +1381,9 @@ void nvme_mpath_add_disk(struct nvme_ns *ns, __le32 anagrpid)
> if (blk_queue_is_zoned(ns->queue) && ns->head->disk)
> ns->head->disk->nr_zones = ns->disk->nr_zones;
> #endif
> + if (!try_module_get(ns->ctrl->ops->module))
> + dev_err(disk_to_dev(ns->disk),
> + "Failed to get module reference\n");
> }
>
> void nvme_mpath_remove_disk(struct nvme_ns_head *head)
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