[Xen-devel] Xen 4.3 development update

[George Dunlap <George.Dunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are basically two issues we're waiting to sort out (see below
for more info):
 * cpu hotplug in qemu-upsream
 * The MMIO hole issue

Anthony has patches for cpu hot-plug, and we have plans for how to
work around the MMIO hole issue, so we're getting really close.

Also note that we have slipped the release date a week, to the 26th,
to make sure we have enough time to catch any potential bugs in the
recent check-ins.

This information will be mirrored on the Xen 4.3 Roadmap wiki page:
 http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_Roadmap/4.3

The key goals we're focusing on now, in order, are as follows:
 1. Have a bug-free 4.3 release
 2. Have an awesome 4.3 release
 3. Have a 4.3 release that happens on schedule (ready by June 15th)

The most important thing in making a case is to answer the question,
"If there are bugs in this patch, will they be discovered before the
June 17th release?"  The second most important thing is to consider the
cost/benefit analysis of bugs that are found: what is the risk of
introducing a bug which will delay the release, vs the benefit it will
have in making the release better?

= Timeline =

We are planning on a 9-month release cycle.  Based on that, below are
our estimated dates:
* Feature freeze: 25 March 2013
* Code freezing point: 15 April 2013
* First RC: 6 May 2013 <== WE ARE HERE
* Release: 26 June 2013

The RCs and release will of course depend on stability and bugs, and
will therefore be fairly unpredictable.  Each new feature will be
considered on a case-by-case basis.

The June 17th release is both an estimate and a goal.  At this point,
Xen 4.3 can be released whenever it's actually ready.  In fact, the
sooner we release, the sooner we can open the tree up for new
development and get on to 4.4 -- so keep fixing those bugs!

Last updated: 17 June 2013

== Completed ==

* Default to QEMU upstream (partial)
 - pci pass-thru (external)
 - enable dirtybit tracking during migration (external)
 - xl cd-{insert,eject} (external)

* openvswitch toostack integration
  To label "tech-preview" unless we get good testing (>10 individuals)

* NUMA scheduler affinity

* Install into /usr/local by default

* Allow config file to specify multiple usb devices for HVM domains

* Persistent grants for blk (external)
 - Linux
 - qemu

* Allow XSM to override IS_PRIV checks in the hypervisor

* vTPM updates

* Scalability: 16TiB of RAM

* CPUID-based idle (don't rely on ACPI info f/ dom0)

* Serial console improvements
  -EHCI debug port

== Bugs resolved since last update ==

* tmem map_domain_page issue
  resolution: fixed

* xl pci-detach broken for pv guests?
  resolution: Guest kernel bug

* XSA-55
  resolution: patches committed

* AMD IOMMU MSI interrupts missing?
  resolution: fixed

== Open bugs ==

* cpu hotplug broken in qemu-xen
  > Upstream qemu has qmp interface; either implement our own way or backport
  > Issue in SeaBIOS: can wake up "unplugged" cpus!
  owner: Anthony
  status: In progress
  priority: blocker

* qemu-upstream MMIO hole issue
 > http://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2013-03/msg00559.html
 > "You can reproduce it when a VM has a big pci hole size (such as
   512MB), e.g. create a VM with a virtual device which has a 512MB
   pci BAR."
 priority: high
 status: Original fix broken; investigating proper fix
 priority: blocker (?)

* Win2k8 fails install on many IvyBridge EP systems
 > Not reproducible by Intel
 > Reproducible on 4.2
 priority: Probably not a blocker

* Update 4.3-rc to 4.3 in README; add tag bragging about 4.3
  owner: George
  status: v1 sent, v2 pending

* perl 5.18 fails to compile qemu-traditional docs?
 > http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/xen/devel/284141
 status: discussion in progress
 priority: minor

* Scan through qemu-upstream changesets looking for important fixes
  (particularly for stubdoms) for qemu-traditional
  - cpu hotplug
  owner: Anthony

* qemu-upstream not freeing pirq
 > http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/xen/devel/281498
 priority: high, probably not a blocker
 status: patches posted

* AMD: IOMMU accidental clearing
  owner: Jan Beulich, Suravee Suthikulpanit
  status:

* __update_vcpu_system_time if system_time comes out negative
  status: Not for 4.3

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