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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virtual/kvm')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt | 1479 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/cpuid.txt | 45 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt | 25 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/mmu.txt | 348 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/msr.txt | 187 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/ppc-pv.txt | 196 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/review-checklist.txt | 38 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/timekeeping.txt | 612 |
8 files changed, 2930 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..42542eb8 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1479 @@ +The Definitive KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) API Documentation +=================================================================== + +1. General description + +The kvm API is a set of ioctls that are issued to control various aspects +of a virtual machine. The ioctls belong to three classes + + - System ioctls: These query and set global attributes which affect the + whole kvm subsystem. In addition a system ioctl is used to create + virtual machines + + - VM ioctls: These query and set attributes that affect an entire virtual + machine, for example memory layout. In addition a VM ioctl is used to + create virtual cpus (vcpus). + + Only run VM ioctls from the same process (address space) that was used + to create the VM. + + - vcpu ioctls: These query and set attributes that control the operation + of a single virtual cpu. + + Only run vcpu ioctls from the same thread that was used to create the + vcpu. + +2. File descriptors + +The kvm API is centered around file descriptors. An initial +open("/dev/kvm") obtains a handle to the kvm subsystem; this handle +can be used to issue system ioctls. A KVM_CREATE_VM ioctl on this +handle will create a VM file descriptor which can be used to issue VM +ioctls. A KVM_CREATE_VCPU ioctl on a VM fd will create a virtual cpu +and return a file descriptor pointing to it. Finally, ioctls on a vcpu +fd can be used to control the vcpu, including the important task of +actually running guest code. + +In general file descriptors can be migrated among processes by means +of fork() and the SCM_RIGHTS facility of unix domain socket. These +kinds of tricks are explicitly not supported by kvm. While they will +not cause harm to the host, their actual behavior is not guaranteed by +the API. The only supported use is one virtual machine per process, +and one vcpu per thread. + +3. Extensions + +As of Linux 2.6.22, the KVM ABI has been stabilized: no backward +incompatible change are allowed. However, there is an extension +facility that allows backward-compatible extensions to the API to be +queried and used. + +The extension mechanism is not based on on the Linux version number. +Instead, kvm defines extension identifiers and a facility to query +whether a particular extension identifier is available. If it is, a +set of ioctls is available for application use. + +4. API description + +This section describes ioctls that can be used to control kvm guests. +For each ioctl, the following information is provided along with a +description: + + Capability: which KVM extension provides this ioctl. Can be 'basic', + which means that is will be provided by any kernel that supports + API version 12 (see section 4.1), or a KVM_CAP_xyz constant, which + means availability needs to be checked with KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION + (see section 4.4). + + Architectures: which instruction set architectures provide this ioctl. + x86 includes both i386 and x86_64. + + Type: system, vm, or vcpu. + + Parameters: what parameters are accepted by the ioctl. + + Returns: the return value. General error numbers (EBADF, ENOMEM, EINVAL) + are not detailed, but errors with specific meanings are. + +4.1 KVM_GET_API_VERSION + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: system ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: the constant KVM_API_VERSION (=12) + +This identifies the API version as the stable kvm API. It is not +expected that this number will change. However, Linux 2.6.20 and +2.6.21 report earlier versions; these are not documented and not +supported. Applications should refuse to run if KVM_GET_API_VERSION +returns a value other than 12. If this check passes, all ioctls +described as 'basic' will be available. + +4.2 KVM_CREATE_VM + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: system ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: a VM fd that can be used to control the new virtual machine. + +The new VM has no virtual cpus and no memory. An mmap() of a VM fd +will access the virtual machine's physical address space; offset zero +corresponds to guest physical address zero. Use of mmap() on a VM fd +is discouraged if userspace memory allocation (KVM_CAP_USER_MEMORY) is +available. + +4.3 KVM_GET_MSR_INDEX_LIST + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: system +Parameters: struct kvm_msr_list (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success; -1 on error +Errors: + E2BIG: the msr index list is to be to fit in the array specified by + the user. + +struct kvm_msr_list { + __u32 nmsrs; /* number of msrs in entries */ + __u32 indices[0]; +}; + +This ioctl returns the guest msrs that are supported. The list varies +by kvm version and host processor, but does not change otherwise. The +user fills in the size of the indices array in nmsrs, and in return +kvm adjusts nmsrs to reflect the actual number of msrs and fills in +the indices array with their numbers. + +Note: if kvm indicates supports MCE (KVM_CAP_MCE), then the MCE bank MSRs are +not returned in the MSR list, as different vcpus can have a different number +of banks, as set via the KVM_X86_SETUP_MCE ioctl. + +4.4 KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: system ioctl +Parameters: extension identifier (KVM_CAP_*) +Returns: 0 if unsupported; 1 (or some other positive integer) if supported + +The API allows the application to query about extensions to the core +kvm API. Userspace passes an extension identifier (an integer) and +receives an integer that describes the extension availability. +Generally 0 means no and 1 means yes, but some extensions may report +additional information in the integer return value. + +4.5 KVM_GET_VCPU_MMAP_SIZE + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: system ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: size of vcpu mmap area, in bytes + +The KVM_RUN ioctl (cf.) communicates with userspace via a shared +memory region. This ioctl returns the size of that region. See the +KVM_RUN documentation for details. + +4.6 KVM_SET_MEMORY_REGION + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_memory_region (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +This ioctl is obsolete and has been removed. + +4.7 KVM_CREATE_VCPU + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: vcpu id (apic id on x86) +Returns: vcpu fd on success, -1 on error + +This API adds a vcpu to a virtual machine. The vcpu id is a small integer +in the range [0, max_vcpus). You can use KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS of the +KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION ioctl() to determine the value for max_vcpus at run-time. +If the KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS does not exist, you should assume that max_vcpus is 4 +cpus max. + +4.8 KVM_GET_DIRTY_LOG (vm ioctl) + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_dirty_log (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +/* for KVM_GET_DIRTY_LOG */ +struct kvm_dirty_log { + __u32 slot; + __u32 padding; + union { + void __user *dirty_bitmap; /* one bit per page */ + __u64 padding; + }; +}; + +Given a memory slot, return a bitmap containing any pages dirtied +since the last call to this ioctl. Bit 0 is the first page in the +memory slot. Ensure the entire structure is cleared to avoid padding +issues. + +4.9 KVM_SET_MEMORY_ALIAS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_memory_alias (in) +Returns: 0 (success), -1 (error) + +This ioctl is obsolete and has been removed. + +4.10 KVM_RUN + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error +Errors: + EINTR: an unmasked signal is pending + +This ioctl is used to run a guest virtual cpu. While there are no +explicit parameters, there is an implicit parameter block that can be +obtained by mmap()ing the vcpu fd at offset 0, with the size given by +KVM_GET_VCPU_MMAP_SIZE. The parameter block is formatted as a 'struct +kvm_run' (see below). + +4.11 KVM_GET_REGS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_regs (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads the general purpose registers from the vcpu. + +/* x86 */ +struct kvm_regs { + /* out (KVM_GET_REGS) / in (KVM_SET_REGS) */ + __u64 rax, rbx, rcx, rdx; + __u64 rsi, rdi, rsp, rbp; + __u64 r8, r9, r10, r11; + __u64 r12, r13, r14, r15; + __u64 rip, rflags; +}; + +4.12 KVM_SET_REGS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: all +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_regs (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Writes the general purpose registers into the vcpu. + +See KVM_GET_REGS for the data structure. + +4.13 KVM_GET_SREGS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86, ppc +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_sregs (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads special registers from the vcpu. + +/* x86 */ +struct kvm_sregs { + struct kvm_segment cs, ds, es, fs, gs, ss; + struct kvm_segment tr, ldt; + struct kvm_dtable gdt, idt; + __u64 cr0, cr2, cr3, cr4, cr8; + __u64 efer; + __u64 apic_base; + __u64 interrupt_bitmap[(KVM_NR_INTERRUPTS + 63) / 64]; +}; + +/* ppc -- see arch/powerpc/include/asm/kvm.h */ + +interrupt_bitmap is a bitmap of pending external interrupts. At most +one bit may be set. This interrupt has been acknowledged by the APIC +but not yet injected into the cpu core. + +4.14 KVM_SET_SREGS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86, ppc +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_sregs (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Writes special registers into the vcpu. See KVM_GET_SREGS for the +data structures. + +4.15 KVM_TRANSLATE + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_translation (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Translates a virtual address according to the vcpu's current address +translation mode. + +struct kvm_translation { + /* in */ + __u64 linear_address; + + /* out */ + __u64 physical_address; + __u8 valid; + __u8 writeable; + __u8 usermode; + __u8 pad[5]; +}; + +4.16 KVM_INTERRUPT + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86, ppc +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_interrupt (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Queues a hardware interrupt vector to be injected. This is only +useful if in-kernel local APIC or equivalent is not used. + +/* for KVM_INTERRUPT */ +struct kvm_interrupt { + /* in */ + __u32 irq; +}; + +X86: + +Note 'irq' is an interrupt vector, not an interrupt pin or line. + +PPC: + +Queues an external interrupt to be injected. This ioctl is overleaded +with 3 different irq values: + +a) KVM_INTERRUPT_SET + + This injects an edge type external interrupt into the guest once it's ready + to receive interrupts. When injected, the interrupt is done. + +b) KVM_INTERRUPT_UNSET + + This unsets any pending interrupt. + + Only available with KVM_CAP_PPC_UNSET_IRQ. + +c) KVM_INTERRUPT_SET_LEVEL + + This injects a level type external interrupt into the guest context. The + interrupt stays pending until a specific ioctl with KVM_INTERRUPT_UNSET + is triggered. + + Only available with KVM_CAP_PPC_IRQ_LEVEL. + +Note that any value for 'irq' other than the ones stated above is invalid +and incurs unexpected behavior. + +4.17 KVM_DEBUG_GUEST + +Capability: basic +Architectures: none +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: none) +Returns: -1 on error + +Support for this has been removed. Use KVM_SET_GUEST_DEBUG instead. + +4.18 KVM_GET_MSRS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_msrs (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads model-specific registers from the vcpu. Supported msr indices can +be obtained using KVM_GET_MSR_INDEX_LIST. + +struct kvm_msrs { + __u32 nmsrs; /* number of msrs in entries */ + __u32 pad; + + struct kvm_msr_entry entries[0]; +}; + +struct kvm_msr_entry { + __u32 index; + __u32 reserved; + __u64 data; +}; + +Application code should set the 'nmsrs' member (which indicates the +size of the entries array) and the 'index' member of each array entry. +kvm will fill in the 'data' member. + +4.19 KVM_SET_MSRS + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_msrs (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Writes model-specific registers to the vcpu. See KVM_GET_MSRS for the +data structures. + +Application code should set the 