Re: kvm: RDTSCP on AMD

From: Daniel P. BerrangÃ
Date: Tue Dec 11 2018 - 09:35:33 EST


On Tue, Dec 11, 2018 at 09:55:46AM -0200, Eduardo Habkost wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 11, 2018 at 10:38:39AM +0000, Daniel P. Berrangà wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 06:08:43PM -0200, Eduardo Habkost wrote:
> > > On Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 08:42:58PM +0100, Borislav Petkov wrote:
> > > > On Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 05:06:00PM -0200, Eduardo Habkost wrote:
> > > > > I mean documenting it. We already have code that will print
> > > > > warnings if a feature isn't available.
> > > > >
> > > > > See my previous attempt to document the minimum kernel version
> > > > > at <https://www.mail-archive.com/qemu-devel@xxxxxxxxxx/msg486559.html>.
> > > >
> > > > Something like this?
> > > >
> > > > I still have no clue how to add RDTSCP on pc-*-4.0 and newer.
> > >
> > > qemu.git master have no PC_COMPAT_3_1 and pc-*-4.0 machine-types
> > > yet. I've sent another reply with additional pointers.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Thx.
> > > >
> > > > ---
> > > > diff --git a/qemu-doc.texi b/qemu-doc.texi
> > > > index f7ad1dfe4b69..913b2ef68d54 100644
> > > > --- a/qemu-doc.texi
> > > > +++ b/qemu-doc.texi
> > > > @@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
> > > > * QEMU System emulator for non PC targets::
> > > > * QEMU Guest Agent::
> > > > * QEMU User space emulator::
> > > > +* System requirements::
> > > > * Implementation notes::
> > > > * Deprecated features::
> > > > * Supported build platforms::
> > > > @@ -2813,6 +2814,13 @@ Act as if the host page size was 'pagesize' bytes
> > > > Run the emulation in single step mode.
> > > > @end table
> > > >
> > > > +@node System requirements
> > > > +@chapter System requirements
> > > > +
> > > > +@section KVM kernel module
> > > > +
> > > > +On x86_64 hosts, the default set of CPU features enabled by the KVM accelerator
> > > > +require the host to be running Linux v4.5 or newer.
> > > >
> > >
> > > Sounds good, but it would be nice to document what exactly makes
> > > Linux 4.5+ necessary. e.g.:
> > >
> > > | On x86_64 hosts, it is recommended to run Linux 4.5 or newer on
> > > | the host when using the KVM accelerator.
> > > |
> > > | The Opteron_G2, OpteronG3, Opteron_G4, and Opteron_G5 CPU
> > > | models require KVM support for RDTSCP, which was added on
> > > | Linux 4.5.
> > >
> > > I'm CCing some people who may help review English grammar and
> > > style.
> >
> > Note that QEMU has a declared supported platform list which is used to
> > set the minimum software versions required.
> >
> > https://qemu.weilnetz.de/doc/qemu-doc.html#Linux-OS
> >
> > Based on that policy, the Linux distros we aim to support have the
> > following kernel versions:
> >
> > - Debian Jessie: 4.5
> > - Debian Stretch: 4.5
> > - RHEL-7: 3.10
> > - Ubuntu LTS (Xenial): 4.5
> > - OpenSUSE Leap 15: 4.12.14
> >
> > So we can't require Linux 4.5 as a minimum version at this time.
>
> I'd like us to take a step back and consider what exactly
> "support" means here. QEMU will still work on older kernels if
> we add RDTSCP to the CPU models, but at the same time I would
> like to document that our strict runnability guarantees may not
> be kept if running Linux < 4.5.

I've just noticed that this thread is not in fact on qemu-devel. So
rather than debating the meaning of support here, lets discuss it
once the patch adding rdtscp to OpteronG* CPU model is posted to
qemu-devel.

Regards,
Daniel
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