I am currently investigating a problem with the a guest running Linux
malfunctioning in the NMI watchdog code. The problem is that we don't
handle NMI delivery mode for the local APIC LINT0 pin; instead we expect
ExtInt deliver mode or that the line is disabled completely. In
addition the i8254 timer is tied to the BSP, while in this case the
timer can broadcast to all vcpus.
There is some code that tries to second-guess the guest and provide it
the inputs it sees, but this is fragile. The only way to get reliable
operation is to emulate the hardware fully.
Now I'd much rather do that in userspace, since it's a lot of sensitive
work. I'll enumerate below the general motivation, advantages and
disadvantages, and a plan for moving forward.
Motivation
==========
The original motivation for moving the PIC and IOAPIC into the kernel
was performance, especially for assigned devices. Both devices are high
interaction since they deal with interrupts; practically after every
interrupt there is either a PIC ioport write, or an APIC bus message,
both signalling an EOI operation. Moving the PIT into the kernel
allowed us to catch up with missed timer interrupt injections, and
speeded up guests which read the PIT counters (e.g. tickless guests).
However, modern guests running on modern qemu use MSI extensively; both
virtio and assigned devices now have MSI support; and the planned VFIO
only supports kernel delivery via MSI anyway; line based interrupts will
need to be mediated by userspace.
The only high frequency non-MSI interrupt sources remaining are the
various timers; and the default one, HPET, is in userspace (and having
its own scaling problems as a result). So in theory we can move PIC,
IOAPIC, and PIT support to userspace and not lose much performance.
Moving the implementation to userspace allows us more flexibility, and
more consistency in the implementation of timekeeping for the various
clock chips; it becomes easier to follow the nuances of real hardware in
this area.
Interestingly, while the IOAPIC/PIC code was written we proposed making
it independent of the local APIC; had we done so, the move would have
been much easier (simply dropping the existing code).
Advantages of a move
====================
1. Reduced kernel footprint
Good for security, and allows fixing bugs without reboots.
2. Centralized timekeeping
Instead of having one solution for PIT timekeeping, and another for RTC
and HPET timekeeping, we can have all timer chips in userspace. The
local APIC timer still needs to be in the kernel - it is much too high
bandwidth to be in userspace; but on the other hand it is very different
from the other timer chips.
3. Flexibility
Easier to have wierd board layouts (multiple IOAPICs, etc.). Not a very
strong advantage.
Disadvantages
=============
1. Still need to keep the old code around for a long while
We can't just rip it out - old userspace depends on it. So the security
advantages are only with cooperating userspace, and the other advantages
only show up.
2. Need to bring the qemu code up to date
The current qemu ioapic code lags some way behind the kernel; also need
PIT timekeeping
3. May need kernel support for interval-timer-follows-thread
Currently the timekeeping code has an optimization which causes the
hrtimer that models the PIT to follow the BSP (which is most likely to
receive the interrupt); this reduces cpu cross-talk.
I don't think the kernel interval timer code has such an optimization;
we may need to implement it.
4. Much churn
This is a lot of work.
5. Risk
We may find out after all this is implemented that performance is not
acceptable and all the work will have to be dropped.
Proposed interface
==================
1. KVM_SET_LINT_PIN (vcpu ioctl)
Sets the value (0 or 1) that a vcpu's LINT0 or LINT1 senses.
Note: problematic; may be high frequency but ignored due to masking at
the local APIC LVT level. Will also be broadcast across all vcpus by
userspace with typical configurations. We may need a way to tell
userspace we'll be ignoring those signals.
May also be extended to emulate thermal interrupts if someone feels the
need.
An alternative is a couple of new fields in kvm_run which are sampled on
every entry (unless masked).
2. KVM_EXIT_REASON_INTACK (kvm_run exit reason)
Informs userspace that the vcpu is running an INTACK cycle; userspace
should provide the interrupt vector on the next KVM_VCPU_RUN.
3. KVM_APIC_MESSAGE (vm ioctl)
Sends an APIC message on the APIC message bus, if the destination is in
the kernel (typically IOAPIC interrupt messages).
4. KVM_EXIT_REASON_APIC_MESSAGE (kvm_run exit reason)
Sends an APIC message on the APIC message bus, if the destination is not
in the kernel (typically IOAPIC EOI messages).
The above are all architectural, and correspond to wires on physical
systems. This increases the confidence that they are correct.
5. KVM_REQUEST_EOI (vcpu ioctl) / KVM_EXIT_EOI (kvm_run exit reason)
We will get EOI messages via KVM_EXIT_REASON_APIC_MESSAGE for
level-triggered interrupts. However, for timekeeping we will also need
a an EOI for edge triggered interrupts (if we choose the ack notifier
method for timekeeping).
6. KVM_EXIT_REASON_LVT_MASK (kvm_run exit reason)
A notification that the LVT LINT0 or LVT LINT1 mask bit has changed, and
thus we don't need to issue useless KVM_SET_LINT_PIN ioctls; also useful
for timekeeping (can disable PIT if configured with ExtInt mode or lapic
disabled).
7. KVM_EXIT_REASON_APIC_MESSAGE_ACK (kvm_run exit reason)
If we use the current timekeeping method of detecting coalesced
interrupts, we'll need an acknowledge when an APIC message is accepted
by a local APIC, with the result (interrupt queued or interrupt
coalesced). This will need to be selectable by vcpu and vector number.
8. KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP (vm ioctl)
A new flag that tells kvm not to create a PIC and IOAPIC.
--
error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function
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