'nmsrs' member (which indicates the +size of the entries array), and the 'index' and 'data' members of each +array entry. + +4.20 KVM_SET_CPUID + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_cpuid (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Defines the vcpu responses to the cpuid instruction. Applications +should use the KVM_SET_CPUID2 ioctl if available. + + +struct kvm_cpuid_entry { + __u32 function; + __u32 eax; + __u32 ebx; + __u32 ecx; + __u32 edx; + __u32 padding; +}; + +/* for KVM_SET_CPUID */ +struct kvm_cpuid { + __u32 nent; + __u32 padding; + struct kvm_cpuid_entry entries[0]; +}; + +4.21 KVM_SET_SIGNAL_MASK + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_signal_mask (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Defines which signals are blocked during execution of KVM_RUN. This +signal mask temporarily overrides the threads signal mask. Any +unblocked signal received (except SIGKILL and SIGSTOP, which retain +their traditional behaviour) will cause KVM_RUN to return with -EINTR. + +Note the signal will only be delivered if not blocked by the original +signal mask. + +/* for KVM_SET_SIGNAL_MASK */ +struct kvm_signal_mask { + __u32 len; + __u8 sigset[0]; +}; + +4.22 KVM_GET_FPU + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_fpu (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads the floating point state from the vcpu. + +/* for KVM_GET_FPU and KVM_SET_FPU */ +struct kvm_fpu { + __u8 fpr[8][16]; + __u16 fcw; + __u16 fsw; + __u8 ftwx; /* in fxsave format */ + __u8 pad1; + __u16 last_opcode; + __u64 last_ip; + __u64 last_dp; + __u8 xmm[16][16]; + __u32 mxcsr; + __u32 pad2; +}; + +4.23 KVM_SET_FPU + +Capability: basic +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_fpu (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Writes the floating point state to the vcpu. + +/* for KVM_GET_FPU and KVM_SET_FPU */ +struct kvm_fpu { + __u8 fpr[8][16]; + __u16 fcw; + __u16 fsw; + __u8 ftwx; /* in fxsave format */ + __u8 pad1; + __u16 last_opcode; + __u64 last_ip; + __u64 last_dp; + __u8 xmm[16][16]; + __u32 mxcsr; + __u32 pad2; +}; + +4.24 KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP + +Capability: KVM_CAP_IRQCHIP +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Creates an interrupt controller model in the kernel. On x86, creates a virtual +ioapic, a virtual PIC (two PICs, nested), and sets up future vcpus to have a +local APIC. IRQ routing for GSIs 0-15 is set to both PIC and IOAPIC; GSI 16-23 +only go to the IOAPIC. On ia64, a IOSAPIC is created. + +4.25 KVM_IRQ_LINE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_IRQCHIP +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_irq_level +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Sets the level of a GSI input to the interrupt controller model in the kernel. +Requires that an interrupt controller model has been previously created with +KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP. Note that edge-triggered interrupts require the level +to be set to 1 and then back to 0. + +struct kvm_irq_level { + union { + __u32 irq; /* GSI */ + __s32 status; /* not used for KVM_IRQ_LEVEL */ + }; + __u32 level; /* 0 or 1 */ +}; + +4.26 KVM_GET_IRQCHIP + +Capability: KVM_CAP_IRQCHIP +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_irqchip (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads the state of a kernel interrupt controller created with +KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP into a buffer provided by the caller. + +struct kvm_irqchip { + __u32 chip_id; /* 0 = PIC1, 1 = PIC2, 2 = IOAPIC */ + __u32 pad; + union { + char dummy[512]; /* reserving space */ + struct kvm_pic_state pic; + struct kvm_ioapic_state ioapic; + } chip; +}; + +4.27 KVM_SET_IRQCHIP + +Capability: KVM_CAP_IRQCHIP +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_irqchip (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Sets the state of a kernel interrupt controller created with +KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP from a buffer provided by the caller. + +struct kvm_irqchip { + __u32 chip_id; /* 0 = PIC1, 1 = PIC2, 2 = IOAPIC */ + __u32 pad; + union { + char dummy[512]; /* reserving space */ + struct kvm_pic_state pic; + struct kvm_ioapic_state ioapic; + } chip; +}; + +4.28 KVM_XEN_HVM_CONFIG + +Capability: KVM_CAP_XEN_HVM +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_xen_hvm_config (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Sets the MSR that the Xen HVM guest uses to initialize its hypercall +page, and provides the starting address and size of the hypercall +blobs in userspace. When the guest writes the MSR, kvm copies one +page of a blob (32- or 64-bit, depending on the vcpu mode) to guest +memory. + +struct kvm_xen_hvm_config { + __u32 flags; + __u32 msr; + __u64 blob_addr_32; + __u64 blob_addr_64; + __u8 blob_size_32; + __u8 blob_size_64; + __u8 pad2[30]; +}; + +4.29 KVM_GET_CLOCK + +Capability: KVM_CAP_ADJUST_CLOCK +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_clock_data (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Gets the current timestamp of kvmclock as seen by the current guest. In +conjunction with KVM_SET_CLOCK, it is used to ensure monotonicity on scenarios +such as migration. + +struct kvm_clock_data { + __u64 clock; /* kvmclock current value */ + __u32 flags; + __u32 pad[9]; +}; + +4.30 KVM_SET_CLOCK + +Capability: KVM_CAP_ADJUST_CLOCK +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_clock_data (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Sets the current timestamp of kvmclock to the value specified in its parameter. +In conjunction with KVM_GET_CLOCK, it is used to ensure monotonicity on scenarios +such as migration. + +struct kvm_clock_data { + __u64 clock; /* kvmclock current value */ + __u32 flags; + __u32 pad[9]; +}; + +4.31 KVM_GET_VCPU_EVENTS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_VCPU_EVENTS +Extended by: KVM_CAP_INTR_SHADOW +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_vcpu_event (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Gets currently pending exceptions, interrupts, and NMIs as well as related +states of the vcpu. + +struct kvm_vcpu_events { + struct { + __u8 injected; + __u8 nr; + __u8 has_error_code; + __u8 pad; + __u32 error_code; + } exception; + struct { + __u8 injected; + __u8 nr; + __u8 soft; + __u8 shadow; + } interrupt; + struct { + __u8 injected; + __u8 pending; + __u8 masked; + __u8 pad; + } nmi; + __u32 sipi_vector; + __u32 flags; +}; + +KVM_VCPUEVENT_VALID_SHADOW may be set in the flags field to signal that +interrupt.shadow contains a valid state. Otherwise, this field is undefined. + +4.32 KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_VCPU_EVENTS +Extended by: KVM_CAP_INTR_SHADOW +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_vcpu_event (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Set pending exceptions, interrupts, and NMIs as well as related states of the +vcpu. + +See KVM_GET_VCPU_EVENTS for the data structure. + +Fields that may be modified asynchronously by running VCPUs can be excluded +from the update. These fields are nmi.pending and sipi_vector. Keep the +corresponding bits in the flags field cleared to suppress overwriting the +current in-kernel state. The bits are: + +KVM_VCPUEVENT_VALID_NMI_PENDING - transfer nmi.pending to the kernel +KVM_VCPUEVENT_VALID_SIPI_VECTOR - transfer sipi_vector + +If KVM_CAP_INTR_SHADOW is available, KVM_VCPUEVENT_VALID_SHADOW can be set in +the flags field to signal that interrupt.shadow contains a valid state and +shall be written into the VCPU. + +4.33 KVM_GET_DEBUGREGS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEBUGREGS +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_debugregs (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Reads debug registers from the vcpu. + +struct kvm_debugregs { + __u64 db[4]; + __u64 dr6; + __u64 dr7; + __u64 flags; + __u64 reserved[9]; +}; + +4.34 KVM_SET_DEBUGREGS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEBUGREGS +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_debugregs (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Writes debug registers into the vcpu. + +See KVM_GET_DEBUGREGS for the data structure. The flags field is unused +yet and must be cleared on entry. + +4.35 KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION + +Capability: KVM_CAP_USER_MEM +Architectures: all +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_userspace_memory_region (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_userspace_memory_region { + __u32 slot; + __u32 flags; + __u64 guest_phys_addr; + __u64 memory_size; /* bytes */ + __u64 userspace_addr; /* start of the userspace allocated memory */ +}; + +/* for kvm_memory_region::flags */ +#define KVM_MEM_LOG_DIRTY_PAGES 1UL + +This ioctl allows the user to create or modify a guest physical memory +slot. When changing an existing slot, it may be moved in the guest +physical memory space, or its flags may be modified. It may not be +resized. Slots may not overlap in guest physical address space. + +Memory for the region is taken starting at the address denoted by the +field userspace_addr, which must point at user addressable memory for +the entire memory slot size. Any object may back this memory, including +anonymous memory, ordinary files, and hugetlbfs. + +It is recommended that the lower 21 bits of guest_phys_addr and userspace_addr +be identical. This allows large pages in the guest to be backed by large +pages in the host. + +The flags field supports just one flag, KVM_MEM_LOG_DIRTY_PAGES, which +instructs kvm to keep track of writes to memory within the slot. See +the KVM_GET_DIRTY_LOG ioctl. + +When the KVM_CAP_SYNC_MMU capability, changes in the backing of the memory +region are automatically reflected into the guest. For example, an mmap() +that affects the region will be made visible immediately. Another example +is madvise(MADV_DROP). + +It is recommended to use this API instead of the KVM_SET_MEMORY_REGION ioctl. +The KVM_SET_MEMORY_REGION does not allow fine grained control over memory +allocation and is deprecated. + +4.36 KVM_SET_TSS_ADDR + +Capability: KVM_CAP_SET_TSS_ADDR +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: unsigned long tss_address (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +This ioctl defines the physical address of a three-page region in the guest +physical address space. The region must be within the first 4GB of the +guest physical address space and must not conflict with any memory slot +or any mmio address. The guest may malfunction if it accesses this memory +region. + +This ioctl is required on Intel-based hosts. This is needed on Intel hardware +because of a quirk in the virtualization implementation (see the internals +documentation when it pops into existence). + +4.37 KVM_ENABLE_CAP + +Capability: KVM_CAP_ENABLE_CAP +Architectures: ppc +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_enable_cap (in) +Returns: 0 on success; -1 on error + ++Not all extensions are enabled by default. Using this ioctl the application +can enable an extension, making it available to the guest. + +On systems that do not support this ioctl, it always fails. On systems that +do support it, it only works for extensions that are supported for enablement. + +To check if a capability can be enabled, the KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION ioctl should +be used. + +struct kvm_enable_cap { + /* in */ + __u32 cap; + +The capability that is supposed to get enabled. + + __u32 flags; + +A bitfield indicating future enhancements. Has to be 0 for now. + + __u64 args[4]; + +Arguments for enabling a feature. If a feature needs initial values to +function properly, this is the place to put them. + + __u8 pad[64]; +}; + +4.38 KVM_GET_MP_STATE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_MP_STATE +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_mp_state (out) +Returns: 0 on success; -1 on error + +struct kvm_mp_state { + __u32 mp_state; +}; + +Returns the vcpu's current "multiprocessing state" (though also valid on +uniprocessor guests). + +Possible values are: + + - KVM_MP_STATE_RUNNABLE: the vcpu is currently running + - KVM_MP_STATE_UNINITIALIZED: the vcpu is an application processor (AP) + which has not yet received an INIT signal + - KVM_MP_STATE_INIT_RECEIVED: the vcpu has received an INIT signal, and is + now ready for a SIPI + - KVM_MP_STATE_HALTED: the vcpu has executed a HLT instruction and + is waiting for an interrupt + - KVM_MP_STATE_SIPI_RECEIVED: the vcpu has just received a SIPI (vector + accessible via KVM_GET_VCPU_EVENTS) + +This ioctl is only useful after KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP. Without an in-kernel +irqchip, the multiprocessing state must be maintained by userspace. + +4.39 KVM_SET_MP_STATE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_MP_STATE +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_mp_state (in) +Returns: 0 on success; -1 on error + +Sets the vcpu's current "multiprocessing state"; see KVM_GET_MP_STATE for +arguments. + +This ioctl is only useful after KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP. Without