[PATCH v8 00/15] Introduce Architectural LBR for vPMU

From: Yang Weijiang
Date: Tue Aug 24 2021 - 03:40:58 EST


The Architectural Last Branch Records (LBRs) is published in the 319433-040
release of Intel Architecture Instruction Set Extensions and Future Features
Programming Reference[0].

The main advantages of Arch LBR are [1]:
- Faster context switching due to XSAVES support and faster reset of
LBR MSRs via the new DEPTH MSR
- Faster LBR read for a non-PEBS event due to XSAVES support, which
lowers the overhead of the NMI handler.
- Linux kernel can support the LBR features without knowing the model
number of the current CPU.

>From end user's point of view, the usage of Arch LBR is the same as
the Legacy LBR that has been merged in the mainline.

Note, there's one limitations for current guest Arch LBR implementation:
Guest can only use the same LBR record depth as host, this is due to
the special behavior of MSR_ARCH_LBR_DEPTH: a) On write to the MSR,
it'll reset all Arch LBR recording MSRs to 0s. b) XRSTORS will reset all
recording MSRs to 0s if the saved depth mismatches MSR_ARCH_LBR_DEPTH.

But this limitation won't impact guest perf tool usage.

[0] https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/download/intel-architecture-instruction-set-extensions-and-future-features-programming-reference.html
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1593780569-62993-1-git-send-email-kan.liang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/

Previous version:
v7: https://lkml.kernel.org/kvm/1628235745-26566-1-git-send-email-weijiang.yang@xxxxxxxxx/

Changes in v8:
1. Per Like's review feedback, changed corresponding patches.
2. Refactored part of the code, i.e., arch lbr depth, control configuration, to make them more precise.


Like Xu (6):
perf/x86/intel: Fix the comment about guest LBR support on KVM
perf/x86/lbr: Simplify the exposure check for the LBR_INFO registers
KVM: vmx/pmu: Emulate MSR_ARCH_LBR_DEPTH for guest Arch LBR
KVM: vmx/pmu: Emulate MSR_ARCH_LBR_CTL for guest Arch LBR
KVM: x86: Refine the matching and clearing logic for supported_xss
KVM: x86: Add XSAVE Support for Architectural LBR

Sean Christopherson (1):
KVM: x86: Report XSS as an MSR to be saved if there are supported
features

Yang Weijiang (8):
KVM: x86: Add Arch LBR MSRs to msrs_to_save_all list
KVM: x86/pmu: Refactor code to support guest Arch LBR
KVM: x86: Refresh CPUID on writes to MSR_IA32_XSS
KVM: x86/vmx: Check Arch LBR config when return perf capabilities
KVM: nVMX: Add necessary Arch LBR settings for nested VM
KVM: x86/vmx: Clear Arch LBREn bit before inject #DB to guest
KVM: x86/vmx: Flip Arch LBREn bit on guest state change
KVM: x86/cpuid: Advise Arch LBR feature in CPUID

arch/x86/events/intel/core.c | 3 +-
arch/x86/events/intel/lbr.c | 6 +-
arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h | 4 +
arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h | 1 +
arch/x86/include/asm/vmx.h | 4 +
arch/x86/kvm/cpuid.c | 54 ++++++++++-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/capabilities.h | 25 +++--
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c | 6 +-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/pmu_intel.c | 159 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmcs12.c | 1 +
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmcs12.h | 3 +-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c | 64 ++++++++++++-
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 24 ++++-
13 files changed, 311 insertions(+), 43 deletions(-)

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2.25.1