[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] Re: [PATCH] x86/vcpu: relax VCPUOP_initialise restriction for non-PV vCPUs
On Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 10:17:25AM +0100, Jan Beulich wrote: > On 21.03.2024 10:10, Roger Pau Monné wrote: > > On Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 09:07:10AM +0100, Jan Beulich wrote: > >> On 20.03.2024 17:29, Roger Pau Monné wrote: > >>> On Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 04:09:33PM +0100, Jan Beulich wrote: > >>>> On 20.03.2024 14:57, Roger Pau Monne wrote: > >>>>> There's no reason to force HVM guests to have a valid vcpu_info area > >>>>> when > >>>>> initializing a vCPU, as the vCPU can also be brought online using the > >>>>> local > >>>>> APIC, and on that path there's no requirement for vcpu_info to be setup > >>>>> ahead > >>>>> of the bring up. Note an HVM vCPU can operate normally without making > >>>>> use of > >>>>> vcpu_info. > >>>> > >>>> While I'd agree if you started with "There's no real need to force ...", > >>>> I > >>>> still think there is a reason: If one wants to use paravirt interfaces > >>>> (i.e. > >>>> hypercalls), they would better do so consistently. After all there's also > >>>> no need to use VCPUOP_initialise, yet you're not disabling its use. > >>>> > >>>> As said in reply to Andrew's reply, besides acting as a sentinel that > >>>> structure instance also acts as a sink for Xen accesses to a vCPU's > >>>> vcpu_info. By removing the check, you switch that from being a safeguard > >>>> to > >>>> being something that actually has to be expected to be accessed. Unless > >>>> you've audited all uses to prove that no such access exists. > >>> > >>> I'm kind of lost in this last paragraph, how is that different than > >>> what currently happens when an HVM vCPU >= 32 is brought up using the > >>> lapic and has no vpcu_info mapped? > >> > >> I think this aspect was simply missed back at the time. And I think it > >> wants mentioning explicitly to justify the change. > > > > OK, I can add to the commit message: > > > > "Note an HVM vCPU can operate normally without making use of > > vcpu_info, and in fact does so when brought up from the local APIC." > > I'd be fine adding this (or having this added) while committing. > > >> As said in reply to Andrew, I don't think the dummy structure can be got > >> rid of. Nor can the checks here be (easily) removed altogether, i.e. your > >> change cannot (easily) be extended to PV as well. Even conditional removal > >> of the structure in !PV builds would first require all vcpu_info accesses > >> to gain a suitable conditional. Which may be undesirable, as some of these > >> may be deemed fast paths. > > > > I didn't intended to do this here, as replied to Andrew. If we want > > to get rid of the check for PV also it needs to be done in a different > > patch, and with a different justification and analysis. > > > >>> Also, from a quick look it seems like sites do check whether vcpu_info > >>> == dummy_vcpu_info, otherwise we would already be in trouble. > >> > >> Such checks exist in code managing vcpu_info, but not - afaics - in places > >> actually accessing it. Is there anything else that needs adjusting then, or are you happy to pick this up and adjust the commit message? > > Quite possibly, I didn't look that close TBH, since my intention was > > not to remove dummy_vcpu_info. I've noticed however that > > __update_vcpu_system_time() checks for v->vcpu_info_area.map == NULL, > > which is fine, but shouldn't it also check for v->vcpu_info_area.map > > == &dummy_vcpu_info, as it's pointless to update the vcpu system time > > if pointing to the dummy_vcpu_info? > > The check is there to guard against NULL deref. As said, the aspect of a > vCPU being brought up the "native" way yet then still using its vCPU info > was, by mistake, neglected earlier on. So yes, such a check could be > added here, but it isn't strictly necessary as long as we don't avoid > accessing the dummy structure uniformly everywhere (which, as said, I'm > not sure we want to do). I could add such a check in a separate patch, my main concern with this is not correctness, it's just that we waste cycles updating the contents of dummy_vcpu_info which is useless. Thanks, Roger.
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