an in-kernel +irqchip, the multiprocessing state must be maintained by userspace. + +4.40 KVM_SET_IDENTITY_MAP_ADDR + +Capability: KVM_CAP_SET_IDENTITY_MAP_ADDR +Architectures: x86 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: unsigned long identity (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +This ioctl defines the physical address of a one-page region in the guest +physical address space. The region must be within the first 4GB of the +guest physical address space and must not conflict with any memory slot +or any mmio address. The guest may malfunction if it accesses this memory +region. + +This ioctl is required on Intel-based hosts. This is needed on Intel hardware +because of a quirk in the virtualization implementation (see the internals +documentation when it pops into existence). + +4.41 KVM_SET_BOOT_CPU_ID + +Capability: KVM_CAP_SET_BOOT_CPU_ID +Architectures: x86, ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: unsigned long vcpu_id +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Define which vcpu is the Bootstrap Processor (BSP). Values are the same +as the vcpu id in KVM_CREATE_VCPU. If this ioctl is not called, the default +is vcpu 0. + +4.42 KVM_GET_XSAVE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_XSAVE +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_xsave (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_xsave { + __u32 region[1024]; +}; + +This ioctl would copy current vcpu's xsave struct to the userspace. + +4.43 KVM_SET_XSAVE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_XSAVE +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_xsave (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_xsave { + __u32 region[1024]; +}; + +This ioctl would copy userspace's xsave struct to the kernel. + +4.44 KVM_GET_XCRS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_XCRS +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_xcrs (out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_xcr { + __u32 xcr; + __u32 reserved; + __u64 value; +}; + +struct kvm_xcrs { + __u32 nr_xcrs; + __u32 flags; + struct kvm_xcr xcrs[KVM_MAX_XCRS]; + __u64 padding[16]; +}; + +This ioctl would copy current vcpu's xcrs to the userspace. + +4.45 KVM_SET_XCRS + +Capability: KVM_CAP_XCRS +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_xcrs (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_xcr { + __u32 xcr; + __u32 reserved; + __u64 value; +}; + +struct kvm_xcrs { + __u32 nr_xcrs; + __u32 flags; + struct kvm_xcr xcrs[KVM_MAX_XCRS]; + __u64 padding[16]; +}; + +This ioctl would set vcpu's xcr to the value userspace specified. + +4.46 KVM_GET_SUPPORTED_CPUID + +Capability: KVM_CAP_EXT_CPUID +Architectures: x86 +Type: system ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_cpuid2 (in/out) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +struct kvm_cpuid2 { + __u32 nent; + __u32 padding; + struct kvm_cpuid_entry2 entries[0]; +}; + +#define KVM_CPUID_FLAG_SIGNIFCANT_INDEX 1 +#define KVM_CPUID_FLAG_STATEFUL_FUNC 2 +#define KVM_CPUID_FLAG_STATE_READ_NEXT 4 + +struct kvm_cpuid_entry2 { + __u32 function; + __u32 index; + __u32 flags; + __u32 eax; + __u32 ebx; + __u32 ecx; + __u32 edx; + __u32 padding[3]; +}; + +This ioctl returns x86 cpuid features which are supported by both the hardware +and kvm. Userspace can use the information returned by this ioctl to +construct cpuid information (for KVM_SET_CPUID2) that is consistent with +hardware, kernel, and userspace capabilities, and with user requirements (for +example, the user may wish to constrain cpuid to emulate older hardware, +or for feature consistency across a cluster). + +Userspace invokes KVM_GET_SUPPORTED_CPUID by passing a kvm_cpuid2 structure +with the 'nent' field indicating the number of entries in the variable-size +array 'entries'. If the number of entries is too low to describe the cpu +capabilities, an error (E2BIG) is returned. If the number is too high, +the 'nent' field is adjusted and an error (ENOMEM) is returned. If the +number is just right, the 'nent' field is adjusted to the number of valid +entries in the 'entries' array, which is then filled. + +The entries returned are the host cpuid as returned by the cpuid instruction, +with unknown or unsupported features masked out. Some features (for example, +x2apic), may not be present in the host cpu, but are exposed by kvm if it can +emulate them efficiently. The fields in each entry are defined as follows: + + function: the eax value used to obtain the entry + index: the ecx value used to obtain the entry (for entries that are + affected by ecx) + flags: an OR of zero or more of the following: + KVM_CPUID_FLAG_SIGNIFCANT_INDEX: + if the index field is valid + KVM_CPUID_FLAG_STATEFUL_FUNC: + if cpuid for this function returns different values for successive + invocations; there will be several entries with the same function, + all with this flag set + KVM_CPUID_FLAG_STATE_READ_NEXT: + for KVM_CPUID_FLAG_STATEFUL_FUNC entries, set if this entry is + the first entry to be read by a cpu + eax, ebx, ecx, edx: the values returned by the cpuid instruction for + this function/index combination + +4.47 KVM_PPC_GET_PVINFO + +Capability: KVM_CAP_PPC_GET_PVINFO +Architectures: ppc +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo (out) +Returns: 0 on success, !0 on error + +struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo { + __u32 flags; + __u32 hcall[4]; + __u8 pad[108]; +}; + +This ioctl fetches PV specific information that need to be passed to the guest +using the device tree or other means from vm context. + +For now the only implemented piece of information distributed here is an array +of 4 instructions that make up a hypercall. + +If any additional field gets added to this structure later on, a bit for that +additional piece of information will be set in the flags bitmap. + +4.48 KVM_ASSIGN_PCI_DEVICE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEVICE_ASSIGNMENT +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_pci_dev (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Assigns a host PCI device to the VM. + +struct kvm_assigned_pci_dev { + __u32 assigned_dev_id; + __u32 busnr; + __u32 devfn; + __u32 flags; + __u32 segnr; + union { + __u32 reserved[11]; + }; +}; + +The PCI device is specified by the triple segnr, busnr, and devfn. +Identification in succeeding service requests is done via assigned_dev_id. The +following flags are specified: + +/* Depends on KVM_CAP_IOMMU */ +#define KVM_DEV_ASSIGN_ENABLE_IOMMU (1 << 0) + +4.49 KVM_DEASSIGN_PCI_DEVICE + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEVICE_DEASSIGNMENT +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_pci_dev (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Ends PCI device assignment, releasing all associated resources. + +See KVM_CAP_DEVICE_ASSIGNMENT for the data structure. Only assigned_dev_id is +used in kvm_assigned_pci_dev to identify the device. + +4.50 KVM_ASSIGN_DEV_IRQ + +Capability: KVM_CAP_ASSIGN_DEV_IRQ +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_irq (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Assigns an IRQ to a passed-through device. + +struct kvm_assigned_irq { + __u32 assigned_dev_id; + __u32 host_irq; + __u32 guest_irq; + __u32 flags; + union { + struct { + __u32 addr_lo; + __u32 addr_hi; + __u32 data; + } guest_msi; + __u32 reserved[12]; + }; +}; + +The following flags are defined: + +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_HOST_INTX (1 << 0) +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_HOST_MSI (1 << 1) +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_HOST_MSIX (1 << 2) + +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_GUEST_INTX (1 << 8) +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_GUEST_MSI (1 << 9) +#define KVM_DEV_IRQ_GUEST_MSIX (1 << 10) + +It is not valid to specify multiple types per host or guest IRQ. However, the +IRQ type of host and guest can differ or can even be null. + +4.51 KVM_DEASSIGN_DEV_IRQ + +Capability: KVM_CAP_ASSIGN_DEV_IRQ +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_irq (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Ends an IRQ assignment to a passed-through device. + +See KVM_ASSIGN_DEV_IRQ for the data structure. The target device is specified +by assigned_dev_id, flags must correspond to the IRQ type specified on +KVM_ASSIGN_DEV_IRQ. Partial deassignment of host or guest IRQ is allowed. + +4.52 KVM_SET_GSI_ROUTING + +Capability: KVM_CAP_IRQ_ROUTING +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_irq_routing (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Sets the GSI routing table entries, overwriting any previously set entries. + +struct kvm_irq_routing { + __u32 nr; + __u32 flags; + struct kvm_irq_routing_entry entries[0]; +}; + +No flags are specified so far, the corresponding field must be set to zero. + +struct kvm_irq_routing_entry { + __u32 gsi; + __u32 type; + __u32 flags; + __u32 pad; + union { + struct kvm_irq_routing_irqchip irqchip; + struct kvm_irq_routing_msi msi; + __u32 pad[8]; + } u; +}; + +/* gsi routing entry types */ +#define KVM_IRQ_ROUTING_IRQCHIP 1 +#define KVM_IRQ_ROUTING_MSI 2 + +No flags are specified so far, the corresponding field must be set to zero. + +struct kvm_irq_routing_irqchip { + __u32 irqchip; + __u32 pin; +}; + +struct kvm_irq_routing_msi { + __u32 address_lo; + __u32 address_hi; + __u32 data; + __u32 pad; +}; + +4.53 KVM_ASSIGN_SET_MSIX_NR + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEVICE_MSIX +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_msix_nr (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Set the number of MSI-X interrupts for an assigned device. This service can +only be called once in the lifetime of an assigned device. + +struct kvm_assigned_msix_nr { + __u32 assigned_dev_id; + __u16 entry_nr; + __u16 padding; +}; + +#define KVM_MAX_MSIX_PER_DEV 256 + +4.54 KVM_ASSIGN_SET_MSIX_ENTRY + +Capability: KVM_CAP_DEVICE_MSIX +Architectures: x86 ia64 +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_assigned_msix_entry (in) +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Specifies the routing of an MSI-X assigned device interrupt to a GSI. Setting +the GSI vector to zero means disabling the interrupt. + +struct kvm_assigned_msix_entry { + __u32 assigned_dev_id; + __u32 gsi; + __u16 entry; /* The index of entry in the MSI-X table */ + __u16 padding[3]; +}; + +4.54 KVM_SET_TSC_KHZ + +Capability: KVM_CAP_TSC_CONTROL +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: virtual tsc_khz +Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error + +Specifies the tsc frequency for the virtual machine. The unit of the +frequency is KHz. + +4.55 KVM_GET_TSC_KHZ + +Capability: KVM_CAP_GET_TSC_KHZ +Architectures: x86 +Type: vcpu ioctl +Parameters: none +Returns: virtual tsc-khz on success, negative value on error + +Returns the tsc frequency of the guest. The unit of the return value is +KHz. If the host has unstable tsc this ioctl returns -EIO instead as an +error. + +5. The kvm_run structure + +Application code obtains a pointer to the kvm_run structure by +mmap()ing a vcpu fd. From that point, application code can control +execution by changing fields in kvm_run prior to calling the KVM_RUN +ioctl, and obtain information about the reason KVM_RUN returned by +looking up structure members. + +struct kvm_run { + /* in */ + __u8 request_interrupt_window; + +Request that KVM_RUN return when it becomes possible to inject external +interrupts into the guest. Useful in conjunction with KVM_INTERRUPT. + + __u8 padding1[7]; + + /* out */ + __u32 exit_reason; + +When KVM_RUN has returned successfully (return value 0), this informs +application code why KVM_RUN has returned. Allowable values for this +field are detailed below. + + __u8 ready_for_interrupt_injection; + +If request_interrupt_window has been specified, this field indicates +an interrupt can be injected now with KVM_INTERRUPT. + + __u8 if_flag; + +The value of the current interrupt flag. Only valid if in-kernel +local APIC is not used. + + __u8 padding2[2]; + + /* in (pre_kvm_run), out (post_kvm_run) */ + __u64 cr8; + +The value of the cr8 register. Only valid if in-kernel local APIC is +not used. Both input and output. + + __u64 apic_base; + +The value of the APIC BASE msr. Only valid if in-kernel local +APIC is not used. Both input and output. + + union { + /* KVM_EXIT_UNKNOWN */ + struct { + __u64 hardware_exit_reason; + } hw; + +If exit_reason is KVM_EXIT_UNKNOWN, the vcpu has exited due to unknown +reasons. Further architecture-specific information is available in +hardware_exit_reason. + + /* KVM_EXIT_FAIL_ENTRY */ + struct { + __u64 hardware_entry_failure_reason; + } fail_entry; + +If exit_reason is KVM_EXIT_FAIL_ENTRY, the vcpu could not be run due +to unknown reasons. Further architecture-specific information is +available in hardware_entry_failure_reason. + + /* KVM_EXIT_EXCEPTION */ + struct { + __u32 exception; + __u32 error_code; + } ex; + +Unused. + + /* KVM_EXIT_IO */ + struct { +#define KVM_EXIT_IO_IN 0 +#define KVM_EXIT_IO_OUT 1 + __u8 direction; + __u8 size; /* bytes */ + __u16 port; + __u32 count; + __u64 data_offset; /* relative to kvm_run start */ + } io; + +If exit_reason is KVM_EXIT_IO, then the vcpu has +executed a port I/O instruction which could not be satisfied by kvm. +data_offset describes where the data is located (KVM_EXIT_IO_OUT) or +where kvm expects application code to place the data for the next +KVM_RUN invocation (KVM_EXIT_IO_IN). Data format is a packed array. + + struct { + struct kvm_debug_exit_arch arch; + } debug; + +Unused. + + /* KVM_EXIT_MMIO */ + struct { + __u64 phys_addr; + __u8 data[8]; + __u32 len; + __u8 is_write; + } mmio; + +If exit_reason is KVM_EXIT_MMIO, then the vcpu has +executed a memory-mapped I/O instruction which could not be satisfied +by kvm. The 'data' member contains the written data if 'is_write' is +true, and should be filled by application code otherwise. + +NOTE: For KVM_EXIT_IO, KVM_EXIT_MMIO and KVM_EXIT_OSI, the corresponding +operations are complete (and guest state is consistent) only after userspace +has re-entered the kernel with KVM_RUN. The kernel side will first finish +incomplete operations and then check for pending signals. Userspace +can re-enter the guest with an unmasked signal pending to complete +pending operations. + + /* KVM_EXIT_HYPERCALL */ + struct { + __u64 nr; + __u64 args[6]; + __u64 ret; + __u32 longmode; + __u32 pad; + } hypercall; + +Unused. This was once used for 'hypercall to userspace'. To implement +such functionality, use KVM_EXIT_IO (x86) or KVM_EXIT_MMIO (all except s390). +Note KVM_EXIT_IO is significantly faster than KVM_EXIT_MMIO. + + /* KVM_EXIT_TPR_ACCESS */ + struct { + __u64 rip; + __u32 is_write; + __u32 pad; + } tpr_access; + +To be documented (KVM_TPR_ACCESS_REPORTING). + + /* KVM_EXIT_S390_SIEIC */ + struct { + __u8 icptcode; + __u64 mask; /* psw upper half */ + __u64 addr; /* psw lower half */ + __u16 ipa; + __u32 ipb; + } s390_sieic; + +s390 specific. + + /* KVM_EXIT_S390_RESET */ +#define KVM_S390_RESET_POR 1 +#define KVM_S390_RESET_CLEAR 2 +#define KVM_S390_RESET_SUBSYSTEM 4 +#define KVM_S390_RESET_CPU_INIT 8 +#define KVM_S390_RESET_IPL 16 + __u64 s390_reset_flags; + +s390 specific. + + /* KVM_EXIT_DCR */ + struct { + __u32 dcrn; + __u32 data; + __u8 is_write; + } dcr; + +powerpc specific. + + /* KVM_EXIT_OSI */ + struct { + __u64 gprs[32]; + } osi; + +MOL uses a special hypercall interface it calls 'OSI'. To enable it, we catch +hypercalls and exit with this exit struct that contains all the guest gprs. + +If exit_reason is KVM_EXIT_OSI, then the vcpu has triggered such a hypercall. +Userspace can now handle the hypercall and when it's done modify the gprs as +necessary. Upon guest entry all guest GPRs will then be replaced by the values +in this struct. + + /* Fix the size of the union. */ + char padding[256]; + }; +}; diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/cpuid.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/cpuid.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..88206853 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/cpuid.txt @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +KVM CPUID bits +Glauber Costa <glommer@redhat.com>, Red Hat Inc, 2010 +===================================================== + +A guest running on a kvm host, can check some of its features using +cpuid. This is not always guaranteed to work, since userspace can +mask-out some, or even all KVM-related cpuid features before launching +a guest. + +KVM cpuid functions are: + +function: KVM_CPUID_SIGNATURE (0x40000000) +returns : eax = 0, + ebx = 0x4b4d564b, + ecx = 0x564b4d56, + edx = 0x4d. +Note that this value in ebx, ecx and edx corresponds to the string "KVMKVMKVM". +This function queries the presence of KVM cpuid leafs. + + +function: define KVM_CPUID_FEATURES (0x40000001) +returns : ebx, ecx, edx = 0 + eax = and OR'ed group of (1 << flag), where each flags is: + + +flag || value || meaning +============================================================================= +KVM_FEATURE_CLOCKSOURCE || 0 || kvmclock available at msrs + || || 0x11 and 0x12. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +KVM_FEATURE_NOP_IO_DELAY || 1 || not necessary to perform delays + || || on PIO operations. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +KVM_FEATURE_MMU_OP || 2 || deprecated. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +KVM_FEATURE_CLOCKSOURCE2 || 3 || kvmclock available at msrs + || || 0x4b564d00 and 0x4b564d01 +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +KVM_FEATURE_ASYNC_PF || 4 || async pf can be enabled by + || || writing to msr 0x4b564d02 +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +KVM_FEATURE_CLOCKSOURCE_STABLE_BIT || 24 || host will warn if no guest-side + || || per-cpu warps are expected in + || || kvmclock. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..3b4cd3bf --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +KVM Lock Overview +================= + +1. Acquisition Orders +--------------------- + +(to be written) + +2. Reference +------------ + +Name: kvm_lock +Type: raw_spinlock +Arch: any +Protects: - vm_list + - hardware virtualization enable/disable +Comment: 'raw' because hardware enabling/disabling must be atomic /wrt + migration. + +Name: kvm_arch::tsc_write_lock +Type: raw_spinlock +Arch: x86 +Protects: - kvm_arch::{last_tsc_write,last_tsc_nsec,last_tsc_offset} + - tsc offset in vmcb +Comment: 'raw' because updating the tsc offsets must not be preempted. diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/mmu.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/mmu.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f46aa583 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/mmu.txt @@ -0,0 +1,348 @@ +The x86 kvm shadow mmu +====================== + +The mmu (in arch/x86/kvm, files mmu.[ch] and paging_tmpl.h) is responsible +for presenting a standard x86 mmu to the guest, while translating guest +physical addresses to host physical addresses. + +The mmu code attempts to satisfy the following requirements: + +- correctness: the guest should not be able to determine that it is running + on an emulated mmu except for timing (we attempt to comply + with the specification, not emulate the characteristics of + a particular implementation such as tlb size) +- security: the guest must not be able to touch host memory not assigned + to it +- performance: minimize the performance penalty imposed by the mmu +- scaling: need to scale to large memory and large vcpu guests +- hardware: support the full range of x86 virtualization hardware +- integration: Linux memory management code must be in control of guest memory + so that swapping, page migration, page merging, transparent + hugepages, and similar features work without change +- dirty tracking: report writes to guest memory to enable live migration + and framebuffer-based displays +- footprint: keep the amount of pinned kernel memory low (most memory + should be shrinkable) +- reliability: avoid multipage or GFP_ATOMIC allocations + +Acronyms +======== + +pfn host page frame number +hpa host physical address +hva host virtual address +gfn guest frame number +gpa guest physical address +gva guest virtual address +ngpa nested guest physical address +ngva nested guest virtual address +pte page table entry (used also to refer generically to paging structure + entries) +gpte guest pte (referring to gfns) +spte shadow pte (referring to pfns) +tdp two dimensional paging (vendor neutral term for NPT and EPT) + +Virtual and real hardware supported +=================================== + +The mmu supports first-generation mmu hardware, which allows an atomic switch +of the current paging mode and cr3 during guest entry, as well as +two-dimensional paging (AMD's NPT and Intel's EPT). The emulated hardware +it exposes is the traditional 2/3/4 level x86 mmu, with support for global +pages, pae, pse, pse36, cr0.wp, and 1GB pages. Work is in progress to support +exposing NPT capable hardware on NPT capable hosts. + +Translation +=========== + +The primary job of the mmu is to program the processor's mmu to translate +addresses for the guest. Different translations are required at different +times: + +- when guest paging is disabled, we translate guest physical addresses to + host physical addresses (gpa->hpa) +- when guest paging is enabled, we translate guest virtual addresses, to + guest physical addresses, to host physical addresses (gva->gpa->hpa) +- when the guest launches a guest of its own, we translate nested guest + virtual addresses, to nested guest physical addresses, to guest physical + addresses, to host physical addresses (ngva->ngpa->gpa->hpa) + +The primary challenge is to encode between 1 and 3 translations into hardware +that support only 1 (traditional) and 2 (tdp) translations. When the +number of required translations matches the hardware, the mmu operates in +direct mode; otherwise it operates in shadow mode (see below). + +Memory +====== + +Guest memory (gpa) is part of the user address space of the process that is +using kvm. Userspace defines the translation between guest addresses and user +addresses (gpa->hva); note that two gpas may alias to the same hva, but not +vice versa. + +These hvas may be backed using any method available to the host: anonymous +memory, file backed memory, and device memory. Memory might be paged by the +host at any time. + +Events +====== + +The mmu is driven by events, some from the guest, some from the host. + +Guest generated events: +- writes to control registers (especially cr3) +- invlpg/invlpga instruction execution +- access to missing or protected translations + +Host generated events: +- changes in the gpa->hpa translation (either through gpa->hva changes or + through hva->hpa changes) +- memory pressure (the shrinker) + +Shadow pages +============ + +The principal data structure is the shadow page, 'struct kvm_mmu_page'. A +shadow page contains 512 sptes, which can be either leaf or nonleaf sptes. A +shadow page may contain a mix of leaf and nonleaf sptes. + +A nonleaf spte allows the hardware mmu to reach the leaf pages and +is not related to a translation directly. It points to other shadow pages. + +A leaf spte corresponds to either one or two translations encoded into +one paging structure entry. These are always the lowest level of the +translation stack, with optional higher level translations left to NPT/EPT. +Leaf ptes point at guest pages. + +The following table shows translations encoded by leaf ptes, with higher-level +translations in parentheses: + + Non-nested guests: + nonpaging: gpa->hpa + paging: gva->gpa->hpa + paging, tdp: (gva->)gpa->hpa + Nested guests: + non-tdp: ngva->gpa->hpa (*) + tdp: (ngva->)ngpa->gpa->hpa + +(*) the guest hypervisor will encode the ngva->gpa translation into its page + tables if npt is not present + +Shadow pages contain the following information: + role.level: + The level in the shadow paging hierarchy that this shadow page belongs to. + 1=4k sptes, 2=2M sptes, 3=1G sptes, etc. + role.direct: + If set, leaf sptes reachable from this page are for a linear range. + Examples include real mode translation, large guest pages backed by small + host pages, and gpa->hpa translations when NPT or EPT is active. + The linear range starts at (gfn << PAGE_SHIFT) and its size is determined + by role.level (2MB for first level, 1GB for second level, 0.5TB for third + level, 256TB for fourth level) + If clear, this page corresponds to a guest page table denoted by the gfn + field. + role.quadrant: + When role.cr4_pae=0, the guest uses 32-bit gptes while the host uses 64-bit + sptes. That means a guest page table contains more ptes than the host, + so multiple shadow pages are needed to shadow one guest page. + For first-level shadow pages, role.quadrant can be 0 or 1 and denotes the + first or second 512-gpte block in the guest page table. For second-level + page tables, each 32-bit gpte is converted to two 64-bit sptes + (since each first-level guest page is shadowed by two first-level + shadow pages) so role.quadrant takes values in the range 0..3. Each + quadrant maps 1GB virtual address space. + role.access: + Inherited guest access permissions in the form uwx. Note execute + permission is positive, not negative. + role.invalid: + The page is invalid and should not be used. It is a root page that is + currently pinned (by a cpu hardware register pointing to it); once it is + unpinned it will be destroyed. + role.cr4_pae: + Contains the value of cr4.pae for which the page is valid (e.g. whether + 32-bit or 64-bit gptes are in use). + role.nxe: + Contains the value of efer.nxe for which the page is valid. + role.cr0_wp: + Contains the value of cr0.wp for which the page is valid. + gfn: + Either the guest page table containing the translations shadowed by this + page, or the base page frame for linear translations. See role.direct. + spt: + A pageful of 64-bit sptes containing the translations for this page. + Accessed by both kvm and hardware. + The page pointed to by spt will have its page->private pointing back + at the shadow page structure. + sptes in spt point either at guest pages, or at lower-level shadow pages. + Specifically, if sp1 and sp2 are shadow pages, then sp1->spt[n] may point + at __pa(sp2->spt). sp2 will point back at sp1 through parent_pte. + The spt array forms a DAG structure with the shadow page as a node, and + guest pages as leaves. + gfns: + An array of 512 guest frame numbers, one for each present pte. Used to + perform a reverse map from a pte to a gfn. When role.direct is set, any + element of this array can be calculated from the gfn field when used, in + this case, the array of gfns is not allocated. See role.direct and gfn. + slot_bitmap: + A bitmap containing one bit per memory slot. If the page contains a pte + mapping a page from memory slot n, then bit n of slot_bitmap will be set + (if a page is aliased among several slots, then it is not guaranteed that + all slots will be marked). + Used during dirty logging to avoid scanning a shadow page if none if its + pages need tracking. + root_count: + A counter keeping track of how many hardware registers (guest cr3 or + pdptrs) are now pointing at the page. While this counter is nonzero, the + page cannot be destroyed. See role.invalid. + multimapped: + Whether there exist multiple sptes pointing at this page. + parent_pte/parent_ptes: + If multimapped is zero, parent_pte points at the single spte that points at + this page's spt. Otherwise, parent_ptes points at a data structure + with a list of parent_ptes. + unsync: + If true, then the translations in this page may not match the guest's + translation. This is equivalent to the state of the tlb when a pte is + changed but before the tlb entry is flushed. Accordingly, unsync ptes + are synchronized when the guest executes invlpg or flushes its tlb by + other means. Valid for leaf pages. + unsync_children: + How many sptes in the page point at pages that are unsync (or have + unsynchronized children). + unsync_child_bitmap: + A bitmap indicating which sptes in spt point (directly or indirectly) at + pages that may be unsynchronized. Used to quickly locate all unsychronized + pages reachable from a given page. + +Reverse map +=========== + +The mmu maintains a reverse mapping whereby all ptes mapping a page can be +reached given its gfn. This is used, for example, when swapping out a page. + +Synchronized and unsynchronized pages +===================================== + +The guest uses two events to synchronize its tlb and page tables: tlb flushes +and page invalidations (invlpg). + +A tlb flush means that we need to synchronize all sptes reachable from the +guest's cr3. This is expensive, so we keep all guest page tables write +protected, and synchronize sptes to gptes when a gpte is written. + +A special case is when a guest page table is reachable from the current +guest cr3. In this case, the guest is obliged to issue an invlpg instruction +before using the translation. We take advantage of that by removing write +protection from the guest page, and allowing the guest to modify it freely. +We synchronize modified gptes when the guest invokes invlpg. This reduces +the amount of emulation we have to do when the guest modifies multiple gptes, +or when the a guest page is no longer used as a page table and is used for +random guest data. + +As a side effect we have to resynchronize all reachable unsynchronized shadow +pages on a tlb flush. + + +Reaction to events +================== + +- guest page fault (or npt page fault, or ept violation) + +This is the most complicated event. The cause of a page fault can be: + + - a true guest fault (the guest translation won't allow the access) (*) + - access to a missing translation + - access to a protected translation + - when logging dirty pages, memory is write protected + - synchronized shadow pages are write protected (*) + - access to untranslatable memory (mmio) + + (*) not applicable in direct mode + +Handling a page fault is performed as follows: + + - if needed, walk the guest page tables to determine the guest translation + (gva->gpa or ngpa->gpa) + - if permissions are insufficient, reflect the fault back to the guest + - determine the host page + - if this is an mmio request, there is no host page; call the emulator + to emulate the instruction instead + - walk the shadow page table to find the spte for the translation, + instantiating missing intermediate page tables as necessary + - try to unsynchronize the page + - if successful, we can let the guest continue and modify the gpte + - emulate the instruction + - if failed, unshadow the page and let the guest continue + - update any translations that were modified by the instruction + +invlpg handling: + + - walk the shadow page hierarchy and drop affected translations + - try to reinstantiate the indicated translation in the hope that the + guest will use it in the near future + +Guest control register updates: + +- mov to cr3 + - look up new shadow roots + - synchronize newly reachable shadow pages + +- mov to cr0/cr4/efer + - set up mmu context for new paging mode + - look up new shadow roots + - synchronize newly reachable shadow pages + +Host translation updates: + + - mmu notifier called with updated hva + - look up affected sptes through reverse map + - drop (or update) translations + +Emulating cr0.wp +================ + +If tdp is not enabled, the host must keep cr0.wp=1 so page write protection +works for the guest kernel, not guest guest userspace. When the guest +cr0.wp=1, this does not present a problem. However when the guest cr0.wp=0, +we cannot map the permissions for gpte.u=1, gpte.w=0 to any spte (the +semantics require allowing any guest kernel access plus user read access). + +We handle this by mapping the permissions to two possible sptes, depending +on fault type: + +- kernel write fault: spte.u=0, spte.w=1 (allows full kernel access, + disallows user access) +- read fault: spte.u=1, spte.w=0 (allows full read access, disallows kernel + write access) + +(user write faults generate a #PF) + +Large pages +=========== + +The mmu supports all combinations of large and small guest and host pages. +Supported page sizes include 4k, 2M, 4M, and 1G. 4M pages are treated as +two separate 2M pages, on both guest and host, since the mmu always uses PAE +paging. + +To instantiate a large spte, four constraints must be satisfied: + +- the spte must point to a large host page +- the guest pte must be a large pte of at least equivalent size (if tdp is + enabled, there is no guest pte and this condition is satisified) +- if the spte will be writeable, the large page frame may not overlap any + write-protected pages +- the guest page must be wholly contained by a single memory slot + +To check the last two conditions, the mmu maintains a ->write_count set of +arrays for each memory slot and large page size. Every write protected page +causes its write_count to be incremented, thus preventing instantiation of +a large spte. The frames at the end of an unaligned memory slot have +artificically inflated ->write_counts so they can never be instantiated. + +Further reading +=============== + +- NPT presentation from KVM Forum 2008 + http://www.linux-kvm.org/wiki/images/c/c8/KvmForum2008%24kdf2008_21.pdf + diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/msr.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/msr.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d079aed2 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/msr.txt @@ -0,0 +1,187 @@ +KVM-specific MSRs. +Glauber Costa <glommer@redhat.com>, Red Hat Inc, 2010 +===================================================== + +KVM makes use of some custom MSRs to service some requests. + +Custom MSRs have a range reserved for them, that goes from +0x4b564d00 to 0x4b564dff. There are MSRs outside this area, +but they are deprecated and their use is discouraged. + +Custom MSR list +-------- + +The current supported Custom MSR list is: + +MSR_KVM_WALL_CLOCK_NEW: 0x4b564d00 + + data: 4-byte alignment physical address of a memory area which must be + in guest RAM. This memory is expected to hold a copy of the following + structure: + + struct pvclock_wall_clock { + u32 version; + u32 sec; + u32 nsec; + } __attribute__((__packed__)); + + whose data will be filled in by the hypervisor. The hypervisor is only + guaranteed to update this data at the moment of MSR write. + Users that want to reliably query this information more than once have + to write more than once to this MSR. Fields have the following meanings: + + version: guest has to check version before and after grabbing + time information and check that they are both equal and even. + An odd version indicates an in-progress update. + + sec: number of seconds for wallclock. + + nsec: number of nanoseconds for wallclock. + + Note that although MSRs are per-CPU entities, the effect of this + particular MSR is global. + + Availability of this MSR must be checked via bit 3 in 0x4000001 cpuid + leaf prior to usage. + +MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME_NEW: 0x4b564d01 + + data: 4-byte aligned physical address of a memory area which must be in + guest RAM, plus an enable bit in bit 0. This memory is expected to hold + a copy of the following structure: + + struct pvclock_vcpu_time_info { + u32 version; + u32 pad0; + u64 tsc_timestamp; + u64 system_time; + u32 tsc_to_system_mul; + s8 tsc_shift; + u8 flags; + u8 pad[2]; + } __attribute__((__packed__)); /* 32 bytes */ + + whose data will be filled in by the hypervisor periodically. Only one + write, or registration, is needed for each VCPU. The interval between + updates of this structure is arbitrary and implementation-dependent. + The hypervisor may update this structure at any time it sees fit until + anything with bit0 == 0 is written to it. + + Fields have the following meanings: + + version: guest has to check version before and after grabbing + time information and check that they are both equal and even. + An odd version indicates an in-progress update. + + tsc_timestamp: the tsc value at the current VCPU at the time + of the update of this structure. Guests can subtract this value + from current tsc to derive a notion of elapsed time since the + structure update. + + system_time: a host notion of monotonic time, including sleep + time at the time this structure was last updated. Unit is + nanoseconds. + + tsc_to_system_mul: a function of the tsc frequency. One has + to multiply any tsc-related quantity by this value to get + a value in nanoseconds, besides dividing by 2^tsc_shift + + tsc_shift: cycle to nanosecond divider, as a power of two, to + allow for shift rights. One has to shift right any tsc-related + quantity by this value to get a value in nanoseconds, besides + multiplying by tsc_to_system_mul. + + With this information, guests can derive per-CPU time by + doing: + + time = (current_tsc - tsc_timestamp) + time = (time * tsc_to_system_mul) >> tsc_shift + time = time + system_time + + flags: bits in this field indicate extended capabilities + coordinated between the guest and the hypervisor. Availability + of specific flags has to be checked in 0x40000001 cpuid leaf. + Current flags are: + + flag bit | cpuid bit | meaning + ------------------------------------------------------------- + | | time measures taken across + 0 | 24 | multiple cpus are guaranteed to + | | be monotonic + ------------------------------------------------------------- + + Availability of this MSR must be checked via bit 3 in 0x4000001 cpuid + leaf prior to usage. + + +MSR_KVM_WALL_CLOCK: 0x11 + + data and functioning: same as MSR_KVM_WALL_CLOCK_NEW. Use that instead. + + This MSR falls outside the reserved KVM range and may be removed in the + future. Its usage is deprecated. + + Availability of this MSR must be checked via bit 0 in 0x4000001 cpuid + leaf prior to usage. + +MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME: 0x12 + + data and functioning: same as MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME_NEW. Use that instead. + + This MSR falls outside the reserved KVM range and may be removed in the + future. Its usage is deprecated. + + Availability of this MSR must be checked via bit 0 in 0x4000001 cpuid + leaf prior to usage. + + The suggested algorithm for detecting kvmclock presence is then: + + if (!kvm_para_available()) /* refer to cpuid.txt */ + return NON_PRESENT; + + flags = cpuid_eax(0x40000001); + if (flags & 3) { + msr_kvm_system_time = MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME_NEW; + msr_kvm_wall_clock = MSR_KVM_WALL_CLOCK_NEW; + return PRESENT; + } else if (flags & 0) { + msr_kvm_system_time = MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME; + msr_kvm_wall_clock = MSR_KVM_WALL_CLOCK; + return PRESENT; + } else + return NON_PRESENT; + +MSR_KVM_ASYNC_PF_EN: 0x4b564d02 + data: Bits 63-6 hold 64-byte aligned physical address of a + 64 byte memory area which must be in guest RAM and must be + zeroed. Bits 5-2 are reserved and should be zero. Bit 0 is 1 + when asynchronous page faults are enabled on the vcpu 0 when + disabled. Bit 2 is 1 if asynchronous page faults can be injected + when vcpu is in cpl == 0. + + First 4 byte of 64 byte memory location will be written to by + the hypervisor at the time of asynchronous page fault (APF) + injection to indicate type of asynchronous page fault. Value + of 1 means that the page referred to by the page fault is not + present. Value 2 means that the page is now available. Disabling + interrupt inhibits APFs. Guest must not enable interrupt + before the reason is read, or it may be overwritten by another + APF. Since APF uses the same exception vector as regular page + fault guest must reset the reason to 0 before it does + something that can generate normal page fault. If during page + fault APF reason is 0 it means that this is regular page + fault. + + During delivery of type 1 APF cr2 contains a token that will + be used to notify a guest when missing page becomes + available. When page becomes available type 2 APF is sent with + cr2 set to the token associated with the page. There is special + kind of token 0xffffffff which tells vcpu that it should wake + up all processes waiting for APFs and no individual type 2 APFs + will be sent. + + If APF is disabled while there are outstanding APFs, they will + not be delivered. + + Currently type 2 APF will be always delivered on the same vcpu as + type 1 was, but guest should not rely on that. diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/ppc-pv.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/ppc-pv.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..3ab969c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/ppc-pv.txt @@ -0,0 +1,196 @@ +The PPC KVM paravirtual interface +================================= + +The basic execution principle by which KVM on PowerPC works is to run all kernel +space code in PR=1 which is user space. This way we trap all privileged +instructions and can emulate them accordingly. + +Unfortunately that is also the downfall. There are quite some privileged +instructions that needlessly return us to the hypervisor even though they +could be handled differently. + +This is what the PPC PV interface helps with. It takes privileged instructions +and transforms them into unprivileged ones with some help from the hypervisor. +This cuts down virtualization costs by about 50% on some of my benchmarks. + +The code for that interface can be found in arch/powerpc/kernel/kvm* + +Querying for existence +====================== + +To find out if we're running on KVM or not, we leverage the device tree. When +Linux is running on KVM, a node /hypervisor exists. That node contains a +compatible property with the value "linux,kvm". + +Once you determined you're running under a PV capable KVM, you can now use +hypercalls as described below. + +KVM hypercalls +============== + +Inside the device tree's /hypervisor node there's a property called +'hypercall-instructions'. This property contains at most 4 opcodes that make +up the hypercall. To call a hypercall, just call these instructions. + +The parameters are as follows: + + Register IN OUT + + r0 - volatile + r3 1st parameter Return code + r4 2nd parameter 1st output value + r5 3rd parameter 2nd output value + r6 4th parameter 3rd output value + r7 5th parameter 4th output value + r8 6th parameter 5th output value + r9 7th parameter 6th output value + r10 8th parameter 7th output value + r11 hypercall number 8th output value + r12 - volatile + +Hypercall definitions are shared in generic code, so the same hypercall numbers +apply for x86 and powerpc alike with the exception that each KVM hypercall +also needs to be ORed with the KVM vendor code which is (42 << 16). + +Return codes can be as follows: + + Code Meaning + + 0 Success + 12 Hypercall not implemented + <0 Error + +The magic page +============== + +To enable communication between the hypervisor and guest there is a new shared +page that contains parts of supervisor visible register state. The guest can +map this shared page using the KVM hypercall KVM_HC_PPC_MAP_MAGIC_PAGE. + +With this hypercall issued the guest always gets the magic page mapped at the +desired location in effective and physical address space. For now, we always +map the page to -4096. This way we can access it using absolute load and store +functions. The following instruction reads the first field of the magic page: + + ld rX, -4096(0) + +The interface is designed to be extensible should there be need later to add +additional registers to the magic page. If you add fields to the magic page, +also define a new hypercall feature to indicate that the host can give you more +registers. Only if the host supports the additional features, make use of them. + +The magic page has the following layout as described in +arch/powerpc/include/asm/kvm_para.h: + +struct kvm_vcpu_arch_shared { + __u64 scratch1; + __u64 scratch2; + __u64 scratch3; + __u64 critical; /* Guest may not get interrupts if == r1 */ + __u64 sprg0; + __u64 sprg1; + __u64 sprg2; + __u64 sprg3; + __u64 srr0; + __u64 srr1; + __u64 dar; + __u64 msr; + __u32 dsisr; + __u32 int_pending; /* Tells the guest if we have an interrupt */ +}; + +Additions to the page must only occur at the end. Struct fields are always 32 +or 64 bit aligned, depending on them being 32 or 64 bit wide respectively. + +Magic page features +=================== + +When mapping the magic page using the KVM hypercall KVM_HC_PPC_MAP_MAGIC_PAGE, +a second return value is passed to the guest. This second return value contains +a bitmap of available features inside the magic page. + +The following enhancements to the magic page are currently available: + + KVM_MAGIC_FEAT_SR Maps SR registers r/w in the magic page + +For enhanced features in the magic page, please check for the existence of the +feature before using them! + +MSR bits +======== + +The MSR contains bits that require hypervisor intervention and bits that do +not require direct hypervisor intervention because they only get interpreted +when entering the guest or don't have any impact on the hypervisor's behavior. + +The following bits are safe to be set inside the guest: + + MSR_EE + MSR_RI + MSR_CR + MSR_ME + +If any other bit changes in the MSR, please still use mtmsr(d). + +Patched instructions +==================== + +The "ld" and "std" instructions are transormed to "lwz" and "stw" instructions +respectively on 32 bit systems with an added offset of 4 to accommodate for big +endianness. + +The following is a list of mapping the Linux kernel performs when running as +guest. Implementing any of those mappings is optional, as the instruction traps +also act on the shared page. So calling privileged instructions still works as +before. + +From To +==== == + +mfmsr rX ld rX, magic_page->msr +mfsprg rX, 0 ld rX, magic_page->sprg0 +mfsprg rX, 1 ld rX, magic_page->sprg1 +mfsprg rX, 2 ld rX, magic_page->sprg2 +mfsprg rX, 3 ld rX, magic_page->sprg3 +mfsrr0 rX ld rX, magic_page->srr0 +mfsrr1 rX ld rX, magic_page->srr1 +mfdar rX ld rX, magic_page->dar +mfdsisr rX lwz rX, magic_page->dsisr + +mtmsr rX std rX, magic_page->msr +mtsprg 0, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg0 +mtsprg 1, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg1 +mtsprg 2, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg2 +mtsprg 3, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg3 +mtsrr0 rX std rX, magic_page->srr0 +mtsrr1 rX std rX, magic_page->srr1 +mtdar rX std rX, magic_page->dar +mtdsisr rX stw rX, magic_page->dsisr + +tlbsync nop + +mtmsrd rX, 0 b <special mtmsr section> +mtmsr rX b <special mtmsr section> + +mtmsrd rX, 1 b <special mtmsrd section> + +[Book3S only] +mtsrin rX, rY b <special mtsrin section> + +[BookE only] +wrteei [0|1] b <special wrteei section> + + +Some instructions require more logic to determine what's going on than a load +or store instruction can deliver. To enable patching of those, we keep some +RAM around where we can live translate instructions to. What happens is the +following: + + 1) copy emulation code to memory + 2) patch that code to fit the emulated instruction + 3) patch that code to return to the original pc + 4 + 4) patch the original instruction to branch to the new code + +That way we can inject an arbitrary amount of code as replacement for a single +instruction. This allows us to check for pending interrupts when setting EE=1 +for example. diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/review-checklist.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/review-checklist.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a850986e --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/review-checklist.txt @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +Review checklist for kvm patches +================================ + +1. The patch must follow Documentation/CodingStyle and + Documentation/SubmittingPatches. + +2. Patches should be against kvm.git master branch. + +3. If the patch introduces or modifies a new userspace API: + - the API must be documented in Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt + - the API must be discoverable using KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION + +4. New state must include support for save/restore. + +5. New features must default to off (userspace should explicitly request them). + Performance improvements can and should default to on. + +6. New cpu features should be exposed via KVM_GET_SUPPORTED_CPUID2 + +7. Emulator changes should be accompanied by unit tests for qemu-kvm.git + kvm/test directory. + +8. Changes should be vendor neutral when possible. Changes to common code + are better than duplicating changes to vendor code. + +9. Similarly, prefer changes to arch independent code than to arch dependent + code. + +10. User/kernel interfaces and guest/host interfaces must be 64-bit clean + (all variables and sizes naturally aligned on 64-bit; use specific types + only - u64 rather than ulong). + +11. New guest visible features must either be documented in a hardware manual + or be accompanied by documentation. + +12. Features must be robust against reset and kexec - for example, shared + host/guest memory must be unshared to prevent the host from writing to + guest memory that the guest has not reserved for this purpose. diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/timekeeping.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/timekeeping.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..df894637 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/timekeeping.txt @@ -0,0 +1,612 @@ + + Timekeeping Virtualization for X86-Based Architectures + + Zachary Amsden <zamsden@redhat.com> + Copyright (c) 2010, Red Hat. All rights reserved. + +1) Overview +2) Timing Devices +3) TSC Hardware +4) Virtualization Problems + +========================================================================= + +1) Overview + +One of the most complicated parts of the X86 platform, and specifically, +the virtualization of this platform is the plethora of timing devices available +and the complexity of emulating those devices. In addition, virtualization of +time introduces a new set of challenges because it introduces a multiplexed +division of time beyond the control of the guest CPU. + +First, we will describe the various timekeeping hardware available, then +present some of the problems which arise and solutions available, giving +specific recommendations for certain classes of KVM guests. + +The purpose of this document is to collect data and information relevant to +timekeeping which may be difficult to find elsewhere, specifically, +information relevant to KVM and hardware-based virtualization. + +========================================================================= + +2) Timing Devices + +First we discuss the basic hardware devices available. TSC and the related +KVM clock are special enough to warrant a full exposition and are described in +the following section. + +2.1) i8254 - PIT + +One of the first timer devices available is the programmable interrupt timer, +or PIT. The PIT has a fixed frequency 1.193182 MHz base clock and three +channels which can be programmed to deliver periodic or one-shot interrupts. +These three channels can be configured in different modes and have individual +counters. Channel 1 and 2 were not available for general use in the original +IBM PC, and historically were connected to control RAM refresh and the PC +speaker. Now the PIT is typically integrated as part of an emulated chipset +and a separate physical PIT is not used. + +The PIT uses I/O ports 0x40 - 0x43. Access to the 16-bit counters is done +using single or multiple byte access to the I/O ports. There are 6 modes +available, but not all modes are available to all timers, as only timer 2 +has a connected gate input, required for modes 1 and 5. The gate line is +controlled by port 61h, bit 0, as illustrated in the following diagram. + + -------------- ---------------- +| | | | +| 1.1932 MHz |---------->| CLOCK OUT | ---------> IRQ 0 +| Clock | | | | + -------------- | +->| GATE TIMER 0 | + | ---------------- + | + | ---------------- + | | | + |------>| CLOCK OUT | ---------> 66.3 KHZ DRAM + | | | (aka /dev/null) + | +->| GATE TIMER 1 | + | ---------------- + | + | ---------------- + | | | + |------>| CLOCK OUT | ---------> Port 61h, bit 5 + | | | +Port 61h, bit 0 ---------->| GATE TIMER 2 | \_.---- ____ + ---------------- _| )--|LPF|---Speaker + / *---- \___/ +Port 61h, bit 1 -----------------------------------/ + +The timer modes are now described. + +Mode 0: Single Timeout. This is a one-shot software timeout that counts down + when the gate is high (always true for timers 0 and 1). When the count + reaches zero, the output goes high. + +Mode 1: Triggered One-shot. The output is initially set high. When the gate + line is set high, a countdown is initiated (which does not stop if the gate is + lowered), during which the output is set low. When the count reaches zero, + the output goes high. + +Mode 2: Rate Generator. The output is initially set high. When the countdown + reaches 1, the output goes low for one count and then returns high. The value + is reloaded and the countdown automatically resumes. If the gate line goes + low, the count is halted. If the output is low when the gate is lowered, the + output automatically goes high (this only affects timer 2). + +Mode 3: Square Wave. This generates a high / low square wave. The count + determines the length of the pulse, which alternates between high and low + when zero is reached. The count only proceeds when gate is high and is + automatically reloaded on reaching zero. The count is decremented twice at + each clock to generate a full high / low cycle at the full periodic rate. + If the count is even, the clock remains high for N/2 counts and low for N/2 + counts; if the clock is odd, the clock is high for (N+1)/2 counts and low + for (N-1)/2 counts. Only even values are latched by the counter, so odd + values are not observed when reading. This is the intended mode for timer 2, + which generates sine-like tones by low-pass filtering the square wave output. + +Mode 4: Software Strobe. After programming this mode and loading the counter, + the output remains high until the counter reaches zero. Then the output + goes low for 1 clock cycle and returns high. The counter is not reloaded. + Counting only occurs when gate is high. + +Mode 5: Hardware Strobe. After programming and loading the counter, the + output remains high. When the gate is raised, a countdown is initiated + (which does not stop if the gate is lowered). When the counter reaches zero, + the output goes low for 1 clock cycle and then returns high. The counter is + not reloaded. + +In addition to normal binary counting, the PIT supports BCD counting. The +command port, 0x43 is used to set the counter and mode for each of the three +timers. + +PIT commands, issued to port 0x43, using the following bit encoding: + +Bit 7-4: Command (See table below) +Bit 3-1: Mode (000 = Mode 0, 101 = Mode 5, 11X = undefined) +Bit 0 : Binary (0) / BCD (1) + +Command table: + +0000 - Latch Timer 0 count for port 0x40 + sample and hold the count to be read in port 0x40; + additional commands ignored until counter is read; + mode bits ignored. + +0001 - Set Timer 0 LSB mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read LSB only and force MSB to zero; + mode bits set timer mode + +0010 - Set Timer 0 MSB mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read MSB only and force LSB to zero; + mode bits set timer mode + +0011 - Set Timer 0 16-bit mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read / write LSB first, then MSB; + mode bits set timer mode + +0100 - Latch Timer 1 count for port 0x41 - as described above +0101 - Set Timer 1 LSB mode for port 0x41 - as described above +0110 - Set Timer 1 MSB mode for port 0x41 - as described above +0111 - Set Timer 1 16-bit mode for port 0x41 - as described above + +1000 - Latch Timer 2 count for port 0x42 - as described above +1001 - Set Timer 2 LSB mode for port 0x42 - as described above +1010 - Set Timer 2 MSB mode for port 0x42 - as described above +1011 - Set Timer 2 16-bit mode for port 0x42 as described above + +1101 - General counter latch + Latch combination of counters into corresponding ports + Bit 3 = Counter 2 + Bit 2 = Counter 1 + Bit 1 = Counter 0 + Bit 0 = Unused + +1110 - Latch timer status + Latch combination of counter mode into corresponding ports + Bit 3 = Counter 2 + Bit 2 = Counter 1 + Bit 1 = Counter 0 + + The output of ports 0x40-0x42 following this command will be: + + Bit 7 = Output pin + Bit 6 = Count loaded (0 if timer has expired) + Bit 5-4 = Read / Write mode + 01 = MSB only + 10 = LSB only + 11 = LSB / MSB (16-bit) + Bit 3-1 = Mode + Bit 0 = Binary (0) / BCD mode (1) + +2.2) RTC + +The second device which was available in the original PC was the MC146818 real +time clock. The original device is now obsolete, and usually emulated by the +system chipset, sometimes by an HPET and some frankenstein IRQ routing. + +The RTC is accessed through CMOS variables, which uses an index register to +control which bytes are read. Since there is only one index register, read +of the CMOS and read of the RTC require lock protection (in addition, it is +dangerous to allow userspace utilities such as hwclock to have direct RTC +access, as they could corrupt kernel reads and writes of CMOS memory). + +The RTC generates an interrupt which is usually routed to IRQ 8. The interrupt +can function as a periodic timer, an additional once a day alarm, and can issue +interrupts after an update of the CMOS registers by the MC146818 is complete. +The type of interrupt is signalled in the RTC status registers. + +The RTC will update the current time fields by battery power even while the +system is off. The current time fields should not be read while an update is +in progress, as indicated in the status register. + +The clock uses a 32.768kHz crystal, so bits 6-4 of register A should be +programmed to a 32kHz divider if the RTC is to count seconds. + +This is the RAM map originally used for the RTC/CMOS: + +Location Size Description +------------------------------------------ +00h byte Current second (BCD) +01h byte Seconds alarm (BCD) +02h byte Current minute (BCD) +03h byte Minutes alarm (BCD) +04h byte Current hour (BCD) +05h byte Hours alarm (BCD) +06h byte Current day of week (BCD) +07h byte Current day of month (BCD) +08h byte Current month (BCD) +09h byte Current year (BCD) +0Ah byte Register A + bit 7 = Update in progress + bit 6-4 = Divider for clock + 000 = 4.194 MHz + 001 = 1.049 MHz + 010 = 32 kHz + 10X = test modes + 110 = reset / disable + 111 = reset / disable + bit 3-0 = Rate selection for periodic interrupt + 000 = periodic timer disabled + 001 = 3.90625 uS + 010 = 7.8125 uS + 011 = .122070 mS + 100 = .244141 mS + ... + 1101 = 125 mS + 1110 = 250 mS + 1111 = 500 mS +0Bh byte Register B + bit 7 = Run (0) / Halt (1) + bit 6 = Periodic interrupt enable + bit 5 = Alarm interrupt enable + bit 4 = Update-ended interrupt enable + bit 3 = Square wave interrupt enable + bit 2 = BCD calendar (0) / Binary (1) + bit 1 = 12-hour mode (0) / 24-hour mode (1) + bit 0 = 0 (DST off) / 1 (DST enabled) +OCh byte Register C (read only) + bit 7 = interrupt request flag (IRQF) + bit 6 = periodic interrupt flag (PF) + bit 5 = alarm interrupt flag (AF) + bit 4 = update interrupt flag (UF) + bit 3-0 = reserved +ODh byte Register D (read only) + bit 7 = RTC has power + bit 6-0 = reserved +32h byte Current century BCD (*) + (*) location vendor specific and now determined from ACPI global tables + +2.3) APIC + +On Pentium and later processors, an on-board timer is available to each CPU +as part of the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller. The APIC is +accessed through memory-mapped registers and provides interrupt service to each +CPU, used for IPIs and local timer interrupts. + +Although in theory the APIC is a safe and stable source for local interrupts, +in practice, many bugs and glitches have occurred due to the special nature of +the APIC CPU-local memory-mapped hardware. Beware that CPU errata may affect +the use of the APIC and that workarounds may be required. In addition, some of +these workarounds pose unique constraints for virtualization - requiring either +extra overhead incurred from extra reads of memory-mapped I/O or additional +functionality that may be more computationally expensive to implement. + +Since the APIC is documented quite well in the Intel and AMD manuals, we will +avoid repetition of the detail here. It should be pointed out that the APIC +timer is programmed through the LVT (local vector timer) register, is capable +of one-shot or periodic operation, and is based on the bus clock divided down +by the programmable divider register. + +2.4) HPET + +HPET is quite complex, and was originally intended to replace the PIT / RTC +support of the X86 PC. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case, as +the de facto standard of PC hardware is to emulate these older devices. Some +systems designated as legacy free may support only the HPET as a hardware timer +device. + +The HPET spec is rather loose and vague, requiring at least 3 hardware timers, +but allowing implementation freedom to support many more. It also imposes no +fixed rate on the timer frequency, but does impose some extremal values on +frequency, error and slew. + +In general, the HPET is recommended as a high precision (compared to PIT /RTC) +time source which is independent of local variation (as there is only one HPET +in any given system). The HPET is also memory-mapped, and its presence is +indicated through ACPI tables by the BIOS. + +Detailed specification of the HPET is beyond the current scope of this +document, as it is also very well documented elsewhere. + +2.5) Offboard Timers + +Several cards, both proprietary (watchdog boards) and commonplace (e1000) have +timing chips built into the cards which may have registers which are accessible +to kernel or user drivers. To the author's knowledge, using these to generate +a clocksource for a Linux or other kernel has not yet been attempted and is in +general frowned upon as not playing by the agreed rules of the game. Such a +timer device would require additional support to be virtualized properly and is +not considered important at this time as no known operating system does this. + +========================================================================= + +3) TSC Hardware + +The TSC or time stamp counter is relatively simple in theory; it counts +instruction cycles issued by the processor, which can be used as a measure of +time. In practice, due to a number of problems, it is the most complicated +timekeeping device to use. + +The TSC is represented internally as a 64-bit MSR which can be read with the +RDMSR, RDTSC, or RDTSCP (when available) instructions. In the past, hardware +limitations made it possible to write the TSC, but generally on old hardware it +was only possible to write the low 32-bits of the 64-bit counter, and the upper +32-bits of the counter were cleared. Now, however, on Intel processors family +0Fh, for models 3, 4 and 6, and family 06h, models e and f, this restriction +has been lifted and all 64-bits are writable. On AMD systems, the ability to +write the TSC MSR is not an architectural guarantee. + +The TSC is accessible from CPL-0 and conditionally, for CPL > 0 software by +means of the CR4.TSD bit, which when enabled, disables CPL > 0 TSC access. + +Some vendors have implemented an additional instruction, RDTSCP, which returns +atomically not just the TSC, but an indicator which corresponds to the +processor number. This can be used to index into an array of TSC variables to +determine offset information in SMP systems where TSCs are not synchronized. +The presence of this instruction must be determined by consulting CPUID feature +bits. + +Both VMX and SVM provide extension fields in the virtualization hardware which +allows the guest visible TSC to be offset by a constant. Newer implementations +promise to allow the TSC to additionally be scaled, but this hardware is not +yet widely available. + +3.1) TSC synchronization + +The TSC is a CPU-local clock in most implementations. This means, on SMP +platforms, the TSCs of different CPUs may start at different times depending +on when the CPUs are powered on. Generally, CPUs on the same die will share +the same clock, however, this is not always the case. + +The BIOS may attempt to resynchronize the TSCs during the poweron process and +the operating system or other system software may attempt to do this as well. +Several hardware limitations make the problem worse - if it is not possible to +write the full 64-bits of the TSC, it may be impossible to match the TSC in +newly arriving CPUs to that of the rest of the system, resulting in +unsynchronized TSCs. This may be done by BIOS or system software, but in +practice, getting a perfectly synchronized TSC will not be possible unless all +values are read from the same clock, which generally only is possible on single +socket systems or those with special hardware support. + +3.2) TSC and CPU hotplug + +As touched on already, CPUs which arrive later than the boot time of the system +may not have a TSC value that is synchronized with the rest of the system. +Either system software, BIOS, or SMM code may actually try to establish the TSC +to a value matching the rest of the system, but a perfect match is usually not +a guarantee. This can have the effect of bringing a system from a state where +TSC is synchronized back to a state where TSC synchronization flaws, however +small, may be exposed to the OS and any virtualization environment. + +3.3) TSC and multi-socket / NUMA + +Multi-socket systems, especially large multi-socket systems are likely to have +individual clocksources rather than a single, universally distributed clock. +Since these clocks are driven by different crystals, they will not have +perfectly matched frequency, and temperature and electrical variations will +cause the CPU clocks, and thus the TSCs to drift over time. Depending on the +exact clock and bus design, the drift may or may not be fixed in absolute +error, and may accumulate over time. + +In addition, very large systems may deliberately slew the clocks of individual +cores. This technique, known as spread-spectrum clocking, reduces EMI at the +clock frequency and harmonics of it, which may be required to pass FCC +standards for telecommunications and computer equipment. + +It is recommended not to trust the TSCs to remain synchronized on NUMA or +multiple socket systems for these reasons. + +3.4) TSC and C-states + +C-states, or idling states of the processor, especially C1E and deeper sleep +states may be problematic for TSC as well. The TSC may stop advancing in such +a state, resulting in a TSC which is behind that of other CPUs when execution +is resumed. Such CPUs must be detected and flagged by the operating system +based on CPU and chipset identifications. + +The TSC in such a case may be corrected by catching it up to a known external +clocksource. + +3.5) TSC frequency change / P-states + +To make things slightly more interesting, some CPUs may change frequency. They +may or may not run the TSC at the same rate, and because the frequency change +may be staggered or slewed, at some points in time, the TSC rate may not be +known other than falling within a range of values. In this case, the TSC will +not be a stable time source, and must be calibrated against a known, stable, +external clock to be a usable source of time. + +Whether the TSC runs at a constant rate or scales with the P-state is model +dependent and must be determined by inspecting CPUID, chipset or vendor +specific MSR fields. + +In addition, some vendors have known bugs where the P-state is actually +compensated for properly during normal operation, but when the processor is +inactive, the P-state may be raised temporarily to service cache misses from +other processors. In such cases, the TSC on halted CPUs could advance faster +than that of non-halted processors. AMD Turion processors are known to have +this problem. + +3.6) TSC and STPCLK / T-states + +External signals given to the processor may also have the effect of stopping +the TSC. This is typically done for thermal emergency power control to prevent +an overheating condition, and typically, there is no way to detect that this +condition has happened. + +3.7) TSC virtualization - VMX + +VMX provides conditional trapping of RDTSC, RDMSR, WRMSR and RDTSCP +instructions, which is enough for full virtualization of TSC in any manner. In +addition, VMX allows passing through the host TSC plus an additional TSC_OFFSET +field specified in the VMCS. Special instructions must be used to read and +write the VMCS field. + +3.8) TSC virtualization - SVM + +SVM provides conditional trapping of RDTSC, RDMSR, WRMSR and RDTSCP +instructions, which is enough for full virtualization of TSC in any manner. In +addition, SVM allows passing through the host TSC plus an additional offset +field specified in the SVM control block. + +3.9) TSC feature bits in Linux + +In summary, there is no way to guarantee the TSC remains in perfect +synchronization unless it is explicitly guaranteed by the architecture. Even +if so, the TSCs in multi-sockets or NUMA systems may still run independently +despite being locally consistent. + +The following feature bits are used by Linux to signal various TSC attributes, +but they can only be taken to be meaningful for UP or single node systems. + +X86_FEATURE_TSC : The TSC is available in hardware +X86_FEATURE_RDTSCP : The RDTSCP instruction is available +X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC : The TSC rate is unchanged with P-states +X86_FEATURE_NONSTOP_TSC : The TSC does not stop in C-states +X86_FEATURE_TSC_RELIABLE : TSC sync checks are skipped (VMware) + +4) Virtualization Problems + +Timekeeping is especially problematic for virtualization because a number of +challenges arise. The most obvious problem is that time is now shared between +the host and, potentially, a number of virtual machines. Thus the virtual +operating system does not run with 100% usage of the CPU, despite the fact that +it may very well make that assumption. It may expect it to remain true to very +exacting bounds when interrupt sources are disabled, but in reality only its +virtual interrupt sources are disabled, and the machine may still be preempted +at any time. This causes problems as the passage of real time, the injection +of machine interrupts and the associated clock sources are no longer completely +synchronized with real time. + +This same problem can occur on native harware to a degree, as SMM mode may +steal cycles from the naturally on X86 systems when SMM mode is used by the +BIOS, but not in such an extreme fashion. However, the fact that SMM mode may +cause similar problems to virtualization makes it a good justification for +solving many of these problems on bare metal. + +4.1) Interrupt clocking + +One of the most immediate problems that occurs with legacy operating systems +is that the system timekeeping routines are often designed to keep track of +time by counting periodic interrupts. These interrupts may come from the PIT +or the RTC, but the problem is the same: the host virtualization engine may not +be able to deliver the proper number of interrupts per second, and so guest +time may fall behind. This is especially problematic if a high interrupt rate +is selected, such as 1000 HZ, which is unfortunately the default for many Linux +guests. + +There are three approaches to solving this problem; first, it may be possible +to simply ignore it. Guests which have a separate time source for tracking +'wall clock' or 'real time' may not need any adjustment of their interrupts to +maintain proper time. If this is not sufficient, it may be necessary to inject +additional interrupts into the guest in order to increase the effective +interrupt rate. This approach leads to complications in extreme conditions, +where host load or guest lag is too much to compensate for, and thus another +solution to the problem has risen: the guest may need to become aware of lost +ticks and compensate for them internally. Although promising in theory, the +implementation of this policy in Linux has been extremely error prone, and a +number of buggy variants of lost tick compensation are distributed across +commonly used Linux systems. + +Windows uses periodic RTC clocking as a means of keeping time internally, and +thus requires interrupt slewing to keep proper time. It does use a low enough +rate (ed: is it 18.2 Hz?) however that it has not yet been a problem in +practice. + +4.2) TSC sampling and serialization + +As the highest precision time source available, the cycle counter of the CPU +has aroused much interest from developers. As explained above, this timer has +many problems unique to its nature as a local, potentially unstable and +potentially unsynchronized source. One issue which is not unique to the TSC, +but is highlighted because of its very precise nature is sampling delay. By +definition, the counter, once read is already old. However, it is also +possible for the counter to be read ahead of the actual use of the result. +This is a consequence of the superscalar execution of the instruction stream, +which may execute instructions out of order. Such execution is called +non-serialized. Forcing serialized execution is necessary for precise +measurement with the TSC, and requires a serializing instruction, such as CPUID +or an MSR read. + +Since CPUID may actually be virtualized by a trap and emulate mechanism, this +serialization can pose a performance issue for hardware virtualization. An +accurate time stamp counter reading may therefore not always be available, and +it may be necessary for an implementation to guard against "backwards" reads of +the TSC as seen from other CPUs, even in an otherwise perfectly synchronized +system. + +4.3) Timespec aliasing + +Additionally, this lack of serialization from the TSC poses another challenge +when using results of the TSC when measured against another time source. As +the TSC is much higher precision, many possible values of the TSC may be read +while another clock is still expressing the same value. + +That is, you may read (T,T+10) while external clock C maintains the same value. +Due to non-serialized reads, you may actually end up with a range which +fluctuates - from (T-1.. T+10). Thus, any time calculated from a TSC, but +calibrated against an external value may have a range of valid values. +Re-calibrating this computation may actually cause time, as computed after the +calibration, to go backwards, compared with time computed before the +calibration. + +This problem is particularly pronounced with an internal time source in Linux, +the kernel time, which is expressed in the theoretically high resolution +timespec - but which advances in much larger granularity intervals, sometimes +at the rate of jiffies, and possibly in catchup modes, at a much larger step. + +This aliasing requires care in the computation and recalibration of kvmclock +and any other values derived from TSC computation (such as TSC virtualization +itself). + +4.4) Migration + +Migration of a virtual machine raises problems for timekeeping in two ways. +First, the migration itself may take time, during which interrupts cannot be +delivered, and after which, the guest time may need to be caught up. NTP may +be able to help to some degree here, as the clock correction required is +typically small enough to fall in the NTP-correctable window. + +An additional concern is that timers based off the TSC (or HPET, if the raw bus +clock is exposed) may now be running at different rates, requiring compensation +in some way in the hypervisor by virtualizing these timers. In addition, +migrating to a faster machine may preclude the use of a passthrough TSC, as a +faster clock cannot be made visible to a guest without the potential of time +advancing faster than usual. A slower clock is less of a problem, as it can +always be caught up to the original rate. KVM clock avoids these problems by +simply storing multipliers and offsets against the TSC for the guest to convert +back into nanosecond resolution values. + +4.5) Scheduling + +Since scheduling may be based on precise timing and firing of interrupts, the +scheduling algorithms of an operating system may be adversely affected by +virtualization. In theory, the effect is random and should be universally +distributed, but in contrived as well as real scenarios (guest device access, +causes of virtualization exits, possible context switch), this may not always +be the case. The effect of this has not been well studied. + +In an attempt to work around this, several implementations have provided a +paravirtualized scheduler clock, which reveals the true amount of CPU time for +which a virtual machine has been running. + +4.6) Watchdogs + +Watchdog timers, such as the lock detector in Linux may fire accidentally when +running under hardware virtualization due to timer interrupts being delayed or +misinterpretation of the passage of real time. Usually, these warnings are +spurious and can be ignored, but in some circumstances it may be necessary to +disable such detection. + +4.7) Delays and precision timing + +Precise timing and delays may not be possible in a virtualized system. This +can happen if the system is controlling physical hardware, or issues delays to +compensate for slower I/O to and from devices. The first issue is not solvable +in general for a virtualized system; hardware control software can't be +adequately virtualized without a full real-time operating system, which would +require an RT aware virtualization platform. + +The second issue may cause performance problems, but this is unlikely to be a +significant issue. In many cases these delays may be eliminated through +configuration or paravirtualization. + +4.8) Covert channels and leaks + +In addition to the above problems, time information will inevitably leak to the +guest about the host in anything but a perfect implementation of virtualized +time. This may allow the guest to infer the presence of a hypervisor (as in a +red-pill type detection), and it may allow information to leak between guests +by using CPU utilization itself as a signalling channel. Preventing such +problems would require completely isolated virtual time which may not track +real time any longer. This may be useful in certain security or QA contexts, +but in general isn't recommended for real-world deployment scenarios. |